Must think we're idiots

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Redcoat3340

Redcoat3340

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Some people selling on gunbroker must think we're idiots. Fools. Jerks. Suckers.

I'm looking for a Walther PPX (anyone with an opinion on them chime in).

CDNN and one gunbroker seller offer them, NIB with 2 mags, for $280. Great price!

But the majority of sellers on GB are asking $350, $389, $399, and one for $425 (with free shipping, big deal).

Why would anyone in their right mind pay $425 for a gun they can buy from a very reputable seller (CDNN) for $145 more?

I know...it's capitalism, let the buyer beware, anyone can ask anything they want to ask....etc. But really......

There...now I feel better getting that off my chest.
 
Why does it bother you?

You can find a good deal. Good job. Some people are too lazy to find a good deal. IMHO, if someone buys one of those guns, they are NOT getting ripped off, and the seller is not some kind of con artist.

Because, like I said, those people are either too lazy or too ignorant, or both, to bother to search out the best deal. It's their fault that they're overpaying, not the sellers fault for overcharging. The seller has every right to sell the gun for whatever price they want, and they don't force anybody into paying those prices.
 
Cooldill you sound like someone who preys on the unsophisticated. While that's not "against the rules" or a crime or anything, it isn't a very nice thing to do. If you are selling for more than the prevailing market value it's predatory and whether a rube buys it and you get away with it or not you should at least own up to that fact. I see guns priced at MSRP all the time on armslist locally and I see guns at MSRP on gunbroker as well, that's pretty lame IMO but it's not rude per se. The ones in there at "scam" prices, such as the ones described by the OP, are just that, scams. They deserve to be called out!
 
sequins said:
Cooldill you sound like someone who preys on the unsophisticated. While that's not "against the rules" or a crime or anything, it isn't a very nice thing to do. If you are selling for more than the prevailing market value it's predatory and whether a rube buys it and you get away with it or not you should at least own up to that fact. I see guns priced at MSRP all the time on armslist locally and I see guns at MSRP on gunbroker as well, that's pretty lame IMO but it's not rude per se. The ones in there at "scam" prices, such as the ones described by the OP, are just that, scams. They deserve to be called out!
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Quite the opposite. Anything I've ever sold, be it a gun or accessory, was at a good value to the buyer. I price my items fair, but if someone is... "unsophisticated"... enough to pay over MSRP for a firearm without first doing their research, only to late get upset because they were "scammed", is someone I just can't sympathize with. Sorry!
 
Tangentially related...during the early 2013 scare I listed my used Bushmaster Carbon 15 (I got it as a 'backup' rifle even though I considered it inferior, because it was available, then I shot it and went nopenopenope gotta sell this) on Gunbroker.

So used Bushmaster Carbon 15. The thing doesn't even have a front sight or place to put a front sight, and it's a Bushmaster. It did come with some cheap likely POS red dot.

Silly me put a too-low buy it now...I should have just done pure auction. After 16 hours somebody did buy it now for $1,399.
 
it's 2016, there's no excuse for overpaying, so i place the blame squarely on the buyer.

not only is the information to make an informed decision out there, it's available within 5 clicks and 30 seconds.
 
Yeah...anybody who goes to gunbroker to shop for a gun can very easily hit up Google or Yahoo or whatever search engine and see what else is available
 
Brownell's charges more than most other companies for the products they sell. Does that mean Brownell's is ripping everyone off?
Something is worth whatever people will pay for it. I know a ton of people who regularly overpay by buying things locally, instead of purchasing online. Its worth it to them.
 
Redcoat3340 said:
Some people selling on gunbroker must think we're idiots.
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They might not think we're idiots, but the fact is that there are plenty of unsophisticated buyers who might conceivably pay what they're asking. That's a nice way of saying yes, there are plenty of idiots out there to be exploited. Thank God for capitalism (that is, what's left of it today).

If I'm not mistaken GB doesn't charge listing fees, which considerably lowers the bar for entry.

Unfortunately it makes shopping for something on GB somewhat difficult, since a knowledgeable buyer has to sort through a bunch of worthless junk to find the occasional diamond in the rough. I was fortunate to have done that and come up with a truly good GB deal perhaps twice over the past decade. It's far easier to find a good deal on CDNN, Bud's, Atlantic Arms or any number of other reputable sites. Even Cabela's had a good deal recently, and nothing on GB came close to it.
 
As many others have said, it's up to the buyer to get the best deal he can. It's not the sellers responsibility to wet nurse the buyer. Anything for sale is worth what ever the buyer is willing to pay. Can't believe anyone would fault the seller for the shortcomings of the buyer.
str1
 
Redcoat3340 said:
Some people selling on gunbroker must think we're idiots. Fools. Jerks. Suckers. ... <snip> ...
There...now I feel better getting that off my chest.
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Aaaahhh, catharsis! :)

That said, I agree with Cooldill's Post#2.

BTW, Redcoat3340, whenever I see overpriced items like that, I simply think of it as another instance of Trolling for a Sucker ... and keep moving. ;)

Quick story ... sorta ...

I saw a post, on some gun forum, long ago by a fellow who was MAD. Seems that he had gone to a gunshow and saw a guy with a rifle (SVT40?) slung over his shoulder with a price placard attached. It was a very good price for a hard-to-find rifle, apparently.

He didn't have that much money on him, so, without even talking to the guy, dashed out to find an ATM.

When he returned he frantically waded thru the crowd looking for that guy with the rifle ... and found another guy with the same rifle on his shoulder, sans price placard.

He stopped this fellow, told him the story and convinced the reluctant new owner to sell him the rifle ...

