Which of the following bother you most about on-line gun sellers?

[Kynoch]

Which of the following bother you most about on-line gun sellers?

 

[Plan2Live]

All of the above. I support local businesses as much as possible even if I have to pay a few dollars more.

 

[gary0529]

I needed about 5 choices since just about all of the available choices applied.

I also do not buy online for the same myriad of reasons. I have looked at gun store online sites but usually end up going to my LGS to complete the sale.

Gary

 

[Ed Ames]

When I lived in California and had a C&R it was definitely the "will not ship even though legal", but I solved that problem and as a bonus realized that - despite all the rationalizations I used to delay my departure - life is better outside of CA in just about every way.

 

[Byrd666]

I've made purchases of firearms from budgunshop.com and cdnn and didn't have a Real complaint about either. Other than having to pay Texas sales tax to CDNN. But even with the tax and 3 percent upcharge for cc purchases and 20 dollar or so transfer fee, I still received exactly what I was looking for, in a timely manner when it/they were not available locally. And at reasonable pricing.

 

[Walkalong]

Never buy a gun online without excellent photos.

 

[Kynoch]

I laugh at on-line sellers now who make a big point out of not shipping to CA (while never mentioning the places with even tighter gun control laws.) I cheer and support those who go out of their way to support CA shooters.

I almost choose the "Will not ship to your locale even though legal" but the 2-3% credit card scam is just that, a scam, so I choose it.

 

[MErl]

The "add 3% for CC" which applies to brick & mortar shops around here as well.

 

[heeler]

I vote inflated shipping prices and inaccurate grading of guns.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours looking at seven pages of GunBroker ads on Marlin 336's and several were graded as clean to 90% and were covered with rust and mars all over the wood.
I have gotten to the point that I won't even bid unless they are showing detailed pictures or will e-mail me detailed pictures.

 

[Sav .250]

All the above pay a part in almost any transaction.

Buyer beware still holds true.

 

[oneounceload]

but the 2-3% credit card scam is just that, a scam, so I choose it.

HUH? The businesses get charged by the credit card companies and that is the typical rate. Any business that does not break out that cost has it already built in so if you pay cash, you are paying that much more to help offset those fees

 

[Willie Sutton]

None of the above.

*I* control what I buy, and who I buy from.

I filter out sellers and guns that would put any of the above into play, and only select from the smaller subset of sellers and guns that meet MY standards for further consideration.

YOU are the buyer. Sort out things, keep the wheat and discard the chaff without a second thought.


Willie

.

 

[Ed Ames]

I laugh at on-line sellers now who make a big point out of not shipping to CA (while never mentioning the places with even tighter gun control laws.)

Even better: standing in a well known C&R gun seller's public-facing area (perhaps in Versailles, ky) with a federal firearms license that makes it perfectly legal for me to buy any C&R gun they sell even though I am from out of state, being told they won't sell me a nagant (perfectly legal in CA) or anything else because the address on my license is in California. Go back after moving with a TX address and it is no problem. (I think that particular vendor has relaxed their nothing-in-ca stance).

In their somewhat defense: There was a time when the CA AG was claiming they would actively go after any out of state firearms business that had California customers.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Poor ad photos if it's a used gun...if they suck and I'm interested I'll ask for additional photos of specific things. If I don't get them or they suck we are done no matter how intrigued I am about the gun.

Gotta have good pix unless it's NIB. I agree with "support yer local dealer" and have all my guns go thru the local range/LGS as they are my go to point for all things FFL. They get a few $ even if I bought it online. Lately I'm collecting Colt 1903's of specific condition and the LGS will *never* have choices in this regard. I have to shop online and I'm enjoying the challenge and learning a lot. Don't mind paying a percent to use the credit card - don't mind running to the PO for a money order. Depends on the seller and my impressions of him vie Email/phone contact.

I don't do FTF's and wouldn't chastise another who does the same.

VooDoo

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Knock on wood, but I've only had pleasant experiences buying guns online to date. Granted I havent bought a ton, but 5-6 and they have all been smooth transactions. Sure I'd rather not pay the credit card up charge, but I understand why they do it (so they can offer a lower price to those willing to go through the longer, less convenient process of paying them by another means that does not include a cost to them), so I wont knock them for it.

I've come to prefer buying online to buying from local stores as the selection is better, the prices are better, I can take my time and research without buying pressure and the hours are better so I can buy when I want. No sales tax on out of state transactions is a nice perk as well and usually negates the shipping, FFL, and credit card fee.

