I'm just getting back into the gun scene, and recently acquired an account with gunbroker.

I was just wondering if the majority of you have good or bad experiences with Gunbroker and other auction sites. I know I've used Ebay for lots of things, including musical instruments, and usually get good deals, even though many condemn Ebay.

At first glance, it seemed like some of the starting bids for the guns I saw seemed a little on the high side. Any info appreciated.

Josh P

I have bought 3 or 4 guns and have been satisfied with all of them. If the starting price is too high, I ignore them. There are a number of guns that don't sell the first 2 or 3 times they are listed. If the person is serious about selling, then reason will eventually win out.

I've gotten some nice stuff off of gunbroker-at some really good prices. Be careful and check feedback .

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Forum consigliere

I do the same thing. There's no instant gratification this way but you don't pay too high for a firearm. As a matter of fact, I just picked up a NIB Kimber tonight from my FFL that I bought on gunbroker for under his wholesale price.

Hi....GunBroker has probably the greatest exposure for the sale of guns and ammo. I've used them for both buying and selling. Just don't expect a lot of help if a dispute arises between a buyer and seller. They know which side the bread is buttered on ! BT

Absolutely love Gunbroker! It is Capitalism at its best. I have bought handguns both on Gunbroker and Gunsamerica.

As with any transaction buyer beware and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Don't look at Gunbroker while your drinking. And don't ask me how I know this.

I would never purchase a weapon online..... Thats a face to face thing.

LOL.........?

Know what you want and know what it is worth and you can get some deals on GB and gunsamerica .I've bought on both and am satified with everything i've bought .

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gunnut2u
(Tim)

Thanks folks, glad to hear good reviews. I've had good luck with ebay, so I'm a little experienced, but I'm used to placing my max bid in the last few seconds...... I'm going to have to re think my whole strategy with that 15 minute rule. That changes things completely, ya know.



JP

I just bid the most I'm willing to pay with 15 minutes and 30 seconds left.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

I've bought 4 rifles NIB from reputable sellers in the past 3 years. Not one problem what so ever. Sned the money and they sent me the gun. Again, all were NEW rifles so the were pretty much as described. Probably gona buy a 700 VTR in 243 or 204 in the next week or two also. I don't fool with the bidding. Usually the buy now price is about 100 below what it cost any where else so I just hit the buy now button and no worries about did I "win".

As said before, check the seller's feed back. 2 sales or 2000 sales and an A+ rating.

There are all types selling on GB.

I had to chuckle at a 'gun photo' in a recent listing. It was a picture of the 'young lady' selling it... in a robe... holding the pistol in a 'Clint Eastwood' stance.

She said that the gun was in great shape and only had a 'few' rounds though it.

I'm not sure if she had any previous feedback.

I like Gunbroker, just do some home work before you place the amount you will give for the item.
I also love the 15 minute rule, does away with the sniping
But, I do get a kick out of some on their asking price

Since the picture(s) provided are not always a good indicator of the exact condition, unlike the lengths that forum members go to in showing minute detail, the sellers wording of the items description should be read carefully as it almost always contains some clues, spoken or unspoken, as to the actual shape of the gun. A "like new, possibly only test fired" 36 which I had hoped was a mismarked 60 was actually a hard chromed version shot who knows how many times, a 66 was in better shape than I expected for the price but it cleaned up nicely and a collectable 18 is pretty much as described aside from the grips not matching the gun, however, nothing replaces the trust factor of purchasing from reliable forum members, where total satisfaction is almost guaranteed.

I've only bought out of production guns I couldn't buy or felt I'd never find locally... IMO paying more on GB is better than wasting hours of your life drving around to the stores or trolling the forums for something that may never show up (like someone said it's the whole exposure thing, YOU get exposed to a lot more guns, too). I've never personally been burned on GB, but there are some chuckleheads that try to get away with some shady stuff, misleading descriptions, or sky high prices. I've seen people buy stipid stuff and/or pay through the nose for something fairly common (I once paid close to 20% more for something than I sould have, but I love that gun, it rarely comes up for sale, and I've scored enough bargains that it balances out). A little common sense goes a LONG way, especially on GunBroker. I'd prefer FTF but for some hard to find guns there's just no other way, so for that reason I like GB. I try to buy only from sellers with lots of close up pics from multiple angles and good feedback. And take most descriptions with a grain of salt.

