Some GB sellers - I just don't understand their attitude

Some sellers are better than others. Met some bad ones but also some extremely nice ones. I remember one who got indignant when I asked that on a firearm if he remove the mag before shipment. He was indignant. His loss. I can have it shipped without it being removed. My dealer just destroys it. I purchased from someone who said no problem. I said specifically you keep the mag, no price change. I know you have to open a box up. If you don't want to just at least be nice about it.

Just an anecdote: I was between To Do's out in town last Tuesday afternoon, and spent an hour people watching in a small LGS. That man did not stand still for 20 consecutive seconds in a hour. He interacted with ~20 customers in person, 2x that many via phone and text, and sold 5 guns, 4 of which had been delivered that day, and none of which even made it into the case. He could have sold twice that many if he'd had inventory that was common last year (Glock 17, 19, 9mm AR-ish, etc).

He told at least 20 people that the next ammo sale was 3pm on Thursday, and don't be late.

He said it started ramping up in February, and has been to the wall since April without a break.

This is in South Carolina, where you're already more likely to see Browning or Magpul than "My Kid's a Mediocre Student" on a bumper sticker.

The guy who read your email might be a jerk, or he might be running ragged.

It's the internet, you can't tell the idiots from the smart people until you interact with them a bit. Don't bid if you think they're idiots, because they tend to hide or ignore flaws in their merchandise.

JT-AR-MG42 said:

I e-mailed a seller (FFL holder 800 transactions) this time with 6 days to go.
Three questions with the 'ask a question' option concerning a used gun.
Simple questions that did not require anything more than picking up the gun, no disassembly at all.

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Sorry, but unless you tell us what "three questions" you asked, it's a bit difficult to disagree with the sellers response.
I rarely sell on GunBroker, but when I have I'm always careful to include a full description with everything I know on the gun. That and good photos.
"What you see is what you get" pretty much sums up a GB auction. If the buyer can't see what he wants to see, skip the internet and buy from a LGS.

Despite my description that included "used Glock 19, round count unknown, sold "as is, one magazine, no box" and multiple photos:
How many rounds through it?
Why do you not know the round count?
Is it new?
Is this a 10mm? I need a 10mm.
Have you shot +P+ through it?
Do you have the original paperwork?
Will this fit my holster?
Would you take a trade for my broken Hi Point and $100?
Do you ship to Israel?
I'm looking for a used Walther PPQ do you have those?
Can you take a photo of the barrel? I want to see if it is shot out.
Is this NRA Excellent or Good condition?
Is this a Blue Label? I'm a police officer and get a discount on every Glock.


It's maddening. I'll answer questions as best I can, but if the answer is on the description.....delete.

The reply? - The gun looks very nice.

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Unless we know your questions, that may be a great answer.

Having sold lots of stuff on that site, I actually answer questions - and post the answers on the auction - because I want multiple bidders.

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I don't care about the number of bidders, just the amount of the winning bid. An accurate and complete description with several quality photos helps eliminate most questions,

Know this is a bit of a hissy fit.
It just amazes me how lacking in simple business manners and sense some of these guys are.

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Wait...a seller is under no obligation to answer anything. He didn't ignore you, he responded. Move on.

As to the auction, based on his response (with so-so photos), I have no choice but to assume his lack of answers
are covering for not telling a lie.
So no bid from me.

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His loss.

I'm tempted to e-mail again as the auction is ending - 6 or so hours to go - and telling him what
my top bid would have been, had he answered those three questions directly.

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It will likely ruin his day and he'll take months if not years to recover.

I have run into this kind of thing several times on Gunbroker in the past ~20 years.

If my 2 or 3 specific questions (never a question that requires disassembly) do not receive a specific & satisfactory response, I move along.

On most of these occasions, the unsat responses have indicated to me that the Seller is dodgy.

Many of these have involved my requesting descriptive condition of the bore, suggesting some possible responses like "frosted", "dark", "pitted", bright&shiny", etc. (for those who might have trouble crafting such a description) ... and the Seller will respond with something non-specific like, "The bore is good/fine/OK" ... sometimes adding a truly worthless, "...for a 50/60/70 years old rifle."

I interpret such a response as: The bore has Issues ... since this chucklehead refuses to provide a specific & candid response.

