Gunbroker Is Crazy

[Valmet]

So, did ya' point all of this out to the Gunbroker admins? I'd think they'd be pretty interested in such an obvious violation of the rules....

Not really. GB doesn't do much about shill bidders. If it's an outfit who routinely drives up prices with a shill/underbidder- the times someone actually wins generally outweighs the times the shill is left holding the bag- GB won't usually move to oust a high-volume seller wether they pay or not, OR the outfit pays and relists with a "spend money to make money" mentality. Add to that many shills have very little or no feedback, GB banning them is of no loss to the seller, who'll simply have someone create a new profile.

I don't feel like it used to happen much but that has changed it seems.

I've been on GB for over 22 years and I don't go there much outside of ammo or parts anymore.

 

[shil]

I'll buy no gun I cannot FIRST examine...... thoroughly. I wonder sometimes about the the integrity of some sellers. Read their policies carefully. Example: Browning Hi-power. It arrives at your FFL. You examine it. You field strip the gun and discover it has a fractured barrel cam. You try to return the gun. The seller refuses to take it back because you missed the fine print about disassembly. You certainly would not have seen the defect without field stripping. Conclusion: the seller was trying to palm off a broken pistol.

 

[DR505]

I bought a beautiful Model 25-9 on Gunbroker. The seller made the mistake of posting lousy pictures. Here is one from the auction:

I contacted the seller and received additional photos which were crisp and clear showing the condition of the revolver. I kept bidding below the reserve, no one else would bid, the auction would close, and then it would repost a day or two later. This went for 4 cycles before the seller contacted me directly and sold to me at my low bid. Had they used the better photos I am certain the revolver would have sold for a whole lot more.

The revolver shown above is the 6" 25-9 and it is great.

I think the key to Gunbroker is patience.

 

[SFIDEC]

I have a question that I don't think has been addressed in this thread about GB.
Does the seller have the ability to see the Max Bid a buyer has entered?
I've purchased many guns on GB and have been pleased with purchases but had a few that I won within a couple of dollars of my max bid. I've thought it was odd that the other bidder stopped bidding, having the option to bid another $5.00 that would perhaps win the auction, if I didn't bid again.
Example: My bid $776.76 and other bidder bid $5.00 increments and stopped at $775.00.
What y'all think?
Ray

 

[paplinker]

I have a question that I don't think has been addressed in this thread about GB.
Does the seller have the ability to see the Max Bid a buyer has entered?
I've purchased many guns on GB and have been pleased with purchases but had a few that I won within a couple of dollars of my max bid. I've thought it was odd that the other bidder stopped bidding, having the option to bid another $5.00 that would perhaps win the auction, if I didn't bid again.
Example: My bid $776.76 and other bidder bid $5.00 increments and stopped at $775.00.
What y'all think?
Ray

I don't think a seller would have high bid info.

What helps you is that you did not end your high bid on an even number. Many bidders will put a high bid with a common price that others might tie by bidding the same. I have won many ebay auctions by $ 1.38 etc

Also once some auctions hit a certain number the raise increments get larger. I believe GB does that,so bidding smartly and not a even number can help win.

 

[jcelect]

GB

I have bought guns off GB years ago, but of late their fees have gone crazy!
Buyer's fee, state tax, shipping, ins, etc have driven the "out-of-pocket" monies too high for any reasonable buys! The next pain is the "
15 min rule"! In a live auction the auctioneer usually will not recognize a bid under the amount he is crying. On GB, any bid increases the ending time! I won an auction that the ending time went 3.5hrs over! I was bidding in $300-$400 increments but the other bidder was bidding in $25 -$50 increments and waiting almost to the end of the 15 min rule! A bid less than the high bid should not be accepted and not increase the ending time!
jcelect

 

[James K]

I spend time on Proxibid. Some sellers are as low as 15% fee but most are at 20%. Just purchased an excellent condition Model 1905 Fourth Change for $375 and I'm very happy. I do Absentee Bids and just stick with my number and see what happens. However, with their fee and shipping plus sales tax it came to roughly $450. Then my FFL charges $100 for the transfer and background check (DROS) so $375 turns into $550 which I believe is below the true value of the gun. Still happy.

This was through an estate auction in Maine that was mixed with home furnishings and art. Had several handguns and this one was kind of buried with other uninteresting ones or poorer condition. A diamond for me.

 

[CH4]

GB is my last resort for buying guns after stores, shows and the forum classifieds. My 940 is my only GB gun purchase - I was the only bidder.

 

[G-Mac]

GB is rife with shills/underbidders now more than ever. There are a few sellers who relist "sold items" with alarming regularity.

It's not just the gun market. There's a dirt bike seller that is known, nation-wide, for having bikes that sold at high prices magically reappear on the same auction site months later. Obvious shill bidding going on. I've only been burned once in the classifieds here and that was on a pair of J-frame combat grips. Every firearms transaction I've ever done here, buy or sell, has been great. I've never won a bid on GB, but have sold a couple of rifles there.

 

[diyj98]

There's a dirt bike seller that is known, nation-wide, for having bikes that sold at high prices magically reappear on the same auction site months later. Obvious shill bidding going on.

A regional auction house often has some very nice guns, including S&W's, Colts, etc. I often noticed that sometimes six months to a year after an auction, I'll see the some of the same guns listed again. I asked once and was told that the buyer(s) of those particular guns had decided to resale them. That may or may not be true, but it does make me wonder about that auction company. I suspect they run the bids up and sometimes get stuck.

