Bidgunner.com

[45_auto]

I would be disappointed with my favorite stationary supplier if I found out he was selling letterhead to the Brady Campaign.

Nothing wrong with that, luckily it's still a free country.

Neither enterprise is illegal, but I find both distasteful.

If enough people felt the way you do and used their freedom of choice to buy stationary elsewhere, he would either stop selling to the Brady Campaign or go out of business. Feel free to do the same with Bud's.

I'm sure that the Brady bunch is disappointed that people are selling you guns. If enough of the population feels that way, they'll get people to stop selling you guns. I personally believe that it's in our best interests to promote as many legal gun sales as possible. If people want to waste their money trying to buy them through penny auctions, that's their choice.

 

[beatledog7]

I don't support penny auction sites with my dollars, but I support their right to exist within applicable laws. I do at times support Bud's with my dollars, and I support their decision to do business with any and all legal buyers of its products.

The Hess station where I buy gasoline (at consistently the lowest price in the area) sells gasoline to whomever rolls up to the pump with cash or a credit card. Can anyone think of a reason why it should not?

 

[45_auto]

I don't support penny auction sites with my dollars, but I support their right to exist within applicable laws. I do at times support Bud's with my dollars, and I support their decision to do business with any and all legal buyers of its products.

Well said, Beatledog7!

 

[JohnBT]

I don't support penny auctions or payday lenders with my dollars because they're both real good ways to waste money. It's a shame some people feel a need to deal with them. But then again, some people spend hundreds of dollars on lottery tickets thinking it's a smart way to get ahead.

But maybe they saved a lot of money shopping at the Hess station. I'm still trying to figure out why Hess got dragged into this discussion.

John

 

[Elkins45]

I personally believe that it's in our best interests to promote as many legal gun sales as possible. If people want to waste their money trying to buy them through penny auctions, that's their choice.

Of course it's their choice, but it's not a smart one. I'm not advocating for banning these types of sites, but I do think they do the firearms community a disservice by giving the less informed a new place to throw their money away.

Besides, I reject your premise that this will cause MORE guns to be sold. I can't see someone who wasn't previously in the market for a gun stumbling across Bidgunner.com by accident and saying to himself "Hey, never thought about buying a gun before....think I'll sign up on this penny auction site!". In fact, I predict widespread acceptance of such sites will LOWER the amount of guns sold. Think about it: all the losing bidders who spend money on buying 'bid credits' could otherwise have spent that money buying their own guns.

 

[mgmorden]

You guys don't think Bud's should sell guns to bidgunner????

I don't think it's a matter of them selling the guns - it's that they're promoting it.

If you told me that Sarah Brady herself walked into Buds and they willingly sold her a gun I wouldn't care - she's a customer, they're a business.

If they posted an article to Facebook stating that they are now the sole supplier of firearms to their "friend and partner" Sarah Brady then that would be a completely different matter.

Penny auction sites are largely a scam that prey upon those too foolish to understand them. I prefer to see business flourish based on mutual gain on behalf of both the seller and customer. They aren't illegal, but they certainly are SHADY, and I must say that I'm dissappointed to see Bud's associate themselves with this. I'll also say that just as it's their legal decision to support this, it's my legal decision to not purchase from them as long as they continue promoting this (note that I say promoting - I don't care if they sell them guns - just don't put up articles, banners, or other ads for the site or I consider them doing a lot more than just selling them guns). I'm just as happy to buy from CDNN or CheaperThanDirt or any of the many other online retailers.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

I sent the following:

Hello,

I just signed up figuring a prominent business such as yours would have only used a good outlet for its products. Say, a traditional online auction such as Gunbroker would have been an excellent idea!

I looked forward to buying and selling.

Imagine my disappointment when I learned that this is a penny “auction”. I would not have thought this of your business. Smith-Sights will not be participating in any scams such as this, and I sincerely hope you rethink your position as well. The gun community at large is similarly shocked.

I very much hope you don’t lose business due to this new endeavor, but fear you may.

Regards,

I put the business behind this. I feel that strongly against penny "auctions" -- and I do have some experience with them.

You are gambling on a chance to win. It's really no more than a raffle and should be promoted as such. As is, penny auctions screw people. That's really the long and short of it.

I signed up to see exactly what it was. Figured maybe it was different. I just couldn't see Bud's going with a traditional penny raffle.

I was disappointed.

I don't tell folks how to run their businesses. That's unethical in my view. However, I will not be participating in the scam nor will I be doing any further business with Bud's so long as they're affiliated in any way with penny scams.

Pay your money, get the product. Don't use any service that confuses the elderly, gullible, or the young. It's honest and straightforward. Deal with your customers one-on-one, no matter how much time that may take. It takes honest sweat to do this, but if you have any morals at all you feel better at the end of the day.

Sorry for my rant, folks. Just something I feel very strongly about.

Regards,

Josh

 

[mrvco]

None of the 1-bid winners need be legitimate auctions, they can be outright fakes, "won" by shill-bidders or whatever. However, a big part of the business model (and marketing budget) for these sites is letting some amazing deals go when they get are getting started so "regular folks" will "win", chat up the site on Internet Message Boards such as this one and generate the volume of bidders required for these clowns to become profitable.

Bud's can do whatever they want, but associating themselves with such sleazy operations that prey on the weak-minded can't be good for their reputation in the long run.

 

[Jeremiah10:23]

I am just glad that someone put this on here. I have seen penny auctions and never would do anything with them because I did not understand how they worked.

I was always taught "if it seems to good to be true...it usually is not true."

 

[needmorecowbell]

I've been disappointed in their price hikes the last couple of months too. Not really sure it's worth ordering from them anymore. I can seem to find things local now for as good as prices if not better. I think they're cashing in on the election hysteria and shortages. I can't blame them, this is America and economics are simply supply and demand, but I'll buy local if same price.

 

[Art Eatman]

That there has been clear explanation of how penny auctions work is very good. Trouble is, there has been way too much harumphing about them, which is a waste of bandwidth.