Buying antique guns from U.S. auction site?

Ah, gunbroken! What a great place for a nice Canadian boy to come to grief.

I've had mixed luck there, I'm the same as other posters, an old account. If you really want to get frustrated, register with egun.de and see how long you last. I'm on my third user id there. Some sellers ship to Kanada there too.

Suggestion: get yourself a gmail account and forward it to the one you use daily. A PO Box in the USA helps too, or a friend's address. The biggest trick is the US credit card, so you don't get caught "being Canadian". There are of course plenty of FFL dealers who will forward antiques for a modest fee, since 90% of the antique sellers won't ship to Canada. The big problem is, when the P.O.S. you bought for top dollar shows up "other than described" -- or better yet fails to show up at all -- you can't complain. Only Americans can complain, so you need to be registered in America, with a US address, etc. Otherwise, you're out of luck and the customer service sucks if you're lucky. If not, they'll just kick you off. I'm sure there are lots of horror stories waiting to be told, though again, egun.de has bigger frauds by far. Ask me.

You're probably just as well off to post a "WTB" on the EE Antiques forum and see what honest bargains find you, right here at home.
 
Thanks for the sage advice I will now never consider trying to buy guns from the United States even though I have bought accessories for antique guns before to my complete satisfaction.
 
Road King said:
I know this is a little off track from the OP but the lastest SPAM i got this morning was as follows

"Can you spare just $2? Ranji is a 9 yr. old boy living in Namibia. He has only 1 leg, 1 arm and 1 eye.
Each day, he has to ride 7 miles to school along a narrow road on a rusty old bike with a bent wheel, no brakes and only 1 pedal.

If you send us just $2, we will send you the video; it's f- -king hilarious!"
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Only needs one pedal! As long as it's on the side with one leg!
 
Skinny 1950 said:
Thanks for the sage advice I will now never consider trying to buy guns from the United States even though I have bought accessories for antique guns before to my complete satisfaction.
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At least 1out of every 5 of the guns i've bought in the US turns out to be have major faults not communicated, and 2 out of 5 are slightly over-described. My success rate is getting better because i'm learning who to deal with, but it's an expensive process to get that experience.

That's why antiques sell for a bit more in Canada than they do in the US - because the guy who buys them and brings them across the border takes all the risk.
 
Skinny 1950 said:
Thanks for the sage advice I will now never consider trying to buy guns from the United States even though I have bought accessories for antique guns before to my complete satisfaction.
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Gunzik may be somewhat right but I have had great success buying antique guns from the US. Infact, I have had better success buying good guns from the US than on the EE due to "when the P.O.S. you bought for top dollar shows up 'other than described'" these guns are dumped on the EE.

There was also a thread a while back, now stickied I think, about a gunbroker seller named Fairfax who screwed over a lot of Canadian buyers with junky guns not properly described.

Just do your homework and ask the seller a lot of questions, and ask for more detailed pics if you need them. If they won't help you it's best to move on.
 
41 Colt said:
Gunzik may be somewhat right but I have had great success buying antique guns from the US. Infact, I have had better success buying good guns from the US than on the EE due to "when the P.O.S. you bought for top dollar shows up 'other than described'" these guns are dumped on the EE.

There was also a thread a while back, now stickied I think, about a gunbroker seller named Fairfax who screwed over a lot of Canadian buyers with junky guns not properly described.

Just do your homework and ask the seller a lot of questions, and ask for more detailed pics if you need them. If they won't help you it's best to move on.
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I bought several from Fairfax, no problems, in fact nearly perfect descriptions. YMMV. Like you said, ask questions and get pictures.
 
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I purchased two rifles from Gunbroker last month no problem. I believe it may be what others have mentioned - I registered more than a year ago.

One of the guns I purchased - when I posted in the Milsurps forum to find out something about it and if anyone had one in Canada - all I received was a reply from someone who had something different.

The other rifle, although once you add all the export/import/shipping fees the price will probably double - the asking price was half that of what such a rifle goes for in Canada. Plus it is in better condition then the two I've seen for sale here.

Sometimes the USA is the only way.
 
