Unrated seller on gunbroker

Every seller on Gunbroker was unrated at some point.
I would pay with Credit Card so that I had recourse for any issues.
 
^^^ Exactly - sort of a Catch-22 as he can't get ratings if no one buys from him and if he has no ratings, no one will buy from him. Might try calling on the phone and see what sense you get from an actual conversation. Also, is this a FFL, or just someone posting a listing? I'd be a little more trusting if he was an actual FFL, but still, I bought a gun from a guy on a forum for over $1100 and all went well.
 
All GB sellers gotta start somewhere . . .

It depends on the dollar amount of the transaction. For something like $50 to $100, no problem. For me, something a couple of thousand...no way. It all depends on your idea of risk.
 
If you look at the ad it says "no credit card fees" meaning he takes credit cards. So, what's the risk? If you don't get the product then just dispute the charge.

Now, if he said he only accepts payment by Western Union, then worry.
 
Gun Broker

GB says my email account does not meet their specs. Says it needs to be a paid for email account. What accounts do you use? Thanks. :confused:
 
GB says my email account does not meet their specs. Says it needs to be a paid for email account. What accounts do you use?
Click to expand...

They prefer that when an account is set up, that it is done by an email account that isn't potentially anonymous. This means online accounts like Gmail or Yahoo (where there's no cost to establish them and can be completely anonymous) aren't allowed- too easy to commit fraud.

Most ISPs (Internet Service Provider- it's whoever you have your internet through) offer email addresses as part of the package. Those qualify- even if you don't or won't use that email much you can still either set up an autoforwarder in the box (it automatically forwards all email it receives to a primary account) or just change your email address with GB once it's established. I use a Gmail account with GB now, but when I set up the account I think I did have to use an ISP based email address.
 
Use an Escrow Service

You can always use an escrow service such as escrow.com. That will protect you and the seller. You can work out who pays the fees, or if they are to be shared.

Basically, once the sale is complete you put the funds in the escrow account.

The escrow service then notifies the seller that the funds have been received and they should ship the product.

When you receive the product you notify the escrow service and they release the funds to the seller. There is also a time out that releases the funds to the seller if you do not communicate reception of the product.

If the product is not satisfactory, you notify the seller and the escrow service and ship the product back to the seller.

Upon receipt of the returned product the seller notifies the escrow service and the escrow service releases your funds back to you.

I used this when I sold a $6,000 saxophone on eBay. It worked great and the escrow fees were not bad at all. The buyer got the saxophone in good condition and notified escrow. I received my funds in a few days.

About the only downside besides the fees is that it ties up the money until all parts of the transaction are complete.
 
Funny,Gunbroker must have changed it's rules since I last sold there a year and one half ago. Used my Yahoo email to both buy and sell but I have not been active lately. It has got me curious, maybe I will go poke around on GB tomorrow.
 
I use a hotmail account on GB, and hotmail is one of those that could be anonymous. But as I recall, when I signed up, they charged my credit card $1, just to be sure that I was a real person. I think they later credited that dollar back to me. It was several years ago, so my memory of it is not clear.
 
Cost of Escrow

Yes, for higher priced items it is worth it. In my case the item was $6000 so the $125 escrow fee was really good for peace of mind. Since the buyer met my reserve I paid the fee as the seller. As you can see, that is just over 2%.

My basic rule is not to use escrow if I am not worried about losing my money. If the amount of money involved is a concern then I use escrow.
 
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