Gunbroker and Auctionarms are not as good as ebay

[R.W.Dale]

I don't know where ya'll get that Gunbroker doesn't charge listing fees. They most do charge to list an item as well as charger a final value fee.

What they DO NOT charge is RELISTING fees. That's why you see the same overpriced crap cycled through the system for years on end. With no charge to relist sellers basically troll through time and cyberspace for free hoping to snag a sucker.

 

[First Shirt]

I've bought several firearms and related items on Gunbroker, always with excellent results. Most times, I'm looking for something oddball, that I'm not likely to find in a small-town store, so it works well for me.
And just bought my first item from Auction Arms, and that seems to be going well so far. (Don't have the item yet, but do have USPS confirmation.) Yeah, I'll miss e-bay, but not enough to support their stupid policies.

 

[Hunter0924]

I have bought a few Colts off gunbroker that I could not find elsewhere. So far I have had nothing but good luck with that crowd.

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

What they DO NOT charge is RELISTING fees.

I stand corrected, but only in part! I only sold one item on GB but the listing fee was NOT charged to me until I actually sold the item (after two relistings).

Does this lead to a lot of re-listing? yes. Do I care ? no, like everything else one has to go through lots of junk to find something valuable. Plus I like it because it allows people to sell at a price that they think it's reasonable if they are willing to wait, without preventing others from doing quick sales at lower prices. I like the extra freedom of this system compared to eBay.

 

[2RCO]

Just did my first listings on Gun Broker. I find their fees a bit high. Hope it works out so I can get away from Ebay just on principle alone.

 

[SaxonPig]

Not sure what you mean by GB lacking traffic. It's the most visited gun auction site on the web. Maybe the small parts listing haven't been as popular (likely due to ebay being so popular) but now that ebay dumped parts sellers many might find their way to GB.

BTW- As I recall the "DC Snipers" drove around in a Chevy sedan shooting people. Last I checked ebay motors still listed Chevy sedans. Oh well.

 

[rbernie]

Yes - the lack of listng fees on sites like AA lets the bigger guys plaster the auction board with sillystupid prices. How is that much different than eBay? Did you ever spend much time in the eBay firearms optics sections? Sheesh - you'd find eighteen bazillion metric tons worth of listings for 'replica' garbage counterfeited in China and a handful of utterly dogged-out Leupold VariX-1s for $300.

The free market is, well, the free market and the auction sites are microcosms of all that.

Having said that - I've completed at least 80 transactions on AA since its inception and I've been pleased with every one. I just won an auction on GB for a 85%+ Sig P226 for $400. That's my third Sig P226 that I've bought for $400 or less on an auction board in the last couple/three months. (I've flipped some AK parts to pay for this - I'm not made of money....) I can't get a dogged-out P226 locally for under five bills, so in the end I'm still getting what I need out of the firearms-specific auction sites.

Of all of the sites available - I prefer AA the best, just on general principle.

I think that both AA and GB should take a page from eBay's book and create 'storefront' listings to separate the bigger business folk from the private sellers a little better.

 

[PaladinX13]

I've found them to work alright for non-firearm accessories, etc... but that's largely because the vendors behind the products are less of a mixed bag than what you get from eBay, IMHO.

But when it comes to firearms, I typically just use gunbroker as a listing to make contact with a vendor who has the item I want in stock, then I deal with them directly, outside of the gunbroker system. This lets me talk with them, get the personal touch, and/or walk away (prior to a commitment, of course) if they're unwilling to answer questions, act professionally, talk about satisfaction assurances, etc.

I'm sure that some people have found using eBay or Gunbroker works as insurance against that kind of thing, but in my personal experience it takes a lot to get them to the place where they are of any help at all (although, when they do, they certainly are more effective than you crying for justice on the phone a continent away) and rather just trust my ability to judge someone's character after talking with them.

 

[hemiram]

I have bought stuff from AA and GB over the last year or so and have had no problems and have gotten some very nice guns, new and used, and parts too, and almost all of them at least 25% cheaper than I could have at any shop or gunshow. The descriptions have been accurate, and the pics usually are worse looking than the actual gun is in person.