One more thing, I prefer to buy from an FFL or from someone that states in their ad that they will ship from an FFL... I've wasted too much time and gotten too many headaches explaining the laws to people that just want to toss the gun in a thick envelope and drop it off regular mail... or dealing with an FFL on my end that insists he'll send it back if a gun shows up that way.

The more information a buyer obtains from the seller the better. This includes:

1) Email the seller
2) Obtain telephone number
3) Seek as many detailed photos as possible
4) Seller Feedback information
5) If private seller going through FFL to FFL obtain address and then verify that it is indeed correct.

Hope this helps!

Watch for differences in percieved condition. I bought a CZ 75B two-tone from a pawnshop on Gunbroker, advertised as 99%. The gun arrived, looked like it had spent it's life on the floor of a truck, had never seen any lubrication, and had a little rust inside the slide area. A real turkey. I spent over an hour in the gunstore trying to make it presentable, to no avail. Sent it back for a refund and got accused of dropping the gun ! Anyway, that was the only bad transaction I've had on GB with about 100 done. Good luck, study pictures very carefully, and ask questions if you have them. Avoid anyone in a gun purchase that doesn't offer a refund and/or three day non-firing inspection time. Shoo

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"Get Hammered By a Shooboy!!"

+1 on that!
Have had exceptionally good luck with GB. One clunker that I was
trying to get for next to nothing. You learn. The other replies are
right on-the-money. Good deals to be had. That said, you might
check here first. Great people here with great guns. TACC1

I use Gunsamerica.com exclusively. On there you can make deals with sellers without having to bid. You get the gun you pay for too, which isn't the case with a lot of GB buy it nows.

I agree with NZshooter having just returned from the fourth gun show in as many months. The people were friendly today, but it's always a gamble to see if the show has what you want and the prices today were very high. Even when "bargained" down the prices wouldn't be very good. I've bought several guns on GunBroker and AuctionArms. Just watch some of the first time prices, the feedback, and look at the pictures/descriptions very closely. I put in the price I'm willing to pay and walk away from the computer.

AuctionArms has the Haggle feature which is kind of neat. One time I was the high bidder but didn't reach the reserve price. The guy emailed me and asked if I'd come up $5 more dollars, I said sure, why not and got the gun for way less than I've seen at the shows.

No disappointments so far on any of my GB purchases. As others have said, do your homework and there are deals to be had.

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"Shall not be infringed"

i have had good luck with gunbroker..as others mentioned...do your homework

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

I purchased on both GunBroker and GunsAmerica. Got burned once on GA, and just made a bad purchase on GB. The seller had good references and I had prior communication about the condition. Seems like he had bad vision or something. He offered a refund, but I would lose $100.00 on FFL charges on both ends. (He would only receive through FFL dealer)
Most purchases have been good. You can't win them all whenever you can't personally see what you are purchasing.

I have bought several guns through Gunbroker and am generally satisfied. The usual rules apply: don't buy from first-time sellers; watch the feedback for the seller; and don't trust blurry pictures.

I have not yet bought anything through GA, but I'm not opposed to it; I just haven't found anything there at a price I'm willing to pay.

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David Wilson

I have no reservations using gunbroker at all. I've only bought 2 there, I know a couple of guys who buy there all the time.

I have bought a few shotguns, and some parts on gunbroker, and have been selling on gunbroker for ~6yrs or so,

no issues with the guns I've bought,
however, as many posters have said, DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!
ask questions, ask for more pictures, check feedback etc,

as a seller, I can tell you that I've had very good luck, it's an easier site to use, compared to ebay,
however I have had more than my fair share of deadbeats that don' t pay after winning an auction

(not a problem other than the wasted time to deal with them and then having to relist,,,,)

Gun Broker is the only on line gun site I use I have bought and sold numerous times without a problem.

On the other hand I had a serious problem with a so called highly rated seller on Guns America and they did not want to be bothered.

I filed a Ripoff Report # 332716

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Len

Well, how do they become sellers with lots of feedback?

I agree with DCWilson when more than the usual amount of money or something rare is involved, but I'm less concerned with something say, costing $300 or less. I think it depends on a buyer's "threshold" of being burned. Getting burned on a $300 item isn't as bad as say, getting burned on a $2,500 item.

