Are folks on Gunbroker.com insane or dumb? Or both?

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dcook22

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I was just looking at gunbroker to see what a Kahr CW9 is going for. I'm seeing prices like $530 starting price with a $565 buy now price + $50 shipping! $50! For a USED gun!

I took 30 seconds to check budsgunshop and saw the same gun brand new for $415 delivered. What is this guy thinking?

Same with lots of guns at gunbroker.

Is there any other auction site that you guys can point me to?

Thanks.
 
umm, well, they seem to be making money (and in a lousy economy, too!), so I'd have to vote for "neither".

Prices are pretty well set by the market. If you can find what you want at a better price...go for it!

;)

You might try www.gunsamerica.com
 
Gunbroker prices are usually indicative of the market for most guns. If people are bidding and buying the guns. Just like any auction though there are plenty of items that don't get sold. $415 is an GREAT price for a cw9. The biggest thing about gun broker is how much an FFL is going to charge you to do a transfer on a gun they would have rather you bought from them.
 
The biggest thing about gun broker is how much an FFL is going to charge you to do a transfer on a gun they would have rather you bought from them.
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My advice is to not go through an FFL holder who is a gun "dealer". Instead, look for a gunsmith who has an FFL, or even someone who has the FFL explicitly for doing transfers.

The dealers in my area are outrageous. One guy wants $40 transfer fee for long guns and $50 for handguns. Another shop wants $30 fee PLUS 10% of whatever you paid for the gun (yes, they want to add their own markup to your private sale just for transferring it).

Meanwhile, there are several other smiths or transfer-only agents who will transfer the gun for $15 to $25.
 
I don't get the $300 Romanian Tokarev clones on gunbroker. The only one Romy Tok I see for under $200 is one that is around 30% covered in rust. Even after shipping and FFL fees, I can get one for under $240, why would I want to pay an additional $100?
 
My advice is to not go through an FFL holder who is a gun "dealer". Instead, look for a gunsmith who has an FFL, or even someone who has the FFL explicitly for doing transfers.
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It's a bit counter intuitive, but sometimes the big chain stores are good options. In Florida, the local Bass Pro offered transfers for $35 for the first gun, and $10 for each additional, up to 5 total. Here, the local Cabelas will do them for pre-arranged (just notify them of tentative dates) sales at $25 for the first gun, and $5 for each additional gun, up to 10 total - but, only through the gun library's 'head dude'. (I hear it's not really company policy, but definitely keeps customers coming back.)

I was looking to transfer 3 Yugo Mausers a few years ago. The local gunsmiths actually ended up being the most expensive choices ($50-75 for each transfer). They would prefer to keep working on their backlogs, than spend the time calling the BCI center and doing paper work.
 
I don't get their pricing either. I have been in the market for a Chinese SKS and I am seeing them listed from $300-700 which is insane. Locally they are $225-$350. I am not sure when SKS's became more expensive than AK's. I can buy a WASR for $379 from JG's. But as someone above said, don't buy from their site, I certainly don't.
 
If you are selling a gun on gunbroker, it is made of gold and has diamond and ruby inlays.

If you are buying a gun on gunbroker, it is highly used, worn out and covered with rust.

I see this all the times with auctions and at antique stores. Everyone thinks what they have is worth a mint, while everyone who is buying is cheaper than my step dad and wants it for half price. But someone has to be making money, because these places are still in business.
 
I get the whole market sets the prices thing, I'm not questioning that. In fact that's my point. When the only auctions for CW9's that have any bids at all are going at $350 and UNDER, why would someone list a gun with a start price of $435? Let alone the $535 I mentioned earlier. That's just not understanding the market. A few quick clicks should show a seller they're not going to get what they're asking at that crazy price. The annoying thing is that it looks like there are a couple dozen of a certain gun type for sale, but the truth is there are only a couple unless one wants to pay through the nose. It just doesn't make sense to me.

And there's a pawn/gun shop near me that does all transfers for $25. And if they don't have a gun in stock, they'll order it and charge $25 over cost. Now, I have no way of knowing what their "cost" is, but they usually get at least a decent price. Sometimes they're lower, sometimes not.Factoring in insurance for the shipment evens things out too. And I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks to do business locally. But $80 - $100 difference? No thanks. By the same token, there's a retail gun shop near me that charges 15% of the gun's cost as a transfer fee if you're brining in a gun they have in stock. Essentially, buy it from them or they ain't helping you. Hey, they got overhead, I understand. I just won't do transfers through them.

Whatever. Thanks for the gunsamerica link and if anyone else knows another place, please let me know.

Dan
 
I have got some good deals on gunbroker, you just have to shop. I like it when I see some off those high prices, I know that if I decide to sell my firearm that I will not lose money and might even make some.
 
I've made some purchases on Gunbroker and feel each of them was a good deal. You have to be patient. The good deals are often lost in the background noise. And yes, there are plenty of ridiculous prices, too. Ignore them rather than focusing on them. They'll still be there at this time next year.
 
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...
 
The asking prices on Gunbroker, by and large, reflect the insane optimism of the sellers. I follow Gunbroker closely. 80% or more of the items up for sale generally pass through the bidding process with no bids being made. Given that, the asking prices are essentially meaningless.

That having been said, I've made a few purchases on GB that I thought were for excellent prices and I've been very satisfied with what I got. One must be patient and wait.
 
Also, take into account that you do not pay just to list something. So they can keep re-listing the same item high and hope that someone pays through the nose or just sell it locally.

Beentown
 
80% or more of the items up for sale generally pass through the bidding process with no bids being made.
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That's my observation as well. However, I'm a little more cycnical as to the reason for this. I think some folks make up auctions for guns using higher prices so that the firearm that they are trying to actually sell looks "cheap" in comparison. Take this for what its worth - pure internet unsubstantiated speculation. But, I have a hard time believeing that 80% of the people trying to sell guns out there are really that clueless.
 
Grow up!

If you don’t like the asking price, don’t buy.

If you don’t like the offered price, don’t sell.
 
Are you insane to buy it from Bud's for $425? I paid $360 for a new CW9 delivered to my FFL in 2008, and I got it off GB...:eek:

Ignore the junk on GB, and focus on the bargains. I have found some incredible deals on GB, a P14 Winchester Enfield in mint condition for $320, a 1917 in even better condition for $280, a PAR-1 for $220, a Daewoo K1A1 for $850.
 
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