How many of you guys buy your shooting stuff on EBay or Gunbroker.com....I've watched a trend of more and more of AR15's industry partners listing on the auction sites....

I got screwed the last time I tried Gunbroker. The seller kept my money and never sent the gun or refund. I filed a claim using Gunbroker's fraud protection service. I complied with all the requirements and provided the required documentation. I never received any response from GB or their insurance carrier. I sent several e mails and waited several weeks. No response. I filed a complaint with the IL Attorney General's office. They sent a few letters back and forth before dropping the matter. I am out $400.  The only thing I will use Gunbroker for is to check prices. The "bid with confidence, your purchase is insured" slogan is a bunch of crap.

The seller was a private party. An industry partner (other than Sableco) would hopefully be more ethical.

I am a private party and I buy and sell on both sites with unblemished feedback rating on both (312 on ebay to date).  

I just got a PRI Gas Buster M84 charging handle off of ebay for $71 shipped.  As this retails for $89 + shipping on up, I got a decent deal there.  You have to be careful, though.  

Alot of people like to stretch the truth on their parts.  I have a box full of parts which includes about 4-5 receivers, 5 barrels and a bunch of misc parts sold to me "AS NEW" or excellent condition only to find out they are pitted/painted or not milspec so the finish is poor or some backyard, hack gunsmith has FUBARed the thing beyond any cost effective repair.

I just took return on an upper I built for a police officer in Texas.  I built it with a "NEW, MILSPEC" upper receiver, or so I thought.  The finish was not milspec and was coming off in large pieces inside the receiver while he was firing the upper.  This receiver was not milspec anodized, rather it was powder coated or some less resistant coating process.  Now I am out a customer, and I am out the money I paid for the junk receiver.  As most of the repuatable companies want about $100 to anodize a receiver, I would now have about twice what it is worth into this receiver just to get it back to spec.  So it sits in a box until I figure out what to do with it.  Bottom line, I am a seller who backs my items.  I am going to eat about $100-150 on this build due to the receiver, but that is business.  I jumped on a good deal on the receiver only to find out it was a POS.  So I took responsibility for it.

There are honest and reputable sellers out there on both sites.  You will always hear about the bad ones, but rarely hear about the good ones.  Noboby bitches too loud about a perfect, smooth transaction.

When you work with the online stuff make sure you get a picture of what you are buying.  I request pictures with certain things in them.  If they can't or won't provide the requested pictures I move on.  Make sure you know exactly what it is you are looking at - that way you can spot something that is not right.  Be sure to check the feedback and read through it.  You could even try to contact the other buyers.  I've only been burned once between eBay and Gunbroker and it was on a Saiga AK-47 type.  The guy had a picture of one rifle and I got another - it looks different but shot just fine - until I sold it!!!

SIGNAL4L, you should give the guy's Gunbroker handle here, so we don't end up in the same boat with that thief.  I would really be mad!

I have bought some gun related stuff on ebay, and a couple things on the gun auction sites, but never a firearm on the gun sites.  So far, so good, as far as firearms related stuff goes, though some of the people I've dealt with on aa, and gunbroker are a little slow compared to most ebay people.

I have  bought and sold several guns on gunbroker. I've never had a problem.

I buy and sell on eBay and have had excellent results so far, aside from a few bad purchases before I figured out what I was doing.

Ask questions and don't assume anything. If you are shown a picture of an upper complete with bolt and charging handle for example don't assume it comes with it unless it is specifically stated in the listing.

If someone is advertising a "Colt" upper but neglects to list the markings you had better e-mail them for more info. If you don't you are asking for trouble.

It also seems like half of the uppers on eBay have only had 100 rounds put through the pipe too

My first bad experience was with a "brand new, never used" Colt bolt and carrier group. When I received the package (20 days after close of auction) this bolt was so heavily used that the firing pin retaining pin was bent almost in half, and two of the gas rings were missing.

Now I only stick to established sellers with solid feedback ratings. Many of those sellers are also dealers and members of this board. I have scored some excellent deals, particularly on Colt uppers, triggers, and lower parts kits. My most recent purchase was a Colt 6721 flattop upper half with a brand new Colt bolt and carrier. I paid a little less than half of what it would cost elsewhere once you factor in the included extras like a low profile gasblock and extra parts, and it is absolutely pristine

I buy gun stuff on ebay, Gun Broker and Guns America all the time.
You can find some great deals. I also love to pay for my gun stuff with my PayPal account.
I've only picked up one gun online, I don't like that too much. I prefer to handle it before I buy it.
Mags, ammo, accessories - no problem.

~ s0ulzer0

I do a fair share of selling, and some buying on E-bay and GB and for the most part it works out well. I do my best to put all the details in the descriprion. Some of what I list I have to go by what was told to me when the item was traded as I do my fair share of swapping things. I've been burned a few times buying but I learned to use a CC for payment when i can so I can always back charge through a fraud claim if I get burnt. Don't ever try that with a Discover Card and pay-pal as they have an agreement not to back charge each other. If the customer isn't happy with the product, I always offer a refund or exchange ass long as the item is in the condition it was sent. I am guilty of using "KEY" works in the headline but always clarify in the description. The idea is to get your item noticed and some interest on it. I usually sell with no reserve or buy it nows. It never ceases to amaze me the people who never pay for a Buy it now auction!!! I am getting tired of filing non-paying bidder alerts. All in all there are some deals to be had and some $ to be made.

Hey, Jack (R2K), how are you!  Your ebay descriptions are...how should I put it...eloquent, ya, eloquent.

I'm with you on the Buy It Now.  There is justice in that on the flip side, though.  I listed an Aimpoint Comp M2 with mount one time with a BIN of $385 and a start of $335.  The first bidder bid the $335 hoping to get a SWEET deal.  Well he ended up winning the auction at $435.  Still not a bad deal, but I'm sure he would have preferred the $385.

It never amazes me to see how much people will pay for some stuff and won't pay that for equal parts otherwise.

Here is my "Shrine" to the dangers on online shopping.  Most of the pieces are servicable with some work, but a few will have to be scrapped.  Only one from here on the EE - most from ebay and a couple from GB.  Bottom line - if it is not in operable condition, I won't put it on a rifle and try to use it or sell it.  I'll fix it RIGHT, or it gets scrapped.



BTW, just got a PRI midlength FF tube off ebay last night for $257.50 shipped.  A decent price for something I was going to buy anyway for $300 or more.

Hopefully it doesn't end up in my "Shrine"