Purchasing from Gunbroker

[6pt-Sika]

We sell on GB a good bit as a matter of fact we’re over $300k in sales for the year so far . And while there were or are some folks on there who might rob you blind , for the last year or two there’s been rampant run of deadbeat buyers and by that I mean folks that bid win and then don’t wanna pay after the fact with a good many never replying to emails etc . I particularly hate it when a person with no feedback bids on one of our items because they seem to harbor a good many of the deadbeat types . A couple years back there was a guy/group that were stealing pics from Gunsinternational or somewhere of higher grade very visible guns mostly Winchester levers and Colt single actions of my memory is correct . Anyway they had a location of IN or IL if memory serves and it turned out they were actually in the UK running their scam thru some fictitious address in the US .

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

. A couple years back there was a guy/group that were stealing pics from Gunsinternational or somewhere of higher grade very visible guns mostly Winchester levers and Colt single actions of my memory is correct .

The "seller" often says he's out of the country, but his buddy can make the deal. A long while back, there was wonderful 1894 rifle, with NINE special order features, Deluxe .25WCF Takedown. He strung me along for the longest while. I was wandering down an aisle at the Baltimore show, and there was the gun. The real owner had no idea someone had stolen his pictures. I did the deal on the spot, and a week later sent the phony seller pictures and told him I found a better one. Crickets.

[B. Dudley]

Whenever I see a gunbroker listing that I know is a scam, I like to hit the buy it now button to end the listing. Then I promptly leave negative feedback stating that the listing is a scam. Then I report the transaction to gunbroker and they will cancel the transaction within a few days. I am on the hook for nothing.

[Dylan Rhodes]

Wow, I always assumed guns.com was somehow in someway a scam. Either that or my money was being used to fund some nefarious organization.

Such a “seriously?” name for a website. But I suppose that domain probably gets a ton of searches…

[BRDHNTR]

I'm too old to think about buying more guns. I should be downsizing. My 2 grandsons won't shoot clays. They only want to shoot live birds. So I take them to Markover.

[GH-16]

I've always been very cautious when it comes to gun broker or any online site for that matter.

My main issue with buying on GB is the taxation issue. There's just something that rubs me wrong when GB automatically tacks on your states sales tax to the final price of the item when they aren't the seller & only an intermediary of the transaction. With Colorado's newly enacted 6.5% excise tax for gun purchases on top of the regular tax this now puts just under 10% taxation on a gun purchased off GB. Then when you add in shipping & FFL transfer fee's, this can get expensive pretty quick.

Due to this state having universal background checks the FFL transfers fees can now be as high as $150.00. I just bought a gun off of GB & when all the dust settled, I ended up with just shy of a grand added to the purchase price of the gun from a private seller. Buyer be Ware!!

[DoubleOframe]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

We sell on GB a good bit as a matter of fact we’re over $300k in sales for the year so far . And while there were or are some folks on there who might rob you blind , for the last year or two there’s been rampant run of deadbeat buyers and by that I mean folks that bid win and then don’t wanna pay after the fact with a good many never replying to emails etc . I particularly hate it when a person with no feedback bids on one of our items because they seem to harbor a good many of the deadbeat types . A couple years back there was a guy/group that were stealing pics from Gunsinternational or somewhere of higher grade very visible guns mostly Winchester levers and Colt single actions of my memory is correct . Anyway they had a location of IN or IL if memory serves and it turned out they were actually in the UK running their scam thru some fictitious address in the US .

We have noticed the exact same thing on Gunbroker and have moved more items to GunsInternational because of it. I'm not sure which I dislike more, the auction winners that completely ghost you after the auction ends or the ones that flat out lie that a payment has been sent, never provide tracking and then weeks later decide they "don't want the item". The Gunbroker checkout process is cumbersome for new buyers, but from a sellers perspective I wish they would just force buyers to link a payment method like eBay so we don't have to chase buyers to complete the "buyer review" or finish the checkout process. Some try to skip checkout to avoid the Gunbroker fees and taxes, but because Gunbroker is collecting those fees from us as the seller we have to include them. Sorry for the rant, I guess it could always be worse and Gunbroker could start charging a 22% buyers premium like the bigger auction houses!

[David C Porter]

Any time you're purchasing a gun on line, whether it's a gun store web site or auction site & you don't have the ability to inspect the gun prior to purchasing it can be a crap shoot. If it's a reputable store you've done business with before & feel comfortable that they will stand behind their gun;
great. But, quite often other sellers will not stand behind their guns & often they know the gun has issues and are trying to push their lame duck on to a buyer. So, simply put, buyer beware and only do business with a reputable seller you're comfortable with and know they will stand behind their gun.

[John Allen]

I have almost quit GB because of the tax situation. Tn has a 9.25% sales tax. When GB throws their fees on top of that I have to plan on an additional 16% added to the sales price. Makes it hard to bid. I much prefer GI. They encourage seller and buyer to contact each other and work out the selling price. It is just a much better way to do business.

[Bill Murphy]

I don't think all gunbroker sellers forward that state tax money to the states. Not too long ago, I purchased a medium high dollar shotgun after winning a gunbroker auction. The auction house never mentioned a word about sales tax. Does the tax situation apply to all states?