Gunbroker Advice

[kesha]

Well I dove in and won a Sabatti Double in an auction on Mon and I'm not having a warm and fuzzy feeling on this. Yes I have bought a few guns off of there but they have changed process since I have purchased. During auction I sent seller some questions in regards to rifle as he was selling 'As Is" which I fully understood going in but I received no feedback I think think was odd as this rifle would go for a chunk for a working class guy like myself. So I am out of the country cell service spotty and i decided to post my max offer incase i was stuck in traffic at close of auction. Enough abut that. Anyway I won the auction and messaged buyer 2x via Gunbroker site no response, call one of the numbers off site he listed no answer left message no return call so I call this morning he answers we speak seems like a nice guy told him Gunbroker was awaiting him to input shipping to finalize transaction. A while later he text me asking if I was paying with card he would send a link, I get link but its a messenger link for a Square not through Gunbroker, major red flag to me as policy is all transactions to be completed through GB. He calls me again and I tell him I don;t know him from Adam and I be damned if I would send him close to $5K to what he sent as I would have no recourse if it was bogus. Well GB is customer service is a little to be desired as they have no phone number only email, sent message no reply. I just have a gut feeling this is a set up guy has 52 transactions but says all his transaction have gone through his square but second major red flag is his invoice is #000004 which tells me he only has 4 transactions. I am on the fence of backing out on this but I was raised to tend to your business but I'm not into giving money away either. Am I over thinking this?

 

[Doug3006]

Do NOT provide yourCC to some guy you don’t know, and has a short or nonexistent track record! Your instincts are almost certainly right on this one.

 

[Rare Breed]

Well I dove in and won a Sabatti Double in an auction on Mon and I'm not having a warm and fuzzy feeling on this. Yes I have bought a few guns off of there but they have changed process since I have purchased. During auction I sent seller some questions in regards to rifle as he was selling 'As Is" which I fully understood going in but I received no feedback I think think was odd as this rifle would go for a chunk for a working class guy like myself. So I am out of the country cell service spotty and i decided to post my max offer incase i was stuck in traffic at close of auction. Enough abut that. Anyway I won the auction and messaged buyer 2x via Gunbroker site no response, call one of the numbers off site he listed no answer left message no return call so I call this morning he answers we speak seems like a nice guy told him Gunbroker was awaiting him to input shipping to finalize transaction. A while later he text me asking if I was paying with card he would send a link, I get link but its a messenger link for a Square not through Gunbroker, major red flag to me as policy is all transactions to be completed through GB. He calls me again and I tell him I don;t know him from Adam and I be damned if I would send him close to $5K to what he sent as I would have no recourse if it was bogus. Well GB is customer service is a little to be desired as they have no phone number only email, sent message no reply. I just have a gut feeling this is a set up guy has 52 transactions but says all his transaction have gone through his square but second major red flag is his invoice is #000004 which tells me he only has 4 transactions. I am on the fence of backing out on this but I was raised to tend to your business but I'm not into giving money away either. Am I over thinking this?

Do not under any circumstances pay him without going through GB. Otherwise I would suspect fraud

 

[Bullthrower338]

Does he have any feedback on GB?

 

[thriller]

Yeah this doesn’t sound great I would want to go through gunbroker on this one if I was to go forward at all.

 

[WAB]

Run!!!

 

[kesha]

Does he have any feedback on GB?

52 positive

 

[kesha]

Do not under any circumstances pay him without going through GB. Otherwise I would suspect fraud

I failed to put that in my post . Yes told him payment through Gunbroker or no deal. And now I'm not 100% what can they do if he bails?

 

[Bullthrower338]

I would recommend one of the gun escrow services

 

[TTundra]

I found the page. He has 52 ratings, but none as a seller since 2013. Some as a buyer back in July.
You can tell him you will go thru FFL to FFL and will pay after he drops rifle at FFL and you call and confirm.
Either way, insist on paying via GB or Wall away.

