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

These are all reasons why I value a seller who does everything right, and why I always take time to name them in the "good guy" section of the classifieds. It's a good reference.

Fool is in the eyes of the beholder.

I have purchased quite a few guns online from private party members, but I dont think I have bought one in the last 3 years or so. Over the last 15 years or so I have had a few transactions that scared me and I thought I had been taken. All of them work out. One was a very esteemed member here. I bought a very nice Browning BPS shot gun from him. During the transaction, he became pretty ill. He was an older fella who lived alone in a remote location. I didnt know many people here on the forum and when I contacted Rick Bin about it, he reached out the seller and made contact. It all worked itself out fairly quickly. The gentleman almost passed away due to illness and there was nobody around his place to make contact or return my attempts at contact. I felt like a heel afterwards because he was somewhat of a legend on here, but I didnt know that. On another one, I bought a semi custom elk rifle and for some reason the transaction took about 3 weeks longer than it should have with poor communication. The rifle eventually showed and was in great condition as described. With better communication there would not have been much worry. I have not bought a private party rifle for probably 3 years or so. I just dont want the hastle of going to an FFL to pick it up etc. If I found something I had to have, I would sure do it again though!

Life IS a gamble....

I've had good luck for too many years even those Gun List & Shot Gun News day before Internet. So far, like GB due to ratings over Gun International, I check out buyers and deeper if private parties and don't deal with Pawn Shops.

A friend bought a gun out of state, sent seller cashiers check then no response from the seller. The buyer called his local field office and had 2 agents make a courtesy call to the address given by the seller. The seller didn't know the buyer was an FBI agent, the buyer received a refund in 2 days.

Not on firearms, but had some poor luck with stock wood. Question: Any cracks? Response: No. Two of three purchases were returned with my shipping cost being about 1/2 of the purchase price due to obvious cracks. I will never buy another sight unseen.

The only time I really got screwed online, I made a guy a holster, shipped it to him, and never got paid. He’s the outgoing sheriff in Oconee County, Georgia. This was on another forum. He left the forum and hasn’t been back. I got suspended for a week because I called him out.

I got semi screwed on a water heater replacement.

Realtor sent me out to replace one that was leaking, the overseas owner didnt transfer money to escrow.

I gave it 90 days, house went into foreclosure. It was on lockbox so I went over one afternoon with a couple of no-neck goons. Repossessed my 40 gallon water heater.

Piece of cake

EXCEPT for the nosey neighbor that thought I was stealing a water heater. lol

Ended up putting my charm on that dude, within 15 minutes we were inside that neighbor’s house having a cold drink and him showing us a bathroom he contracted us to remodel.

^ ^ ^

For GW

Charming bastid...

~ 20 years ago I went to a local gun store, because I heard they rip people off, and ordered a cheap gun from Shotgun News to that FFL.

They took the money and ordered the gun C.O.D. but refused it each time it arrived.

It seems they were trying to hang on to operating cash.

Yup, they were crooked. Good cheap experiment.

Then they ripped off members of the Woodinville Police department [the city they were in] on gun transactions.

I don't know it they skipped town or went to jail, but the place was empty a few weeks after ripping off cops.

About nine years ago, I bought here on CF a NIB scope from someone in western NC for ($765 in those days) with pics including box-end label. I sent him a certified check from my bank. I didn't hear from him for about ten days and figured that was long enough, so I called him - to which he replied that he had just cashed the check and mailed the scope the day before. I never get the scope and I called and left messages repeatedly for the next three weeks. Then I posted on here that I had apparently been taken to the cleaners by someone in Buncombe County, NC. A fellow member who just happened to be local law enforcement in that area PM'ed me to get the details and offered to go by this guys house and "have a chat". The next day he calls me and said that he couldn't get the money back but he did see the scope, said it looked brand new with all the papers, etc, and that he "gave" the guy a ride to PO to mail it out. Got it three days later.

Maybe there's someone in LE local to your creep, that would volunteer to have a chat with him.

I can't believe y'all buy and sell all these evil firearms. I lost mine in a horrible boating accident.