If it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Your ripoff report is from 2008. Overall GunsAmerica has only 4 reports, and they are all unresolvable by their customer support claims. I am a loyal GunsAmerica user and I believe that their customer service is second to none. Contact them now and see if your rant gets any attention. Gunbroker has 32 ripoff reports, some of them are by GB itself ripping off people's credit card!!
Ripoff Report Search Results: gunbroker

I think you shouldn't be bashing a company that does so much for our 2nd Amendment rights. You should post the email you sent their customer service maybe you did sound like a nut. I noticed that it wasn't part of your ripoff report!

Shotgun Steve

I have bought and sold many guns from both Gunbroker and Auction Arms. My interests are very specialized, high end Safety Hammerless guns. I check each sight a couple of times a week. Gunbrokers has many times more guns for sale than Auction Arms, but I find as many or more that I want to buy on Auction Arms. My one big gripe with Gunbroker is that some of the guns stay on for literally years with no change in price or wording. I would like to see a two month limit or some such as it gets tiring sifting through the same old garbage that no one seems to want at the price offered.
Mark

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Mark Connot

gunbroker, as you know, gives you three options when listing,
no relist
relist until sold
and relist x many times, regardless if sold,

I would like for them to add another feature where they can let you list an item (that does not sell) for 30 or 60 days then it ends,

I find myself leaving an item up for what may be too long, (thinking it may sell this time!) instead of listing it a time or 2 then moving on, but that may be me being a bit lazy in monitoring that particular item,

Why wouldn't you want to leave it up for a long time Lyman? There are high grade guns on GunsAmerica that have been there for a year. When the right person comes along they will buy it. It is another thing if you sell it in your store and never take it down. That stinks. I hate when people say oh I sold that a long time ago.

Steve

My problem with Guns America is that they rated the seller making him a trusted seller ( I forget the exact terms) It turned out the rating at least at that time was not based on feedback but on prepaid advertising, it was misleading. They never directly addressed my problem or contacted the seller just blew me off. All I wanted them to do was get involved in resolving the issue, just an effort on their part no financial responsibility. A friend of mine lost $1,600.00 purchasing from one of their rated sellers, I through no effort on their part recovered most of my money.

Anyone can make a mistake if they had once directly addressed my issue acted like they cared I would have continued buying and selling thru them.

One lesson I have learned the hard way, screw me once shame on you do it twice shame on me.

With regard to sellers with no history you need to be a lot more careful ask a lot of questions and if your uncomfortable pass on it.

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Len

Yes, I do.

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RIP Shipmate

depends on the item, and the cost,
I relist with thumbnails, and while that's only a quarter each listing, it adds up over time,

plus, if it hangs out there forever, folks remember it, which may be good, but they will also skip over it,

I'll usually drop an listing after 30-60 days, recheck my pricing and photos, then redo the listing as time permits,

sometimes it works out, sometimes not,

Have completed several transactions with no problems. I also check the feedback and if they list a business name in the auction text, I try to find info on it using online searches. If they have a link to their web site, I go there and try to gather more info for online searches.

I do steer clear of either no feedback or low feedback numbers. One thing I have learned about auctions is, don't get caught up in it as there will probably another one of the same item up for bid soon. Just be patient and you'll get what you want on terms more agreeable to you as the bidder.

I bought a New Kubota tractor on Ebay several years ago (L3130). It has worked out great. I don't see why a gun would be any different.
I'll be looking for an AR soon and I plan to give GB a try.

I don't think that there is anyone on GunsAmerica that has been ripped off for that much money without them personally getting involved with law enforcement. I know of two investigations that they initiated where people went to prison. You aren't giving details about what actually happened. If you email [email protected] you will most likely get an answer the same day. They always answer me right away and I'm not on some special list. I have seen many fraudulent accounts created at GA over the years, but they are always deals too good to be true and it is obvious, and they always take the ads down within an hour or two if not immediately. If it is too good to be true it isn't true. Nobody is going to protect you from your own stupidity. Why don't you tell us the details of what happened?

Bought and sold a lot of things on GB. A little over 200 transactions since 2002. Great web page in my opinion.

