How to not get screwed on a long-distance private sale?

Well, I bought my gun and it worked out fine.

Here's how it went. I agreed to buy a pistol from a guy out of state, and we agreed on the price. He looked up my FFL on the BATF web site to confirm he was legit. My FFL had him email a scan or picture of his drivers license (or other gov't ID with picture works, too). The seller shipped the gun to my local FFL along with a self-addressed stamped envelope. I went to the FFL with a USPS money order for the total amount, which I gave to him to send out in today's mail in the seller's SASE. I completed the paperwork with my FFL and everyone's safe and happy.

It took me a while to figure out how to do this so both buyer and seller are comfortable. My FFL acts as a middleman to vouch that he in fact received a gun and not a rock, and that my USPS MO was the real deal. I think FFLs are so protective of their licenses that they take NO chances with this sort of stuff.

I tried to make another deal with another guy today and explained how I had this figured out, and he still wanted it to go through his FFL also, which I would have to pay for, and he wouldn't ship it until he had received my MO. I think something was a little fishy. Maybe the condition was worse that he implied.

I'm interested in other experiences.

David
 
I had a positive experience with buying from out of state via Armslist. the guy I dealt with was selling a Beretta Minx with the 4" barrell. He and I ended up paying via paypal, which worked for both of us. We talked a bit, and we initially agreed on my paying part up front, and part upon reciept of a tracking number. I ended up sending the full payment while he was in the FFL, and I got the weapon as described, with no snafus. I still consider it a good transaction.
 
The seller shipped the gun to my local FFL along with a self-addressed stamped envelope. I went to the FFL with a USPS money order for the total amount, which I gave to him to send out in today's mail in the seller's SASE.
Click to expand...

That sounds very odd, and not something I would personally agree to. I would never relinquish possession of a gun without being paid first. I have sold one gun on another forum and was paid first.

I have never heard of someone agreeing to what you describe.

There is also nothing fishy about wanting to have money in hand before giving up the gun, like anything else. Once you give up the gun, you have lost any control over the situation and there are too many things that could go wrong.

I have done a few of these deals here and there, two in this forum. The members here were both around for a long enough time and had enough posting history for me to feel comfortable.
 
I would never relinquish possession of a gun without being paid first....I have done a few of these deals here and there, two in this forum. The members here were both around for a long enough time and had enough posting history for me to feel comfortable.
Click to expand...

Therein lies the difference. I'd much rather buy from a fellow forum member with posting history, than from someone posting in the classifieds elsewhere. The OP was buying from an unknown person, not a forum member.

But I agree, letting go of the gun before payment would make me uneasy.
 
This is all very interesting. I guess I wouldn't hesitate to send a gun to an FFL if I had confirmed he's legit and had discussed it with him first. Maybe I need to re-think that. I know an FFL is a real person, good or bad, but at least I know their address is real, as certified by the ATF, and I would think that if something went bad an FFL would be easy for the authorities to find.

Why would you guys hesitate to send a gun to an FFL? Just curious what sort of potential problems you imagine.

I believe the arrangement I described where the seller sends the gun through the buyer's FFL protects both buyer and seller. But I think that for the buyer to send off a postal money to a complete stranger on the internet protects the seller, but not the buyer at all. I would be comfortable sending the money order after an FFL at the seller's end has possession of the pistol, but don't want to pay an extra $25 for an extra step I believe is unnecessary.

I was pleased and maybe a little pleasantly surprised that the seller was so cooperative sending the gun before payment. He did look up the FFL on the ATF site, had a chat with him first, and had me send him a scan of the USPS MO.

I agree that I would have liked to have purchased from a forum member here, but was prohibited from posting because I don't have enough forum posts yet. I posted on a couple other forums, but no response. It's a fairly hard to find gun, apparently.

David
 
I believe the arrangement I described where the seller sends the gun through the buyer's FFL protects both buyer and seller. But I think that for the buyer to send off a postal money to a complete stranger on the internet protects the seller, but not the buyer at all. I would be comfortable sending the money order after an FFL at the seller's end has possession of the pistol, but don't want to pay an extra $25 for an extra step I believe is unnecessary.

I was pleased and maybe a little pleasantly surprised that the seller was so cooperative sending the gun before payment. He did look up the FFL on the ATF site, had a chat with him first, and had me send him a scan of the USPS MO.
Click to expand...

I understand you're new on this forum, but really it's the way it is normally done- here and on all other forums of this type. I don't care how comfortable I am talking to an FFL on the phone, I'm not giving up the gun until I have the money in hand.

Would you send off any other piece of personal property without being paid? I don't see a gun as being different from anything else.

You are definitely taking a leap of faith. That is why you try to do all the due diligence you can, before agreeing to any deal.

The deal you were able to arrange is absolutely not the norm and most people would not agree to it. Do not be surprised if it does not happen that way again- you got lucky once.
 
This wasn't a deal I made on the forum. It was a deal I made on Armslist, which I equate to Craigslist for potential for getting scammed.

I would be comfortable sending a piece of personal property to a legitimate business, especially one that I may have had some personal conversation with. An FFL I consider to be very legitimate because the long arm of the Fed is enforcing their legitimacy.

The last couple weeks I have been selling some other (non-gun-related) equipment on Ebay to complete strangers across the world with the added risk of Paypal trying to jack me every step of the way, so shipping something to an FFL seems like a great improvement over that.

But I understand and accept that in the gun trade world maybe that's not the way it's done.

It turns out I finally just found another gun I wanted at a distant pawn shop, of all places, and I paid by credit card, so I feel comfortable with the transaction.

But I am still trying to find the most safe method of doing a deal between anonymous strangers that don't even have a forum relationship between them.

So, again, I understand you wouldn't be comfortable shipping to an FFL, but why? What do you imagine going wrong?

David
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top