Never used any sort of auction site in my life.

Aside from understanding how an auction works, I'm in the dark about one nuance:

If there's an item with a minimum bid of, say, $100, and a buy-it-now of $300, if you bid $101 and no one else bids on it, do you get it for $101 or does it jack the price up to the buy-it-now price?

Buy it now is simply that, you click the button and agree to that specific price. Typically once someone bids, the buy it now price goes away and the auction goes on until time runs out and someone "wins" as top bidder.

Some items will have a reserve, a hidden minimum price. If no one bids higher than the reserve price the item will not sell.

To your particular question, the price will not shoot up to the buy it now price when you place a bid.

you bid what you're willing to pay, assuming that price is acceptable to the seller, you'll get the item for your bid, plus any shipping/transfer costs.

One clarification on buy it now for Gunbroker, if your bid isn't to that level, someone can always jump in and use 'buy it now' until the auction ends.

Its been a long time for me on ebay, but I remember that buy it now on that site would disappear on a bid being placed.

From Gunbroker:

You can purchase an item immediately without going through the bidding process by clicking BuyNow!. This ends the auction.

Bidding equal to the BuyNow! price:

If you enter a bid equal to the BuyNow! price in the maximum amount, you will not immediately win the item. Entering a bid equal to the BuyNow! price is not the same as using the BuyNow! option. You must click BuyNow! to immediately purchase the item at the BuyNow! price.

Items with a Reserve Price:

Once the bidding for an auction meets or exceeds the Reserve Price (the minimum amount the seller is willing to sell the item for), the BuyNow! feature is disabled, and the auction runs until its scheduled end.

If there is not a Reserve Price, the BuyNow! feature is disabled if the bidding meets or exceeds the BuyNow! price, and the auction runs until its scheduled end.

https://support.gunbroker.com/...Buy-Now-with-BuyNow-

One thing you really have to pay attention to on gunbroker is the seller's request on method of payment. Some folks don't cotton to paypal or credit cards and want money orders. When that happens it slows the process down considerably.

Gunbroker is a wonderful site, but be careful to read the entire description. Watch out for high shipping costs, and a surcharge for using a credit card.

Lurk for a while, and use the "watch" button to see how the auction actually ends.

I only deal with FFLs, and will not bid if the seller only accepts postal money orders, but that is just my confidence level.

Gunbroker has a nice feature to find an FFL to transfer a firearm. When you buy from an out-of-state vendor and transfer to a local FFL, you don't pay local sales tax.

The auto bid feature is nice. If an item has a $100 bid, and you would buy it for $200, when you put in your $200 maximum bid, the item bid will only increase by the amount of the minimum bid to say $105. If another bidder then bids $110, your bid will automatically increase to $115. This will keep on until another bidder bids more than your maximum bid.

There are several large vendors that have no reserve auctions, and the auctions often go off for much less than my local gun shop can buy guns from their distributor. I suspect that these vendors have direct contact with the manufacturers, and the manufacturers dump their excess inventory through Gunbroker.

A person can spend a lot of money on Gunbroker!!

Also most prices show 3% discount cash price, any other payment is more. There are some great deals out there. First Sig ever bought was on Gunbroker. 229 SAS Gen 2, bought in 2008, brand new with 3 mags (bought extra) for 850 including taxes, shipping, and FFL.

If you see something you want don't hesitate to ask questions or ask for more pics. I've never had luck with auctions, I just stick to the buy it now stuff. What's funny about gunbroker is you'll see something like 30 of the exact same gun for $400 then you'll see people listing it for $50 to a $100 more. I guess they hope you'll skip over all the cheaper guns and spend more for theirs.

Gunbroker is a good space. Better than eBay and gun friendly!
Still, buyer beware. Good deals are available.

quote:

Originally posted by Hay2bale:
Gunbroker is a wonderful site, but be careful to read the entire description. Watch out for high shipping costs, and a surcharge for using a credit card.

It is important to check feedback. ALL of the transactions in which I have been both a buyer or seller are rated A+ since my Gunbroker reputation is more valuable to me than my money. Also ask for questions and photos before bidding if you have them.

If you encounter a seller with "NR" (no rating), you might get lucky with those Colt Pythons, one with a box and a matching serial number, since others were afraid to buy from him. Or you might encounter problems with an NR seller.

quote:

Lurk for a while, and use the "watch" button to see how the auction actually ends.

The bidding is often interesting with buyers trying to outsmart each other. If possible (usually), search for completed auctions of the same or similar items to see.

quote:

Originally posted by Hay2bale:
I only deal with FFLs, and will not bid if the seller only accepts postal money orders, but that is just my confidence level.

We won't be conducting transactions with each other, but why wouldn't you accept USPS money orders? I usually only pay in USPS money orders sent via Certified Mail with no signature requested. As a buyer, I am most protected against fraud using that payment method which is cheaper than Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation which USPS interprets as being delivered "somewhere", but not necessarily to the addressed recipient.

quote:

Gunbroker has a nice feature to find an FFL to transfer a firearm. When you buy from an out-of-state vendor and transfer to a local FFL, you don't pay local sales tax.

