Is this a scam....

If the seller will not meet Face to Face at a local FFL then tell him to pound sand! Something to me says he is pocketing some of the shipping charges to pad his pocket a little more!
Every transaction I have made on GB, I have been able to speak with the buyer/seller.Even the time i was ripped off!

if you didn't get the sellers permision to do a FTF before bidding you have no right to expect to do one now.
send the guy his money or at the very least cover his auction fees if you back out.

Click to expand...

Spot on.

I've had people do this on eBay, they win the auction then say they live close and they'll swing by or meet me. You set these things up BEFORE bidding.

Shadow 7D um, that might be, but explain that it is less expensive for you to drive there, and you would be happy to meet him, then refer him to the part where that is INTERSTATE transfers....

Click to expand...

It's not up to the OP to tell the seller how to consummate the deal. The seller clearly said what was required in his listing......Shipping $30.

If the OP didn't like that he should not have purchased.

mptrimshop ....it's the $65 extra that is the problem.... $485 is not the right price....

Click to expand...

Then why on earth did you buy it?

Shadow 7D Right
that would be the email he sent.... before it closed
you might want to do a search
could be he sold 'to himself' to get a rating and bait bigger fish.

Click to expand...

If you click on the auction link above it shows you the sellers feedback.
Selling to himself? Doubtful.

Nushif: ...it is not entirely clear as to whether the FFL was required before the buyer hit the proverbial "Buy Now" button.
I'd be pretty darned peeved if I hit a button that said I'm willing to spend 350 bucks and the guy decides last second to add 65 extra bucks to the equation which he promptly assumes *I* am going to absorb.
There does seem to be a bit of ambiguity here as to what is actually planned.

Click to expand...

Did you read the listing? There isn't anything ambiguous at all.....the seller clearly stated that shipping was $30.....not $65. And the buyer knew that.

Sebastian the Ibis This seems awfully suspicious to me. In my humble experience only scam artists will not speak with you on the phone. Meeting at his FFL with cash to transfer seems reasonable to me.

Click to expand...

Imagine you are the seller.....you have an A+(48) feedback rating as a buyer and seller. The buyer......with ZERO FEEDBACK...bids and wins your auction. Then asks if you would do a FTF. I would be more suspicious of a buyer with zero feedback than one with four dozen positive feedbacks.

3daman! If the seller will not meet Face to Face at a local FFL then tell him to pound sand! Something to me says he is pocketing some of the shipping charges to pad his pocket a little more!...

Click to expand...

The seller is not obligated to meet the buyer FTF....his listing clearly shows his $30 shipping fee. WHICH by the way.......is EXTREMELY reasonable. I doubt you have any experience in shipping handguns.......and I doubt the seller does either since handguns cannot ship Ground.

A scam on his part? Not too likely, with his good rating and other recent sales history. A weak excuse because he doesn't want to deal with FTF transactions? Maybe, but then it's not his responsibility to make things easier and cheaper for you after the auction is over. He may well be thinking you're the possible scam now - an unrated buyer trying to convince him to change his policy after the auction closed. Bluntly, the onus is on you to follow through with the sale after you agreed to the terms by placing a bid.

Unfortunately you've just learned an expensive bidding lesson. You emailed him earlier in the auction run (as you should have) with a question that he didn't reply to - you could have (actually should have) chosen not to bid because you didn't receive a satisfactory response. You know what happens when you assume....

Is it a reasonable request from you to meet at his FFL to do the transfer through the FFL because you're so close? Sure, but it's not reasonable to expect him to do it, especially when that option was not plainly agreed to prior to your placing a bid. Everything else is immaterial - the new cost from Bud's, the (unplanned) extra costs or hassles to you, the laws and procedures regarding FTF inter-state transfers in IL, yadda-yadda-yadda.

If you decide to back out because you failed to consider all the costs and assumed pick-up options that weren't confirmed before bidding, then be ready to accept the negative feedback for being a non-paying bidder, along with the possibility of fewer sellers willing to deal with you in the future due to your poor feedback. To nuke the seller's good rating simply because he won't agree to your alternative terms after the end of the auction would be a very low and despicable action.

You won, you pay! You're assuming allot that the seller is a scam artist because he won't meet you! Follow through on your end of the bargain by completing the sale according to the terms of the auction!

No, it's not a scam. His terms are reasonable. He wants to cover his backside, and living in IL, no reasonable person could blame him.

Your request was also reasonable, but he is not obliged to honor it. And it's not $65 you are quibbling over, because you will pay the FFL transfer fee one way or the other. It's $30, which is a very reasonable shipping cost...and between gas for 45 minutes (each way) trip plus your time, you aren't "out" much at all.

