Attempted to buy a Kimber Pro Carry ll on Gun Broker

[03Lightningrocks]

"suspicious that the seller used a secondary account to push the bid higher." - I've bought and sold a few guns on Gunbroker, and I wonder about that, too - the thing is, IF the seller is using a secondary account just to bid the price higher, if the secondary bidder actually wins the auction (bids too high and no one else bids over his bid), then the GB fees would still be due on the sale, right?

As to the taxes and fees, for the guns I sell, I always make sure to clearly state that BUYER PAYS SALES TAX and BUYER PAYS ACTUAL SHIPPING.

Gun Broker also tells them they will be charged tax. Some of my sales are fairly high dollar. I think the taxes have a way of sneaking up on them even though Gun Broker makes it clear they have to pay them. They just started that in the past year or so. Some new law passed that most if not all states adopted and they are looking for their cut. The couple buyers I have had who were not happy, seemed more bothered by the additional fees GB adds for handling that sales tax. Technically the buyer was always suppose to pay their state taxes but nobody ever did that voluntarily. Ebay now has the same tax policy. Amazon was one of the first to start adding taxes.

[RPBrown]

I bid on a little .22 rifle Saturday. The bids were supposed to close yesterday afternoon. I just checked my status and although I am still High bidder, they extended the bid date for another 7 days

[03Lightningrocks]

I bid on a little .22 rifle Saturday. The bids were supposed to close yesterday afternoon. I just checked my status and although I am still High bidder, they extended the bid date for another 7 days

I have sold many a firearm on Gun Broker during the last 15 years and I would almost swear to it that they wouldn't allow any changes once a bid had been placed. Something seems off here. I would send them a complaint. Maybe they allow that now but it would set up a scenario where a seller could just constantly change the closing date until he get's the bid he likes.

Quite frankly, if they did allow the seller to do that, I am the kind of guy that would inform Gun Broker that I would like to retract my bid due to the seller playing dirty. Just on principle, I would no longer want to do business with that seller. Not 6 months ago I made a mistake when listing my Stainless Colt Python and accidently made it a buy it now for 1575. I realized what I did wrong within 60 seconds but before I could change it, some guy bought the darn thing. As much as it bothered me leaving 500 bucks on the table, I honored the darn sell.

[Sidro]

03Lightningrocks there is a lot of sellers running price up on guns that are on Gunbroker. Six months back or so I bid on a gun with no reserve and a buy now format. I won the bid ($350 lower than buy now price) and next morning went to make pay arrangements to find it had sold to someone else. Apparently someone bid after closing time and got it. Buyer was new to the site.
Next day same gun according to description, pictures and serial number is up for sale again same as first time. Same thing happened to another person trying to buy the gun( different first time buyer than mine). They were $250 short of buy now price. Next day gun is back same price format and runs 7 days to end of bid and sold for $20 some odd dollars lower than buy now price.
Doing a little research with BBB and on other forums found this scenario was not uncommon with this high ranked seller as several other people had same happen to them or gun with wrong serial number delivered to them and being told that was gun they bought and not the gun in the pictures clearly showing sn.
I watched both of the auctions to the closing time and know there was no bidder other than myself and the other buyer at the end of auction time.
Crooks are everywhere and some have good ratings.

[03Lightningrocks]

03Lightningrocks there is a lot of sellers running price up on guns that are on Gunbroker. Six months back or so I bid on a gun with no reserve and a buy now format. I won the bid ($350 lower than buy now price) and next morning went to make pay arrangements to find it had sold to someone else. Apparently someone bid after closing time and got it. Buyer was new to the site.
Next day same gun according to description, pictures and serial number is up for sale again same as first time. Same thing happened to another person trying to buy the gun( different first time buyer than mine). They were $250 short of buy now price. Next day gun is back same price format and runs 7 days to end of bid and sold for $20 some odd dollars lower than buy now price.
Doing a little research with BBB and on other forums found this scenario was not uncommon with this high ranked seller as several other people had same happen to them or gun with wrong serial number delivered to them and being told that was gun they bought and not the gun in the pictures clearly showing sn.
I watched both of the auctions to the closing time and know there was no bidder other than myself and the other buyer at the end of auction time.
Crooks are everywhere and some have good ratings.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread. I have no doubt that there are sellers, especially high rated sellers, gaming the system with fake buyer accounts. Far to many times I have seen some "new buyer" pop up trying to drive the price higher at the last day or even minutes of an auction. I bid what i am willing to pay and if a higher bid comes in just let it go.

[Aggie_engr]

I know this is somewhat of an old thread but I’m going through a similar situation with a gun broker auction I recently won on July 28th. Since winning the auction I’ve had ZERO contact from the seller, a gun shop out of Sarasota, FL, and I’ve been calling daily to try and move things along. Well the owner of the shop is the only one who handles gun broker sales so every time I call I get an employee who tells me the owner is busy or not in at the time. They have my FFL info but I’ve yet to even be able to pay for the rifle since they won’t update the shipping cost.

