Armslist no longer free.....

Curiously, the scammers are still there. I'm still seeing the Dan Wesson Valor for $600, the Delta Elite for $800 and the Python for $900 with the box and papers. A quick look at Gunbroker shows me the same photos with the real prices, from sellers from nowhere around here.....

Vern56 said:

I'm ok with it.
Certainly less cost than gunbroker. All my sales have been local. They provide a service, having a web site costs money. Seems fair.

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I understand that you are willing to pay a modest fee in order to publish an ad to sell an item.
You should , however, be concerned with the likelihood that your ad will generate fewer inquiries due the the fee required to contact a seller.
This is where Armslist made a mistake , in my opinion.

If you were to list an item for $600 , and I paid a fee to ask if you would take $550 cash, and you responded Sorry - just sold it , I’d be put out. Or let’s say it is a sale or trade ad , I pop the fee to offer a trade and you say no thanks... I just paid for nothing.

I can’t prove it , but I’d bet that messages sent to sellers are down.

Most ads I see now include a phone number or email address in the listing. That way anyone can contact you without paying Armslist. I hate to have personal contact info out there for anyone to use though.

potmetal said:

Most ads I see now include a phone number or email address in the listing. That way anyone can contact you without paying Armslist. I hate to have personal contact info out there for anyone to use though.

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Just use a dedicated email just for Armslist, or use a burner phone.

My rejection of the new Armslist policy is why I just days ago bought a S&W 908 on Gunbroker, now shipping.

And will probably soon win a bid (in 45 min.) for a different handgun on Gunbroker.

As stated on a Handgun forum topic about HKs, if Armslist had not changed, I gladly would have bought a .40 USP Compact listed on Armslist (no phone etc listed) in a somewhat nearby town.
Even Before this recent change to the website's policies, the majority of many handguns I freq. scan have remained there for months.

The A. website has probably become -- and it already seemed to be -- an "elephants' graveyard" for huge quantities of items, after the true scarcity (at reasonable prices for those who didn't plan ahead) became bulk ammo
Gunbroker choices must be growing by the day----

Waveski said:

I can’t prove it , but I’d bet that messages sent to sellers are down.

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For sure. It'll be proven in time when their traffic slows down massively and they decide what actually works for scams.

Apparently the scammers are paying the fee.
I'm still getting contacts that say they are about to be deployed to the space station as a door gunner. Just tell them where to send the funds, oh, and also my bank routing number.
Where do these guys come from, AND, do people really fall for it?
Local only sales for me.

Funny thing is you can still flag ads.

I've read through every single one of these posts...and cannot believe that no one mentioned GunBroker. It's a no brainer if you're looking to buy a gun! And now, I can't get 45 minutes of my life back!!! Get over it and move on. AL sucked and always has.

DoctorPDR said:

I've read through every single one of these posts...and cannot believe that no one mentioned GunBroker. It's a no brainer if you're looking to buy a gun! And now, I can't get 45 minutes of my life back!!! Get over it and move on. AL sucked and always has.

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As a seller there is a financial bonus to using Armslist. GunBroker takes a fee to facilitate your sale, Armslist didn’t used to. Even now the flat fee is probably cheaper than the sliding scale that GunBroker uses if you sell two or more guns.

If they would take away the fee for buyers to respond I will go back to Armslist.

And for that fee, you don't have to worry about scammers and such. Whenever something is FREE, typically there will be BS to put up with. I'll pay Gunbroker their fee to sell my guns...it's reasonable and worth it.

DoctorPDR said:

And for that fee, you don't have to worry about scammers and such. Whenever something is FREE, typically there will be BS to put up with. I'll pay Gunbroker their fee to sell my guns...it's reasonable and worth it.

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I don’t worry about scammers now. I’ve done a couple dozen Armslist transactions and haven’t been scammed once. Face to face in a public place during daylight hours has worked just fine for me.

Besides, you miss one of the big points of comparison between the two. GunBroker doesn’t charge their users a fee to bid.

