Sellers on Gunbroker

[jmorris]

He just seems flaky.

If your brain concluded this from all of the information available to you at this time, it already told you what to do. Or not to do, in this case.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Ive dealt with some people who basically had no actual communication involved. I could tell they have everything set up on an automated system of some kind. You get an email that sounds so obviously pre written telling you how many days you got to pay up after you win, you attempt to ask questions and get zero response, you pay and the GB checkout system keeps prompting you to check out then low and behold the weapon shows up a couple days later earlier than expected. Gotta watch it with shipping taxes and fees. My last purchase the total was $100 over what I bid thanks to the fact that I had to pay tax to uncle Sam, the state of Pennsylvania from which it shipped and my home state of NC

That's why you need to ask some questions. I was trying to purchase a firearm from Cabela's in another state. Their policy is to charge you their state sales tax and ship it to your local Cabela's. My local Cabela's is going to charge me sales tax again because that's the law here. That's $400 on a 4K item. I don't want to pay sales tax on an item twice. I don't have to do that if I buy something from Amazon. The automated sites like GB can add a lot of expense to buying a firearm.

I certainly wouldn't go down to my local equipment dealer and buy a 4K mower without asking a few questions but some people might.

 

[Captcurt]

The sales tax on GB is a killer now. I can tell by my online sales. A $1500 H&K totaled around $1650 after taxes and shipping. That makes a strong case for buying local. My sales have dropped 50% since the the GB tax change and the inflation. Time to get out.

 

[Autodidactic]

The last gun I purchased, which was rather expensive (for me anyway), took me over a week to get a reply from the seller confirming he was OK to ship to my FFL. This was after the gun was already paid for. It all worked out well. I am very happy with the gun and how the transaction worked out in the end. I only buy from Gunbroker with a credit card and pony up the extra 3% over a money order or check purchase. Cheap insurance in case there are any Gunbroker rascals out there.

I bought a shotgun recently off there which arrives at FFL tomorrow, and a barrel I won a bid on last night.

Gun Broker has a Buyer Protection Program that operates like insurance for seller/buyer issues. It has a copay of $100 meaning they will only cover losses after the first $100 and up to $500. This means if an item is under $100 it can be a total loss. If it’s over $500 you will only get paid for $400 out of the first $500, because of the “copay.”

The issue I realized is this means one is at risk for items under $100, or substantially over $500

 

[Autodidactic]

That's why you need to ask some questions. I was trying to purchase a firearm from Cabela's in another state. Their policy is to charge you their state sales tax and ship it to your local Cabela's. My local Cabela's is going to charge me sales tax again because that's the law here. That's $400 on a 4K item. I don't want to pay sales tax on an item twice. I don't have to do that if I buy something from Amazon. The automated sites like GB can add a lot of expense to buying a firearm.

I certainly wouldn't go down to my local equipment dealer and buy a 4K mower without asking a few questions but some people might.

That’s why my use for Gunbroker is for 1) items I can’t find easily locally 2) Items substantially cheaper making the extra fees and shipping worth it.

Also, it can’t be that it’s only slightly cheaper including shipping and fees. If the same item is slightly more expensive at the LGS/range I go to each week, extra effort and time for Gunbroker has value to me too. $20 in savings isn’t worth it. A good parallel is Bass Pro is 40 minutes from me. A 1.5 hour round trip drive is only worth it if an item is at least $50 cheaper. Both gas and time. Even $50 might not be worth such a trip.

 

[br549arkie]

The sales tax on GB is a killer now. I can tell by my online sales. A $1500 H&K totaled around $1650 after taxes and shipping. That makes a strong case for buying local. My sales have dropped 50% since the the GB tax change and the inflation. Time to get out.

The sales tax is bad and you have to watch out for shipping charges to. I've seen several that want anywhere from 40 to as much as 65 bucks for shipping. Around 25-35 bucks is all I'm willing to pay. When there is a item I'm interested in and the seller lists no shipping charge if I inquire about it and get no answer I pass on it.

 

[Captcurt]

The sales tax is bad and you have to watch out for shipping charges to. I've seen several that want anywhere from 40 to as much as 65 bucks for shipping. Around 25-35 bucks is all I'm willing to pay. When there is a item I'm interested in and the seller lists no shipping charge if I inquire about it and get no answer I pass on it.

I see items that are shipped for $25 but that doesn't cover insurance. I pulled some of my invoices and checked shipping cost. A Weatherby Vanguard sold for $850. Taxes ran $65.26 and the shipping with insurance ran $71.39 via Fedex. It was high because it was a Home based dealer. Commercial deliveries are cheaper. A Pre-64 257 Roberts sold for $2378. Taxes were $174.17 and shipping with insurance was $93.65 via USPS. There is no way that I would ship a gun without insurance even though I have gone in the red on some shipments.

 

[tarosean]

The sales tax on GB is a killer now. I can tell by my online sales. A $1500 H&K totaled around $1650 after taxes and shipping. That makes a strong case for buying local.

Either way I have to pay taxes. So you really cannot point a finger at just that.

Shipping and transfer fees might sway the boat more..

Course I only use GB for extremely hard to find guns.. Not anything that could be found in 99% of LGSs

 

[pharmer]

It's not just Gunbroker. I buy ammo from a distributor in Connecticut, they charge tax+ insurance. Last order was $340, in the past the ins was $2. This go around was $25 tax and $6 insurance bringing the total to just under $372. An almost 10% hike. Joe