I originally created this post in response to another thread but decided it might be useful to have a single topic devoted specifically for the discussion of Armslist.com whether it be good, bad, or ugly.
Here are some general guidelines I've come up with after doing 8 or so gun deals (mostly selling):
1. If you ship something, they had better pay first. I shipped mags after receiving payment by paypal, and all was fine. I probably wouldn't buy anything out of state though. I like to hold the cards on a deal because I know what my intentions are.
2. Cheap guns will sell much, much faster than others even if there are good deals on higher end ones. I guess it makes sense that many people don't always have 600+ dollars to spend but all of my guns that I've sold there that were <$350 got sold within the week. I could sell a more expensive gun at the same % off of new price and it would take 3 weeks. The exception to this was when I sold my Ruger SR1911.
3. Meet someplace public, but not too public. I normally meet in gunstore parking lots, so that a firearm in the open doesn't result in the police being called. Barring a gunstore, my next choice is a parking lot of a big-box chain store so that you can park in an empty corner away from people but still be out in the open.
4. Consider taking a buddy. Many people that I have met have brought a friend with them. Normally that extra person just hangs out in their car. That's a good way to discourage any funny stuff while not coming off as intimidating. Carry if you can of course.
5. Consider leaving a phone number in the ad. For some reason I get way more interest in ads where I've listed my phone number. Obviously, you will have to decide for yourself if you're comfortable with this. I use a go-phone so there's little risk for me. People generally seem more willing to text than email.
6. Before going to meet the person, state in explicitly clear terms what you are selling and how much you are selling it for. Example: "Okay, just to recap you're buying my Sig P226 9mm with holster and 3 magazines for $550." I've never had an issue with meeting anyone after I've laid out exactly the terms of the deal. A friend of mine has been in the position of a guy showing up and trying to lowball on the spot, and wasting his time and gas.
7. If someone is shady, you'll probably know it by the way they communicate. Extreme shorthand texts or requests such as "send pics" that come across as demands are enough to cause me to cease contact with that individual. I have never done deals with people who do not have a solid grasp on spelling and punctuation, or who come across as rude or strange in any way. I have yet to make any kind of a deal with someone who I was nervous about as a result of this.
8. Be courteous, polite, and have a plan to eliminate anyone you meet. Most meetings last only a couple of minutes but I will always turn off my vehicle and remove the keys. I will also ask lots of questions to keep the other person talking and mentally invested in the conversation. It's generally more difficult to concentrate on planning any kind of action if you're being thrown through mental hoops trying to logically answer the questions of a chatty seller/buyer. I will almost always mention that I'm a former Marine in order to put a good buyer/seller at ease and to potentially discourage anyone from attempting anything bad.
9. Everyone loves feeling like they got a deal. I normally don't mention some kind of small extra so that it's a surprise bonus for the buyer. In the past this has been ammo, mags, holsters etc. I will normally throw these in when the buyer travels to meet me just as a courtesy. 50 rounds of ammo will rarely make or break someone's decision to buy when they view your listing, but tossing it in at the end can make someone's day.
10. Do not be shy about counting the money a couple of times. I will generally state that I'm doing so for their peace of mind as much as my own so that I can't argue later that they shorted me. I have yet to meet someone who was offended by this.
11. When you spot a good deal, jump on it. A simple "I'll take it" works well without making it seem like your mouth is watering. I will never try to underbid an already good asking price in hopes of turning a deal into a steal. It hurts their impression of you and the seller may decide that they don't want to sell to you even if you later agree to their asking price. I have refused to sell to people when I was clearly taking a hit on selling a gun because they first tried to lowball me.
12. When I make an offer on a gun that is priced too high, I will simply add that I understand that it is lower than the asking value and simply state that my offer stands for a certain period of time. This gives the seller a little more power because they can decide to accept or decline at their leisure. they can even wait to see what other offers they get before taking any action at all, and in the end they're much more likely to come back to your offer if it is phrased that way, since it doesn't look like they've become desperate.