DoctorPDR said:

And for that fee, you don't have to worry about scammers and such. Whenever something is FREE, typically there will be BS to put up with. I'll pay Gunbroker their fee to sell my guns...it's reasonable and worth it.

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I don't have a problem with Armslist charging users to sell their guns. That's no different than any other website or publication charging users to place an ad or Gunbroker charging sellers to use their site. What I do have a problem with and haven't seen before is Armslist charging buyers to contact sellers.

TomJ said:

I don't have a problem with Armslist charging users to sell their guns. That's no different than any other website or publication charging users to place an ad or Gunbroker charging sellers to use their site. What I do have a problem with and haven't seen before is Armslist charging buyers to contact sellers.

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Yes, users not being charged a fee is a given. Not sure I needed to mention that.

TomJ said:

I don't have a problem with Armslist charging users to sell their guns. That's no different than any other website or publication charging users to place an ad or Gunbroker charging sellers to use their site. What I do have a problem with and haven't seen before is Armslist charging buyers to contact sellers.

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Which is exactly why I won't use the AL service. I don't do face to face transactions anyway. I ship my guns to buyers.

Gunbroker is worth it for the money they charge their sellers. Just my humble opinion.

As a seller, I've been surfing my one remaining free listing for six weeks and three items now. After I sold the gun I had listed, I edited the description, pics, and price for a scope. Now that that's gone, I've done another edit for the ammo I'm selling. We'll see how long it keeps going before they shutdown all the grandfathered ones.

I’ve used both Armslist and Gunbroker. I’ve gotten better deals on Armslist buying from sellers within my state of residence. I dont pay shipping or transfer fees. I can inspect the gun on site and decide right there if it’s in the condition I want for the price I’m willing to pay. I can walk away from any sale if the firearm isn’t up to my specs.

Gunbroker has a better selection if I am after a specific gun.

Since AL went "pay per view" I thought I'd give Wisconsin Gun Classifieds a whirl. The site does not seem to function --- I posted an ad , looked for it later and it was not there. So I tried registering , went through the entire process twice - each time a got to the screen that says "thanks for registering , you will receive an activation email" , but that email never came. Next day I tried emailing the site , but I got an "undeliverable" notice.

Anyone know what's going on there?

TomJ said: "What I do have a problem with and haven't seen before is Armslist charging buyers to contact sellers".

Exactly!

This is the "bs" about the new, Peoples' Demokratik Armslist in a nutshell.
How secure is one's financial data given to the New Armslist against potential hackers?

I just bought two handguns (both 3rd. Gen. S&W) on Gunbroker last week because of this petty "nickel and diming".
Gunbroker has allowed, and still allows Free Contact with a seller, accomplished from a link seen with the listed item.

I will not pay a recurring fee to contact sellers and buy. Gunbroker must LOVE this tack of Armslist to charge buyers... I bet they have seen an uptick in listings and sales.

I don't mind ads. It keeps things free. I still listen to the radio. I also wouldn't mind $3 a month to sell. But the buyers paying is a bad idea.

Doesn't ebay make money off the sellers? Newspaper charges to put ad in too. So not like it is crazy idea.

I just tried to create an account to sell, and found no new acounts. Going under for legal battles? Even if decreased traffic, its a good time to sell guns.

People bad mouthing armslist. But I found it a great way to buy locally. I don't want to ship or deal with FFL. It reached a lot of people. Maybe some states have forums that work. But I haven't seen that in my area.

I did think it went down hill went the power search changed, and you couldn't narrow it down.

Used AL to buy and sell locally never an issue. Now to pay a month fee just to browse and contact is asinine. Charge a flat $5 fee to list. I would never give them my CC info, who knows how long they are going to be around anyway? My guess not long, its a business model for failure.

Sometimes I think I am old five and dimer, and don't realize what things cost. But you don't get anything for a few bucks a year. Seller paying for an ad, seems like an old fashioned idea, that I am still ok with.

I was ok with $3 a month. I only planned on selling a couple things. So for me it would be similar to pay by ad. Like I said I think the mistake is make buyer pay, that is an odd concept. Though I think it works for tinder.