Gunbroker dot com useless?

[cobber]

I have had some success on Gunbroker contacting the selling store/party and asking if they have another like kind model for sale and negotiating from there. Worked twice now! In the past with me they will not negotiate the piece they have listed.

This is the only way that has ever worked for me. Most sellers won't respond to PMs at all. And those reserves just never fall.

 

[Osobuco]

Does anyone else surf this website looking for reasonable prices?

Between the reserve prices and the starting bids, both set by the seller, I find it a waste of time to look there.

It's actually almost funny that people post and repost the same item, on which the buyers never meet the reserve. You would think according to the supply and demand analysis that the seller would see that there really isn't a market for his gun at X price, and he would either take it off the market, or reduce the price.

If GB charged some nominal fee for simply listing, rather than a commission for selling, you might see more rational selling going on.

If not GB, is there any other good online auction site, especially for surplus rifles?

Really??? I scored a NIB Springfield Loaded Stainless 1911 for $590 the last time I purchased on gunbroker. I have bought a couple dozen guns there and I could flip everyone immediately for a profit if I decided. I have my ways of searching and bidding that have served me very well

 

[paperboy]

95% of the prices on gunbroker seem to be retail or higher, but that other 5% make the search worthwhile.

I agree. I seen a nice Marlin 44 on there last week for under $500 (buy it now) with shipping. With the usual gun shop transfer fee it would have come out to right at $500. Thats a really good price.

 

[turnandshoot4]

If you want to buy a glock 19 you won't save any money. Go to your LGS.

If you are looing for a 226 sport then look on gunbroker. You won't find it at your LGS and if you do it will be outrageously priced.

 

[EvilBlackGun]

Got bit by the Bun Groper weevil, and won!

I was researching t/c pistols, and found a very nice Contender Katahdin 460 S&W pistol action and barrel. Buy It Now @ $350. I hit it quick, because locally those pieces are asking $750 and up, no stock or grip. I went to my LGS who regularly charges me $25 per transfer. He went off the spool, and told me the Xfer would be $50, because he could have gotten me the same barrel/action through his shop. I still shop there, but do NOT xfer through him. In xfering the barrel, I found a dealer in West Virginia who had all the accessories I needed, dealing outside of GB. We are very close fiends. I have been banned by GB for a misunderstanding over prices and Money Orders, but that is over. GB is very jealous of its customers / dealers. I have bought pistols, AR- types, all sorts of ammo, sights, mounts, etc. Never any large problems. Highly recommend them.

 

[cjcinin]

I check it out just to browse. Can't really see how it could ever be cheaper than buying locally by the time you pay shipping and other fees. Even with state sales tax and gas gettin to your favorite shops which I would probably be stopping by anyway. And if you have an issue you have to play tag with a seller to get it straightened out.
But I do like to look.

 

[DragonGunner]

Keep looking on GB..it took me months but I finally found what I was looking for at a great buy now price from a private first time seller....everything went great. The rifle was a Fed. Ord. M14A an I'm thrilled to of got it....GB can be like a treasure hunt, know what you want an sooner or later it will show up at a decent price.

 

[Fordtough25]

Lots of cool guns on GB, I haven't messed with it too much. Nor have I had a firearm sent to a FFL either. I like buying guns in person I guess. Neat to look though.

 

[sbcman]

GB is also a good avenue to sell firearms that won't sell locally. Earlier this year I listed a Savage model 99 on three forums like INGO for $450 and nothing happened. Thew it on GB and after 9 different bidders finished their war, she sold for $575 + 30 Shipping.

Funny thing is that I had put a "Buy It Now" price for $550 including shipping. Some folks can't resist a good bidding war.

 

[msd]

I check it out just to browse. Can't really see how it could ever be cheaper than buying locally by the time you pay shipping and other fees. Even with state sales tax and gas gettin to your favorite shops which I would probably be stopping by anyway. And if you have an issue you have to play tag with a seller to get it straightened out.
But I do like to look.

Got to disagree on that.
Last spring, I was shopping for a 500 Smith. Locally, you cant touch an NIB for under $1000.
Even used you're looking at $875 and up.
Found one on there from a guy in Louisiana. Didn't need the money, but didn't like the recoil either.
1 cylinder full thru of factory loads. You couldn't even see the turn ring on the cylinder it was so faint.
Time I paid for the gun, shipping, and transfer fees, I had $815.00 in it.
LNIB thru a local dealer.....$925-$950.00 easily

The old boy called me 2 days after it was delivered to my FFL, to see how I liked the pistol. I thought that was nice of him

Found my 480 Ruger SRH on there . NIB out of Alabama, cost $575, $25 shipping $15 transfer fee. That was last spring also, when prices were $675+ for SRH's.

