Gunbroker Question

[Muss Muggins]

You didn't read what I wrote, or did not internalize it. Here is again, with the important part emphasized:

because the seller has a policy of "Shipping and handling is $25 (or whatever) plus shipping costs" and the buyer didn't read it . . .

This is at the top of the listing of which I speak, right under the thumbnail picks and item Number. I'm sure you're familiar:

Shipping: Buyer pays actual shipping costs for the following option(s): 2nd Day No international shipments

As is this:

Applicable Taxes and Fees: Sales tax collected based on ship to address

No mention of an extra $25 in either place. But then this is buried in the item description, which you said buyers only read, which on my computer screen is a 16 line paragraph more than a foot wide and four inches long with no indention and asterisks scattered throughout as punctuation. It is copied verbatim, I added nothing. I call that fine print:

There is a 3% Service Fee **** for use of Credit Cards. Shipping: Shipping Information A.) Shipping will be Actual, PLUS $25.00 **** Handling on all firearms.

As I mentioned, the buyer(s) did not read it. I'm sure they stopped at the first discussion of shipping, at the top of the listing, which provides summary statements regarding location, shipping, payment method, checkout, applicable taxes and fees, and inspection period. That $25 add on would be listed in that section by a conscientious seller . . .

It is not fine print, but I know there are many inexperienced buyers out there that only read the description and not the terms and conditions, but all additional costs are outlined above the description so do not know how they miss that.

I am a Gunbroker seller and a $25 fee for shipping is way low!! I just shipped 5 handguns that that were all under $400 each and posted a $30 UPS shipping fee. By the time I added insurance, the average fee was $34.00, so lost a little. About the only ways to ship today under $35 for a handgun is to not add insurance or have a commercial contract with UPS.

Gunbroker does detail the fees of a sale (see example below) for all to see if they look. There are way too many buyers who do not pay attention. If one thinks that they can simply go to other websites and see the same quantity of firearms for sale, it just will not happen, and all sales tax states are going after every major online seller who does not collect sales tax so the savings of shopping elsewhere will be short lived.