Gunbroker

2

2damnold4this

New member
There are a couple of recent threads in the Semi-auto handgun forum where folks have bought pistols on Gunbroker. I've never purchased a firearm using Gunbroker. For those of you who have used Gunbroker recently to buy or sell firearms, how did you find the experience? Did you get a good deal? Was the firearm as advertised? Did you get a good price on a firearm you sold through Gunbroker?
 
I have only purchased through Gb and never had any problems. I do ask the seller a lot of questions and ask for extra photos if warranted
 
I have purchased quite a few guns on gunbroker and I have always had a good experience. You can find some very good deals on there if you look around.
 
I've gotten several guns on gunbroker. Last one was a Bushmaster Carbon 15 NIB. Local dealer wouldn't come down lower than $725, I won it for just under $600 shipped. The used guns I've bought have always been exactly as described, with pictures accurately reflecting their condition.

OTOH, I've had my local dealer beat gunbroker prices on a couple of occasions. It pays to look around.

Will definitely use them again if I find a gun I can't do without that isn't available at a reasonable price locally. :cool:
 
Buying (and selling to a much lesser extent) for the last 12 years or so.
Not nearly the great deals now as years past.
GB has really become a showcase for all of the local gun shops around the Country as more shop owners have succumbed to the power of the internet.

Think of GB as a national gun show.
While no buyer can handle the item, everyone has the same opportunity to check it out that you do.

If a gun is listed correctly, has good clear photos and matching description, and the seller has a good feedback record then you can expect it will go for what it is valued at in today's market.
Or even more if it is truly collectible and has multiple bidders.

New sellers with no feedback have always been where I got my best deals.
Why?
Because it is like rolling dice. There is the risk you can possibly get burned. Many will not risk their money on a new seller.
I contact them to establish a dialogue and get a feel for the situation. So far, so good.

If you are selling, you absolutely need to build a track record of positive feedback of both buying and selling to be able to realize good value on a gun sale.

Do your homework. Read between the lines on negative feedback and talk frankly to the seller about it before you bid.
Do this early in a sale rather than on the last day.

I NEVER bid on something if I do not get a response on a question or if the seller mentions a problem on the gun but does not clearly show it in the photos.
Same for a photo that shows a problem with no mention in the text.
Look twice, bid once!

Just bid what you are willing to pay.

JT
 
I have been buying from GB for almost 10 years now. To include firearms.
I have had only 2 problems with sellers which were resolved. One seller sent my item to the wrong address and another sent me the wrong item.

I used GB customer service to resolve which responds in 24 hrs and they were great.

Have also had two instances where the seller did not have the item I won or did a "Buy Now" on. This is not the fault of GB and a problem with every auction site.

Altogether, I consider GB a first rate sight. Fraud is practically non existent. GB does a good job of ridding problem sellers and problem buyers as well. Non paying bidders are the biggest problem for sellers.

GB also screens its listed FFL transfer dealers for you. If an FFL refuses to accept a GB purchase for a buyer and you notify GB customer service, the FFL will be dropped from GB instantly. Most FFLs at least in my area are making good money doing transfers.
 
Am in the process of completing my second purchas through GB. The first one went extremely well and the gun was in even better condition than I expected based on the sellers conservative description. Find GB to be an excellent source for used, older model, guns in particular. It's really just a bill board for dealers throughout the country.
 
I have made lots of purchases on GB with excellent results, except for one time. The seller misrepresented the condition of the gun's mechanism, and then would not take it back when I found that it frequently would not fire. I gave him a bad review, and then he turned around and gave me a bad review simply out of spite. I ended up paying hundreds of dollars for repair on that gun. I am now extremely reluctant to buy from anyone who does not have a policy of allowing returns.
 
I just bought one off of Gunbroker, or Guns America I can't remember which. I looked on both places. I was looking for one of the 1911 Tac Pacs from Sig Sauer, and they keep changing the contents around, and discontinuing older packages. So what I was looking for was fairly difficult to find.

There were zero local options in the nearly dozen shops I called or visited. I didn't get the same level of "deal" I would have gotten had I purchased a year ago when it was much more common, but I can't complain either. I thought 700 was a great deal, so 800 wasn't far off at a year and a discontinued tag later.

