Buying from online auction sites like Gunbroker?

[tamaneko]

Not quite sure if this belongs here, but it is gun-related, so anyway...

Often there's a lot of seemingly good deals from sellers who are new to Gunbroker and have no feedback. There's one in particular that only accept checks as a payment method. Is it too risky to purchase from this new seller, and what can I do if the seller just cashes my check and never sends the item I purchased?

 

[gunman42782]

As in all things, buyer beware. I will not buy from someone with no feedback, just as I will not buy from anyone that just joins a forum and his first post is trying to sell something. A tad too risky for my blood. Stick with established sellers with good feedback.

 

[mekender]

pre arrange with a seller that you will pay via either a real CC... not a check card... and make sure that the CC company will 100% back up online purchases against fraud

or

insist on paying via USPS money order... USPS orders unlike other money orders are backed by the investigative powers to the postal inspectors... the feds tend to frown on postal fraud a whole lot...

ive insisted on paying with USPS money orders in the past and informed the seller that it was for everyones security because of the federal backing... most people are fine with that... only had one person balk at it actually, and that was a deal i was kinda unsure of in the first place because the seller was in the EU (ebay)

 

[skipjack_1st]

The transactions I've had with GunBroker have been positive. Haven't sold there as of yet. From my searches, it seems to be one of the better 'auction' sites.

 

[atblis]

Yeah

I treat it just like Ebay. If somebody doesn't have 100% ratings, I take a good look at their feedback. If it is a discrepancy over the condition of the firearm or something similar and they have more than one negative, definitely not buying from them.

 

[Eric F]

Like mentioned earlier if you can not contact the seller by phone or email avoid them. I like paying with american express because they have a great dispute policy.

 

[marcodelat]

Well... I've had nothing but 100% good on both GBrk and AArms... using Money Orders and personal checks too. (as: marcodelat on these sites)

This is a whole lot more than I can say of experiences on eBay and their Pay Pal's "Buyer Protection" scam.

 

[rocinante]

I have exceptional results buying on gunbroker. No complaints or rips. knock on wood. I too am leary of the sellers with low or no feedback.

 

[SaxonPig]

Life is a gamble. There is always the possibility of getting ripped off.

As said before I would be cautious of new sellers (although everyone is new at one time and doesn't mean they are shady) and sellers demanding strange things (like checks only which strikes me as odd).

Stick with sellers with at least 20 transactions and no more than 1 gripe per 25 sales (you can't please everyone). Know ALL costs up front before bidding. Make sure you have an FFL lined up before bidding on a gun. Make sure he will accept shipments from unlicensed shippers if that's what the seller wants to do.

Good luck and good hunting.

 

[hotpig]

Its always a gamble. It makes me feel better if I contact them by phone. Many want payment by check or money order. This is so that they do not have to pay fees for accepting plastic. You can offer to pay the fees, it may be your best option some times.

Paying by USPS Money Order is not really any safer than Western Union. The hand full of postal Inspectors we have do not have time to mess with the thousands of on line bad deal complaints they receive every week.

You can get them to make a threatening call for you if you follow their long drawn out procedure. It will help if there are multiple people filing complaints on this person and the complaints are for a lot of money. Not just a few hundred bucks.

The last lady that I know of from Ebay got people for 7k in a ten day period using Pay Pal. After weeks of chasing paper the Inspectors called her and threatened to cut off her USPS Service until she called the complainants and made restitution.

She made restitution with in a few months. She even offered to use her brand new Paypal Account to do it. So much for PayPals buyer protection.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

I never had a problem using E-bay or Gunbroker. Use common sense when buying of course. Do understand that everything is "rare" "vintage" You will find that detailed descriptions of products are what you are looking for. Communicate with the seller beforehand. Like I said I have had Zero problems. Online auctions will swallow up the gullibles but what won't. There are deals to be had even with the shipping. Kull and suplica comes to mind.