Thoughts about GunBroker?

They need to charge a nominal fee simply for listing stuff.

I've bought a number of items on Gunbroker and always been happy. The trick is finding the gems, like the beautiful Turkish Mauser I got for $200 + shipping, or the Romanian SKS with beautiful wood that I got for $275 at a time when Yugos are hitting $300.

They need to charge a nominal fee simply for listing stuff.

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Good idea. That would get rid of most of it.

Hats off to the guys that start a new rifle off at $0.01 with no reserve. I would be a nervous wreck!

They need to charge a nominal fee simply for listing stuff.

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Good idea. That would get rid of most of it.

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I'd certainly stop using them as much as I do now, which isn't a whole lot. The lack of insertion fee is why I list stuff there to begin with. I don't have the plums to start a gun out at a penny, so I'll start it out at the lowest amount I'm willing to take for it. It can re-list over and over for months and I don't pay anything for that. Eventually someone wanting what I have, buys my gun.

Rather than allow a few to ruin it for everyone else, just ignore the gougers. You don't have to buy from them. There are always going to be people doing the wrong thing or at least doing something that you can't see the logic in.

i wont shop there out of principal now....signed up, they wanted to charge my card $1 just for signing up....entered my card info (signed up like May 10th or something and my card expired May 31st, so it was still good)...it rejected my card saying that i cant use a card that expires the same month - so i missed out on the auction i wanted.....the next month they send me a bill for $1 for activation fee even though they rejected my activation

i sent a nasty email and told them im not paying their dollar and to shove my GB account up theirs

what a horrible place to deal with - forget them, ill shop on armslist if i want used stuff

It has been said that a sucker is born every day.

The folks you refer to on GB are trying to turn a buck by finding them out.

Filtering through the noise is tiresome, but good search skills help.

The reason great deals are great is because they are better than normal. So if I want to find a better than normal deal, I have to be willing to look for it.

I've bought a couple of NIB guns on GunBroker that I couldn't source locally and it has worked great for me. In both of those cases, as with most of the "auctions" on GunBroker, they weren't meant to be competitive auctions, but listings for a "Buy it now" type sale at a price competitive with your LGS.

It would be nice if there was a way to separate the legitimate auctions from the businesses listing NIB goods for normal sale.

Very happy with my one purchase on GB. Lots of searching was required before I found what I wanted.

I've had pretty good luck with my gunbroker purchases. I've been able to find guns that I could not find locally and at some pretty good prices as well.

I have bought numerous rifles,shotguns,and handguns off of GB and never once paid what I would consider too much.
In fact the relatively low price I paid for some even surprised me a couple of times such as a very nice hardly fired Ruger Police Service Six for 280.00 or a Remington 700 in .270 caliber that was in primo shape for 165.00.
I wont even bid on unrealistic priced objects or those that start the bidding with a reserve price.
There are some great deals out there.

No different than a gun shop pricing stuff like they think everything in their inventory is a rare gem. Most sellers on GB are gun shops anyway.


I've bought about a dozen guns off auction sites over the years. I was simply patient. If someone wants an unrealistic price, it won't sell. Items that are priced to move, will.

I don't think I've ever seen something that started out as a penny sell for a stupid low price. They seem to simply sell at the price that the market will bear. And they will sell. The fellow or shop who puts an item up for sale near, or at the top of the price point that the market bears, might not see it sell for a while. But penny auctions sell. And they always seem to settle in right at the price the market bears.


That's just the way things work.

I have bought a few guns on Gunbroker and had good experiences.

I would also like to see some way to filter out the items that are re-listed over and over for months. It is a huge waste of time and effort to sort through pages of unrealistically priced stuff to find the few items that are seriously for sale.

Bob

I would also like to see some way to filter out...

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Use the 'Advanced Search' option. You can enter a price range and all auctions that are outside of that range will be filtered out.

Voila. A few seconds is all it takes.

