doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anoying Dealer and GunBrokers biggest flaw.

I had a similar but perhaps more aggregious, situation on Gunbroker. I was high bidder on a gun, also a Sterlingworth, where the seller referred to the serial number as having a line through it and he said the gun was purchased (or taken home in his lunchbox)by an employee of Savage. before sending money, I asked for a picture of the serial number on the receiver. He sent photos that were so blurry that absolutely nothing was discernable. I asked for another and he said that was the best his camera would do. I didn't send money but did report it on his feedback. That was all I could do; as Jon said there is no point of contacting the Gunbroker people. They don't care and in no way do they want to get involved in bird dogging problems with their otherwise valuable service. You really do have to be careful and, in the case referenced above, I don't think there is anything you could do differently to protect yourself except stay home.

What happens when the buyer, thinking he has a 20, starts firing 20 ga. ammo in the 16? Any danger? What is the sellers responsibility if someone is injured?

eightbore makes a good point. I was bidding on an 12 gauge and discovered it was a 16 while the auction was going. I thought about shutting my mouth and getting a deal, but decided to let the dealer know. Dealer had no clue and was pretty embarrassed. He indicated that he was leaving it listed the way it was and would give the winner the information and option to purchase, or not. I didn't win it, but someone got a pretty nice deal.

Some are clueless..some are crooks. Others are clueless crooks. And, it's difficult to know which one you're dealing w/on the internet.

I've seen the fuzzy pictures and ask for better ones. Turned out they weren't hiding a thing..they just couldn't take a picture worth a darn. Bought the gun and was happy as a clam. Some obviously do it to hide things.

I think the more you look for deals from the uninformed, eventually you'll get burned by a crook. It's just the way it works. And, if you do it long enough, it probably balances out at the end.

Buying off the net, or, off an internet site is a bit of a crapshoot. Al Gore invented the internet, so, what did you expect?
I had a great experience buying a McNaughton from Gary, at Osprey. The gun wasn't even here in the US, but, he patiently had everything measured, paid for reproof in England, had the stock bent for me, and sent it to Kirk Merrington for the three day inspection, which, the gun passed with flying colors. It was a great experience, but, folks like Gary are few and far between. You might have 5 or 8% of sellers who would handle a transaction with that kind of grace.
The others, well, they don't handle it like that.
I simply don't need a whole lot more in the safe, and have discovered I much prefer handling a gun in person before I purchase it. It likely limits my purchases to stuff close enough to travel to, but, it is good not to need a whole lot more in the safe.
You take a risk buying a gun sight unseen, and probably should assess that risk well in advance of sending funds.
People who would never consider buying a car or jewelry off the net will pony right up for that deal of a lifetime gun. I don't understand that thinking. Most deals that are to good to be true are just that.

Best,
Ted

I had an inexpensive 22 listed on Gunbroker with no reserve last week. I inadvertently listed it as having an 18" barrel. it in fact was 16". The buyer bid on it and was high bidder. He contacted me after bidding and asked if it was 16 or 18�. I realized I hit the wrong key and corrected the listing. He stated that he wasn�t sure he was going to take the gun but the auction still had 4 days to go. . He didn�t say he wanted his bid retracted. He said he was still undecided. I told him it was 16�.

The gun had no threaded muzzle or muzzle brake and the stock was pinned (it was an S&W MP 15-22. The photos clearly show the muzzle having no brake. I told him it was a NY Compliant gun. (no brake and pinned stock, both of which were in description , just not the term NY Compliant because now with the SAFE Act it isn�t.) But because I said it was no longer NY Compliant he felt I misrepresented it. He isn�t from NY. And it says right in the description, ask questions BEFORE bidding.

He then said he wanted 18� because he wanted to shorten and thread the barrel. well, its already shorter than 18 which was his intended goal.
Not trying to hide anything. It�s a mass produced 22 semi auto rifle. No collector value, no special features; one of 100,000 just like it.