Having sold hundreds of guns on GB I can relate. 90% of my sales are consignments and the only information that I have is what I can glean from the owners or from my own inspections. I often post, "No Trades or Haggling". It does absolutely no good. I also post, certified check or money order only. Then someone will ask if I take credit cards and if not, why. To accept credit cards you have to have a merchant account to process the cards. They charge 2.5%-3%. Many of my sales net me 5% with very few bringing 8%. No, I am not taking credit cards. I have had some customers who wanted to wire me the payment. Sorry, but my bank charges me $15 for a wire transfer. I could tack the 15 onto the price but I don't give anyone my bank account number. I'm not sure that my wife knows it. If the buyer wants more info I will do my best to answer within reason, but some people are never satisfied.

Right now it seems folks are standing in line to buy. With that in mind sellers don't have to be a courteous or answer tons of questions as they use to. I recently bought a pistol and the basic questions were politely answered. Other times I never even hear back from the seller. Sad but facts are right now it's a sellers market.

If the item is getting plenty of bids he probably doesn't feel the need to bother responding to one person. Get back to us after the auction ends and tell us whether it sold for more than you were going to bid.

Captcurt said:

... 90% of my sales are consignments and the only information that I have is what I can glean from the owners or from my own inspections. ...

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I have encountered a couple of folks like that. They have briefly explained the circumstances and told me that they don't have time and/or staff to perform inspections on consignments. I thanked them for their time and wished them continuing success with their business.

Actually, now that I am thinking about consignments, there was one that went the extra mile for me. In my initial message I explained that I was looking for a vintage .32-20 rifle to go with my recently-acquired group to vintage .32-20 revolvers.

Let's call this nice fellow Bob.

Bob provided me a deal-ending-to-almost-all detailed description of the exterior of the rifle ... warts & all. LOTTSA warts. Apparently, in the distant past some jackleg had attempted to mod the rifle to install a hasn't-been-made-in-a-LONG-time particular type of scope mount and failed. He then filled his work and "blacked" it. Bob said that the "work" does not appear to him to represent an operational danger, it is just fugly.

For me, not a problem. I asked if he had done a look-see down the bore. Bob said that the bore is the prettiest part of the rifle. Mirror-bright & shiny.

I bought it ... and found that Bob had given me an honest assessment of the condition of the rifle. It is one of my favorites for walkabout.

I am thankful that, for whatever reason, he decided to spend some extra time with me. It may just be that he reeeeally wanted/needed to get rid of this old rifle, but I choose to believe a kindlier reason was involved.

Expectations will never match the behavior of the general public; some excel, some disappoint and most fall in the middle. Getting angry at unmet expectations on the internet is like hating the desert because there is no water on it - it will just lead to high blood pressure.

What they don't tell you or don't show is as important as what they do. If they are smart enough to use internet and motivated enough to sell there is no reason why they can't provide detailed good photos and info. I have passed many auctions because of this.

dh1633pm said:

He was indignant. His loss. I can have it shipped without it being removed. My dealer just destroys it. I purchased from someone who said no problem.

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I'm a lil curious about this post, I dont think I'm interpreting it correctly. When you buy a gun, and have it shipped to your FFL, if it has a mag with it your FFL destroys it? He wont pass the gun off to you with a mag?

Sorry, I'm sure I'm reading it wrong, if not then why no mag?

DustyGmt said:

I'm a lil curious about this post, I dont think I'm interpreting it correctly. When you buy a gun, and have it shipped to your FFL, if it has a mag with it your FFL destroys it? He wont pass the gun off to you with a mag?

Sorry, I'm sure I'm reading it wrong, if not then why no mag?

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If that is true I must be the only one that doesn't destroy it. It would depend on the state. Some don't allow hi-cap mags. Other than that the only no-no is you don't ship ammo with the gun.

It’s funny, on the GB forum there are many threads from sellers having to deal with buyers... some are swindlers trying to get stuff for free, some are not very gun savvy and have 57 questions for every gun, some are asked with the answers already in the description, etc. It has to be frustrating for the bigger dealers who may have 20-30 auctions or more going every week.

I’ve bought many guns on GB.
Only one has been a true disappointment...a really nice looking Model 48-3 .22 WMR 6” that was made in 1977.

