[miket156]

I check Armslist every week to see who is selling what. Generally, the prices are higher than can be had at Estate Auctions and "some" Gun Shows. I have talked to several sellers but I have not bought anything through Armslist for one reason or the other. Not everyone is a Scammer, but the guys are right, its face to face or no deal.

I had one instance that a guy had a Marlin 30-30 at market price and in nice shape. We made arrangements to meet halfway between Central PA and Harrisburg. The guy never showed up. I called his cell phone number and got his VM, I left him a message. No call back. When I got home I see an email from him and he said he got tied up in Harrisburg traffic and couldn't make it. Said he lost my phone number. Then he said we could try for another day. Right.

If he wasn't a LIAR, he was an IDIOT. I spent $$ on gas and lost a lot of a Saturday when I had better things to do.


Mike T.

 

[miket156]

As a person with very little experience with buying guns online, is this true with all the online sites out there, or do some have better safety nets than others?

You have to check the rules of each website you deal with when money is involved. For example, you only have to provide a generic email address to sign up on Armslist. Anyone can join, give a false name and use a generic email address, so there is no way of tracking them down if its a scam.

Gunbroker requires a dot.net email address. They can trace you back to your ISP if its a scam. If you don't have a dot.net address, then you have to pay them $1 to join, which requires a credit card. They can also find you that way if its a scam.

I have had the most success with Estate Auctions and Private Sales. In the state of PA, transferring a LONG GUN does not require going through a FLF. The Auction company I have bought a number of Long guns from does not have a buyer fee. So whatever I bid is what I pay, and I walk out the door with the rifle after I pay the bid price. They do require a driver's license to ID each person that signs up to bid. So they can track you down if need be. The advantage is that I have not have to pay two FLF dealers and shipping to get rifles I bought. Those costs can add up fast. So a rifle that has a fair market value of $600 can end up being $700 by the time the deal is wrapped up. The most annoying thing is that FLF dealers that handle those transactions do them when they get time. I can't blame them either, they take care of their own customers first and FLF transfers can wait.


Mike T.