Find an FFL is nice feature, but in some states, some FFLs "neither agree nor disagree" with me that states, such as Washington, do not possess the power to regulate and tax interstate commerce.

quote:

There are several large vendors that have no reserve auctions, and the auctions often go off for much less than my local gun shop can buy guns from their distributor.

"No reserve" auctions (also abbreviated as "NR") can be fun.

quote:

A person can spend a lot of money on Gunbroker!!

"I neither agree or disagree" with your statement. (I encountered an attorney who accepted a personal check from me which was my point about checking feedback.)

Finally addressing "Buy It Now!", you can find bargains using BIN!, or you can get ripped off and pay too much. You want to find a distressed seller who just needs cash NOW! who would get a better deal than he would in a pawn shop. You do not want to be enticed into overpaying for something that you want but do not need NOW! Usually, the seller's situation is in between those extremes.

Another edit is advice to retain correspondence such as this where now defunct Tropical Firearms balked on a deal with me.

On a couple of occasions I have called the seller (FFL) and offered an amount that was well below the street price of a gun and concluded a deal right then and there! Need hurts to ask....

quote:

Originally posted by rh:

quote:

Originally posted by Hay2bale:
I only deal with FFLs, and will not bid if the seller only accepts postal money orders, but that is just my confidence level.

We won't be conducting transactions with each other, but why wouldn't you accept USPS money orders? I usually only pay in USPS money orders sent via Certified Mail with no signature requested. As a buyer, I am most protected against fraud using that payment method which is cheaper than Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation which USPS interprets as being delivered "somewhere", but not necessarily to the addressed recipient.

No, as a buyer you are NOT protected by using a USPS money order. In fact, you are more exposed than any other form of payment except sending an envelop full of cash.

My experience in a nutshell. Sent a USPS MO via certified mail. Seller said he did not receive. Went to PO, and requested a stop on the USPS MO. USPS issued a new MO, which I sent to the seller. Seller sent item. Fine.

Six weeks later, the original MO showed up at seller. Seller deposits it. Post Office honors it. PO sends me a letter stating I owed them for the money order since they had refunded my money on the original. I said that I had requested a stop payment. Post Office says that doesn't mean jack, they will still honor it. Post Office tells me to pay them or they will put a lien on my next tax return, and that my issue is with the seller, not the USPS.

So you see, when dealing with the USPS, you can be totally screwed if the seller isn't totally honest. Also, because the Post Office and the IRS are buddies, they have more power to screw you than just a simple money order from a bank. If you only accept USPS money orders, we don't do business.

I usually buy/sell several items a year on GB and never had any problems..GB seems to eliminate a lot of the scammers and if I remember right your must give GB a valid credit card to register.
I'll use GB to sell some of my higher value/collector firearms and have conversed with some very interesting people over the years (interesting in a good way)

How it works for me: I saw a gun, and I was broker.

Good deals can be found if you are looking for something churned out by the thousands. If you are looking for something that is out of production or cost too much when it was new, be patient, it comes around every now and then. Pawnshops sell on Gunbroker too. I have done the math, (at least where I'm at) shipping and the transfer fee is less than the sales tax if the purchase price is $350 or more. Most guns that I have found are more than that.

Just watch shipping costs, the money you save could be lost due to shipping. I have won a few auctions and gotten some good deals.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by rh:

quote:

Originally posted by Hay2bale:
I only deal with FFLs, and will not bid if the seller only accepts postal money orders, but that is just my confidence level.

We won't be conducting transactions with each other, but why wouldn't you accept USPS money orders? I usually only pay in USPS money orders sent via Certified Mail with no signature requested. As a buyer, I am most protected against fraud using that payment method which is cheaper than Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation which USPS interprets as being delivered "somewhere", but not necessarily to the addressed recipient.

No, as a buyer you are NOT protected by using a USPS money order. In fact, you are more exposed than any other form of payment except sending an envelop full of cash.

My experience in a nutshell. Sent a USPS MO via certified mail. Seller said he did not receive. Went to PO, and requested a stop on the USPS MO. USPS issued a new MO, which I sent to the seller. Seller sent item. Fine.

Six weeks later, the original MO showed up at seller. Seller deposits it. Post Office honors it. PO sends me a letter stating I owed them for the money order since they had refunded my money on the original. I said that I had requested a stop payment. Post Office says that doesn't mean jack, they will still honor it. Post Office tells me to pay them or they will put a lien on my next tax return, and that my issue is with the seller, not the USPS.

Wow! I did not know this. I assumed that, if you cancelled a USPS money order, that meant it was cancelled. That is down-right lame beyond belief.

So much for my ever using a USPS money order for anything. It'll be CC and the fee or nothing. And if the cost is too high with the 3% hit, I won't buy.

Personally, I'd rather buy from known, regular Sigforumites in the Classifieds, anyway.

You can search "completed auctions" to see what the gun sold for, the last dozen or so times.
It will give you a great idea of whether or not it is priced right and what you should set your max bid at.

Bruce

Okay let me splain....no, not enough time. Let me sum up, gunbroker is where I spend my children's inheritance.

I've sent and received USPS money orders dozens of times over the years with zero issues, from eBay to Gunbroker to knives and everything in between.