The only things I buy from gunbroker are things I can't find locally.

I have bought several famous maker guns for far less than I would have anywhere else.  You need to SHOP gunbroker and then also keep your bidding urges under control.

I have bought several famous maker guns for far less than I would have anywhere else.  You need to SHOP gunbroker and then also keep your bidding urges under control.

 

and not bid on stuff while drunk

For me, it would be worth it when

 

A)  I couldn't find what I'm looking for anywhere else.

 

B) I didn't care about throwing money away.

Most often the guns I want to buy are hard to find.  I use the NJGF Price Request, and usually get 4-5 "can't get that" responses, so I try.

 

I almost always buy it now for the lowest total price including shipping, and GunForHire charges me $20 for the transfer including NICS.

 

So for my, GB is the way to find guns.

 

NO dealers I called last month had a reasonable stock of S&W 357 revolvers; I had my pick of 500 models on GB.

 

Next purchase is a pair of Ruger New Vaquero 357 with sequential numbers.  I'll try to buy locally, but will end up buying on GB.  When I do want something more common, I go to my local stores, usually the Rahway FAGs or Mastodon if I can.

This is probably a dumb question, but why wouldn't a local dealer obtain what he doesn't have by doing the same thing - buy it online, then sell it to the customer looking for it?  I don't know what the reasonable markup can be in that situation, but I'm just curious.

This is probably a dumb question, but why wouldn't a local dealer obtain what he doesn't have by doing the same thing - buy it online, then sell it to the customer looking for it?  I don't know what the reasonable markup can be in that situation, but I'm just curious.

 

They are allocated or sold out from the manufacturer and the big distributors, and the only ones left are in dealers' inventory around the country.  A local dealer is unable to obtain one.

 

Most local gun dealers are buying from the same 2 distributors; if one dealer can't order it, usually most have the same problem.  There are some local dealers that call around and really hunt for you (TJ did this once for me with a S&W 629), but generally if they aren't at the distributors the local guys can't get it and you have to find someone somewhere around the country who has one in stock.

I bought this Ruger SP101 off of Gunbroker last week. It was a used 3" in .38 Special that Ruger only made in the first two years of production. Local gun dealers aren't really interested in buying and dealing used firearms from the internet. If you can find what you want and have a reasonably priced transfer dealer, why not buy from Gunbroker?

Plain and simple , it's eBay for guns. Look at the feedback, ask questions, factor in the extra costs of shipping and transfer fees and finally....

 

don't get caught up in the bidding wars and you should be fine. 

ive gotten some really cheap used mags when buying a bunch of them. there used to be a pawn shop that listed used mags on there. i once got 5 glock 23 mags for $10 each shipped. and another time 4 hk usp .40 mags for like $12 or $13 each shipped. But that was a few years ago. Ive also got a few used guns on there.

  Sometimes the out-of-state dealers on there don't want to deal with NJ, etc. magazine restrictions, etc.  However, sometimes they will work with us US citizens behind the Iron Curtain.  For example, I was able to get something on there that was NJ legal, and had the magazines shipped to my uncle out-of-state because they weren't NJ-legal.  He sold them for me and I used the funds to buy statist-acceptible magazines.  Even if you find something at a great price, by the time you factor in the FLL and shipping charges, typically you will be back to NJ prices. 

 

Is there a way to use gunbroker.com so that non-NJ compliant guns/magazines are filtered out?  I wouldn't want to buy something that turns out to be illegal in NJ.

Is there a way to use gunbroker.com so that non-NJ compliant guns/magazines are filtered out? I wouldn't want to buy something that turns out to be illegal in NJ.

Not to my knowledge

You can buy locally off of Gunbroker, that works too.   But, you want to be careful if you win the bid.  Send an Email ahead of bidding to see if local pickup is an option.  Get that on record.  Unless it is someone working out of his or her house with an FFL, a shop owner shouldn't care.  Also, when you go to get the firearm, check to make sure its there by inquiring BEFORE showing documentation about the winning bid.   If the dealer is also selling in shop at the same time, it should be on display.    I have had local FFL tell me it was SOLD when I went in to pick it up with winning bid that I had one because it was a great deal, because nobody else bid on it.  I apparently won it at the "reserve" price which the FFL was never intending to sell it at.  He made the claim beause many dealers reserve the right to sell in shop if the option permits itself, even while bid is going on.  Because I had a hunch, I had one of my friends go in later that day inquiring and it was pulled out and showed to him with a much higher price than the winning bid.   I would have liked to have gotten it as that price,and probably could have when I confronted him when caught.  However, I decided to no longer do business with him.    p

 

And, also as another warning, your selling party or buying party has been known to occasionally be of the government class.

 

But, I have gotten some really nice things off of GB... and one was pretty scarce at a decent price. 

 

This.....  

 

Being a small business owner/partner myself......   

You can buy locally off of Gunbroker, that works too.   But, you want to be careful if you win the bid.  Send an Email ahead of bidding to see if local pickup is an option.  Get that on record.  Unless it is someone working out of his or her house with an FFL, a shop owner shouldn't care.  Also, when you go to get the firearm, check to make sure its there by inquiring BEFORE showing documentation about the winning bid.   If the dealer is also selling in shop at the same time, it should be on display.    I have had local FFL tell me it was SOLD when I went in to pick it up with winning bid that I had one because it was a great deal, because nobody else bid on it.  I apparently won it at the "reserve" price which the FFL was never intending to sell it at.  He made the claim beause many dealers reserve the right to sell in shop if the option permits itself, even while bid is going on.  Because I had a hunch, I had one of my friends go in later that day inquiring and it was pulled out and showed to him with a much higher price than the winning bid.   I would have liked to have gotten it as that price,and probably could have when I confronted him when caught.  However, I decided to no longer do business with him.   

 

And, also as another warning, your selling party or buying party has been known to occasionally be of the government class.

 

This.....  

 

Being a small business owner/partner myself......