Thoughts about GunBroker?

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After I finally figured out the whole gun buying thing (for us Kalifornians), I've done pretty well this year with Gun Broker. The scoped Husqy 8x57 that I found 2 minutes before the auction ended for $350.00, the four JC Higgins 12 gauge's that I got from 3 different sellers for less than $325.00 combined and my favorite, a near new Ruger MKIII 512 for two hundred bucks, that I found right after the auction ended. The reason the seller had no bids in 7 days? It was because he only wanted to sell it FTF within a fifty mile radius from his house in Northern Kali. A quick call to my FFL guy to figure out how to do this transaction (shipping, transfer wise), and 30 minutes later it was mine. Oh yeah, and the Marlin 336C lever I found (and ultimately purchased from) for $215.00 from a store back east who has in large letters in their very first paragraph Absolutely No Sales To California! No Exceptions!. I got the exception, after a whole lotta sweet talking. It's now my favorite rifle.

So that buck-o-day has helped me add some fun guns to my collection. It's been more than well worth it........:rolleyes:
 
When I want to look for interesting stuff, I just sort by # of bids, high to low, and ignore any with unmet reserves. I find that there's a savvy crowd on GB and items are rarely over- or under-sold.
Since I have a C&R I focus on eligible items to avoid transfer fees. Otherwise, for new or NIB-status I use an awesome local FFL- 2A Sales in Jessup, MD who can get me what I want for a competitive price.
 
I've probably bought and sold 25 or so guns off the internet, mostly off of Gun Broker. Just about all have been black powder. Acquired some gems, made a few bucks. Like any auction, you got to know what your willing to pay. Ask lots of questions and don't bid if it don't feel right. Got burned on one transaction ~ but I've had that happen at a LGS also.

Gun Broker is a great way to get hard to find items and also sell, if you have something that interests a small market. Before the internet sites, there was some of the older stuff that was really hard to find.
 
I always start my guns at a penny. I sell good merch, and there's no reason it won't sell, and usually it sells better than expected- as to say about an hour after listing I get deluged with emails from people asking me to cancel the auction and name a cash price, or making offers that usually end up being about half of what I get at the end of the seven days.

I concur with the hatred of constant relists, though. I wish I could block sellers or something.

And price-range exclusions don't work- a very good example of something might be worth X, but that doesn't mean I want to see a dozen beat-to-crap ones that're overpriced and constantly relisted at that value.
 
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!"
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For goodness sakes delete that post. My wife reads this forum sometimes.
 
I'd like to see some of the dead wood and clutter removed. There's a specific Colt Army Special listed by A-Brice-Pawn here in Ohio that is a 20% at best gun that they keep spinning it in for a penny with an unstated reserve (but told me was over $650 which is dreamer money). Stuff like that just grows dust. The business of GB is to get stuff sold. They should put in a policy that they only give free renewals if the reserve price is lowered by at least a dollar each time. Sure it might take a while to get them sold but they will eventually sell.

I did have one seller with a no reserve auction on an item that sold for (seemed to me) a fair price but was quite low compared to what other similar items sell for (bearing in mind this example was in rough shape). The seller refused to sell the item to me after I won. Made lots of excuses. Then the feedback got ugly. I sent all the emails from the seller to GB management and it got decided in my favor. At least I wasn't out any money.
 
Bought 3 guns from GB. No huge complaints really other than a large amount of sellers refuse to sell to California based on some of their principles...

I can understand if its because its too much of a hassle, but when they start saying California, Commie-whatever, non-free state, I don't want my dollars going in their wallet anyway.

I don't see how punishing the people who are NOT on-board with the regulations is fixing the problem.

As for the website layout, the organization could use some improvement. I have to search for .260 and 260 separately because sometimes the seller includes the decimal and others do not.

Like eBay, mostly everyone sets a rediculously low auction price and then sets a reserve. Completely pointless in my opinion. List it for the MINIMUM you would accept for it, and let the buyers fight over who wins it.
 
