I've probably bought a dozen or two guns since just before last Christmas on Gun Broker... I decided to add top break pocket guns in 32 & 38 S&W to my collection... I have several guns I only paid about $80.00 for & a couple of these were like new 100 year old guns...
a couple of suggestions from me...
do a search for the particular gun you are looking for... try wording your search a couple different ways... ( example spell out & use the initials for S&W, etc. ) also try searching just the caliber, I often find guns that turn up in a caliber seach that don't for some reason show up in the gun search...
add all interesting guns to your watch list to see what they end up selling for, for a week or so before you actually put a bid on a gun... watch out for reserve prices, I find that over the couple dozen or so I've bought, only one or two of the guns I've been interested in, would actually sell at a price I was willing to pay...
check cheaper online dealer prices... I see this all the time, that magazines, & other accessories will be listed for more, or the same price I can buy them for on line...
there is alot of people that list unrealistic prices... sometimes after they have been relisted 3-4 times, I send them an e-mail, wishing them the best luck on their auction, but tellng them that I've been watching their item for 3-4 weeks, & if it doesn't sell for their asking price, would they consider my offer ??? I've bought 2 or 3 guns this way...
IMO, if you are a collector, then sites Like Gun Broker are a valuable asset, I see guns on line, that I would never see for sale at the local dealers... on the other hand though, a common gun, that is stocked at my local dealer, I just buy locally, it would have to be a pretty unrealistic deal, to buy it on line, pay the shipping, & the additional FFL transfer fee, to beat a reasonably priced local gun with no shipping, & FFL fees included in the price of the gun...