 

[chicharrones]

HUH? The businesses get charged by the credit card companies and that is the typical rate. Any business that does not break out that cost has it already built in so if you pay cash, you are paying that much more to help offset those fees

Definitely true. That extra bit is to cover what the merchant services/credit card processing companies charge the retailer. Those companies are usually independent of the actual credit card.

Some retailers hide those charges in the selling price, and some retailers show a lower price as a "cash discount" or "cash price".

When a gun might get sold for a 10% profit margin, losing 3+% of that to a processing company cuts too deep into a the already skinny profit.

A $500.00 gun might net a "low price" retailer a $50.00 profit. If it is a credit card sale, losing another $15.00 leaves the retailer $35.00. That retailer might as well just do FFL transfer fees. For cash or debit only.

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...t-card-processing/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

 

[chicharrones]

Now that I think about it, we ought to feel ripped off when we go to stores that don't offer a cash discount and we still pay cash.

A guy next to you buys dinner for his family at a restaurant with a credit card. You buy the same dinner for your same size family with cash. You both get charged the same. The restaurant pockets the difference it got to keep from not getting hit with a credit card fee from its card processing company.

 

[Kynoch]

None of the above.

*I* control what I buy, and who I buy from.

I filter out sellers and guns that would put any of the above into play, and only select from the smaller subset of sellers and guns that meet MY standards for further consideration.

YOU are the buyer. Sort out things, keep the wheat and discard the chaff without a second thought.


Willie

.

Good grief. Why try to change the question? "Which of the following bother you most about on-line gun sellers?" You personally might not have the ability to reason which of the above things bothers you the most but that has absolutely nothing to do with "filtering" and choosing who to buy from.

 

[Kynoch]

Even better: standing in a well known C&R gun seller's public-facing area (perhaps in Versailles, ky) with a federal firearms license that makes it perfectly legal for me to buy any C&R gun they sell even though I am from out of state, being told they won't sell me a nagant (perfectly legal in CA) or anything else because the address on my license is in California. Go back after moving with a TX address and it is no problem. (I think that particular vendor has relaxed their nothing-in-ca stance).

In their somewhat defense: There was a time when the CA AG was claiming they would actively go after any out of state firearms business that had California customers.

I suspect they rejected your business with a sense of misplaced pleasure too, which is all the more sicko.

There are many places in the US that have tighter gun control regulations than CA, yet the CA-hating gun sellers don't seem to realize that -- at least not when it comes to writing their ads.

There was a very cool seller on Gunbroker that noted he took the 10 minutes to sign-up with the CA DOJ and that he wouldn't think of charging anything extra because a CA transfer would take an extra 3-4 minutes of his time.

 

[ldlfh7]

Buy local and avoid all of the nonsense.

 

[newfalguy101]

I think allowing multiple choices might have been a good idea.

I ended up going with no/lousy pics.

Its unfathomable to me that in this day and age, ANYBODY would put a gun up for sale online with no pics, or such lousy pics that you cant tell anything about condition.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Its unfathomable to me that in this day and age, ANYBODY would put a gun up for sale online with no pics, or such lousy pics that you cant tell anything about condition.

Yup. There's a few very nicely done Colt 1903 pistols on Guns America that are obviously exquisite guns....engraving, nickel, gold, and everything a Colt 1903 freak would love *but* the pix are all blurry. The guns have been for sale for months when most in that condition would move quickly unless there was a perceived problem.

You'd think Dude would fix the pix.....

VooDoo

 

[stchman]

I've bought used guns off of gun websites like J&G and AIM Surplus.

They tell you the gun is in very good condition. You get the gun and it's beat to hell. Since when is something that is beat up with scratches and dings "very good" condition?

 

[Kynoch]

Buy local and avoid all of the nonsense.

And trade for FUD, bad attitudes, little selection and high prices. No thanks.

 

[Kynoch]

I've bought used guns off of gun websites like J&G and AIM Surplus.

They tell you the gun is in very good condition. You get the gun and it's beat to hell. Since when is something that is beat up with scratches and dings "very good" condition?

J&G Sales... I have not thought about them for a long time. Many, many years ago when I had an FFL, I bought a used Brno .22 from them. It arrived and looked fine. Then I got a phone call saying they had shipped the wrong rifle -- they had shipped a hand-picked rifle by mistake. I just chuckled, said that it would do and said goodbye.