Only once to buy a gun, about three years ago. Now just bulk .303 bullets are bought via GB.

In spring '09 I wanted to buy an imitation Enfield #5 "Jungle C.", but nobody had one on GB.

"Joesalter" up in NH not only had/has tons of various Enfields etc, but he has about a dozen well-illum. photos for each gun and an accurate description.
I found few Enfields on GB with the necessary selections of photos or adequate details. Most sellers don't even realize that the rifling can have 2, 4 or more grooves, or don't want this info included.

Some either don't know, care, or won't describe who built their rifle, and some don't state whether the bolt matches the butt socket, if these are legible. My hang-up now is with the cost to ship, plus the FFL costs.
Since early '09, all of my guns are bought at shows etc where they can be inspected and there are no added costs.
The latest is a nice Spanish FR8 (.308/7.62) Mauser carbine from Allen's in Clarkesville TN.
 
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I go there but most of my internet purchases are thru Auction Arms. As far as a fee to activate my acount that wasn't happening when I signed up. If it had have been a stipulation I would not have signed up. The thing on auctions with reserve they don't even get a passing glance I just pass them by.
 
All my purchases from GB have been satisfactory... moderately good to simply fair deals. Only one seller lied about item condition but the price was so low I didn't fuss much. I did wait until the last day feedback could be left and gave him an "F". I waited until the last day to minimize the time he'd have to retaliate and he missed his chance. I've given "A+" to every other seller including the one that took nearly 2 months to ship the item. I just ignore overpriced items.
 
while I have had good luck on GunBroker, I prefer GunsAmerica. No shills to raise prices, great selection, reputable dealers, and they have good product information in the blog. I have had good luck on both sites but have found the prices to be better on GunsAmerica.
 
I buy some here and some there. I have had excellent luck with GB and have purchased several firearms and literally a ton or more of brass and bullets over the past couple years. The secret is to bid what YOU think it is worth at the beginning and not change it after. If you loose then another will show up eventually. If it is one of a kind bid accordingly the first time. I get great deals and only loose about 2% of what I bid on. It also helps to be lucky and be the first bidder as often no one else will bid a dollar or two more just to get an item. I have even done the buy it now with some items.

Those retail sellers usually will have 1K or more score so I avoid them mostly.
 
I've bought over a dozen guns on gunbroker and have been very happy with the entire process. Great buys, met some great people, and if you work at it, some awesome deals on hard to find guns.

Everything i got was below what was being asked at gunshops and gunshows - if you could even find it locally.
 
I've had great luck buying and selling on GB. My last purchaser told me, start high, no bids, lower your price. Just because an item is listed in the stratosphere, doesn't mean it's worth it or will sell. I sold a gun and got a "buy now" 5 days into the auction. I should have asked more, but I'm not a greedy kind of person. I just sold a custom knife, buy now in 24 minutes. Don't blame gun broker, it's a great tool.
 
I have to laugh at some of the guns I've seen on GB and AA. There is one gun, in fair shape at best, that's been listed again and again, for at least 5 years. His starting price is almost $50 higher than what I paid for a near perfect one, with 2 extra mags about the time it was listed the first time. Every so often, it's gone for a while, but it keeps coming back.

I've only had one sale on GB where I got much less than I expected to get. I put $100 to start on it, expecting it to end up at $250, about where most of others of same condition did. I went to $200 and just sat there, day after day, nobody bumped it, and it went for $205 with a last minute "snipe". Weird, I watched auctions for that model gun for weeks afterwards, and only really bad ones went that cheap. I really don't understand what happened. One gun I put up later on I put a buy it now of $450, figuring that it probably wouldn't go quite that high, but I was shocked when 15 minutes after the auction started, some guy hit the BIN button. He said he had been trying to get a really nice gun of that type for months, and had lost auction after auction, so when he saw a BIN, he jumped. He was very happy, as it was a really nice one.
 