Seller Swore all was great and said it looked like about two boxes of ammo had ever been fired through it. Other than a small spot of rust where the cylinder was resting on the bottom of a drawer it looked like new.

It started to bind up on me after I fired about 25 rounds through it. By the last shot it was so locked up I couldn’t budge the trigger or pull the hammer back at all. Looking back, I bet it hadn’t been shot in 40 years, and the interior is probably solidly gummed up from congealed oil.

It’s been at S&W since June, and I probably won’t get it back until December. .

Other than this one, all of the sellers I’ve dealt with have been worthy of my business.

Stay safe.

I have a simple internet rule - No answers, no information? Move on, but let ‘em know why. Done”

Life’s too short to deal with some people.

My GB guns have all been as described, or better. A couple of them much better. A friend recently bought an S&W 5906 from a GB seller, Pics looked really good. He was always kind of scared to buy a gun online, a used one anyway, and finally went and bid on something. When it came, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't nearly as nice looking as it was in the pics. Same Serial# same gun, just photographed to hide the little scratches it has everywhere on it. Shoots fine, but my friend is not happy about it at all. I would bet it's the last used gun he buys online. Too bad, he's missing out on a lot of great guns.

DustyGmt said:

I'm a lil curious about this post, I dont think I'm interpreting it correctly. When you buy a gun, and have it shipped to your FFL, if it has a mag with it your FFL destroys it? He wont pass the gun off to you with a mag?

Sorry, I'm sure I'm reading it wrong, if not then why no mag?

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I was trying to buy a Marlin Camp 9 at the time, but had it happen else where. When the mags are over 10 rounds, the dealer can't transfer the firearm to me since I live in a restricted state. My dealer doesn't like to deal in mags over 10 rounds for any reason so he simple destroys them. I prefer to not have them shipped with any mag so I ask before I bid on something that is legal in the state, but has a mag that is not.

I have had also great experiences on GB. I got an Model of 1917 Rifle from someone in Orlando. He was excellent.

Here is a link to the Thread that I created after being lied to by a Seller:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...l-police-project-pistol.802101/#post-10243394

Periodically, stuff do happen.

I always get the feeling that some of the sellers on GB are hobbyist FFLs (as opposed to tabletop FFLs) that list items with negligible info so they can say they have items for sale, but never sell them. Something so they can maintain an FFL for personal use rather than actual business use. No proof, just feels that way.

I for one get a feeling the biding is a scam.
I think sellers have other accounts or friends to drive the prices.
Recently was bidding on a gun. No reserve but a buy now price. Bidding was getting near the buy now price and I let it go. After its sold I wanted to see what it sold for. It actually went at the buy now price, but had already been relisted no reserve same buy now price as before. Seems odd to me.

I recently purchased a used gun on Gunbroker that only had a few low quality photos. Not a lot of bidders I suspect because they didn't want to take a chance. I ended up buying the gun for about $100 less than it should of sold for. When I received the gun I was pleasantly surprised how good the condition actually was. So some times the seller is just too busy with multiple auctions and running his real store to put in the effort to respond to emails or include detailed photos or descriptions.

JT-AR-MG42 said:

I e-mailed a seller (FFL holder 800 transactions) this time with 6 days to go.
Three questions with the 'ask a question' option concerning a used gun.
Simple questions that did not require anything more than picking up the gun, no disassembly at all.

The reply? - The gun looks very nice.

Having sold lots of stuff on that site, I actually answer questions - and post the answers on the auction - because I want multiple bidders.

Know this is a bit of a hissy fit.
It just amazes me how lacking in simple business manners and sense some of these guys are.
As to the auction, based on his response (with so-so photos), I have no choice but to assume his lack of answers
are covering for not telling a lie.
So no bid from me.

I'm tempted to e-mail again as the auction is ending - 6 or so hours to go - and telling him what
my top bid would have been, had he answered those three questions directly.

Thanks for the soapbox,
JT

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I automatically assume they’re full of crap and/or trying to scam me or just don’t really want to sell when they can’t be bothered to take 1 minute to answer a question.

MAKster said:

I recently purchased a used gun on Gunbroker that only had a few low quality photos. Not a lot of bidders I suspect because they didn't want to take a chance.

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My second M&P9 came to me for $190 thanks to crappy pictures.