by onebohemian on Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:06 am
When I use gunbroker, I set some rules on from whom I will buy. After doing the search for the gun I want and narrowing down the search results to only show the guns themselves instead of the related parts too, I then just go down the list and see what's a possible good and safe deal. Once you log into the site, you can click on the little button next to the items that lets you follow individual auctions. Typically, I end up dumping over 3/4 of the search results in my first pass through them because the sellers are way too high in their starting or buy it now prices, they charge too high of shipping, and/or they are demanding the credit card fee on top of the sale price. I usually end up with two or three potential items to bid on, and those are the ones with decent opening prices, great descriptions with photos of at least each side of the gun if it's used so I can see the seller is freely showing what's for sale, shipping in the $15 to $20 range, no credit card fees (or if there are fees, the ability to pay via bank money order or cashiers check), and finally and most importantly, high positive seller ratings. I click to "follow" these particular items, and then check back to gunbroker in the days leading up to the final auction sale to see how they are progressing. I also check gunbroker for new postings in the days following as new items get posted by other sellers that I may want to add to my following list. I never bid on an item until there is only an hour or less left of its sale, as I see no point in running up the bid myself.
The point about seller ratings being both multiple and positive is the most important in my mind. I will never buy from some seller that has only a few recorded sales ratings. Everybody has to start somewhere, but those newbie individual sellers are too much of a wild card for me. I prefer to buy from those dealers or pawn shops on gunbroker that use gunbroker simply as another store front. The dealers with experience know how important their postive ratings are, so they almost always communicate well with the final buyer, and they ship in a timely manner.
Bottom line is that it's like everything else in life. Be patient and do your homework. If the deal sounds too good to be true, or the seller won't respond to reasonable questions about the item for sale, walk away. There's other guns to buy.
Good luck.
Mark
"Edited to remove prohibited content."(2009).
"It turns out that what you have is less important than what you do with it." (In honor of 'Goalie,' 2013).