Well I poked around in their reviews and found numerous people had very similar experiences with this seller. This one review in particular is what I believe to be the case, "DON'T BID! Runs "No Reserve" auctions w/shipping TBD. If not pleased with SOLD $$, Seller won’t enter the shipping costs = you can't get auction item you WON. Emails and calls ignored. GB is of no help."

With that being said, is there any recourse available to make the seller complete the transaction? Tomorrow will be one week and I feel like I’m just getting the run around.

[carlson1]

You can contact Gun Broker and they will take action on your behalf.

[03Lightningrocks]

I know this is somewhat of an old thread but I’m going through a similar situation with a gun broker auction I recently won on July 28th. Since winning the auction I’ve had ZERO contact from the seller, a gun shop out of Sarasota, FL, and I’ve been calling daily to try and move things along. Well the owner of the shop is the only one who handles gun broker sales so every time I call I get an employee who tells me the owner is busy or not in at the time. They have my FFL info but I’ve yet to even be able to pay for the rifle since they won’t update the shipping cost.

Well I poked around in their reviews and found numerous people had very similar experiences with this seller. This one review in particular is what I believe to be the case, "DON'T BID! Runs "No Reserve" auctions w/shipping TBD. If not pleased with SOLD $$, Seller won’t enter the shipping costs = you can't get auction item you WON. Emails and calls ignored. GB is of no help."

With that being said, is there any recourse available to make the seller complete the transaction? Tomorrow will be one week and I feel like I’m just getting the run around.

File a complaint on that seller. Gun Broker has taken that stuff seriously in the past. If he has a string of complaints, they will yank his account. Those auctions that start out with no reserve or minimum are usually a scam. The seller will often have other accounts listed to come in and bid the item up if the price is too low. There is a time limit on how long he has to give you shipping price. It shouldn't be any more than 30-40 bucks at the highest. Especially if he is a licensed FFL. He can ship via USPS priority pretty cheap.

[Sidro]

You can contact Gun Broker and they will take action on your behalf.

I filed a complaint with them and they were not interested in pursuing it even with all the info I gave them. This was after the first non sale and again after the second non sale. This was with the new owners so maybe they didn't want to rock the boat. Sad thing is this was a Texas business that had the gun.

[Aggie_engr]

…Sad thing is this was a Texas business that had the gun.

If this guy was anywhere in Texas I’d show up at their doorstep, no more man behind the curtain hiding behind his employees. I plan to call again tomorrow and if I get the same run around I’ll report him so my account doesn’t get dinged by gun broker and just move on. There are plenty other rifles in the sea. Thanks for the help guys.

[carlson1]

What would the ATF do in a case like this? Anything?

[Aggie_engr]

An update on my situation, I called again yesterday and told the gun store employee I read some not so favorable reviews about them and that if they didn’t intend to complete the transaction then I would move on, report them to gun broker and leave a review reflecting my experience. All of a sudden I FINALLY get a call today from the owner saying the person who normally handles shipping of firearms is on vacation and they’re also undergoing an ATF audit. How much of that is true is anyone’s guess but it seems he got my message and my rifle was shipped out today. Shipping was a little high at $59, but I just wanted to get it over with and didn’t push back on it. Take care yall and thanks for the advice!

[03Lightningrocks]

An update on my situation, I called again yesterday and told the gun store employee I read some not so favorable reviews about them and that if they didn’t intend to complete the transaction then I would move on, report them to gun broker and leave a review reflecting my experience. All of a sudden I FINALLY get a call today from the owner saying the person who normally handles shipping of firearms is on vacation and they’re also undergoing an ATF audit. How much of that is true is anyone’s guess but it seems he got my message and my rifle was shipped out today. Shipping was a little high at $59, but I just wanted to get it over with and didn’t push back on it. Take care yall and thanks for the advice!

It does sound high for an FFL to ship via USPS. It is hard to say though because when I shipped out the last of the 5.62x39 case of 500 rounds, UPS had gone up six bucks. I figured it had to do with fuel costs. My FFL averages around 30-40 bucks to ship and box firearms I sell.At least he finally did what was right! His excuses about an ATF audit really don't hold water if he is still listing more firearms for sale. Good to read you got it handled. When you do his review, don't go and give him a good rating. Too many guys do this and it makes new victims easy to find. Tell the truth about his efforts to delay shipping and give him low grade. A high grade means NO ISSUES! Just MHO as a regular user of Gunbroker! I read the ratings and reviews before bidding a firearm. If folks let these guys get away with things like this, the ratings mean nothing!

[K.Mooneyham]

I vowed to never use GB because of the "ammo gougers" back during the first big ammo shortage some years ago. Certain individuals, nationwide, were going to retail outlets, buying up all the available ammo, then turning around and putting it up on GB for outrageous prices. Some might say "but those are market signals to the manufacturers to ramp up production". While technically true, as we have all learned by now, ramping up ammo production isn't very easy for many reasons, including lack of raw materials, and acquiring permits to expand facilities. Nope, GB had to have known there was gouging going on and because they made their profits, it was all good with them. Now I read stuff like these posts and it cements my intentions to never use GB. As much as I enjoy using the internet, in some ways it has made things much worse for everyone.