I have bought and sold guns on GunBroker, and like it very much. Have bought more nice guns (mostly colt and S&W) on Broker in the past 3-4 years than I have going to gun shows. If price on a particular gun starts to get too crazy, walk away. Another one you will want and more easily afford will show up sooner or later. Also keep an eye out for guns that close in the morning or afternoon. Lots of bidders are at work or have lost track of time. I have gotten a few "bargains" that way.

I will say that I only got burned on one gun on GB. A third series early 1970's (shroud) Colt Detective. Seller said it was at 85% finish. When I got it through my dealer it was in unfired condition, but had a good amount of thick surface rust here and there. It was very obvious to the naked eye, but the conviently slightly blurry pics didn't show that. The word "rust" never appeared in the discription. Pretty much only good for a carry gun, or I would have to pay atleast $100-$150 for a good refinish job. It wasn't going to be worth it money wise to return it as I got it cheap enough, but I did give the guy horrible feed-back. My resolution is to stay away from sellers from Puerto Rico. They don't seem to know how to take care of their guns down there.

>>>>>>>>>Edited<<<<<<<<<
Sorry, Len, but I am not going to provide the posting board for every deal that ever went badly.
Lee J

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Len

For fun, I've been following a GB auction on a Python that has a lot of bids. It's a ten day auction that ends on 3/3... Started at a penny with no reserve.

I have a question about the auction tactics that I see here. The same bidders continue to raise their own bids, which seems to make little sense to me...especially at this point in the auction.

Here are some of the last bids (with the bidder names disguised) to illustrate what I'm talking about. The current bid is $3100.

Can somebody help me understand the strategy?

I have a love/hate relationship with GB. I love the access to such a wide variety of firearms and accessories, but hate that so many use it--makes it hard to get deals

NCTexan, unless it is a reserve auction, I would say that is a clear example of shill bidding. Otherwise I would say that for example "wa" was slowly working the bid up, trying to keep the auction as low as possible to just meet the reserve. So say the reserve was $600, and the auction as at $500, he might bid $505, get a notice the reserve wasn't met, then bid $510, and so on.

I recently tried to sell a very nice old Remington Model 1900 shotgun that dates to 1910 on GB. I took great pictures, the gun is in much better shape than 95% of the ones I see on there, the starting bid was lower, the case colors are 90%, the gun is tight. The one flaw is it had a recoil pad on it. One bid in two tries that didn't meet the low reserve price.

How can you sell something without feedback and how can you get feedback without selling something? Catch 22.

Perhaps the mod on the gun is the problem. Who knows. I'll try a big collector show here and then it goes to a dealer who has a lot of good feedback.

Watch the feedback there is some very nice hard to find guns on gunbroker.

[Can somebody help me understand the strategy?[/QUOTE]

I think what you are seeing is that "wa" bid x and GB only applies enough to beat the current bid and as its bid up by others "wa's" bid is automatically increased until it hits his max.

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Len

Sure.
I do NOT know the seller or the bidders, but my take is-

You neglected to tell us the gun is ser# 903.
in the box.
all the goodies.
described as 95%, probably actually 98-99% judging the pics.
the HOTTEST modern Colt out there in the market.

You can easily do a little research on bidders by clicking their FB number OR do a search "by seller" using their ID, and looking thru their deals.......
One bidder has a track record of paying high for nice stuff, and seems to be a good seller, so he would be wise to the concept of a shill. He paid $130 for a plastic Python box with extra Colt literature. I think he wants the gun- period.
The new guy payed very high for a desirable shotgun, the only auction that is still researchable.

They are simply trying to scare each other off and establish dominance.

I really don't believe either is a shill, but I could be wrong.
I just get sick of everyone always assuming/acting/saying the worst thing possible on the net.

I have set some records on ebay and GunBroker as noconeetrader. I know for a fact no shill bidding was involved because I knew, or came to know everyone involved in the top half of the bids. Even still, I have seen it implied that there was a shill involved.

Words are easy to throw around.
Factual statements are scarcer.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Thanks HandEjector... that was very helpful in understanding the possible tactics going on there.

That Python is quite a specimen... Hot, hot, hot!

This appears to be a kind of a cyber kabuki dance.... or like a couple prairie grouses showing dominance.

Precisely.
I almost used the analogy of bantam game roosters myself.
Observing a chicken yard with the same flock of chickens for a long time will teach one much about human nature.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett