Photos on gun auction sites

[PALADIN85020]

I was browsing through some of the gun action sites today, and came across one offering that really ticked me off. There were nice sharp pictures of the right side of a S&W revolver, but the left side was in two parts: the barrel, and then the cylinder & frame under the cylinder latch. What the seller was trying to conceal was the fact that the revolver had the ugly internal lock. Now in order for someone to find this out, a call would have to be placed, or, as I would not suggest to anyone, discovering it on delivery. Some sellers just show the right side of the gun, leaving you to guess if the other side had the internal lock. Some 642s and 442s were portrayed this way, with no mention of the gun having a lock or not (they are made both ways).

Another group of pictures caught my eye. All were sharp except for the right side of the barrel on this revolver. Trying to squint through the out-of-focus image, I was pretty sure I saw some not-real-cosmetic rust patches.

In short, these photographic techniques (or lack of them) were deliberately intended to conceal things about a gun that would be cause for concern if made clear.

Now in fairness to some others posting on these sites, I've seen some really nice pictures that do a good job of representing the condition of the gun. Both sides sharp and clear. A shot showing the inside of the recoil shield. I saw one photo with an arrow pointing out a thin scratch on the frame. Some showed the forcing cone of the barrel, etc. I applaud those who take care to do this. In one case, I saw a registered Magnum with over a dozen very clear pictures, including the frame with the grips removed and the inside of the grips. Now I'd be inclined to buy from such an individual who took pains to represent a gun honestly.

But these dipsticks who insist on trying to hide the condition of a gun with cropped or fuzzy pictures just annoy the heck out of me. If I were the owner of such auction sites, I'd insist on two clear pictures of each side of the gun, as a bare minimum requirement, before I would allow a posting.

Do these practices annoy anyone else but me?

 

[snowman]

I haven't run across such blatant examples of intent to conceal objectionable characteristics, but then I don't usually browse the sites real extensively.

What has irritated me from time to time is simply the worthlessness of so many of the photos posted. Dark, fuzzy images tell me no more about a firearm than no image at all. I've seen so many of these that I wonder why the sellers even bother taking them.

Andy

 

[oldman45]

If I have a complaint about photos, be they on gun auctions or for display, it would be against those that think their cell phone camera is doing top quality photos or else they use a $10 camera for the photos and the quality is not going to be there.

As to caring if a gun has the internal lock, I would not allow that to interfere with my decision to buy or not. All one has to do is unlock it and leave it alone from then on if they do not like the internal lock.

But unless a gun is at a super duper good buy, I am not going after it if I cannot put my hands on it prior to buying. I buy a lot of guns each year and always handle them first. While I have bid on guns online, I have yet to buy one at a price that justifies my doing so.

From what I have read, many that have bought online was disappointed when they received their gun.

JMHO

 

[Evil Dog]

I've only bought one gun on-line... a Pedersoli-made Brown Bess flintlock musket that was advertised as brand new and never been fired. That's exactly what it was too... no complaints from this end.

 

[H Richard]

I've bought maybe a dozen off the on-line sales. So far I've been very satisfied with what I have received. if a gun has fuzzy pictures, vague description, etc, I just don't bother to look at, unless it is something I am really really interested in. The first thing I do is check the sellers feedback. If there are any negatives I keep going and if there aren't "several" transactions I keep going. I try to eliminate my possibilities of being disappointed.

 

[-db-]

The angled photo from the bottom is another technique I've noticed some use to hide the lock behind the cylinder release.

In this day and age there's no excuse for poor photos, especially when we're talking about items costing multiple hundreds, or even thousands in some cases, of dollars. I buy a lot online and when I see poor photos anymore, I automatically assume the seller is trying to hide something or isn't very serious about selling the item. That may not always be the case and I may miss out on the occassional deal but it saves me trouble in the long run.

 

[loutent]

I think that it's absurd to buy a gun (anything really) from a poor online photo. I tend to avoid auction sites and even some sellers here on the classifieds if there are no pictures or poor, out of focus (OOF) pictures with excuses about their camera etc. If I'm browsing about (always shopping ), the first OOF shot (or 'e-mail me for pics') I see turns me off - if I miss a gem, so be it - there will be another.

Not rocket science to get a sharp (but not necessarily artistic) close-up shot. I like Cabelas in this regard - nice detailed shots that are expandable to see some detail. I don't understand (well, yes I do) how an internet seller can expect a sale from poor quality photos. It's amusing to see some sales on (say) GB where there are 12+ photos and 4 are nice and clear and the others are completely OOF.

I'm a photo geek too, so there you have it. If you are a seller here, you must ask yourself if you would buy a gun based on the photos you are posting.

 

[Peter J.]

I've sold a good number of guns at Gun Broker, and usually post a minimum of 100 photos if its a rifle, and maybe 30-40 pics if its a handgun. I know that sounds crazy, but I belive alot of pics will answer most questions buyers might have, and will give confidence that I have nothing to hide and the guy will know exactly what he is getting. Bad pics mean the seller is hiding something, or is so un-careing that you can't depend on the writen discription either. I use a couple of old Sony Mavica cameras that hold images on 3.5 floppy disks. I know, ancient egypt, but they work and take decent enough pics that I am proud of. I have only been burned once on a gun auction purchase, a third series Colt Detective. The pics didn't look too bad, but the seller carefully chose pics that hid approx. 20% heavy rust that was "oiled over" for the pics. Perhaps it was even photo-shopped. The seller was from Puerto Rico so it was going to cost me probably an extra $80-$100 to return it between shipping and FFL fees, so I decided to just keep it and let it be a lesson, not much to learn except not to buy a gun again from Puerto Rico.

