Gunbroker lunacy

I can't think of a scheme to get rid of this aspect of gunbroker. Can anyone?
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You can make it more difficult for shill bidders. Ebay used to post information about each bidder, including what city they were from. Then they stopped - wonder why :rolleyes:. Can someone savoy enough use proxies to get around this? Probably. If you can't stop shill bidding at live auctions, then it's a good bet that you can't stop it on the internet. However, I would agree that companies like Ebay and Gunbroker could EASILY do more than they do to discourage this.

Still, I have purchased a number of guns on Gunbroker. I typically find "good deals" - not steals, but I don't look for steals. I just don't worry about shill bidding. If I find a gun I really want, I'll bid on it, leaving some room, and then eventually throw out my highest bid. If I lose it by $5, so be it - probably means I didn't lose it by $5 and that someone was toying with me. There's no shortage of guns out there; not even the rare ones.
 
Not worth the trouble...

Lt. Skrumpledonk Ret said:
That's just it, skoro: The gun that sold for 200% of what you'd expect it to sell for wasn't sold at all. Some seller simply logged into gunbroker under another account and 'bought it' at an inflated price, then gave himself, the 'seller', an A + rating. I can't think of a scheme to get rid of this aspect of gunbroker. Can anyone?

What I'd love to know is - have any of you seen a gun go for an inflated price and then seen the same gun on there again; essentially as a 'do-over' under another account?
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I'm not an expert on online auctions in general but here is my two cents :)

Although it wouldn't completely eliminate shill bidding/rating, the online auction's fees for each listing and percentage of the total price sold for an item should be a significant amount but not high enough to discourage legitimate sellers. I can't imagine many people shelling out a lot for auction ratings and if the shills bid too high, the seller will still be stuck with the item in addition to the auction fees.

If the auction site also requires sellers/buyers to use something like Paypal, then that will add another fee and will also leave a covenient record to help feret out the shills later. Really though (for me anyway), it isn't worth hunting down the shills because even if you are successful, they can just pop back up under another name and/or auction site.
 
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Good luck using PayPal for gun auctions, they'll shut that down when they find out.

I've seen Buy It Now prices get eclipsed by bidders. More than once I've bid a few bucks under the BIN price, only to see it go for more, especially when a couple of folks get in a bid fight.

I don't know about shilling, I'm sure there is some going on, but I think there is more of an issue with gun shops putting something up for auction, then using the top bid to sell it in the store to a buyer they have been dealing with the entire time. They get their sale, don't have to box and ship, and everyone is happy except the internet high bidder who thought he was in a legitimate auction.

The other practice I do not like to see is the ending of auctions before their end time. The shop just pulls the auction, tough beans. Guess it wasn't going to sell for enough money.
 
What's the point?

kilimanjaro said:
Good luck using PayPal for gun auctions, they'll shut that down when they find out.

I've seen Buy It Now prices get eclipsed by bidders. More than once I've bid a few bucks under the BIN price, only to see it go for more, especially when a couple of folks get in a bid fight.

I don't know about shilling, I'm sure there is some going on, but I think there is more of an issue with gun shops putting something up for auction, then using the top bid to sell it in the store to a buyer they have been dealing with the entire time. They get their sale, don't have to box and ship, and everyone is happy except the internet high bidder who thought he was in a legitimate auction.

The other practice I do not like to see is the ending of auctions before their end time. The shop just pulls the auction, tough beans. Guess it wasn't going to sell for enough money.
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It doesn't have to be Paypal, just some independent payment site or method which costs a fee and leaves a paper trail. If an auction site allows sellers to pull out at any time they want to, regardless of bids on their items, it makes an auction meaningless; in that case, a seller doesn't need to shill bid on their item because they can just bail out at the last minute if the price isn't high enough.
 
like any auction site, there will be bidding wars that take place that drive the price up way above the avg cost of the rifle. I don't really bid there much anymore, but when i do i make sure to keep a level head.
 
I've seen Buy It Now prices get eclipsed by bidders. More than once I've bid a few bucks under the BIN price, only to see it go for more, especially when a couple of folks get in a bid fight.
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It's possible to bid over a BIN price, but it's foolish. Just click on BIN and end it.

By the same token, it's risky to bid close to a BIN price; another bidder can simply click on Buy It Now and end the auction.

I don't know about shilling, I'm sure there is some going on, but I think there is more of an issue with gun shops putting something up for auction, then using the top bid to sell it in the store to a buyer they have been dealing with the entire time. They get their sale, don't have to box and ship, and everyone is happy except the internet high bidder who thought he was in a legitimate auction.
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If you are the high bidder and the seller does not honor the transaction, formally complain to Gunbroker. Their policy:

Please always keep in mind that if the item is won here, it must be sold to the winning bidder. Although it is a harsh remedy, we terminate the accounts of seller who fail to complete transactions.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Support/SupportFAQView.aspx?faqid=1085
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The other practice I do not like to see is the ending of auctions before their end time. The shop just pulls the auction, tough beans. Guess it wasn't going to sell for enough money.
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Although it's considered bad form, the seller has a right to pull the auction if nobody has bid on it. Once a bid has been made, see above. Moral of the story: If you're interested in an item, bid on it.
 
