For you guys who buy guns and stuff off Sturmgewehr or other website, how do you prevent from getting totally ripped off?

What if you sent money for a Steyr AUG or some other high dollar gun. What's to guarantee that

a) the seller actually has it

b) the seller won't skip town with your money

Faith.

It's been my experience that 99% of the people who sell things on the internet (and I'm not just talking about gun stuff) are fundamentally honest.

If you're concerned, ask if anybody's dealt with the person before on the General board there.

Quoted: For you guys who buy guns and stuff off Sturmgewehr or other website, how do you prevent from getting totally ripped off? What if you sent money for a Steyr AUG or some other high dollar gun. What's to guarantee that a) the seller actually has it b) the seller won't skip town with your money

That's what credit cards and Paypal are for.

At the VERY least I'll ask the seller what gun boards he's a member of (99% of the sellers out there didn't inherit their gun and are generally part of the "Culture") and then I go and see how long they've been a member.

When I sell a firearm I refer folks here and a couple of other sites I'm a member on (Over 12,000 posts on about 5 boards).  

If someone tells me they're not a member of a board OR, if they ARE, and I see they registered the day before they listed the gun ect.....no sale.

Dunno about any for firearms, but for stuff I buy from ebay, I'm a big fan of escrow services  (don't know which ones are good anymore, last time I bought something on ebay was 3 years ago).

-FOTBR

Buy with a Postal Money Order and send it Delivery Confirmation.
If they try to rip you off, sick the  Postal Inspector on them. They live for that shit. My wife works at the post office. She says the PI's have LMS (little man syndrome) and love to screw with people.

Quoted: Buy with a Postal Money Order and send it Delivery Confirmation. If they try to rip you off, sick the  Postal Inspector on them. They live for that shit. My wife works at the post office. She says the PI's have LMS (little man syndrome) and love to screw with people.

While I would trust Arfcom members with high post counts, I am leery of Sturmgewehr because they don't have post counts.

Couple of Rules:

#1--if it seems in the least bit funny/strange/questionable, walk away.
#2--ask for references.
#3--ask for a dealer to dealer transfer (he should be willing to furnish his dealer's info, and if he is a dealer, to give you his FFL #'s--first 3 and last 5 and you can verify on line).
#4--pay in traceable fashion (USPS MO's are good).
#5--if the deal is too good to be true, then you are going to get screwed if you go through with it.
#6--refer to #1 again......

Quoted: While I would trust Arfcom members with high post counts, I am leery of Sturmgewehr because they don't have post counts.

Well, keep this in mind too.

Like the man said: "If it looks too good to be true it probably is!"

Anyone who posted a thread bitching about getting ripped-off on an $800, NIB HK-93 ISN'T going to get a whole lotta sympathy.

paypal is not safe when purchasing firearms. their protection policy will not cover firearms.

so if you buy a gun, pay with pay pal, and it doesnt show? guess what happens when you tell them you tried to buy a gun with their service? they will say, 'fuck you, and have a nice day.'

ESCROW.  And a signed FFL.  Tell him that you would like to go through an FFL on his end and that you will pay for it.  Then you can send the check to the FFL.  Some will provide this service for a fee.  Then you know that its safe.

Credit card, or use credit card through paypal. If anything goes wrong, "Hello, Citibank,,".
On a personal note, I don't buy larger dollar items from sellers more than a days drive from me, that way if neccessary, I can be at their doorstep raising hell, and be back to work on Monday.  

She says the PI's have LMS (little man syndrome) and love to screw with people.

Not from what I've seen.  I buy through work sometimes, and since the company is like most of our customers, we don't use credit cards.  I've bought several dozen items on ebay using USPS MO's.  I've gotten ripped-off an even dozen times on ebay and seven or so of those times I paid with an MO.  USPS did nothing in any of the cases.  On of the items was even a $1,200 generator.  I wouldn't depend on the USPS to enforce the law.z

Ask for references see if anybody else has done business with him and was satisfied.

If they are new to the board ask if they are registered at other boards and check references on those boards.

Ask for pictures with serial number clearly visible… save the pictures. If he can’t do pictures get a clear written description in e-mail (from his account) with model and serial number.

Get a clear NRA description of condition in an e-mail from his account.

Ask for their telephone number and address then do a reverse look-up to see if their name matches the number and address they give you. No cell-phones no P.O. Boxes. Call him and talk make sure you are comfortable. Make sure you have a person the Postal Inspector can trace… then pay by POSTAL MO.

The best deal I ever got was a deal that was too good to be true. I had a Czech CZ-50 that I had paid about $50 for, a guy wanted to trade it for a (his description) VG condition Yugo PREDUZECE 44 K98K rifle he had. I could not believe the deal was for real so I asked for him for his telephone number, he gave me the number and I called him. He said he wanted a CZ-50 for his collection and had an “extra” rifle to trade. I told him the rifle was worth much more than the CZ-50, he said he knew that but he wanted the CZ-50 all the same AND he would ship me the rifle and I could look it over then ship him the pistol. When I got the rifle it was not in “VG condition” but was in EXCELLENT AS NEW condition the bore looked as if it had never been fired. I still can’t believe the guy would trade that rifle for a CZ-50 but he was happy with the pistol when he got it.