You could find out which FFL he is using to ship it, then use that FFL to transfer it to you. You pay him, he drops the gun off at the dealer, you swing in and get it transferred to you. It would at least save you shipping costs.

FWIW, you did buy it. You should have asked if FTF at a dealer would be OK before you bid. I don't think he's trying to scam you.

do you feel me meeting him at his FFL is out of line?

Click to expand...

Completely within reason. The seller is going to drop it off at his FFL for transfer and shipping anyways. I can completely understand that he would be leery of meeting someone at his home for a transfer but there should be no reason that he wouldn't want to meet at his FFL.

Keep in mind, if both of you are in Illinois, all you have to do is exchange gun, FOID, & DL info and the deal is done as long as the info is kept for 10 years by everyone. You guys can meet at the range to complete the transaction and bypass the FFL altogether but of course both parties have to agree.

If the seller is an ffl wouldnt he just be mailing it to the ffl the buyer provides? If so, why would he want to waste his time and money for a ftf?

Don't know about a scam, but you should have verified info instead of assuming BEFORE you bid and locked the deal. Sounds like if you'd talked to the guy
beforehand, you might have been considering buying new opposed to what happened.

The only reason I know is I screwed up even worse a little while ago.

I'm reluctant about FTFs myself. If I sell through a FFL and the buyer's a loon,

I don't have to deal with remorse, the state does.

Ah gees. A zero feedback buyer wanting to renegotiate the terms of the sale after the fact. Learn from your mistake. Send the check. Ask before next time.

You bid on the gun and won. It's now time to pay for the gun.

Click to expand...

+1


I use Gunbroker and before I bid I double check all the details, shipping, tax, FFL. Payment expected.
If I have a question, I ask. If I get no response, I move on.
If I'm the high bid, I immediately e-mail the seller and tell him what I'm going to do, then I do exactly that.
If I were the seller, I'd expect no less.
I've never had a problem.

The transaction sounds an awful lot like the script to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pointblank4445#p/u/3/klzZsv3D8Fg

I've used GB several times to buy, and I've considered selling there as well. But there is NO WAY I'm inviting random nut cakes off the internet over to my home for Face to Face transactions...

Nor am I interested in meeting at McDonalds or IHOP with gun in tow to conduct F2F....

You may just be trying to save a buck, but to him, you're a gang banger who wants to rob his gun filled house or mug him at the meeting place.

FYI, GB knows who you really are, and once they kick you off the sight for failure to meet the terms of auction agreements you agreed to, you can't just sign up under a different e-mail address and screen name. I think you can kiss GB goodbye if you default.

Glad you got it worked out mptrimshop. Living in the socialist state of Illinois, I do understand the sellers reluctance to do a FTF. As big as I am, and as many firearms as I possess, I am still leery to say the least of a FTF deal simply because we can not legally carry here. Meeting someone that you have no clue about during a transaction of a firearm can be a bit disconcerting when you have no real legal way of defending yourself. In todays world, you can't be TOO careful and I fully and completely understand the sellers reluctance. I also understand your point as well about the shipping part. Why pay 30 bucks to UPS to drive the thing around the hub. Makes no sense.

Better hope his favorite round isn't mine. .338 Lapua

glad it worked out...

If I were him I'd be afraid of you scamming me. Or setting me up for a crime. He has 48 positive transactions and you have none (zero).

You sound nervous, maybe cause this is your first time. Next time ask more questions before you bid. If you don't get a response from the seller, then just don't bid. When you agree to buy the gun you also agree to the shipping cost and the transfer fees.

dogtown tom said:

Was it impossible to ask these questions PRIOR to purchasing the gun?

If you bid or buy from an online auction you are obligated to follow through. Bailing on the deal now will probably result in negative feedback.....and it would be deserved. When you click "Buy Now" you are agreeing to the sellers offer.

What Bud's sells the gun for is immaterial......you chose to buy the one you saw on GunBroker. Why did you not do the math before buying?

It's not a scam, but it does reek of buyers remorse and a buyer looking for an excuse to crawfish.

Click to expand...

I agree mostly with dogtown. Probably not a scam but being a used gun the condition is a mystery. I usually have a minimum of two dozen active auctions and to minimize problems I only sell new-in-box guns online. I allow people to come to the store if they wish, but Gunbroker Fees must be paid.

I agree. You setup this situation when you agreed to the printed terms on the GB page. However, you may still be able to satisfy both parties.

If you can drive to him, then you can also drive to his FFL. Find out which FFL he intends to ship from, then inform that FFL he'll also be the "ship to". You can then take good old American cash to the FFL and pick up the gun.

In that way there is no shipping for you, and the seller can remain anonymous if he wishes.

Glad everything turned out ok. But next time ask questions plenty of time in advance.