I'm currently watching for a Remington 700 in 300 Win-Mag. I appear to lean towards discontinued arms, it seems.

I helped my dad find a Marlin Lever action 22 on the internet. Don't think it was Gun Broker, or Guns America, but still the internet so not far off.
 
It's a good place to find items that are just not available locally, or at less cost. Over a dozen deals so far, mainly Ruger No. 1's, and not one bad deal.
 
I've been a member of Gun Broker for many years. I've bought and sold lots of firearms and never had any serious problems or issues.

I've had a few communication issues here and there, but they were all worked out. I've found some good prices, but you need to know exactly what you are looking for and what the market price is in your area.

Overall, GB is a good place to buy and sell. It's primarily my go to place for firearms and accessories.
 
I've bought three firearms on Gunbroker, two new and one used. I feel that I got a good deal on all three as that is the primary reason I used Gunbroker. Never had a problem. Also have purchased about 45 cases of ammo over the last couple of years. Each one was exactly as advertised and arrived as fast as can be expected for ground shipping. The trick to Gunbroker is to be an educated consumer...know what an item is worth and what the going price is. Never allow yourself to get caught up in the emotion of bidding. If an item you are bidding on goes higher than you wanted to pay, walk away and wait for another auction. On one occasion, a particular item I wanted was not sold as the reserve price was not met. I called the dealer and offered him an amount of money and after some haggling, we reached a deal.
 
Fine Gun Broker experiences here. I've purchased approx. 15 firearms via Gun Broker over the past decade -- ask questions. Endless possibilities -- I like that !

.02

David
 
It's a pretty good platform, maybe because of the ratings system.
For that reason, expect people to be a bit suspicious of you if you haven't yet bought anything. It won't be personal (and it might not happen), so don't take it personally.
Generally, I ask questions before bidding. If there's almost no time left on some auction, let it pass. It's not worth the buyer's remorse. Buy only what you want and know you want. People don't mind if you ask for more pictures. Sometimes there is a bit of wait, but no big issue as it is expected if you're a seller. If the seller gets defensive when you ask for pictures or more info, then move on, he or she is probably a prom queen who will make your life miserable.
Also, I only bid what I want to pay. Don't get sucked into that one special item... There will always be more.
In fact, I've found that unless I'm bidding on something made of unobtainium, I am better served to let a few auctions go past to see what people are willing to pay.
happy collecting.
 
I now buy 90% of my guns on gunbroker. In all but one deal I've done (22 of them) I got exactly what I wanted. In some cases, even better than described. In the one transaction, the gun was mistakenly advertised as a 1911 mfg in 1913, but turned out to be from 1918. When I pointed this out to the seller, he very nicely apologized for the mistake and canceled the transaction; so that was actually a positive experience as well.
 
Gunbroker can be a great way to buy a specific gun, like somethign a collector might want.

I have not found it to be a good way to buy factory new guns at all. The price is almost always above the price you can find by using the tool gunwatcher to search for a factory new gun. I have literally run hundreds of tests comparing ended auctions on GB to the lowest price I was able to find using gunwatcher and GW always beat GB. Also, I have even seen some guns on GB go for MORE that I see that at the LGS or the local Cabelas. I've watched untold numbers of semi-auto pistols and revolvers especially sell for $50 more by the time the auction was done than a brand new gun I can pick up with no Shipping and handling charges at the store.

That said, I have a lot of fun on GB watching the market.
 
I did not know about the gunwatcher tool. It might prove to be a good resource. I tried it out by searching for a S&W 627. It came up with some 4" models, but none in the 2.something inch. Still, I plan on trying it out a little more.
 
Gunbroker...Meh.

Gunbroker...Meh.
My one and only experience with gunbroker was with a bad seller who stole $200 from me. That and gunbrokers lack of any buyer protection, or any response at all in my case, has led me to stuff my safe by other means.


Lots of traffic through Gunbroker. Lots of people to look at and bid up guns. Very seller friendly site. I have found other sites that are a little lower key that are more buyer friendly.
 
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Out of 182 transactions, I've been slightly burned twice, once from a guy in New Orleans and once by Joe Salter, both of whom misrepresented condition on guns that I bought.
 
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