I always get a laugh from "no reserve" auctions with starting prices that equate to the reserve one would establish in a reserve auction.

Every gun I've bought on GB was through buy it now. A fair price is a fair price.
 
I've had very good luck on GB. But, you have to take the bad with the good:

I'd like to see some of the dead wood and clutter removed.
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Absolutely. Some of my favorite seller tactics that make it tougher to separate the wheat from the chaff:

1. Dealer boilerplate. These are auction by FFLs who post their (actually their distributor's) entire catalog every 24 hours. The lazier ones don't even bother with model numbers, just the SKUs, as if bidders have those memorized. Worse, it's clear some dealers don't even know what those items are, as they often list them in the wrong category.

2. Deliberately miscategorized items. There's a whole gunshow's worth of parts, grips, and pointless doo-dads (miniature gun-like toys, various things entombed in acrylic) clogging up the gun listings. The worst are folks who order or download a free manual from the manufacturer then think someone will pay for the privilege of winning it in an auction.

3. As already pointed out, the dreaded perma-auctions. I'm talking about the "rare" Sterling .22 pistol with an opening bid that has been parked at $475 literally for years. GB gives the seller the option of re-listing an item until it sells. This policy needs to go.

4. Placeholder auctions. You ever seen one for a "gun" with no description and an opening bid of $10000? I guess these folks are saving a space for a more complete listing later. But, seriously, what does this mysterious practice accomplish? If you feel you've absolutely got to list something now, why do it in a way that gives the viewer absolutely no reason to bid on it?

5. Sneaky keywordery. What's that? I was searching for a 1911 and your above MSRP Sigma came up? Well played, sir!
 
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I purchase from gunbroker on occassion but I always shop around a lot before pulling the trigger - pun intended lol -

I personally like the buynow feature - because if I see a good deal I am willing to pay for it on the spot vs wait to get snipped. My rule of thumb is - if it is cheaper with shipping and transfer fees - get it. If it is not, I buy local just for the peace of mind of having it in hand so I can go play... I mean go to the range.
 
I've used Gunbroker and Auctionarms. Both are OK. Yes, you do have people listing stuff for absurdly high prices. So laugh and don't bid.

But the online auctions are good for scraping up some of the exotics...and that's what I'm interested in.
 
My two biggest gripes about the way auctions are listed (doubt it is unique to GB):

1) If you want a "reserve", just list the starting price at that number. What is the point of bidding from 0 up to whatever your reserve is? Normally I will skip these, but a couple times I've seen something I really wanted, and had to waste the time to do 84 sequential bids $5 apart to figure out if the reserve price was in my price range. It never has been... therefore I conclude that secret reserves are usually indicative of a dreamer seller.

2) People who tell you what their item ISN'T, so you will see it when you are searching for something else entirely: "FS: Ruger SR556; NOT HK, LWRC, SCAR, POF, LMT, XYZ..." No ****, sherlock... I know the difference between a Ruger and a SCAR. If I wanted to see your Ruger, I would have entered "Ruger" in the search criteria. You must be attempting to clarify, for the mass of idiots who contact you under the mistaken assumption that your Ruger is actually a SCAR, right? Right.
 
I sold my father's Winchester Model 70 in .225 Winchester for $625 on Gunbroker. I saw a similar rifle go for that price so I priced his at that. It went surprisingly quickly. Not bad for a rifle they don't make ammo for anymore. Then a couple of weeks later I sold the 60 or so rounds of ammo we had for $80. It's money in the bank. My father paid for my Mosin Nagant as a way of thanks.
 
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've been on GB for a few years+they still bill me each month for that $..Bill.
 
BullfrogKen:

Regarding starting prices of about one cent, my wife claims that this technique can works well attracting bidders on E-Bay.
Does it result in more frequent (total) bids, which can keep the item at the top of the list more often?

She has sold a number of authentic Meissen porcelain antiques using that method, so why not with guns?
 
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