Certain gun shops have taken to listing the bulk of their inventory, which clogs down state searches. I don't see the advantage to GB for hosting an FFL's entire stock.

Speaking of deals on GB a certain seller mostly always starts their ammo without a reserve and I have bid on and won from that establishment some very low prices on .380 and 9mm ammo.
But the very best deal I have seen was a guy that caught a bid ending at a very weird hour of the morning and won 1000 rounds of Independence .380 for 55.00.
Deal of a life time.

tbutera2112 said:

i wont shop there out of principal now....signed up, they wanted to charge my card $1 just for signing up....entered my card info (signed up like May 10th or something and my card expired May 31st, so it was still good)...it rejected my card saying that i cant use a card that expires the same month - so i missed out on the auction i wanted.....the next month they send me a bill for $1 for activation fee even though they rejected my activation

i sent a nasty email and told them im not paying their dollar and to shove my GB account up theirs

what a horrible place to deal with - forget them, ill shop on armslist if i want used stuff

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I was wondering the same thing, yesturday I tried too to register. But they wanted to charge me a dollar too for using a gmail account.

Anybody know why they charge you a buck for having a "free" email account?

Bill

CoRoMo:

Use the 'Advanced Search' option. You can enter a price range and all auctions that are outside of that range will be filtered out.

Voila. A few seconds is all it takes.

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That will work if I knew the correct price range. Most of my GB activity is trying to find out what that correct price range IS!

I have had some success with only looking at listings that have a bid.

Bob

Anybody know why they charge you a buck for having a "free" email account?

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They want to be able to verify who you are. Keeps people from scaming people and starting up a new account.

I think a lot folks think more highly of thier shootin' iron that do many others. Its not only on GB but lots of internet sites and for that matter gun shows too. I saw a remington 700 bdl listed for 900 because the guy said they retail for a thousand and something. Well, they can ask all they want for thier item doesn't mean thier going to get it. Then again, somebody is paying these crazy prices. Its reminds me of the housing market of a few years ago.

What? For less than the cost if some French Fries you refuse to register at the place where you have the opportunity to score real deals, and also sell? Come on, the buck is a way of seeing that you are real have a current and active credit card. So when one of you had an essentially out-of-date card and Gunbroker rejects it....you complain!
( a credit card that is going to be renewed is always replaced several months before the Exp Date )

You see the TV commercials for Direct Buy? They charge about $2500 to join. Look at the scale: some $6000 furniture or kitchen stuff vs a quality gun maybe at $1000. $2500 versus a buck.

What? For less than the cost if some French Fries you refuse to register at the place where you have the opportunity to score real deals, and also sell? Come on, the buck is a way of seeing that you are real have a current and active credit card. So when one of you had an essentially out-of-date card and Gunbroker rejects it....you complain!
( a credit card that is going to be renewed is always replaced several months before the Exp Date )

You see the TV commercials for Direct Buy? They charge about $2500 to join. Look at the scale: some $6000 furniture or kitchen stuff vs a quality gun maybe at $1000. $2500 versus a buck.

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actually - my credit union hadnt renewed my debit card yet - i received it about 2 weeks later, right at the end of the month....not every company is the same

i had no problem paying the $1 i was irritated that they denied my card even though it was still valid and caused me to miss my auction, then had the nerve to still try and bill me the $1 even though they werent allowing me to use the website....i got a bill for $1 and my account was still "inactive"...it was the principal of the whole thing and the reason i wont ever use their services

Cosmoline said:

Certain gun shops have taken to listing the bulk of their inventory, which clogs down state searches. I don't see the advantage to GB for hosting an FFL's entire stock.

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I guess the best way to do that is to filter your search to "Used and New Old Stock Items" or "Used Items Only".

I've long believed that a good number of the ridiculously priced auctions are actually placed there by guys who's wives insisted they sell some of their toys. "Sorry, babe... nobody's bidding on it!"

Hats off to the guys that start a new rifle off at $0.01 with no reserve. I would be a nervous wreck!

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They use shill accounts to run up the price.