I've bought probably close to 15 guns off there, you got to watch and look and also know your local prices to see if you're getting a good deal.

 

[midget96]

I use the hunt and find.com website for reference. I look around and find the next "purchase". Then looka round for best price.

 

[JohnP82]

I have purchased one firearm off gunbroker. The only reason I did it was because nobody had it in stock and I had already waited a month with cash in hand. I can get pretty impatient when I want my new gun The distributors were out of stock so my FFL could not order one for me and didn't know when they would be available.

The price was pretty much the same as I would have paid anywhere else, so it wasn't that it was a deal, just that they actually had one in stock.

There are a few deals on the site, but you have to really search. I agree with an above post that only about 5% of the site is a deal and the other 95% is split between normal price and just ridiculous.

I would much rather support the local shops anyway. Saving twenty bucks isnt worth it to me. I would only consider it again if the savings were greater than $50, other than that I will gladly support the local shops.

 

[JoshuaW]

I have purchased one firearm off gunbroker. The only reason I did it was because nobody had it in stock and I had already waited a month with cash in hand. I can get pretty impatient when I want my new gun The distributors were out of stock so my FFL could not order one for me and didn't know when they would be available.

The price was pretty much the same as I would have paid anywhere else, so it wasn't that it was a deal, just that they actually had one in stock.

There are a few deals on the site, but you have to really search. I agree with an above post that only about 5% of the site is a deal and the other 95% is split between normal price and just ridiculous.

I would much rather support the local shops anyway. Saving twenty bucks isnt worth it to me. I would only consider it again if the savings were greater than $50, other than that I will gladly support the local shops.

Your local shop gets the transfer fee, and any money you save can spend on ammo! If their margin is only $10 or $15 you are doing them a favor and everyone wins.

 

[CampingJosh]

I don't think I've ever seen a good deal on there for something that is still being manufactured. I'm sure there are some, but I haven't seen them.

That said, I don't have time to stop into 15 different gun shops around the state to see if they have a used __________ in stock. I've seen an old rolling block in a shop maybe two times in the last five years, but I can browse over 50 of them right now. That's where Gunbroker shines.

 

[perry]

I don't think I've ever seen a good deal on there for something that is still being manufactured. I'm sure there are some, but I haven't seen them.

Yep. I'm shopping for my first gun right now and not really seeing anything that beats regular online shops or the classifieds prices here.

 

[JohnP82]

Your local shop gets the transfer fee, and any money you save can spend on ammo! If their margin is only $10 or $15 you are doing them a favor and everyone wins.

While I don't have a problem with transfers since my FFL is my closest friend, many shops are limiting what they will transfer from online sites and others have increased their transfer fees greatly in the past year or two. I just rarely find anything on GB that is ever cheaper than I can get locally.

I know of a couple shops that will not transfer a new gun in if it is one that they can get for you through one of their distributors.

 

[Delmar]

Does anyone else surf this website looking for reasonable prices?

Between the reserve prices and the starting bids, both set by the seller, I find it a waste of time to look there.

You have shown that you know what pitfalls to avoid now avoid those pitfalls and make good use of Gunbroker. I don't waste any time looking at guns that are not in my price range. If I am looking for a Maverick 88 for under $175 , I type in Maverck 88 then I sort by price. It will bring up guns first that started at $.01 I glance through them, skipping the ones with a reserve, until I get to the guns that are priced too high. Then my search for that gun is done for the day.

That is the short version, but there is on more trick to learn.
When you search by price. The list is separated by "featured guns" and non featured. Once you have looked through the featured guns in your price range you might have to go through pages and pages of featured guns that are not in you price range to get to the non "featured guns" , unless you are clever. The quick way to skip past the featured guns is to click on the Price button twice, which sorts the guns by most expensive first. Then you simply go to the last page and search backward.

Edit:
Just now, using this method, I just located more than a dozen Maverick 88s that are listed for less than $175 with no reserve. and I did it in less than a minute. If I add those dozen or so guns to my watch list I will have a really good Idea how much a Maverick 88 should sell for even if I never bid on gunbroker, ever!

 

[Uncle Lee]

I have bought near 60 items off GunBroker without a hitch.
I have 19 searches set up that lets me know by e-mail if anything in that search has been listed. All my searches exclude any auction with a reserve. I don’t waste my time on any auction with a reserve price. I think the seller should just start the auction off at that price. The seller must be ashamed of the price they want for the item.

 

[Bang-bang]

Try armslist.com

 

[Delmar]

Yep. I'm shopping for my first gun right now and not really seeing anything that beats regular online shops or the classifieds prices here.

Depending what you are buying you might not. Auction sites will help you to determine how not to pay too much though.