One of the major pitfalls of long distance gun trading is racing the clock in the typical three day inspection period. For the average person who can only open the action and look at the bores for his inspection, it may as well be three hours. Unless a competent gunsmith is standing right there with time on his hands to thoroughly check it out (that man doesn't exist around here) it doesn't work, in fact you'd be better off using a ouija board. Of course I am speaking of used doubleguns and not brand new plastic repeaters.
I've sold a few on an auction site (guns I no longer had use for), so I can empathize with the dealers who have to deal with messed with guns being returned. But if the prospective buyer says "hey I've been tied up and need a few more days", no sweat. I've had a dealer go out of his way extending courtesies toward that end.
Looking at the page after page of listings on auction sites with no bids or the multitude of stale ads on the other sites, one would think a more liberal attitude toward inspections might help with sales. It's clear there is shrinking interest in this saturated market.
I've often wondered how many of the guns for sale by owners are ones that failed or were complete disappointments, after the inspection period was up and the thing becomes a liability.
Any comments? (dealer perspective welcomed)