 

[Ku-winda]

Go with your gut -it is almost always correct and it sounds like there are enough redflags that you should stick to one of the routes Bullthrower338 and TTundra have suggested. If he is legit, he won't have a problem with it - if he is resistant, that probably answers your question. The outdated feedback is problematic and could be inidcative of a highjacked account from a long departed gunbroker member. I have personal knowledge of two similar fraud attempts on GB in the last couple of days, so the bad guys are running rampant and caveat emptor is in order. Ask for some additional pics of rifle, as he may have posted stock photos from long ago. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Ask for a pic with an item that you specify laying next to it, like an upside down coffee cup.

Then insist he use an FFL as suggested above. But ask that it’s a brick and mortar FFL. Then look up that business up to verify it’s there. Then call them.

Even if he does in fact own the rifle. Him trying to cheat GB of the fees doesn’t show good character. Still may want to avoid him.

 

[ay2626]

This situation does not necessarily give me the warm and fuzzies but wanted to clear up a few items that might be confusing in this fact pattern. I have well over 100 reviews as a seller on gunbroker and I’m not an FFL or in the gun business so I have a decent amount of experience selling on there as a hobby. A couple people said this is going around Gunbroker. That does not sound like the case here as he bid and won the auction so that would have created a Gunbroker order number etc. if the seller is legit they will be charged the fees and need to remit sales tax collected to GB. If the seller is not a gun shop or business that would have a credit card merchant account that interfaces with the GB platform they can’t just send an invoice to pay with a card through GB. GB only links to your merchant account and they are not actually providing payment processing services. I’ve looked into setting up a merchant account because I feel like listings that have immediate checkout with cards are more appealing. That path is not feasible for someone not running a business. Even sellers that are gun shops often can’t take card payments through the GB system because their merchant accounts are not one of the supported systems. In that case their listings usually say they take cards but you need to call them and they can take your payment with card via phone. I’ve done that many times. Using Square is no different other than firearm transactions violate their terms and condition and they will close your account if they figure it out and that is why no gun shop or anyone in the firearms business would try to use it. If the seller is just an individual collector privately selling its not too surprising they might try to use that. I AM ONLY TRYING TO PROVIDE CLARITY ON HOW INVOICING AND PAYMENTS WORK ON GB. IN THIS CASE THE PAYMENT METHOD WOULD NOT STOP ME BUT THERE ARE CERTAINLY A LOT OF OTHER RED FLAGS HERE THAT NEED TO BE VETTED BEFORE I WOULD SEND THAT PAYMENT.

 

[Altitude sickness]

AY, great explanation. Thanks

 

[Ku-winda]

AY2626 brings up a great point - not everyone is a crook and there are sometimes legitimate reasons why sellers do certain things and we don't mean to paint everyone with that same broad brush. That said, it pays to be vigilant and as I indicated before, that sixth sense or gut feeling is always going to be your first (and best) line of defense. When that meter goes off, you better take your due diligance to a whole new level. I am not meaning to hijack this thread, but as I alluded to in my earlier post on this thread, have first hand knowledge of two similar instances to defraud on GB in last couple days and owe it to the AH family to make them aware. Apolgies in advance Kesha, but the two tie in together. There was a post for a CZ Safari Classics II in 404J on GB, which I saw for the first time late Sunday night. I had never seen one on there before and after some cursury due diligence, took the buy it now option. In hindsight, I obvioulsy should have done more, but got caught up in the moment of a "rare find" and didn't want to "miss out", exactly what the crooks were hoping for. Over the next 24 hours, little things started tipping me off as to this being a scam. I will not disclose what those were here, as I don't want to alert the bad guys to where they will change their habits, but happy to share if you want to PM me. Long story short, no money went out the door and disaster was averted. I bring all of this up because that exact same rifle, description, pics, etc. is on Gun Post (which I have never used) right now. I have alerted them it is a scam, but as of about 15 minutes ago it was still up. The second involved another long time AH Forum member who experienced something eerily similar on a rare and "too good to be true" rifle. I bring all this up becuase I just want to ensure no one makes the same mistake I did on the 404J (wherever it pops up) and to also make everyone aware the bad guys have infiltrated GB in a big way and extraordinary caution should be exercised, especially on a high dollar rifle. Hope this helps.