 

[GeoJelly]

My 2-cents on GB; I've picked up a couple of very nice revolvers recently. S&W 640 Pro that was actually in better shape than the photos (as noted above) but pricey at $767 + fees. To me, it's perfect both mechanically and cosmetically. Next one was a .32NP Detective Special that actually turned out to be nearly new - absent some minor holster wear on the cylinder and one side of the barrel + very cheap knock-off grips. Both sellers were/are low-volume sellers with good ratings. I had heard about fraudulent bidding there & now understand how it works thanks to this thread! Last but not least, just won another S&W (908) from a place that I have used a lot - Shoot Straight in FL. Added a crummy photo and I'm waiting for the fleaBay seller to make some more knock-off but nice older Colt boxes. Colt was 650-ish + tax and shipping.

 

[TheTinMan]

I bought a beautiful Model 25-9 on Gunbroker. The seller made the mistake of posting lousy pictures. Here is one from the auction:

I contacted the seller and received additional photos which were crisp and clear showing the condition of the revolver. I kept bidding below the reserve, no one else would bid, the auction would close, and then it would repost a day or two later. This went for 4 cycles before the seller contacted me directly and sold to me at my low bid. Had they used the better photos I am certain the revolver would have sold for a whole lot more.

The revolver shown above is the 6" 25-9 and it is great.

I think the key to Gunbroker is patience.

Patience and discipline! Sometimes sellers don't know what to emphasize in their marketing spiel.

For example, I bought a 1960 Model 29 (no dash) for a nice price not too long ago. I am certain that including the words "4 screw" in the description would've bumped the price up at least 10% and probably more. That plus including a 2000s presentation case that didn't fool anyone. The seller had fewer than 500 auctions IIRC so I was taking some risk, but communications via messaging were good and I took a chance.

Chip

 

[Model19man]

As on any auction site, bid what you will want to pay and always keep fees and taxes on your mind.

 

[8shot]

As on any auction site, bid what you will want to pay and always keep fees and taxes on your mind.

Keep in mind, you also pay gunbroker 1% at the end (processing fee).

 

[TheTinMan]

As on any auction site, bid what you will want to pay and always keep fees and taxes on your mind.

Amen to that! I've learned to add in the additional costs when figuring out my highest possible bid.

I know that Rock Island has very high quality firearms, but their "buyer's premium" is 17.5% before they add on 3.5% for credit card payment. Their shipping costs are OK... then they add on insurance. And my state's sales tax (5.5%).

Compare that to Poulin where I pay a 15% buyer's premium if I pay by check. They would add only 2.5% if I paid by credit card. Also I can drive there to pick up my purchase so no shipping and no FFL fee. Amoskeag is the same on fees. I have to pay shipping and FFL but no sales tax (God bless New Hampshire).

 

[Telecaster]

When you think of Gunbroker, just think, "Mos Eisley," and you'll be fine.

 

[John_M52]

I only buy NIB on Gun Broker. Never been dissatisfied. Used is a gamble because you can't see it ahead of time.

First I decide on a model I want. Then I do a search on "completed auctions" to see what the going price is. Then I decide my max bid. If someone outbids me, I'm done.

And of course before I even bid I check the seller's feedback.

I bought a NIB Smith PC revolver. Wasn't worried that it was a stock picture, after all NIB! When I received it I was shocked with the poor condition. I posted here and the dealer got me an RMA from Smith and they made it right. But I learned my lesson - lots of pics, read the fine print, even if NIB!

 

[IronSkillet]

Post #3 Basically use the same check-list as GypsmJim, but discovered reviewing the tabulated numbers from the Seller isn't always accurate. There is a popular seller from Kentucky that had cumulative negative feedback (significant) and one day a magic eraser removed them all! Funny thing if you click back into the narrative section they are still present at least the ones in realtime. So even though they are a volume seller with a lot of what I'm looking for they are on my "no bid list" period.
GB fallout, you go into the sales forum area here and people are quoting a sales pitch on how things sell their, it is like comparing the county fair to Disney Land. I believe the membership here is a more discerning individual, that is just a bit more savvy on firearms and true values.

 

[LostintheOzone]

It is not GB that is crazy. It is the people bidding on it that are crazy.

Along those lines, if GB were such a terrible place to buy a gun, why do so many people use it? Answer, people do crazy things.

I purchased a revolver there that nobody bid on except me. I sweated that one out until I had a look at it at my FFL. I thought there had to be something seriously wrong with it because nobody else bid on it. The price wasn't inflated like many are on used firearms either. I got lucky I guess. Nothing wrong mechanically except it needed a serious cleaning. Actually a decent deal because it was in excellent condition with very little use.

I don't waste my time on GB anymore. I could never score again like that in a 100 years. Too much chicanery going on there for my tastes. It's more like playing poker than buying a gun.

 

[James K]

Amen to that! I've learned to add in the additional costs when figuring out my highest possible bid.

I know that Rock Island has very high quality firearms, but their "buyer's premium" is 17.5% before they add on 3.5% for credit card payment. Their shipping costs are OK... then they add on insurance. And my state's sales tax (5.5%).

Compare that to Poulin where I pay a 15% buyer's premium if I pay by check. They would add only 2.5% if I paid by credit card. Also I can drive there to pick up my purchase so no shipping and no FFL fee. Amoskeag is the same on fees. I have to pay shipping and FFL but no sales tax (God bless New Hampshire).

Since I went through Proxibid I got hit 20% for my purchase from Poulin. This was an auction in Maine. I paid by card because it was less than $10 difference for their 2.5% cash discount.
If I was bidding on a high-priced item, I'd be hard pressed to pay the 20%. I'll see if I can bid with them direct. Sometimes Proxibid is your only on-line option.