coosbaycreep
Member
I heard some tall tales at the Portland gun show today, but I seem to encounter gundealers who lie and are full of crap everywhere I go, and it got me wondering why more sellers don't just tell the truth?
I learned a long time ago that gundealers are just as bad as used car salesmen. When I ask a seller in a shop about a used gun, I don't mind it if they don't know the history or anything, because it's usually on consigment, so they're probably telling the truth. However, I've looked at numerous used guns that had obvious problems that even I could notice, and a lot of times when I'll ask the dealer about it, they usually either play it off, or tell me I'm wrong, etc.
Then there's dealers who will have a new gun priced significantly more than a table near them, and when I ask them why their's is so much more than the other dealers, they usually get mad, or make up something about how their model is different (when it's clearly not), or just start complaining about Obama when they don't have a good excuse and refuse to just admit that they're greedy and looking for a sucker.
Another thing that angers me is dealers who won't give honest info about a gun they're selling. I don't expect every dealer to read the test report and specs of every single gun they sell, but if selling guns is your chosen line of work, then you should know at least SOMETHING about what you're selling. I've asked dealers about guns that have had known problems, and they always downplay that, or just outright lie and say I'm wrong.
So why is it so hard to just tell the truth and be honest? I'd rather a dealer be honest with me and talk me out of buying something that doesn't work worth a crap or has a bad reputation and maybe lose one sale, than to lie to my face and sell me something that he knows, or SHOULD know is a POS, and lose the chance to ever sell anything to me ever again. I could understand that mentality with fly by night kind of businesses, but getting an FFL isn't a get rich quick scheme, and it seems like it would be wise to gain a lot of loyal repeat customers, than to screw a bunch of people one or two times each before your reputation is shot.
Personally, when I'm selling something, I try to be honest and answer questions to the best of my ability, regardless of whether or not the answers I give are going to help sell it. I don't always volunteer info that might keep something from selling, but I never purposely lie or avoid questions either.
I just recently sold a century M1. I had a lot of calls from people who didn't know much about them, and could've sold it reasonably easy to people who didn't know about them if I would've just kept my mouth shut, instead of telling them about their horrible reputation, and that they'd be better off buying one from CMP for less money.
I've talked a lot of people out of buying a lot of things from me over the years, and it doesn't bother me a bit, because at least I'm not lying or being shady just to make a buck.
I understand that this is a business and a form of income for a lot of people too, but that still doesn't justify lying either. I've got no problems telling someone what I paid for something, even if I'm asking more than I paid for it, or if my price is ridiculous. The way I see it, if it's mine, I can ask as much as I want, for whatever reason I want, and if the buyer doesn't like it, then oh well. I don't make up stories or lie about why my prices are high though, the way a lot of dealers do. Just from listening to the dealers today though, you'd think most of these people have more insight on the future of the second amendment than our president does.
Right now, all the sellers are playing up the Obama/gun ban scare tactic to justify their absurd prices. Good for them. It's only common sense to get as much money as you can, but making up lies to do it is dishonest.
Regardless of whether or not there's another ban, sooner or later all these people who are buying guns are going to run out of money and quit buying new, and start selling off their old guns. When that happens, I sure hope a lot of these lying salesmen go out of business, because a whole lot of these people deserve it.
I learned a long time ago that gundealers are just as bad as used car salesmen. When I ask a seller in a shop about a used gun, I don't mind it if they don't know the history or anything, because it's usually on consigment, so they're probably telling the truth. However, I've looked at numerous used guns that had obvious problems that even I could notice, and a lot of times when I'll ask the dealer about it, they usually either play it off, or tell me I'm wrong, etc.
Then there's dealers who will have a new gun priced significantly more than a table near them, and when I ask them why their's is so much more than the other dealers, they usually get mad, or make up something about how their model is different (when it's clearly not), or just start complaining about Obama when they don't have a good excuse and refuse to just admit that they're greedy and looking for a sucker.
Another thing that angers me is dealers who won't give honest info about a gun they're selling. I don't expect every dealer to read the test report and specs of every single gun they sell, but if selling guns is your chosen line of work, then you should know at least SOMETHING about what you're selling. I've asked dealers about guns that have had known problems, and they always downplay that, or just outright lie and say I'm wrong.
So why is it so hard to just tell the truth and be honest? I'd rather a dealer be honest with me and talk me out of buying something that doesn't work worth a crap or has a bad reputation and maybe lose one sale, than to lie to my face and sell me something that he knows, or SHOULD know is a POS, and lose the chance to ever sell anything to me ever again. I could understand that mentality with fly by night kind of businesses, but getting an FFL isn't a get rich quick scheme, and it seems like it would be wise to gain a lot of loyal repeat customers, than to screw a bunch of people one or two times each before your reputation is shot.
Personally, when I'm selling something, I try to be honest and answer questions to the best of my ability, regardless of whether or not the answers I give are going to help sell it. I don't always volunteer info that might keep something from selling, but I never purposely lie or avoid questions either.
I just recently sold a century M1. I had a lot of calls from people who didn't know much about them, and could've sold it reasonably easy to people who didn't know about them if I would've just kept my mouth shut, instead of telling them about their horrible reputation, and that they'd be better off buying one from CMP for less money.
I've talked a lot of people out of buying a lot of things from me over the years, and it doesn't bother me a bit, because at least I'm not lying or being shady just to make a buck.
I understand that this is a business and a form of income for a lot of people too, but that still doesn't justify lying either. I've got no problems telling someone what I paid for something, even if I'm asking more than I paid for it, or if my price is ridiculous. The way I see it, if it's mine, I can ask as much as I want, for whatever reason I want, and if the buyer doesn't like it, then oh well. I don't make up stories or lie about why my prices are high though, the way a lot of dealers do. Just from listening to the dealers today though, you'd think most of these people have more insight on the future of the second amendment than our president does.
Right now, all the sellers are playing up the Obama/gun ban scare tactic to justify their absurd prices. Good for them. It's only common sense to get as much money as you can, but making up lies to do it is dishonest.
Regardless of whether or not there's another ban, sooner or later all these people who are buying guns are going to run out of money and quit buying new, and start selling off their old guns. When that happens, I sure hope a lot of these lying salesmen go out of business, because a whole lot of these people deserve it.
