Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ever get ripped off in an internet firearm transaction?

Nope but had 2 go missing from the seller via UPS.

They delivered one to a vacant house,the police know who had just moved out and so for about 16 years nothing has been said.

The other was found.

The only time i got ahold of the ATF was when a rifle was shipped but never delivered.

It was an older Winchester in 30-40.

They asked me if i knew for a fact that the rifle was packed up and shipped,i said no,then he told me i had no standing that it would have to be turned in by the shipper.

Hope it gets figured out.

After about 30-40 buys over the last 6-8 years via GunBroker and through folks on this forum, I’m batting 1.000 on the ‘Fire and only a couple less than stellar experiences in GB.

Paid $900 for a Browning HiPower back in the Fall that was in “excellent shape and that’s not holster wear it’s just the reflection of the light”. Well....it was holster wear. Not a big deal because I was gonna eventually Cerakote it, but had hoped to have a nice looking shooter for a while.....Now it’s been at the shop since mid Oct and the ‘smith keeps coming up with new excuses why it’s not done. First excuse was they got way behind trying to Cerakote an AR in purple glitter and it was complicated and his paint booth “looks like a stripper blew up in it”. Latest is his Cerakote tech has COVID. He seems like a good guy and he made me laugh with the “stripper blew up” comment so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Bought a KelTec Sub 2000 “new in box” from a dealer about a year ago and it was filthy like the boys at the shop fired a couple hundred rounds down the tube and put it back in the box.

Ordered a CZ-75 Compact PCR from “Shooting Surplus” on Dec 12th and paid for it via credit card same day. After a month of telling me it had “processed and was awaiting fulfillment” they sent sent me a note this week that it really wasn’t available. Next day they credited my card. Nice way to get free access to working capital.

WINNING!

The entire responsibility for online firearms sales falls on the receiving FFL, who in most cases is just some schmuck trying to get into the gun business.

For example, lets say the buyer purchases an O/U 12 gauge online. He pays the selling FFL who then logs it out if his A&D book and ships the gun to the buyer's FFL.

Then the buyer's FFL receives the box, opens it up, and discovers a semi-auto shotgun. At this point everything is in limbo. Now the selling FFL has his money and the gun is logged out of his A&D book and the buyer's FFL has a gun logged in his A&D book that his customer did not order.

What happens next depends on the sellers committment to customer service but based on my 11 month experience in the online gun sales game most of them are not in it to make customers happy, hence the reason I got out of it.

I do very little online buying of used goods. The few transactions I have had have all been favorable. I am in the middle of one now, and it all looks like it's going to end well. I have as much apprehension as a seller as I do as a buyer. As a seller, my reputation is on the line. I offer a money back guarantee when I sell. The item will be in the condition I portray it to be in. If for some reason you aren't happy, you won't have to pay. I most recently sold a stock. I had confidence in the buyer as a long standing member here. I told him that I'd ship the stock to him for his inspection. If he wasn't happy he could ship it back. If he was happy, he could send me a check or money order. he got it, was happy and got a money order for me. He took a picture of the money order and told me it's on the way.

I do not like being ripped off. If there is any way at all for me to get back at someone who rips me off, I will.

Gunwizard is a whiny cundt, but I think it's wrong for him to get ripped off, and I hope that he is made whole.

I bought a somewhat rare collectable Sako AIII Varminter Heavy Barrel rifle in 25-06 from a man in Texas. He packed it well even double boxed it and still fuqking FedEx managed to break the stock in half at the wrist. This Sako varminter stock for the AIII Long Action Heavy Barrel would be damn near impossible to find few of these rifles were ever made. I let the seller keep what I paid for the rifle I think it was 1100. So I submit the claim with FedEx along with an estimate from McMillan Fiberglass Stocks for what it would cost to re stock the rifle in their Sako style varmint stock they offer. They were kind enough to run it up to about 1700 with custom paint, free floating, aluminum pillar bedding everything I could come up with. So FedEx paid up and I sold the barreled action back to another guy from where else, Texas. So I made out well on this "unfortunate mishap" LAUGHING!!!

Almost. The very first PM I had on the 'fire here in 2010 was from Safariman when I was looking for a reasonable 30-06. True story

Fairly sure I never even had a close call. That being said communication stands to go a long ways to screening out fraud. I am of the persuasion that the scammers seldom if ever are really knowledgeable about the firearms they are looking to give the impression they have for sale. a few conversations are good insurance. If the seller is not able to engage in the communication, may be a good clue to back out.

Quit buying from individuals on line awhile back. Bought a $2,500 shotgun and the guy packed it so pitifully the barrels banged the butt too [bleep]. Had to pay to have it repaired.
Bought an anschutz off rimfire central, guy through the bolt in loose, took a chunk out of the fore end. Bought a steyr mIII professional, stock in half broke at the wrist, and lastly a colt 6920 with the barrel literally sticking out the end of the box 2” and the flash hider dinged up.

Said it before, and I’ll say it again..... the average human being would be WELL served with a mini mag behind the ear.

The OP is a prime example.

Had a meth addict employee ask to borrow $300 one time. He offered to bring his four wheeler and let me hold it for collateral.
I figured wtf. Never saw him again but still have the Polaris 8 years later.

And some finance company is probably still wondering wtf it is.

Do they really do that or do you just say that to taunt them?

Hahaha! It weren't his.


He became a fence.

He PM you too?

🤪

I had a very nice Tikka Master Sporter simply vanish while at the North Houston USPS Sorting Facility. They found the shipping box stashed somewhere but the gun was never seen again. Luckily the seller was a quality guy and gave me a full refund immediately - he probably didn’t get any $ back from the postal service for months!

Am in the process of a transaction right now on a Sig P227. Been following the tracking from upstate NY to MA over to Syracuse and then to Rochester and am thinking what the heck? Today I look and it shows having been delivered to some small town by Buffalo so I go to Gunbroker to look up they guys phone # but since the transaction is complete I can no longer see it. Starting to stress out at this point and remember Id called the seller last week so I scramble through my call history and the number is literally the next one to be bumped out of the history. Call the guy and he picks up on the first ring and I inquire as to why my gun just got delivered to BFE NY. He apologized and said he must’ve given me the wrong tracking number and will resend once he goes home. Starting to sound like a scam and then he drops the fact that he’s a judge and at court and has to get off the phone. My BS meter is tingling by this point so I dig out the Money Order receipt and Google his name plus judge and NY. At about the same time as I’m reading an article about him becoming the judge of some municipality his text comes through with the proper tracking info. Twas quite a rollercoaster of being suspicious, worried, pissed off and relieved all in about a span of 5 minutes. I was just sure I was going to have to fight gunbroker for a refund on a decent amount of $ there for a bit but was jumping to conclusions.

Hahahahahaha!!!!!

Three friggin times already!

That's one of the things that concerns me about a seller.

That’s cause you look like a teddy bear.

Maybe he needs a hug.