... but the new owner would not give up the rifle for that earlier placard price, he wanted more money to part with it ...

... and the OP was FURIOUS with the new owner!

Anyone reading this story who thinks that the OP was right to be upset with anyone but himself, well ... :scrutiny:
 
I won't buy a gun on line at all. Closest I came was ordering while looking at a dealers website, paying half up front, and the balance when I picked it up at a local dealer. If it was not as advertised, I could have reversed the charge on my plastic.

What happens if you buy on line, pay in full, go to some local ffl that operates out of his house, and the gun is not as advertised?
 
sequins said:
Cooldill you sound like someone who preys on the unsophisticated. While that's not "against the rules" or a crime or anything, it isn't a very nice thing to do. If you are selling for more than the prevailing market value it's predatory and whether a rube buys it and you get away with it or not you should at least own up to that fact. I see guns priced at MSRP all the time on armslist locally and I see guns at MSRP on gunbroker as well, that's pretty lame IMO but it's not rude per se. The ones in there at "scam" prices, such as the ones described by the OP, are just that, scams. They deserve to be called out!
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called out for what?.......

just because CDNN can sell a gun for a low price, doesnt mean all sellers are able to.......

different shops sell guns for what they can afford to sell them for, some shops that have low overhead can afford to sell at lower prices than brick and mortar stores that have to run a business, pay rent, pay staff, ect.

also, CDNN is a pretty large outfit, they can afford to buy guns in bulk from the MFG, which usually comes at a price break.

a small mom and pop store buying a hand full of guns at a time isnt going to get such a deal.


if me and you both own businesses, you own a warehouse and sell online and i own an actual shop.........you can sell for much cheaper than i can.........so if we take a gun that MSRPs for $500....and you can sell it for $300.........and i can only sell it for $450........that doesnt mean im "trying to scam people"........it means i have higher operating costs and NEED to sell it for more to make money and keep the lights on.


so what exactly are you "calling them out" for again?
 
We all are proud of our capitalism, but if you support the concepts of capitalism and free market (which I do) you have to accept the ability of anyone pricing anything at any price they think they can get. The market will correct pricing by lack of sales at inflated prices, it's all supply and demand.

Especially with today's technology (Google, etc) it is very easy to not be a stupid consumer.
 
For as long as there have been vendors and merchants selling wares of any kind, there have been individuals who overpriced their goods. So don't buy from them. It's part of capitalism.
 
Cooldill said:
Why does it bother you?

You can find a good deal. Good job. Some people are too lazy to find a good deal. IMHO, if someone buys one of those guns, they are NOT getting ripped off, and the seller is not some kind of con artist.

Because, like I said, those people are either too lazy or too ignorant, or both, to bother to search out the best deal. It's their fault that they're overpaying, not the sellers fault for overcharging. The seller has every right to sell the gun for whatever price they want, and they don't force anybody into paying those prices.
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I agree completely. Market demand is what drives prices and sometimes sellers can afford to sit on an item long enough to get the price they want.

Overpaying is the purchasers fault, not the seller. And one person's fair price is another person's rip off.
 
Proifit.

I am not obliged to set a price of something based on what you think my profit should be. So whatever my costs involved in my selling is not a bargaining chip.

Similarly, I am not obliged to buy anything if I find the price not within my acceptable.

The psychology of buying and selling, some learn it and some do not. Crying over this dynamic is silly.

However, the occasional ranting vent is absolutely fine and probably much needed. The only time morality comes into play is selling a necessity at an overly inflated price during times of crisis. (i.e. selling food after a hurricane at 3X original price). You can't price gouge ammo as it is not a life and death commodity in modern society.

Why do we not apply this angst towards General Mills or Kellog's which charge $4.00 for a box of cereal that costs pennies to produce, package, and distribute? That is an insane markup.
 
sequins said:
If you are selling for more than the prevailing market value it's predatory
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If I'm actually selling my items (not just asking a price) then whatever amount that I'm selling it for is SETTING the prevailing market value.

Just because it's more than what you want to pay doesn't make it predatory.
 
To the OP: Grow up!

Just do not bid on them and buy it from CDNN for less than $300 delivered - that is a very good deal, so be happy with it. Not always, but quite often, places like CDNN, RK Guns, and Grab-a-Gun have a firearm arm listed for sale at significantly less than my 01FFL dealer cost from my usual distributors. Why? How? I do not know. It just is what it is.

If I have a firearm priced to sell, it is based primarily on my initial cost. I may have been a 'Fool' for buying it in the first place, but that does not mean that I think you are one (or a Jerk or a Sucker) when I am offering it for sale to you. Buy it, or don't - in many ways, this is still a free country. At times, I may even end up 'cutting my losses' on a firearm that has been in inventory too long and sell it for less than I paid for it, at a price that may still be higher than some big internet sale deal. What do you care about the price I am asking when you do not wish to purchase it from me, at that price? Take your good deal and be happy! Let the 'fools' trying to make money as a small (or even a large) dealer simply go there own way. There is no way that YOU can know what is behind every 'asking price' for a given firearm.
 
warp said:
How so?
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By the definition of "market value":

International Valuation Standards defines market value as "the estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the date of valuation between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s-length transaction after proper marketing wherein the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently, and without compulsion
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What happens if you buy on line, pay in full, go to some local ffl that operates out of his house, and the gun is not as advertised?
Click to expand...

You take all the money you saved from the dozens of problem free transactions and just buy another one?

Seriously - I've bought probably 20 guns online and had (minor) problems with about 2 of them. Given that I generally save $75-100 per gun online versus shopping locally I can more than afford an issue every now and then.
 
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