 

[kesha]

AY2626 brings up a great point - not everyone is a crook and there are sometimes legitimate reasons why sellers do certain things and we don't mean to paint everyone with that same broad brush. That said, it pays to be vigilant and as I indicated before, that sixth sense or gut feeling is always going to be your first (and best) line of defense. When that meter goes off, you better take your due diligance to a whole new level. I am not meaning to hijack this thread, but as I alluded to in my earlier post on this thread, have first hand knowledge of two similar instances to defraud on GB in last couple days and owe it to the AH family to make them aware. Apolgies in advance Kesha, but the two tie in together. There was a post for a CZ Safari Classics II in 404J on GB, which I saw for the first time late Sunday night. I had never seen one on there before and after some cursury due diligence, took the buy it now option. In hindsight, I obvioulsy should have done more, but got caught up in the moment of a "rare find" and didn't want to "miss out", exactly what the crooks were hoping for. Over the next 24 hours, little things started tipping me off as to this being a scam. I will not disclose what those were here, as I don't want to alert the bad guys to where they will change their habits, but happy to share if you want to PM me. Long story short, no money went out the door and disaster was averted. I bring all of this up because that exact same rifle, description, pics, etc. is on Gun Post (which I have never used) right now. I have alerted them it is a scam, but as of about 15 minutes ago it was still up. The second involved another long time AH Forum member who experienced something eerily similar on a rare and "too good to be true" rifle. I bring all this up becuase I just want to ensure no one makes the same mistake I did on the 404J (wherever it pops up) and to also make everyone aware the bad guys have infiltrated GB in a big way and extraordinary caution should be exercised, especially on a high dollar rifle. Hope this helps.

I am unable to PM as I was told that is for sponsors only. Thank you for the input. When I spoke to guy on the phone he was in Georgia driving and had the gun with him he says basically when I paid him he would pull over and mail via UPS or Fedex, sounds to me like hes a truck driver as his company comes back as a transportation industry. nothing wrong with truck drivers just whole thing seems weird as its unfolding, as of yet still heard nothing back from GB.

 

[kesha]

Gues my intuitions were right on point sent message today at 8 am and not a peep from him so i just throw another $2500 at it and buy a new one. Thanks for everyones help. And 0 response from GB either.

 

[kesha]

Well wanted to give an update to those that offered advice to my dilemma. GB has made changes to the platform that are confusing if you haven't navigated it lately. I was just about to give up and block seller as he hadn't responded to my last couple of emails and me not wanting to wire transfer large sum of cash to a stranger private pay platform, but he saved himself last hour I was about to block his number and move on but I had suggested a escrow service is my only option I was comfortable with.
He contacted me back with a escrow company from GB to facilitate transaction took a little over a week to get gun delivered to dealer but best $124 fee I've paid in a while.
I was able to drop gun off at Mr. Ken Owen in TN yesterday for re-regulation process to commence. JJ said he would not regulate it. Once again thanks for all the info related to this transaction.

 

[Gemsbok45]

Tell him to send you the gun and then tell him you will pay for it once you see it. Crickets!!!!!

 

[Woodcarver]

Well wanted to give an update to those that offered advice to my dilemma. GB has made changes to the platform that are confusing if you haven't navigated it lately. I was just about to give up and block seller as he hadn't responded to my last couple of emails and me not wanting to wire transfer large sum of cash to a stranger private pay platform, but he saved himself last hour I was about to block his number and move on but I had suggested a escrow service is my only option I was comfortable with.
He contacted me back with a escrow company from GB to facilitate transaction took a little over a week to get gun delivered to dealer but best $124 fee I've paid in a while.
I was able to drop gun off at Mr. Ken Owen in TN yesterday for re-regulation process to commence. JJ said he would not regulate it. Once again thanks for all the info related to this transaction.

What escrow service did you use?