You just have to be selective on what you bid on, and not get carried away with auction fever. If it's more than I want to pay, I let someone else have it.

 

[bruss01]

Gunbroker is an interesting site.

I've bought one gun there, and I'm very happy with the transaction and with the price I paid for a mint nib Timberwolf .357 for $500 last year.

However, I do see what is meant by sellers "working the system". You post something with a reserve in the stratosphere and let it go thru 4 or 5 cycles with folks bidding but of course nobody winning because they have no way to guess that you priced that M48's reserve at over $1000. Then they check the bids to see what the highest one was, and set the reserve at that, figuring that someone else or even the same guy will be back to bid again. If I get the idea that someone is pulling this crap, I'm immediately turned off to the auction. He's just fishing for a sucker. That sort of behavior may serve the sellers but certainly not the buyers, and makes me less inclined to cruise the auctions there. You can milk a cow just so hard before she kicks over the bucket, y'know.

 

[PT-Partners]

Please do not take any of what I say as offensive, I just have a small retail operation to help pay for my "shooting habit" and also have been posting on forums since they started. From my experience of personal "duh's" and watching other's get "duh'ed" from being less then wise.

Anyway. The "Auction" sites are a business, and if you think of them soley as business and nothing else you know why. Business has overhead (cost of doing business) and without the margin in sale you will be soon out of business.

There is always, always, always, a reason for a discount, cheap price, good deal and REMEMBER your undying gratitude has nothing to do with it.

My other full time job will involves me in theft, fraud, and internet deception. You would do very, very, very, little or nothing by internet if you have seen the numbers of folks getting ripped off, lousy product, miss representation, and identity theft that targets those with the "too good to be true" and the "cheaper over there" mindset.

I have been stuck a few times (and probably will again as nothing is 100%) but also have done rather well and anyone who knows me from other forums knows I do not play any "retail games" but over 7 years (internet), 20 years total retail, and 3000 plus internet transactions but also learned the quite a bit hard way from my being "greedy (too good to be true), and not learning from or using my experience and other's experience. So again, what I say is from my clients and my less then successfull transactions.

Know your seller. Take the time for a phone call if on the forum at least on a gun. You can learn a bunch from tone, voice and inflection. The seller also finds out if the buyer is not a low life. If the seller/buyer will not at least take a call, there may be something wrong on a gun (you know you are dealing with a person and not a one timer rip off).

Written communication is many times written MISS communication.

Parts are another story.

New is new only from a retail operation and from a person is preowned or used. Period. You would not believe how many NIB guns from persons have so called "factory" slide stop scratches, dented sights, marks from multiple mag insertions, etc. So what you are buying from a person. No customer service or warranty. Expect that.

Shipping, when mailed if the buyer wants to make sure he gets it pay for Priority Mail with signature at least. You get or request to get a track. Surface mail will get to you 99% of the time but the one time who is responsible........Sender, USPS, or You the buyer.

NO civil or criminal recourse across states as the dollar amount is too small for a civil remedy or criminal action. Been there, done that and a few of my clients got their T-Shirt that way.

Shipping is expensive for both the buyer and seller, UPS for some of the high end products cost as much as $90. Buyer or Seller pays, Still, insured and gets there is the best way, not the "cheapest" way.

Product whether guns, parts, or whatever will move when the person who wants it see's it. I have posted a few parts on Gunbroker that were there for 6 months, so what. It sold when the guy that needed it saw it. $12 for a "take off" trigger, $27 for a SIG 357/40 mag in bag. $569 New from a known FFL dealer, for a Thunder Ranch .45 acp revolver shipped (I missed that one). All sold when the party who wanted it saw it. Were there other post's or ad's possible cheaper in other places, yes, but again, that is buyer's choice. And again buyer's risk tolerance.

Just from what I have been seeing lately, remember, take the time to check your seller. Remember also, do not be so cheap as not to insure your shipment some how. Your risk, no one elses

Again, best in your quest for the best value, not "cheapest" Price.