Armslist no longer free.....

So....you need to pay to get ripped-off now?

Mine opens with a small box asking if I want to upgrade my account. I just hit the cancel button inside that little box. No pay wall and got right into my account.

jonnyc said:

So....you need to pay to get ripped-off now?

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I have been using armslist for a couple of years. It is like craigslist for gun stuff and requires all the same precautions on my end and attracts all the same idiots on their end. If you're getting ripped off as a seller or a buyer perhaps it isn't your venue to buy and sell things.

kidneyboy said:

Mine opens with a small box asking if I want to upgrade my account. I just hit the cancel button inside that little box. No pay wall and got right into my account.

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You can sign in to your account, browse the site and send messages to sellers but you can't post a for sale add without paying.

jonnyc said:

So....you need to pay to get ripped-off now?

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I've bought and sold a couple dozen firearms on Armslist over the years and have yet to get "ripped off". Had a bunch of people try, but they're very easy to spot. If you get scammed on a site like that it's your fault, not theirs.

There is no way I'm paying Armslist for the Privilege of getting bombarded by ads. I cannot access my listings nor can I contact any sellers

kidneyboy said:

Mine opens with a small box asking if I want to upgrade my account. I just hit the cancel button inside that little box. No pay wall and got right into my account.

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Just tried it. I have a free account already, I get the same popup box, but when I hit the "Cancel" button, it just takes me back to the listing itself.

bearcreek said:

You can sign in to your account, browse the site and send messages to sellers but you can't post a for sale add without paying.

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Will give that a try a little later today. To be honest I wouldn't mind paying a small fee for placing ads. It's been a pretty successful buy/sell/trade platform for me.

That’s very recent. I had a gun listed there about 2 months ago and had no paywalls pop up. Hopefully this will push some of the scammers away.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Ya, its a nominal fee and it gos to a good cause, IMO. Still cheaper than paying the admission fee at a show these days.

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Back in the old days you had to pay to put ads in the newspaper (and list your phone number).........

Appears a recent change, I don't recall receiving email on policy change. Now they want to charge $3.99, or $6.99 if credit card, monthly fee for personal account. I don't mind they charge a fee for listing but not recurring monthly fee while I don't sell much. Once majority of occasional individual sellers are gone, they have only vendors left, folks are not going there to look and buy, and Armslist will be history!

bearcreek said:

You can sign in to your account, browse the site and send messages to sellers but you can't post a for sale add without paying.

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I'm unable to contact sellers as of this morning. It's seems the new pay "feature" is aimed at both those creating listing and those that are buying. I'd be OK paying a nominal fee for a listing (not a subscription though), but I'm not paying
$50 a year just to browse armslist and maybe buy a gun or two.

I have a feeing they are hacked, or the owner is brain dead to change to a business model going to fail and totally lose credibility. They should open to free contacting sellers and free limited # of listings per month.

I can contact sellers but I can’t access my favorites.

I think it’s reasonable to pay if you want to sell, but I don’t think I’m willing to pay just to browse.

EDIT: I can contact vendors, but not private sellers. I think Armslist just murdered their business. I’m not going to pay to list a gun if only other paying members can contact me about it.

Paying to contact seller's is a terrible idea. If that is true it will be dead to me. Imagine if you had to pay to bid on eBay. That's where the sellers go because that's where the buyers go because that's where the sellers go. Viewership will drop to zero.

Paying to post is understandable if it were per listing and not a monthly subscription. Craigslist started to charge for motorcycle listings and I didn't realize it until I complained how boring the market had become.

I don't buy or sell enough in Armslist to pay monthly, I'll just remove it from my bookmarks and be done with it. This could explain why I've had no offers in my recent listing as well.

I just tried contacting a seller and can not do so without upgrading my account. Charing sellers is understandable. Charging potential buyers is a non-starter for me. Their explanation:

Dear Armslist User,
I hope all is well.
You may be finding yourself having some difficulty navigating the site. We thank you for your patience as we upgrade our infrastructure in an effort to reduce scams, and improve the overall user experience. As you may know, we are facing yet another lawsuit from the anti-gunners at Brady United. In an effort to offset the mounting legal costs, we have created a new paid account type: The Premium Personal Program. While it's still in it's early stages, our roadmap for the program includes some exciting new characteristics for our users including exclusive discounts, exclusive deals, and a plethora of new site and account features in the months to come. If you'd like to give it a try, click here. You still are able and always will be able to browse the site for free.
Thank you again for your continued patience and support as we experience these growing pains. We hope to offer a vastly improved experience soon.
Best,
J. Gibbon

It seems as if whoever is running Armslist has made it their mission to kill the site. Everything done recently has made it less user friendly, and this last move to a pay-only site will be the final nail in the coffin.

So, who's going to be the new alternative?

Never seen a good deal on armslist, and I never ship guns. I use texasguntrader for my deals.

kidneyboy said:

Will give that a try a little later today. To be honest I wouldn't mind paying a small fee for placing ads. It's been a pretty successful buy/sell/trade platform for me.

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Agreed. They are offering a service. Hosting and bandwidth aren't free.
I've sold a couple things through them and been pretty happy. A few bucks to unload items I no longer use doesn't bother me.

Yeah they will be gone in a year or two. Can not contact any seller without paying. Good news is the ruger ec9 I'm look at. The gentleman left his phone number. Just texted him. Failing that GON.COM it is.

I guess there is always the old standby of listing lead propulsion devices on Craigslist.
or offering cash trades for 2nd Amendment friendly items.

bassjam said:

I'm unable to contact sellers as of this morning. It's seems the new pay "feature" is aimed at both those creating listing and those that are buying. I'd be OK paying a nominal fee for a listing (not a subscription though), but I'm not paying
$50 a year just to browse armslist and maybe buy a gun or two.


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You're right. I could contact sellers this morning but now I can't. They must have been in the process of changing that. Definitely a poor business move on their part.