13. Anything that is too good to be true, is. $1,000 is the magic number for scams since that is the max amount for one postal money order. If the item is fairly rare, many times you can search that item in gunbroker and find the listing that the scammer has copied from the website. Also, clicking the "other listings by this user" link will generally show multiple guns listed in multiple states. No matter how tempting it may be, do not fall prey to these people. Generally they will ask you to send a postal money order and say that they'll overnight the gun to your ffl once they get payment.
14. Take advantage of the people fishing for suckers! Do this by asking fair value for your gun up front. In my experience, a 10-15% reduction from the new price is sufficient for a used gun. A fair price begins to look like a steal when everyone else is trying to make back every red cent they paid including the sales tax. Also, I typically spend much less time and effort into getting something sold if I'm willing to sell it just below my ideal price. Dealing with phone calls and emails and texts for a week sometimes isn't worth the extra 50 bucks you might squeeze out of something.
15. Armslist can be a little bit like women who do online dating; some of the time a gun posted there really isn't for sale, it's just trying to see what people are willing to pay, and possibly holding onto the faint hope that a supermodel multimillionaire will take interest (i.e. that "gunshow sucker" that everyone seems to be hoping for. Poor guy, I would think he's almost broke by now). That's just the way things go when they're non-committal.
16. It is always advisable to know your local laws pertaining to firearm transfers. a CC permit is a great "not a felon" test. Trust your instincts and act on them. Know the limits of your responsibility when it comes to ensuring your buyer/seller is a lawful one. Clearly, most of us can't call into NICS and run people's background and many of us would rather not anyway, but make sure that you take proper measures to keep yourself on the right side of the law.
17. Some people like bills of sale, and when buying I will happily sign one. I will not give my address however. If the seller requires more than my proven name then they can have my DL number, which most people can't make use of in and of itself. I have never required a bill of sale personally, because as a non-notarized document it has very little legal standing. Clearly, the choice here is your to make.
That was a little long-winded, but should serve as a good starting point for those who are not familiar with this (potentially) great gun finding/selling resource.
Any other advice? Good or bad experiences? Horror stories?!?!
Here are some general guidelines I've come up with after doing 8 or so gun deals (mostly selling):
1. If you ship something, they had better pay first. I shipped mags after receiving payment by paypal, and all was fine. I probably wouldn't buy anything out of state though. I like to hold the cards on a deal because I know what my intentions are.
2. Cheap guns will sell much, much faster than others even if there are good deals on higher end ones. I guess it makes sense that many people don't always have 600+ dollars to spend but all of my guns that I've sold there that were <$350 got sold within the week. I could sell a more expensive gun at the same % off of new price and it would take 3 weeks. The exception to this was when I sold my Ruger SR1911.
3. Meet someplace public, but not too public. I normally meet in gunstore parking lots, so that a firearm in the open doesn't result in the police being called. Barring a gunstore, my next choice is a parking lot of a big-box chain store so that you can park in an empty corner away from people but still be out in the open.
4. Consider taking a buddy. Many people that I have met have brought a friend with them. Normally that extra person just hangs out in their car. That's a good way to discourage any funny stuff while not coming off as intimidating. Carry if you can of course.
5. Consider leaving a phone number in the ad. For some reason I get way more interest in ads where I've listed my phone number. Obviously, you will have to decide for yourself if you're comfortable with this. I use a go-phone so there's little risk for me. People generally seem more willing to text than email.
6. Before going to meet the person, state in explicitly clear terms what you are selling and how much you are selling it for. Example: "Okay, just to recap you're buying my Sig P226 9mm with holster and 3 magazines for $550." I've never had an issue with meeting anyone after I've laid out exactly the terms of the deal. A friend of mine has been in the position of a guy showing up and trying to lowball on the spot, and wasting his time and gas.
7. If someone is shady, you'll probably know it by the way they communicate. Extreme shorthand texts or requests such as "send pics" that come across as demands are enough to cause me to cease contact with that individual. I have never done deals with people who do not have a solid grasp on spelling and punctuation, or who come across as rude or strange in any way. I have yet to make any kind of a deal with someone who I was nervous about as a result of this.