The auction closed and he won the gun. He then informs me that he was not going to purchase the gun. I told him that he made a binding contract (as per Gunbroker terms) to purchase. I offered him the option of sending me the cost of the auction fee and I would leave no feedback. I told him that in order for me to recoup my fees, Gunbroker requires that I leave negative feedback. So he had the option. He said that it would be a good outcome if I just relisted. In other words, he doesn�t pay, I am out the sale, I am out the fees and he has no repercussions for his actions. All of this from a guy with two auctions to his name. And then I see , before I left anything , he leaves negative feedback against me and he didn�t even buy the gun.

Its not the money, it�s the principal. I made a mistake with the barrel length. I corrected it. He had plenty of time to retract his bid. That would have ended it. He vacillated. I couldn�t very well retract his bid without his requesting that.

So now, I have to go through the nutroll to get my fees refunded.

Now, if he didn�t ask, didn�t catch my error and I didn�t tell him or change the details; and the gun shipped and he called and said it wasn�t 18 like the auction said, I would have taken it back and I would have refunded all of his money including shipping both ways. But he failed to tell me he didn�t want it till after the auction. I think he had buyer�s remorse or something, just man up and admit it. Don�t BS. Anyway, I may be stubborn in following this through for 6 bucks but ����
Am I wrong here? I have over 2100 A+ feedbacks and no negatives. I work hard to satisfy my customers.

Buying from an internet listing does have an advantage if the seller stands by the three day inspection period. It gives the buyer plenty of time to find not so obvious flaws.
If you buy a gun in a usually poorly lit gun show it's yours upon walking away from the table. It seems like bulges, splits, touch ups, ect. often show up in better lighting and less confusion.
terc

Terc,
that's for sure.
I do offer 3 day inspection on 999% of the guns I sell. Only if its a parts gun, (not shootable), then its sold as is.
I recently bought a 94 Win at a show (pre war, 1941 mfg) and when I got it home, I was bale to see all of the fine pitting on the barrel and mag tube that I couldn't see with my 55 year old eyes in the crappy flat light of the show. my fault, I own it.
also reminds me of the parker VH 20 I bought from a guy, nice gun, with old refinish on the wood. a shooter. Until I resold it and the guy comes back and says the cheeks were replaced and damned if they were but you couldn't see it unless it was in really good light and you had to be looking for them. I offered the buyer his money back but he refused to give back the gun. it was worth the price he paid even with the cheeks like that. and don't you know it that I always check the cheeks on doubles now!!

Time to jump in here. I sent the seller a note asking a few questions about the gun. Honestly, I didn't notice the serial number being in the 16 gauge range. I was asking some other questions regarding the gun. Here is what the seller sent me in reply:

"this is a 16 ga. far more valuable then i originally thought, but since i already have a bid theres no changing it, happy shopping and good luck"

He could have gone in a updated the auction and advised the gauge was actually 16 instead of 20 gauge, but I guess he really did think 16 gauge was more valuable then 20 gauge.

Anyway, I ultimately didn't bid on the gun because it was a 16 gauge. If it was truly a 20 gauge I would have paid the winning bid just to get the barrels. PS. If anyone has some good 20 gauge barrels I'm in the buying mode. That fellow who is selling all the old stock has everything except 20 gauge or I would have bought some from him.

We don't know that anyone ended up with the wrong gauge shotgun. I always call and TALK to the seller. Maybe the eventual winner did too and got what he wanted. I have said I was going to do something at work and I didn't because I got caught in the shuffle and forgot. It isn't a crime.
Caveat emptor pretty much sums it up.
Brian it looks like you ran into one of the customers I was alluding to.

GB will not allow any changes to the listing once a bid has been placed. I had one up for bid recently, a couple of bids were placed, then someone had a question. I felt that all involved deserved to have that info, but I couldn't add a note. Benefit of hindsight. I suppose that if those that had already bid had done so without further knowledge, it would be unfair to give others that info. In my case, it was info I assumed everyone would know about that pistol. Apparently some didn't.