A funny thing happened on my way to the office

[MedGrl]

This morning, on my way to work I passed a cement truck, you know the ones with the big rotating drum? And on the side of it was a big (3' tall by 5' wide) yellow and green ad proclaimning "GUNBROKER.COM" I did a doubble take because at the time I was driving through Maryland...so seeing an advertisment for something pro-gun was highly unusual...unusual enough that I thought I'd tell you guys about it and ask...Where is the most unusual place youve seen a pro-gun advertisment?

 

[dhoomonyou]

Maybe he uses it as a "tumbler"?

 

[El Tejon]

If he does, he must be a member of THR.

 

[MedGrl]

dhoomonyou and El Tejon :

Lol you guys. That would be one seriouse re-loader

 

[2RCO]

I was fully planning on dumping Ebay and moving to Gun Broker. When you really look at the EBay rules other than Mags, Slides, Frames and Barrels everything else is free range. You can still buy most small parts, grips etc. Gun Broker needs to do some work with it's system, their invoicing etc. is not up to par neither is their whole listing system. Also Ebay buyers seem to understand the whole auction process better. I have talked to several powersellers of gun related items that are having nothing but misery from GunBroker. I would gladly drop Ebay like a bad habit if the other auction sites would kick it up a notch!

Advertising definitely would not hurt gun broker!

 

[Henry Bowman]

Gun Broker needs to do some work with it's system, their invoicing etc. is not up to par neither is their whole listing system.

Some of that is patent related. Ebay (and others) have patents on many aspects of their site, methods, etc.

Also Ebay buyers seem to understand the whole auction process better.

That's not Gun Broker's falt. Gunnies are Luddites. Time will improve that.

I have talked to several powersellers of gun related items that are having nothing but misery from GunBroker.

I only bought, never sold on GB, but never had any problem. I expect that GB would listen to any constructive suggestion from high volume sellers. But they are limited in the extent they can be a mirror of eBay. Also, eBay owns PayPal and PayPal is non-gun, so officially you can't even use it to pay for most GB sales. There are also many aspects of PayPal that are subject to patent. So for better or worse, GB can't be the eBay/PayPal of the gun world.

 

[mek42]

If Paypal and Ebay are now specifically non-gun, would it technically be a violation of patent for GB to use the exact features strictly for items specifically not sold / transacted by Paypal / Ebay? I can see how it would be infringement for GB to use those features for accessories like Remington logo baseball caps (for instance) but for item specifically not transacted by Ebay / Paypal (i.e. firearms) wouldn't there at least be a grey area?

 

[Thernlund]

If Paypal and Ebay are now specifically non-gun, would it technically be a violation of patent for GB to use the exact features strictly for items specifically not sold / transacted by Paypal / Ebay? I can see how it would be infringement for GB to use those features for accessories like Remington logo baseball caps (for instance) but for item specifically not transacted by Ebay / Paypal (i.e. firearms) wouldn't there at least be a grey area?

I don't think it matters WHAT your selling, just that the underlying technology is the same, or TOO similar. Even just appearance can be grounds for a suit (although, that'd be copywrite infrigment rather than patent infringment).

Point is, it's the container, not what it contains.


-T.

 

[Henry Bowman]

If Paypal and Ebay are now specifically non-gun, would it technically be a violation of patent for GB to use the exact features strictly for items specifically not sold / transacted by Paypal / Ebay?

Yes.

I can see how it would be infringement for GB to use those features for accessories like Remington logo baseball caps (for instance) but for item specifically not transacted by Ebay / Paypal (i.e. firearms) wouldn't there at least be a grey area?

No. It doesn't work that way.

 

[GlowinPontiac]

saw an ad for a local gunstore in the hartford courant.

never seen anything advertising guns in there before. not even in the classifieds.

 

[jerkface11]

The biggest problem with gunbroker is the fact that there is NO relisting fee!! So if something doesn't sell you just keep putting it back up till it does. Some of those guns have been on there for YEARS.

 

[lucretia]

I went to a dentist who had a Glock poster framed on and proudly displayed on his office wall. I asked him if he used a G17 (depicted in the poster) to make quick work of drilling out cavities.

"HAR de har har," he said.

 

[MedGrl]

I went to a dentist who had a Glock poster framed on and proudly displayed on his office wall. I asked him if he used a G17 (depicted in the poster) to make quick work of drilling out cavities.

"HAR de har har," he said.

nice...very cute

 

[Feanaro]

Gunbroker has people at NASCAR. They even have their own little golf cart with their banner on it.

 

[romma]

I went to a dentist who had a Glock poster framed on and proudly displayed on his office wall. I asked him if he used a G17 (depicted in the poster) to make quick work of drilling out cavities.

Copper and lead fillings to boot!

 

[mp510]

saw an ad for a local gunstore in the hartford courant.

never seen anything advertising guns in there before. not even in the classifieds.

Hoffman's advertises on the back of the TV Weekly on a weekly basis. Sometimes they buy other ads as well. Every now and then, a gun will pop-up in the sporting goods classifides, though Hartford Courant usually rejects gun ads for TOS reasons. Bargain News, however, has a lot of gun listings.

North Cove Outfitters recently ran a TV spot, on one of the network channels. I've also seen a few Cabela's ads on Fox News Channel.

 

[antsi]

------antsi---------
The biggest problem with gunbroker is the fact that there is NO relisting fee!! So if something doesn't sell you just keep putting it back up till it does. Some of those guns have been on there for YEARS.
--------------------

Agreed. Many times, they have been on there for years with totally ridiculous starting prices, often higher than retail.

That is my least favorite feature of Gunbroker - the whole site is jam packed with firearms being sold by regular dealers at "retail-plus" prices.

 

[CU74]

You might want to check out Auction Arms, smaller but "cleaner" than GB: http://www.auctionarms.com/nonjavahome.htm

Auctions actually end at the posted ending time on AA - none of that Mickey Mouse bidding at the last minute to keep the auction open. Better search feature than GB as well.