Gun Show Ethics - What Would You Do?

plinker 777 said:
While we're on the topic of ethics, I trust that the OP will agree that where I'm about to go is fitting with his thread.
The EE...What in the ever loving name of morality can be said of individuals on the EE who put WTS items and do not honour an "I'll take it"!? Numerous times now I've run into this, where I've said I'll take it (no question on price), only the aspect of where the item is to be shipped to, how the payment is to be made etc, etc. But certainly in my world a tentative agreement. The agreement is that I will pay the seller $X amount for item Y and the seller has agreed...then sells to another (because more $ were offered, the location was more convenient for the seller, or on one occasion, the seller sobered up and changed his mind as to whether he was going to sell and completely reneged on the deal!)
Apparently, I'm not able to leave a negative trader rating to warn others that you are potentially dealing with an adolescent drunkard, or an honourless Philistine who could not properly define a gentleman's agreement if he had a gun to his head. So what's the answer? Am I being overly sensitive about people taking moments of my life's energy and discarding it in the street like a Tims Horton cup? Is it not appropriate to ear mark these sh1tstains for fear that others also fall into their manipulations?

*edit*...feel free to ask me how I know that canceling an EMT will cost you $5...Then expect me to ask you, who is it that owes me the $5?
From now on, am I to tell sellers that they have to sell $5 less in the event they back out of a deal?
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Agree with you 100%.

If you say you want it, and I say it's yours, it's yours, regardless of other offers, geography, or phase of the moon.
 
Suther said:
People charging outrageous prices is not scamming someone. If someone wants to buy a tapco sks for $800 then that's on them, but if the seller was trying to claim it's a sks-d THEN it's fraud.

It's the buyers responsibility to know what something is worth, but it's the sellers responsibility to accurately represent their product.
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You hit the nail squarely on the head and succinctly summarized the reason why I started this thread. Intervening in a sale where somebody is overpaying for something is one thing, but when you witness someone being dishonest and the potential buyer trusts them to tell the truth - that is something else entirely.

There have been alot of interesting and revealing comments made by the community, some helpful and some not so much, but thanks to everyone I have a better idea of how to handle the situation if I witness it again.

Brookwood
 
If you are unknowledgeable in what you are buying at a gunshow, perhaps you shouldn't be buying at gun shows until you know.

But online through your iPhone or laptop, you can post to a forum and get an opinion pretty darn quick, whether it be on an EE, gunshow, private sale, yard sale, etc.

Email a buddy half way around the world with a pic at the show to set you straight on the BS or the truth.

With the technology today, you don't have to get screwed by the dealer or seller.
 
OK, let's face if fellas...I think the dreaded ' Troll ' word applies here. I and most of you are regulars in the Milsurp forum and provenance is very important to us.
I think our unfriendly troll ( no names...you be the judge of who it might be...but the term MYOFB might be relevant ) has played upon our need for authentic Milsurps.
Not much different than a pimple faced kid telling us of his plans to Bubba a rifle, he's just twisting our tails for fun. Some folks have problems we don't know of; sort of sad, but we can't fix them. But realizing they feel the need to rain on parades is just a fact...they are out there.
I think the dreaded ignore feature is needed here, sad...but that's how I see it.
 
tokguy said:
OK, let's face if fellas...I think the dreaded ' Troll ' word applies here. I and most of you are regulars in the Milsurp forum and provenance is very important to us.
I think our unfriendly troll ( no names...you be the judge of who it might be...but the term MYOFB might be relevant ) has played upon our need for authentic Milsurps.
Not much different than a pimple faced kid telling us of his plans to Bubba a rifle, he's just twisting our tails for fun. Some folks have problems we don't know of; sort of sad, but we can't fix them. But realizing they feel the need to rain on parades is just a fact...they are out there.
I think the dreaded ignore feature is needed here, sad...but that's how I see it.
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Maybe MYOFB GUY is the Canadian distributor for fakes?? No wonder he's so vehement about us all shutting up.....
 
That guy is in the same spot every year with almost the same guns so I dont think he actually sell all that many. I stopped by his tables to look at his SVT's cause I was hopping to find a decent deal on one and he tried the same thing on me after I asked how much his "non sniper" was and he started to tell me about the $1000 sniper I had a quick look and walked away cause I had done my research. To everyone that is saying its up to the buyer to do his research, maybe the guy didnt go looking for that rifle and knew nothing and was relying on some honesty from a fellow gun enthusiast/collector
 
When I see a table with a bunch of obviously misrepresented guns, I pass over the entire table.


Can't trust myself to spot far more subtle misrepresentations, and I certainly can't trust the ethics of the seller.
 
It's a "buyer beware" world out there today. No use trying to save the ignorant and stupid, from the shysters. They'll learn the hard way, soon enough. IMO.
 
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