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Buying a gun for the States is easy for me- and many others who have done it.
1: hit speed dialm for Prohet river Firearms
2: "Hello, Clay? Howdy, it's the cat! hey, I saw a GREAT looking hammer double on gunbroker, can you get it for me?"
3: sure, Cat, no sweat! Gimme the number and I'll get it done!"
4: "Same brokerage cost?"
5: "YUP"!
and that is all there is to it for me.
I give him the number and clay handles EVERYTHING else!
An extra $150 is well worth it for guns that I cannot get in Canada.....
Cat
 
catnthehatt said:
Buying a gun for the States is easy for me- and many others who have done it.
1: hit speed dialm for Prohet river Firearms
2: "Hello, Clay? Howdy, it's the cat! hey, I saw a GREAT looking hammer double on gunbroker, can you get it for me?"
3: sure, Cat, no sweat! Gimme the number and I'll get it done!"
4: "Same brokerage cost?"
5: "YUP"!
and that is all there is to it for me.
I give him the number and clay handles EVERYTHING else!
An extra $150 is well worth it for guns that I cannot get in Canada.....
Cat
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If we are talking about antique guns, there is really no need to involve anybody.
 
Tyockell18 said:
agreed, although I do have an FFL for those pesky GB sellers who refuse to ship to Canada.
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There is always somebody who is willing to do it, but of course it comes at a price and double the shipping cost. Many US sellers also take their time to ship, I had to call the seller most of the time in order to get things going, no big deal.

What I like about an auction site is that you can actually auction stuff off, without reserve, just did 2 auctions as a seller and was able to get much more than I could have sold the stuff here in the EE.
 
scianna54 said:
If we are talking about antique guns, there is really no need to involve anybody.
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"rules" and the law have often nothing to do with peoples' "policies" about not selling to buyers unless they have a business license , store, or whatever other idiotic store or personal policy they adhere to.
What I am allowed to do is not necessarily what the person stateside will let me do.
That is why many of us deal with Prophet river Fire arms, and personally I don't want anything to do with the bureaucracy of buying a gun across the border, I'd rather leave that to someone who does it every day.
Cat
 
catnthehatt said:
"rules" and the law have often nothing to do with peoples' "policies" about not selling to buyers unless they have a business license , store, or whatever other idiotic store or personal policy they adhere to.
What I am allowed to do is not necessarily what the person stateside will let me do.
That is why many of us deal with Prophet river Fire arms, and personally I don't want anything to do with the bureaucracy of buying a gun across the border, I'd rather leave that to someone who does it every day.
Cat
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Involving a dealer/importer in Canada doesn't make sense when it comes to antiques, if the person/dealer in the US won't sell/ship to Canada, what difference would it make to have a dealer here involved. They themselves would have to involve a FFL in the US. There are plenty around who will ship it to you if the person/dealer in the US won't. Why pay a fee twice. To me, it's about saving money, there is really no hassle involved.

Either the firearm is antique or it isn't, we know what is allowed and what isn't, there are no grey areas. CBSA will process everything, including Webley .455 converted to 45 ACP/AR. I imported 2 of them, declared correctly with the correct caliber and no problem whatsoever. They just open the box, check what's in it and collect the tax.
 
BadLieutenant said:
From what I have experienced.....they MAKE UP the taxes! :(

They make a value of their own to collect more....knowing we won't #####!
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Get the seller to include a copy of the invoice in the box with the antique so that if the box is opened the invoice will be found with it. Then they will charge you GST (or HST for you less fortunate souls) on the invoice value, plus a $5 service charge. Otherwise they may "estimate" the value, and once they even held the pkg in customs and sent me a letter requesting the invoice.
 
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Either the firearm is antique or it isn't, we know what is allowed and what isn't, there are no grey areas. CBSA will process everything, including Webley .455 converted to 45 ACP/AR. I imported 2 of them, declared correctly with the correct caliber and no problem whatsoever. They just open the box, check what's in it and collect the tax.[/QUOTE]


:D:D They didn't even open my box:eek::):D
Taxes, the five bucks, to the P.O., and on my way.
 
vviking said:
Either the firearm is antique or it isn't, we know what is allowed and what isn't, there are no grey areas. CBSA will process everything, including Webley .455 converted to 45 ACP/AR. I imported 2 of them, declared correctly with the correct caliber and no problem whatsoever. They just open the box, check what's in it and collect the tax.

:D:D They didn't even open my box:eek::):D
Taxes, the five bucks, to the P.O., and on my way.
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Sometimes they don't even open the box. Then sometimes they hold it for weeks. You never know - I think it depends on the individual officer's experience level - if they understand the antique laws it goes through, if not they hold it and get clarification from their superiors. You never know what they are going to do.
 
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