I am looking at a gun on gunbroker.com from a guy in a different state. He only has one transaction with feedback and it is for some shotgun chokes. He lists payment as money order or cashiers check. Chances are that he is a decent guy selling a gun, but I am hesitant. Are there any safe alternatives to mo/cashiers check?
Try these guys.
The owners are a former fire fighter/paramedic and current deputy sheriff. Both are known to me personally and are active on this forum.
Ask him if he will accept a direct wire transfer of the funds from your checking account to his? He could still rip you off but you wouldn’t have much trouble finding him. GH
A wire transfer does nothing to protect the buyer and make sure the proper goods are shipped. A wire transfer simply puts good funds in the hands of the seller faster. As to finding the seller faster, not necessarily so, not unless they told the truth, which, by defination, scammers don’t do.
I have not used pistolpay, but like what i read on their site - looks like they protect both the buyer and seller as much as possible.
GunBroker’s site also provides a link and info about using an online escrow service.
I’d call the guy & feel him out. I sent $3K to a guy from one of the forums years ago for a rifle. I was hesitant but after conversing with him for about 1/2 hour on the phone, I felt comfortable with his character & had a flawless transaction.
I called the guy and talked to him for a long time. Seemed like a good guy, but the new version of the gun had some upgrades and was only $300 more. I just ordered a new one for peace of mind and the upgrades.
What did you get?
I have purchsed several items on Gun Broker, including a few pistols.
I ALWAYS use a U.S. Postal Money Order for the method of payment.
The only pain for me is that you have to purchase at the postal office during regular business hours and they are sold in a maximum increment of $1,000.00 so if something you are buying is more you may have to purchase several.
I only purchase items from a dealer on Gun Broker with many positive feedback ratings. So, far I haven’t been burned yet.
p.s. If you use the Postal M.O. and they try to rip you off, then the Postal Inspector can go after them.
They “can” go after them.
I got burnt on a purchase where an item was grossly misrepresented. When it became clear the seller knew but didn’t care I promptly reported it to the postal inspector and filed a complaint. Nothing was ever done.
Seller made it clear he intended to trade negative feedbacks if I gave him one (he had a long history of positive feedbacks coincidentally) and he clearly wasn’t above fabricating things. I ended up reselling the item with full disclosure and took about a 30% loss on the entire thing.
Sorry to hear of your troubles.
Did you report the seller’s threats/ comments to GunBroker?
Did you consider requesting a return of your funds from the money order purchsed, due to the misrepresentation or lack of being provided the specified product?
When I purchase something expensive online, I try to vet the seller as much as possible and require several high resolution photos of the item. I do realize if someone wants to cheat the buyer it can happen. Apparently, I have been lucky so far.
Use a money order or cashiers check and send it USPS Priority Mail with a signature required.
The only way I ever make payments for these type transactions…
Didn’t report it to Gunbroker knowing he’d simply deny it.
I suspect I’d have as much chance getting a sent and cashed MO refunded as I would retrieving funds sent to Nigeria.
I filed a well documented “fraud” case with the USPS and they basically said thanks for letting us know and that was it.
All that does is document that the seller received the money. It does nothing to prevent you from getting scammed via a failure to deliver or a misrepresentation.
Some of you guys posting here have been really lucky, IMO.
ALL this. And Postal Inspectors make Eliot Ness look like a Cub Scout! I had a guy try to rip me off on a postal m.o. purchase almost 15 years ago. I had to wait a few mos. for the inspectors to spring into action, but once they started knocking at his door, I started getting all manner of effusively apologetic e-mails from him. I think he OVERNIGHTED my purchase after that.