Gunbroker sucks.

[silverlance]

When you are not COMFORTABLE enough to buy from online auctions don't. Support your local gunshop.

there, fixed it.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

+1 on what Bushwhacker said. Two thirds of the deals that I have tried to
make with sellers on AR15.com went in the toilet. Although the deals that did
go through ended up being good ones. Seems like there are alot of time
wasters there. I guess you just keep swinging and once in a while you hit
a home run.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

I cant stand when sellers talk in all caps and leave words out.

 

[TIMC]

I have no problem with gunbroker it is a good site for those with patience. I have bought and sold several items on there. My last purchase was on there a few weeks ago when I bought a Springfield Armory M-21 and where I sold my Sako 75 to help finance it. I got it for a very good price and saved my self a couple hundred in sales tax. It is a good tool to locate hard to find items like the M-21.

 

[jayrod1980]

Wading through Gunbroker can be a pain but the deals are there. Two years ago I got a NIB FNP40 for $330, I believe shipped if I can remember right. That was a smoking deal! Best deal on a gun I've ever gotten. Helped that the vendor is awesome but still.

 

[swingset]

There is no reason to use Gunbroker. I have found both online dealers as well as local dealers who will meet or beat any price on Gunbroker.

How can a dealer meet/beat an auction price? If someone starts the auction at a low bid price, with no reserve how can a dealer match that? Do you show your dealer an auction going on for a CZ75B that's currently at $50 and demand he sell it for $49??

If you're going off of the final bid price on a closed auction, that doesn't work either in theory. He's meeting/beating a price on an item that's no longer on the market, the next one just like it may sell cheaper than the one he's beating.

 

[CypherNinja]

I think a lot of it depends on what you're looking for. I can see accessories being nightmarish, but lots of off-the-beaten-track stuff gets a good showing on GB.

Also stuff like reloading components can be found quickly and cheaply with minimal fuss.

YMMV

 

[jeepmor]

With Ebay's current anti-gun position moving even farther left of late, you best get used to it.

 

[alex_trebek]

I find gunbroker is useful only in pricing items. Instead of buying the gun blue book, i simply look something up on gunbroker so i know what to expect on the price. I do this now since a lot gun manufacturers stopped putting the MSRP on their websites. There is a local shop that is almost always cheaper than anything online except for ammo.

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

Gunbroker (like eBay) is a glowing example of cavet emptor.

I've found several good deals there, but you have to dig to find them (just like anywhere else) and you have to be patient.

I've also never run into a scammer there, I've seen them but to me the scammers are usually so obvious that they're easy to avoid.

I agree with ALL these statements. There is a lot of junk and noise on GB but it is possible to find good stuff and I have never run into a scam artist. On the other hand I am very cautious and try to avoid people with little feedback or a significant fraction of negative feedback and when negative feedback is present I try to read what it is.

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

I find gunbroker is useful only in pricing items. Instead of buying the gun blue book, i simply look something up on gunbroker so i know what to expect on the price. I do this now since a lot gun manufacturers stopped putting the MSRP on their websites. There is a local shop that is almost always cheaper than anything online except for ammo.

I am sure things change from state to state and in Maryland pricers may be higher than elsewhere. I actually buy the Blue Book every couple of years and use it to decide whether the prices on GB are reasonable. A lot of people on GB sell (or try to sell) stuff at higher prices than the Blue Book!

 

[alex_trebek]

am sure things change from state to state and in Maryland pricers may be higher than elsewhere. I actually buy the Blue Book every couple of years and use it to decide whether the prices on GB are reasonable. A lot of people on GB sell (or try to sell) stuff at higher prices than the Blue Book!

I am sure this is the case, you would be somewhat surprised on a few of the auctions. I usually just look at the items a lot of people are bidding on, gives a decent estimate as to market value. I dont know a lot about the gun blue book, but the blue book for cars always seems to be off. Some of them are high, some are low.

A few of the auctions are pretty fair on GB. The local guy I referred to earlier marks his inventory by the same dollar amount (not percentage) off what he gets it from his dealer. Personally i think his ammo is a little on the high side, but his guns are very fairly priced. Usually his guns will sell around 100 dollars cheaper than the lowest GB at least. The problem is the local guys shop is about an hour from my home, and his inventory is rather limited, he only keeps AK's, AR's, and 1911's continuously in stock. Therefore i often look other places. I use his prices and GB's to estimate a price range. Some gunshow prices are actually higher than his, I think he sells AR-15 bushmaster M4 style A4 with extra military mags for around $750 NIB.

 

[bruss01]

While I don't think that Gunbroker "sucks" it can be difficult to use.

You basically have to think up a search that captures keywords in the title or description. True, you can limit it to search areas like "firearms, modern" or "firearms, collectable" but that still gets you a lot to wade thru. I'd like to see them add criteria like chambering, long gun/handgun, mfr, stainless/blued/parked, wood/synthetic, etc. So basically I'd like to be able to do a search for any stainless Garand chambered in .308 with a synthetic stock. Instead of searching till i'm blue in the face because some friend swears he posted it there, only to find out the typo'd "Grand" instead of "Garand" and typed "308" instead of ".308". Or let's say I'm looking for a 4" .357 in stainless. It'd be nice to type in that criteria and get a selection of guns to look at that match.

