Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire When there is disagreement about the condition of a used firearm...

Let me start by saying this is a hypothetical question - it has not happened to me, but I have bought many firearms from individuals online and have just recently started selling a few and it got me thinking a bit. There sometimes can be a huge discepancy between what a seller's description and idea of the condition of a used firearm is and what my expectations are based on that description. Pictures are very useful for conveying the sellers description - but depending on how they are taken, they can either make the gun look much better or much worse than it actually is. Sometimes sellers will intentionally omit obvious flaws. This has happened to me on several occasions, but they never reached the level that I felt I would send the gun back.

So, my question is:

If you sell a used firearm (whether it is through an online auction or chat room classifieds) to an individual, and you have been as up front about flaws and condition as possible, including the pictures, what is the proper etiquette if there is disagreement on the condition of the gun and the seller wants to return it to you. Do you typically eat the auction listing fees (I did not look into whether relisting without paying the fees is possible due to the return of the firearm before posting this) and reimburse the buyer for the fees and the shipping both ways? I guess every situation would be different, but if the listing and pictures were honest and in good faith and there was a mutual disagreement and the buyer wanted to return the firearm, my first thought is to split the shipping costs unless there was something grossly wrong with the gun that was overlooked.

Any experiences or what is considered the proper way to handle something like this?

LiveOak,
I've never bought or sold online, auction or otherwise, but I've both bought and sold quite a few from the Gun List.

I think the usual policy for buying/selling firearms from Gun List, or from a chat room for that matter, is something like this:

1.) The buyer gets a predetermined inspection period, usually 3 or 5 days, which starts when his FFL receives it. This inspection period is exactly that, an INSPECTION period. The buyer does not get to shoot the chit out of it and then return it.

2.) A firearm can be returned for ANY reason, even if the buyer just decided he doesn't like it.

3.) The firearm MUST be returned in the same condition that it was sent. A NIB firearm MUST be returned NIB!

4.) The buyer eats the shipping, insurance, and handling charges BOTH ways.

5.) Common courtesy would dictate that a buyer would notify the seller that the firearm was being returned. The one time I had a buyer return a firearm to me, he did not notify me, and I was quite surprised when three weeks after I sent it, it shows up back to me!

6.) If there is a disagreement as to the condition of a firearm, see #2.

7.) The seller will refund, upon receipt of the firearm in the same condition as it was sent, to the buyer the full sale price, less whatever he charged for shippping, insurance and handling, see #3 and #4.

I do not know who eats the auction listing fees, since I've neither bought nor sold at an online auction.

Hope this helps!

mudstud

Live Oak,

I usually shortcut the ambiguities when I sell something with a standing offer that if you do not like it for any reason, return it in the same condiiton, at your expense within 3 days of receipt -- no questions asked -- full money back. I find it also shortcuts demands for picts -- which I don't do -- and pre-quibbling about condition issues, I tell it like it is, maybe even understating condition a bit.

I never had one come back. But I have returned a couple with no after grumblings.

Never been stung on the net. Can't say the same for gunshows.

1B

I'd agree that the buyer has the option to return the gun no questions asked, and he pays shipping both ways, I'd assume the seller would eat the listing cost.

If the weapon is not in the same condition when returned than when shipped, that will get tricky.

If I sell something that the buyer is not happy with, I will take it back and refund everything the seller is out of pocket, no questions asked.

My reputation is worth more than a few bucks for shipping and listing fees.

There have been darn few instances where someone has been unhappy with something I sent them. In those rare cases, I asked them what it would take to make them happy, and then I did it.

I figure that it takes a lot of trust for someone to send money to a person they have never met. Any monkey business, and that trust is broken.

I very much appreciate the responses.

I have no problem with someone returning a firearm, and that means for whatever reason or no reason at all. CAS, I think you hit on what I was getting around to - I just took the long way to do it. My reputation is everything, and if the buyer is not happy (and this means any dealings, not just firearms related), I am going to make it right. I just wasn't sure what the accepted standard is. It would hurt a bit to pay auction fees, for instance, and have to refund perhaps $50 on top of that to a dissatisfied buyer. I suppose, though, that that would be a very rare instance, and just chalk it up to the cost of doing business.