 

[snowman]

But unless a gun is at a super duper good buy, I am not going after it if I cannot put my hands on it prior to buying. I buy a lot of guns each year and always handle them first. JMHO

Apparently you live in an area where guns that interest you are readily available within reasonable driving distance. Consider yourself very fortunate. Many of us live in areas where that is simply not the case. Used Smith revolvers like many of us seek, for instance, are not seen in gunshops around here. If I want to get one, I have essentially one option -online sales. I have no choice but to check feedback, call and talk to the seller, and take a risk.

Andy

 

[oldman45]

Apparently you live in an area where guns that interest you are readily available within reasonable driving distance. Consider yourself very fortunate. Many of us live in areas where that is simply not the case. Used Smith revolvers like many of us seek, for instance, are not seen in gunshops around here. If I want to get one, I have essentially one option -online sales. I have no choice but to check feedback, call and talk to the seller, and take a risk.

Andy

I feel this area is typical for the avg city. There is about 200,000 people in a 20 mile radius of the downtown area.

In this area, we have at least six gun shops, two custom makers, maybe four quality gunsmiths and in addition to the usual department store gun sellers, there are maybe 40 pawn shops where guns are a big part of their business.

As I go over the area, I will pull into these stores to see the available weapons. This is a costly habit since I find one I want about every two months or so.

My bet is that everyone lives fairly close to or in such an area themselves. Maybe there are some in more remote areas of the US, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

 

[snowman]

I feel this area is typical for the avg city. There is about 200,000 people in a 20 mile radius of the downtown area.

In this area, we have at least six gun shops, two custom makers, maybe four quality gunsmiths and in addition to the usual department store gun sellers, there are maybe 40 pawn shops where guns are a big part of their business.

As I go over the area, I will pull into these stores to see the available weapons. This is a costly habit since I find one I want about every two months or so.

My bet is that everyone lives fairly close to or in such an area themselves. Maybe there are some in more remote areas of the US, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

If I were still a betting man, I believe I would take you up on that one. Of course, there would be no way to arrive at a definitive conclusion.

I do not live in a "more remote" area. Northwest Ohio consists of many small towns and cities sprinkled about in a large stretch of farmland. There are three small gun shops within a reasonable driving distance. One of those is about 25 miles away, in a city of about 40,000 which I rarely have occasion to visit. That shop is the only shop in town which carries handguns, and it virtually never has a used Smith revolver. I know, since on those rare occasions I go to that city I try to stop in and see what they have. Revolvers aren't moving very fast these days, so I doubt if the proprietor is getting them in and out that much between my visits.

The closest of the three shops I visit regularly, since it is located in a town of about 4000 where I do most of my other business. Awhile back when I was in the owner asked what I needed and I said I was just seeing if he had any used Smiths. He laughed at me and said, "Are you kidding? That's like pulling teeth(i.e. getting one in)."

The third shop specializes mainly in ARs, which I'm not in the market for, at least right now.

Recently I drove an hour and a half to one of the largest shops in the state to get some powder that wasn't available around here. While I was there of course I looked at their used handgun section to see if they had any Smith revolvers. As I recall they had exactly three, and two of them were M500s, which I have no interest in either.

Toledo is the largest metro area around. It is over an hour from here. They have one well-known shop outside of town which I visited awhile back. They had a fairly large section of revolvers there, but again, no used Smiths. I doubt if that changes much in my absence.

Of course if a person wants a semi-auto, especially the modern kind with the polymer frame, etc., that person will be much more likely to find what he is after. We all know that that is because that is the kind of gun that is most popular currently.

I'm not complaining here; just trying to describe a reality with which you may not be too familiar. There are others on this forum who don't live in remote areas whose posts have described virtually the same circumstances as the above, and not just one or two. I believe that there are really many of us who are largely dependent on online sales to find what we're after.

Having said all that, let me hasten to add that I'm glad you live in such fortuitous circumstances. Perhaps you could find something for me sometime, and do the handling for me. Who knows?

Respectfully,
Andy

 

[RKmesa]

Photos Photos Photos

i sometimes take risks and buy guns with poor photos. Sometimes I have won and underpaid, because everyone else was concerned about the poor photos...

(This RM had some poor photos, but turned out to be the nicest RM I have ever seen):

BTW - the photo above is my photo .

But sometimes, I have gambled and overpaid, like this RM that I could not see all of the flaws in the seller's photos:

Above photo is my photo of the gun...

 

[loutent]

How it should be done - not sucking up...

Take a look at Lee's shots in the classifieds - now there is an honest effort to show every possible flaw in a great firearm. I would have no hesitation buying one of his guns simply from the photos - and his descriptions back up the pics.

errrr...this is not an offer to buy mind you