8. Be courteous, polite, and have a plan to eliminate anyone you meet. Most meetings last only a couple of minutes but I will always turn off my vehicle and remove the keys. I will also ask lots of questions to keep the other person talking and mentally invested in the conversation. It's generally more difficult to concentrate on planning any kind of action if you're being thrown through mental hoops trying to logically answer the questions of a chatty seller/buyer. I will almost always mention that I'm a former Marine in order to put a good buyer/seller at ease and to potentially discourage anyone from attempting anything bad.
9. Everyone loves feeling like they got a deal. I normally don't mention some kind of small extra so that it's a surprise bonus for the buyer. In the past this has been ammo, mags, holsters etc. I will normally throw these in when the buyer travels to meet me just as a courtesy. 50 rounds of ammo will rarely make or break someone's decision to buy when they view your listing, but tossing it in at the end can make someone's day.
10. Do not be shy about counting the money a couple of times. I will generally state that I'm doing so for their peace of mind as much as my own so that I can't argue later that they shorted me. I have yet to meet someone who was offended by this.
11. When you spot a good deal, jump on it. A simple "I'll take it" works well without making it seem like your mouth is watering. I will never try to underbid an already good asking price in hopes of turning a deal into a steal. It hurts their impression of you and the seller may decide that they don't want to sell to you even if you later agree to their asking price. I have refused to sell to people when I was clearly taking a hit on selling a gun because they first tried to lowball me.
12. When I make an offer on a gun that is priced too high, I will simply add that I understand that it is lower than the asking value and simply state that my offer stands for a certain period of time. This gives the seller a little more power because they can decide to accept or decline at their leisure. they can even wait to see what other offers they get before taking any action at all, and in the end they're much more likely to come back to your offer if it is phrased that way, since it doesn't look like they've become desperate.
13. Anything that is too good to be true, is. $1,000 is the magic number for scams since that is the max amount for one postal money order. If the item is fairly rare, many times you can search that item in gunbroker and find the listing that the scammer has copied from the website. Also, clicking the "other listings by this user" link will generally show multiple guns listed in multiple states. No matter how tempting it may be, do not fall prey to these people. Generally they will ask you to send a postal money order and say that they'll overnight the gun to your ffl once they get payment.
14. Take advantage of the people fishing for suckers! Do this by asking fair value for your gun up front. In my experience, a 10-15% reduction from the new price is sufficient for a used gun. A fair price begins to look like a steal when everyone else is trying to make back every red cent they paid including the sales tax. Also, I typically spend much less time and effort into getting something sold if I'm willing to sell it just below my ideal price. Dealing with phone calls and emails and texts for a week sometimes isn't worth the extra 50 bucks you might squeeze out of something.
15. Armslist can be a little bit like women who do online dating; some of the time a gun posted there really isn't for sale, it's just trying to see what people are willing to pay, and possibly holding onto the faint hope that a supermodel multimillionaire will take interest (i.e. that "gunshow sucker" that everyone seems to be hoping for. Poor guy, I would think he's almost broke by now). That's just the way things go when they're non-committal.
16. It is always advisable to know your local laws pertaining to firearm transfers. a CC permit is a great "not a felon" test. Trust your instincts and act on them. Know the limits of your responsibility when it comes to ensuring your buyer/seller is a lawful one. Clearly, most of us can't call into NICS and run people's background and many of us would rather not anyway, but make sure that you take proper measures to keep yourself on the right side of the law.
17. Some people like bills of sale, and when buying I will happily sign one. I will not give my address however. If the seller requires more than my proven name then they can have my DL number, which most people can't make use of in and of itself. I have never required a bill of sale personally, because as a non-notarized document it has very little legal standing. Clearly, the choice here is your to make.
That was a little long-winded, but should serve as a good starting point for those who are not familiar with this (potentially) great gun finding/selling resource.
Any other advice? Good or bad experiences? Horror stories?!?!