I work as a database administrator. That kind of functionality isn't difficult to create, it only requires the desire to do so.

 

[Feanaro]

I am sure things change from state to state and in Maryland pricers may be higher than elsewhere. I actually buy the Blue Book every couple of years and use it to decide whether the prices on GB are reasonable. A lot of people on GB sell (or try to sell) stuff at higher prices than the Blue Book!

Depending on the item and your region, the Blue Book can be worse than useless. Mine, for example, shows a 100% Smith and Wesson 27-2 revolver being worth $440 or thereabouts. All I can do is laugh. That's lowballing by $200-400, depending on where you find it, the serial number, grips, etc.

 

[Cliff47]

I have found a couple of smokin' deals on GunBroker (ditto Auction Arms and GunsAmerica, but that's another matter).

I had been using the site as a want-ads section when I found something I had been looking for for at least six months. I found a listing for the pistol I was lusting after with three bids and at $215, with about three hours left on the clock. I placed a bid with about 20 minutes left, and won the pistol for $220. My local purveyor of fine firearms doesn't even have heavily used items listed that low. Felt like I had stolen the item.

I have had sellers that lost the address of my preferred FFL (found a shop that does $20 transfers), shipped the wrong item to the FFL then had to re-ship the correct item, little things that make a Monday so enjoyable.

I make it a point to include a page from the auction along with the payment and copy of the FFL, with a request to drop me an e-mail when the item is shipped (works about half the time), so that I can judge the arrival date at the shop on my end. For items that don't require the FFL transfer, I include a mailing label with my address, one of the peel-and-stick labels work great.

Part of the satisfaction of the hunt is finding the item.

 

[Gord]

There is no shortage of nincompoops on eBay or Gunbroker who are all too eager to pay 120% retail + $20 shipping for common items.

I've completely given up on finding anything for a competitive price on auction sites. Go through Bud's for guns, Newegg for electronics and Wally World for everything else.

Eventually you just get tired of seeing the same three guys' eight pages of Mosins and PA-63s with starting bids of $250...

 

[Rufus Pisanus]

Depending on the item and your region, the Blue Book can be worse than useless.

I have to admit that I have found that the Blue Book sometimes gives prices that are too low compared to the real world. Still if you find something at the Blue Book price or lower for the same condition it's generally a good deal.
like most things the Blue Book has to be taken with a grain of salt but overall I think it tends to be more accurate than the gun trader guide or the standard catalog of firearms.

 

[Yosemite**Sam]

Depends on the transaction

I personally have bought many M1 Garands off Gunbroker with positive results. IMHO Can't blame Gunbroker, It's really the sellers and what's it worth to you.

 

[Feanaro]

like most things the Blue Book has to be taken with a grain of salt but overall I think it tends to be more accurate than the gun trader guide or the standard catalog of firearms.

Agreed. It's good for some things but you still have to shop around.

 

[Drusagas]

What I would like to hear are GOOD gunbroker.com stories: people who found that oddball item, or got a great gun at a can't-believe-it price, or whatever. Any of you out there?

Well, about a week ago, I bought a Model 213 Tokarev converted to 9mm.

A friend of mine has bought 2 of these and his cheapest one was $150, which is about the average price, at least from what I can tell, being the pistol newb that I am.
I found one for $75 and after consulting my friend he said to buy and if it was a shady deal at least I would have all the parts to build my own. So I did and once I received it, I showed it to him and he said it was twice as good as the one he had bought for $150.
And while I haven't been able to take it to the range yet (and wont for about 6 months, seeing as I ship to BCT in Ft. Leonard Wood on Wed.) but from what I can tell, it was an amazing buy.

So, in short, I'm happy

 

[mfetty77]

I've only had good experiences on GB. I've ordered guns and ammo off there site.

 

[McKnife]

I'd would LOVE to see a site similar to GUNBROKER.COM that only allows listing of privatly owned firearms, etc...

NO FFL's OR DEALERS WHATSOEVER.

I was beginning to enjoy texasguntrader.com but I think the dealers are beginning to discover it...

 

[Headless]

I bought a gun through gunbroker - was a good transaction. CS40 was discontinued so there was very little possibility to get it elsewhere and NO possibility to get it locally.

 

[jawrat]

I'd would LOVE to see a site similar to GUNBROKER.COM that only allows listing of privatly owned firearms, etc...

NO FFL's OR DEALERS WHATSOEVER.

Did you try unclicking the checkbox FFL Only on GunsAmerica?

 

[GunsAmerica Fan]

I don't understand why people who dislike Gunbroker (or even those who like Gunbroker) don't just use GunsAmerica. It is so much easier to just go buy the gun, and you find deals that you don't see in the auctions, people who just want to get rid of guns. On the auctions, GB and AA both, you think you are going to get it for a certain price then someone outbids you and you wasted all that time. At least on GunsAmerica you can just email the seller and ask if he'll take your price. A lot of times they will!

I love GunsAmerica! I check it every day.
http://www.gunsamerica.com