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Most of the stuff I've bought off Gunbroker was done with Paypal.
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Completely against their policy.

We don’t allow PayPal members to buy or sell any kind of firearm, whether it’s in working order or not. The same goes for certain firearm parts and ammunition.
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Examples and specifics at above link.

Basically they are saying you may not use paypal to buy firearms, firearm parts or ammunition. I know people do it all the time and I don't know what the penalty is if you are caught but just know it is against their policy.
 
Hmmm. I'm in the market for a Ruger SP101 in .22LR. My LGS will eventually get one for me for $500, but I'm going to have to wait until they can source one, which might be months. Other local gun shops have them in stock, but at $570 in one store and $580 in another. Cabela's are asking something over $600.

I can get one on gunbroker for $500, but then add $25 shipping and $20 transfer fee, and I'm only saving $25 on the cheapest one I can buy across the counter today, which hardly seems worth the hassle.
 
Basically they are saying you may not use paypal to buy firearms, firearm parts or ammunition. I know people do it all the time and I don't know what the penalty is if you are caught but just know it is against their policy.
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You're right, but there is lots of stuff on GB that you CAN pay for with PayPal. Holsters, scopes, grips, stocks, slings, etc, etc, etc.
 
Sometimes if your bid exceeds the reserve, the "buy it now" price disappears. I have been a member of Gun Broker for years and have bought over half a dozen guns from that site.

The best thing with auctions is to know what the gun is really worth (do your homework at local gun shops nearby). Factor in the cost of shipping and FFL transfer fee. Also factor in any credit card surcharges they may charge. If the bidding exceeds that amount, let it go.

I have seen the "ego bidding" get VERY ugly and people severely over pay for items. On eBay, there was some guy selling watch cases with automatic winders. He had a bunch of them for sale, but they were set up as separate auctions. I saw the same damn thing sell for almost TRIPLE what I paid for mine! If some fool wants to overpay, I will NOT stand in his way.

I believe that there are some good deals to be had on Gun Broker. I tend to look at the auctions that are ending soon since there will be less time for others to act on it. If no one happens to be looking for the same exact thing you are looking for, then you can get lucky. AR-15s were going through the roof as was ammo right after the Sandy Hook tragedy. I saw guns going for more than triple their value. It is amazing how panic buying makes people go out of their minds.

Good luck and bid wisely!!!
 
Stephen426 said all that needs to be said about any auction or auction site. You can get GREAT deal if you know what you are doing.
 
Bidding and such...

Stephen426 said:
I tend to look at the auctions that are ending soon since there will be less time for others to act on it. If no one happens to be looking for the same exact thing you are looking for, then you can get lucky.
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I don't know how the bidding goes on other auction sites but on Ebay most of the bidding tends to be towards the end of an auction. Also I have heard that there are bidding programs that can automatically bid on auctions.
 
I've seen the same phenomena on E-Bay for magazines and other accessories.
People bidding way more for used magazines than they would pay if they ordered from the factory. I don't get it.
 
The thing to remember about Gun Broker is any bid will trigger the "15 minute rule" even if the auction is supposed to end. This is designed to prevent "sniping" (bidding right before an auction ends to). The auction ends at the set ending time, or after 15 minutes if there is no bidding activity. Here is a link to their how to page.

http://www.gunbroker.com/User/HowToBuy.aspx#autobid

Gun Broker also has the auto-bid feature which will automatically bid up to the max you are willing to bid by raising the bid by the least amount possible.

Ebay allows for sniping by ending the auction at the set time. Someone who really wants an item will bid like crazy until they either win the bid or the auction expires.
 
Back in the late 1990s, early 2000s, a guy I knew had a brick and mortar pipe/tobacco shop and used to put vintage pipes and new smoking accessories up on ebay. Sometimes the accessories would be bid higher than if the person walked into the store and bought it.
 
Gunbroker is no different than any other marketplace. There are good and bad prices and good and bad sellers. I look all the time at gunbroker and over the years have gotten quiet a few good if not great deals. If I see something that interests me I put it in my list. It emails me a notification when it is close to ending. If the price has not been run up beyond what I am willing to pay I might bid. The trick is to know what your max number is and put it in and let it stand. If you are outbit so be it there will be another gun another day. Do not give into the hype of the "auction" environment. It is the same as looking in a used gun case and saying "will you take XXX for that pistol?"

I too look at auction ending soon. Sometimes typos or weird titling will cause an auction to slip past most people. I also look at the buy it nows. Every now and then someone actually puts up a good price for a gun. I missed a 98% No dash 586 the other day that sold at IIRC $600 buy it now. That is not super price but is more than fair.

You have to know what the guns you are looking at are worth NIB and in the used market. You have to know how to look at pics and tell if a gun has been neglected. The more pics the better job you can do assessing the gun. Ask the seller questions. I have asked for pics of certain parts of the gun. Look at their feed back most of the time you can get a good feel for the seller from the way that they respond to you.

There are a lot of decent NIB guns on GB again if you look hard enough and filter out the noise. A lot of times you get get something that your local guy cannot get quickly by scanning GB. You might not save as much as used but you get the gun you want when you want it.

There are some stellar deals on GB everyday like the BHPs sold by Coles Distribution which run from $300 to $450 every single day!!!!

caveat emptor!!!!
 
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