I don't get GB !

As with ebay, you will find stuff priced high and stuff priced reasonably. It takes a dealer very little time and money to list the guns he has for sale in his store on gunbroker, if he sells one or two at full MSRP or for a high used price then he is all good.

Some people are not very cost sensitive and just don't care if they are spending an extra $40 or $50, or more.

Look on the bright side, those people willing to pay full price might give us a little more haggle room with the dealer when we shop.

You can get good deals on GB if you use the search feature and hunt for the lowest prices.

Also, you can get far more money selling a gun on GB than from any brick and mortar shop. I've actually probably EARNED money by selling my guns there vs what I paid for them originally.

Try that at the local gun shop or Cabelas, where you MIGHT get back half of what you bought it for. Gunbroker, IMHO, truly does rock.

Then buy the gun at Buds. I don't see the issue.

Sellers are under no obligation to offer you the best price in the market. He is trying to get the best price he can for his item, its the buyers responsibility to secure the best price for themselves. That's why we shop around, and hit the deal we think is best.

If his high priced gun doesn't sell, maybe he'll lower it, or maybe he'll keep it. It's just people trying to sell stuff.

You could spend the rest of your life finding such examples everywhere people sell things.

Yah, it's called free enterprise. So what if a fella wants to make a few bucks?

M

Search by lowest price first and shop that way. There is always someone with an inflated idea of an item's worth...ignore them.

I have have actually completed some excellent transactions on GB, and have been the recipient of some great deals. On two occasions, however the seller WAY over hyped the item being sold. One was actually a basket case (Marlin Camp 9). The other (Ruger Blackhawk .41 Mag) was just beat. BOTH cases, the sellers refunded me a healthy amount of cash, enough to make me happy.

oof, one mag and cardboard box, too.

ouch.

I haven't been on GB in a while but I remember most auctions had zero bids. The only auctions that had bids were those that started at a low price and had a low or no reserve. The others i never really bothered with.

Gunbroker, and most auctions, reflect the cost of the merchandise. And, of course, demand & supply. My suggestion is to pick the total price your'e willing to pay, bid that, win or lose.

A $500 gun really doesn't have a lot of room for a business person to negotiate with.

I've bought several firearms on GB. Some were a fair price, a couple were bargains where I rolled the dice on listings with one poor picture and little narrative, and one time I got taken. I bid what I think the gun is worth and don't get sucked into a last minute bidding war.

Wow, lotsa jerks chiming in here with useless comments about how the OP doesn't have to buy it if he doesn't like the price. Well, as true as that point admitedly is, it's also SO painfully obvious that it's totally useless and pointlessly argumentative.
The OP is merely commenting on this frequently seen practice of sellers asking absurd prices, on a very popular gun auction site, which I would think was perfectly fair game here on a gun-related discussion board.
If some of y'all don't like the subject, you're just as free to not read or comment in the thread, eh?
Back on topic: I've only purchased from GB once, maybe twice, and never sold there. I find that it's especially usefull for guaging where the market currently is on certain things ( only completed sales, obviously). It generally seems like anything cool, that's reasonably priced, already has been getting loads of attention,which generally will end up pushing the price beyond what I'm willing to pay, and I don;t bother.
I do sometimes put the ad in 'favorites', so i can come back later and see what it finally went for.
But, I've been having such good experiences with Armslist and Theoutdoorstrader, that I don't regularly check GB these days.

Unfortunately, leaving the seller to pay off GB only after the sale is made, along with allowing unlimited re-listings of the same item, results in a lot of over-priced items that just sit and keep getting re-listed. Now if they would charge a $5 fee for each listing, then there would only be serious sellers with realistic prices on the website.

I think he wanted to know peoples thought on what motivates them, rather than the universal lectures on economics this forum is getting famous for. I think the seller just sees a price that looks normal, or asks a friend what they would pay, then ask that. Then some people just want what they want, and are not willing to take less. For example i saw someone in 2014 selling a colt ar worth maybe $800 (walmart had them for that anyway) for $2000. He explained that we bought into it for that and NEEDED to make his money back. His thought was that someone would pay 3x its value, in a market that wouldn't give him 75% Eventually someone will.

The OP is merely commenting on this frequently seen practice of sellers asking absurd prices, on a very popular gun auction site, which I would think was perfectly fair game here on a gun-related discussion board.

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Maybe then, you can explain exactly WHAT complaining about prices on an Internet forum accomplishes?

It's not exactly an informative or novel subject at this point. In fact, it just sounds like whining...

358Hoosier said:

Unfortunately, leaving the seller to pay off GB only after the sale is made, along with allowing unlimited re-listings of the same item, results in a lot of over-priced items that just sit and keep getting re-listed. Now if they would charge a $5 fee for each listing, then there would only be serious sellers with realistic prices on the website.

Click to expand...

At a flat $5.00/listing/RE-list, the site would die

OP- just bought a Gen 3 G17 for 489, free s/h from preppergunshop on GB. The guy has top notch CS. That's a competitive price IMO. Interestingly, I drive 30 to my FFL that I've used for years bc of 15$ transfers. When I called the seller, they had my FFL on file already. Surprised me bc he's in North Dakota and I'm in Alabama. Search around, there are good deals and there are overpriced guns too. I've knowingly overpaid for a rifle because it was out of production, the condition was impeccable, and I wanted it badly enough.

Remember, GunBroker, and now AuctionArms, have a final value fee charged on top of the listing/insertion fee. So, the seller has to factor that into the price.

On the other hand, some sellers are just nuts. Simple solution is to not buy it and move on.

If some of y'all don't like the subject, you're just as free to not read or comment in the thread, eh?

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I had to read your post to figure out I didn't like it

newfalguy101 said:

At a flat $5.00/listing/RE-list, the site would die

Click to expand...

So how abut an option of paying a relisting fee OR reducing the starting price 2%? That would push the price down a bit with each successive week until eventually it hit market value or the seller gave up.

Doubt that would ever happen though.

The deals are there. I picked up a G22 LE trade-in for $318 - shipping included. A while back I got a 459 for $270. The quality of the pics made me think it was strictly a shooter. When I got it, I was shocked that it it just had minor wear around the edges and nothing else.

I recently made my first purchase on GB. I have noticed that many sellers there are asking crazy prices IMHO. There are deals to be had if you wait patiently and check frequently. On a side note.... I think putting an item out there with no reserve should mean the bidding starts at $0. Lot of auctions say No Reserve, yet the bidding starts at $300. That is disingenuous in my opinion.

GB is just like any of the hundreds of gun shows I've been to and participated in over the last 40 years. A lot of high prices, and an occasional good deal. Nothing really new under the sun...

M

Recently bought a new Benelli Nova for 413 bucks out the door.

One week later while perusing GB I found another Benelli Nova in like new condition with a different length barrel with a starting bid of 249.99. I was the only one that bid on it and got it for 275 delivered.

The deals are out there.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr