GunBorker a bad experience

[wboggs]

So I've been searching the web for extended magazine bases for my 1911 when low and behold I find them on GunBroker. I open an account for which you must present a credit card to open the account to be able to do business with them and they conform that by charging you a dollar. Everything is fine so I go back to make my purchase only to find that unless I have a PayPal account, I cant pay for it (well what happened to that account I opened with GunBroker?). Since I almost filed criminal charges against PayPal for ripping me off in the past, they aren't my favorite way to pay; in fact I refuse to use them. So I go to the sellers web site and order them through his site and my $7.99 purchase is rejected since he has a $15.00 minimum charge on his PayPal (buy the way, He is: Custom Defense Products). I file a complaint with GunBroker and they say (this sounds just like PayPal as they screw you and protect their sellers) "he didn't tell you you could pay with a credit card when you purchased" and he didn't say I couldn't which is expected with Internet purchases. That's bull.

So just like PayPal who at times has had over 200,000 people in a class action law suit against PayPal; these guys have the same business ethics; screw the buyer, protect the seller since it's sellers that pay the commissions. And that dollar that would be credited to my account, which I expected to be taken off the purchase I immediately made, is non refundable and contrary to what they say, is not credited back to you.

So if you're going to do business with them, especially as a buyer, be very careful because a dollar spent is a dollar GONE unless the seller "told you in advance he wouldn't do "that" to you". Welcome to doing business with dishonorable vendors on the Internet. The Internet is a great tool till someone without a phone number bite you.

[gf45acp]

Sorry to hear that your first experiance was bad. I have not done much on Gunbroker, only 18 deals, but have had no problems.
When I signed up I did not need to give them any cc info. I also refuse to use Paypal due to their policies.
Don't give up, some things go bad, but most do not.
I have done over 1500 deals on evilbay, and only had 2 problems.

[wboggs]

Yea PayPal makes you agree to forfeit your consumer rights and submit to their policies and it appears GunBroker is very much the same business model. I'm sure they all dont go like I experienced, just be careful because it's a unilateral negotiation when stuff goes wrong; their way or the highway.

One trick not everybody knows is if you do business in evilBay, have the seller mail it to you whenever possible; that way you are protected my mail fraud laws and the Postmaster General is not one you want after you. The PG gets results real fast with a $10,000 fine hanging over your head and possible mail fraud charges.

[LH Arms]

Except as of Jan. 10th ebay is stopping all mail payments, no checks or money orders.

Sellers need to be careful on gunbroker taking paypal, paypal likes to cancel accounts.

[wboggs]

Sellers need to be careful on gunbroker taking paypal, paypal likes to cancel accounts.

Years ago I discovered that more than 200,000 people were involved in a class action law suit against PayPal at which point I refuse to use them except as a clearing house for third party credit card purchases; I have no account with them. A friend was ripped off by PayPal when they arbitrarily withdrew money from her checking account. Then you must understand that when you open an account with PayPal, you forfeit all your consumer rights and are under the unilateral control of PayPal who has only one interest; to keep your money as long as they can and not allow purchases to be undone. PayPal is a very dangerous way to do business on the Internet.

One trick to put some weight on your side is to insist all transactions go through the United States Mail System, then when something goes wrong, you contact the Postmaster General and things happen real fast in your favor since mail fraud is punishable by a prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. If a seller refuses to accept payment through the mail, dont do business with them.

[PikeStaff]

Yes it is. I've had all of 3 GunBroker experiences, all as a buyer, and 2 of three were unsatisfactory. However, the US Postal Service was engaged on the third and, as yet, have produced absolutely NOTHING.

Maybe it's the amount of $$ involved - only $54. Paid the money with a Postal Money Order, too. Sent to seller by US Mail. He tripped out, Postal Service then engaged (now 2+years ago), and there has been no report of any action whatsoever.

Paypal has - so far - been OK. Thank you for your warnings; they will be watched closer because of same.

Bottom line for me: Gunbroker is utter bullsh!t. US Postal Service, so far, is also utter bullsh!t....mail fraud must have a dollar limit.

[wboggs]

Hummmm, my USPS was less $ than yours.

[savagemod11]

Ive never had a major problem with paypal on the buying and selling end. Ive had great customer service when ive bought items and they didnt come, and I got all of my money back. I never had an issue on gunbroker either, it seems pretty decent on there.

[chrisaka]

I hate Paypal, and I've been a member for as long as I can remember. Put easily 250k through them in the past few years between personal spending and business income. They never came through when someone got my debit card and spent the $600 or so sitting in my account. The worst part is with their monopoly, it's hard to avoid them. I've switched to Google Checkout for as much incoming as possible.

Just sold my first gun in GunBroker, and the buyer emailed me the next day to say something came up and he couldn't come through. Claims he is sending a money order to cover the charges, but I am not holding my breath. I think there is a lot of fraud on there as far as dealers bidding certain items up without any intent to pay.

Chris

[Dredly]

I think it is very important to note that its not GunBroker causing the issue. its the seller who is refusing to accept payment in any method other then gun broker as a go between.

- it makes sense from a sellers point to only accept Paypal for small purchases, its MUCH less work for them and the fee paypal takes is about the same as they are charged for using a credit card, without having to deal with the potential stolen / fraud issues.

- I personally HATE pay pal. I've had numerous transactions with them and several have been bad, including one where they actually took the money away from me after I sold a bow even though I had seller protection. They also charged me a fee for investigating and they charged a second time when they sent the money back to the seller (Buyer reported his CC stolen, then found it a few hours later and removed the "stolen" alert... 3 - 4 months before our transaction. worked everywhere except for Paypal). finally the guy just sent me a money order for the full amount and ate the paypal fees.

If you want to be a jerk you could report him to Paypal, they will not allow payment for firearms or related items and will cancel his account.


https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...sideProhibited Activities
You may not use the PayPal service for activities that:

1. violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation

2. relate to sales of (a) narcotics, steroids, certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety, (b) drug paraphernalia, (c) items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity, (d) items that promote hate, violence, racial intolerance, or the financial exploitation of a crime, (e) items that are considered obscene, (f) items that infringe or violate any copyright, trademark, right of publicity or privacy or any other proprietary right under the laws of any jurisdiction, (g) certain sexually oriented materials or services, or (h) certain firearms, firearm parts or accessories, ammunition, weapons or knives