Ramblings on Gun Deals

RickF

RickF

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
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Location
East Kootenays, BC
I bought a rifle this past week from a CGN member, and it got me thinking about a bunch of the deals I have made on here, some good…some not so good. About how little things make a deal great and make you feel like you have made a friend, while others leave a sour taste in the mouth.

To start, I bought this rifle from Stormdog. He had an asking price plus shipping, which I agreed to as it was a fair price, and I also paid the shipping as he requested without a whimper. In return this rifle showed up in a hard case with 100 new brass and a full box of Hornady bullets. All of which wasn’t part of the negotiated deal. In other words, it’s possible I could have beaten him down a few bucks but I didn’t. In return I got about $110 of additional stuff. The seller was nothing but clear, concise and courteous throughout the deal. He has a standing offer for refreshments if he is ever in town, and I have nothing but respect for him.

On the other hand, I sold another rifle to a different member a while back. No names mentioned. Throughout the negotiations, his main purpose seemed to be to beat me down the last 50 cents. I had it advertised at a price plus shipping. First the price came down a bit and I threw in some dies and brass…and I thought we had everything settled. Then he went to work on the shipping. After the shipping was agreed on he then went to work on who was paying the insurance…

We did agree in the end, and I left positive feedback for him. But the entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth. While packaging up a rifle for shipment, I like to package it very securely with lots of padding. While doing that with this rifle all I could think of was that every extra bit of padding (weight) I added…it was costing me money. All for a SOB who wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. In the end he paid as agreed, but I wouldn’t walk across the street to shake his hand if I ever saw him, just no respect for the guy.

Luckily most deals I do run closer to the first scenario, but thought I would offer my thoughts on gun deals here. I have had much better “luck” by treating the other side with respect and honesty than worrying about the last dollar. To throw out a few names, (not meaning to leave anyone out but these multiple dealings guys come immediately to mind) I have had nothing but great results with Rembo, Dusty61, Doug, Supercub and Why Not? In every case, we don’t quibble over a few bucks, really knowing that if I buy a rifle from them this month and don’t ##### about the shipping costs or something trivial…next month they will buy something from me and will treat me the same way. In the end it all works out, and I KNOW I am dollars ahead in the end by dealing in this manner. The best part is the wonderful result of guys whom I have never met that I consider my friends.

Something to think about…
 
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So true!!!!!

I just lowered a scope from $475 to $425 Shipped...... and be damned if a guy PM's me offering $325 Shipped... WTF?

280_ACKLEY
 
I've been lucky. The only thing approaching negative was just delays a time or two. And another small one a couple guys that haven't entered a trader rating for me even though I have for them. Yes, purchasers should get feed back to.....

But like I said I've been lucky. I haven't only had little extras thrown in here and there, even had little extras sent to me months after the deal. :eek: Doug and Whynot? come to mind for sending boxes of bullets and odds and ends just because. :) I agree with you RickF, its so much nicer when its straight up at each end. A little friendly hagling is cool, grinding a guy doesn't do much for anyone.......
 
How much can extra packing cost? Gotta love the lowball arsehole offers too. That's why I don't sell guns. No one PM's me lowball offers on any of mine.
 
My experiences have ranged from good to great on this board. Met some really decent guys that I keep in touch with and would share a camp with.
I don't mind a little bargaining though and try it myself on occasion. One thing that bugs me is when someone puts an item on the board and then takes days to get back to you, or in some cases never does. I don't waste too much time on sellers like that in the future.
Recently on prices, I've seen some very reasonable prices, and some that are totally out of sight with guys bumping the same items/same pricing for many weeks. If you watch the board for a while you quickly figure out who is reasonable in the marketplace and who is always high.
Overall I agree with Rick and Gatehouse, if you want it, don't risk losing the item over a few bucks, as long as the price is reasonable. Hunting for the next bargain is a good way to pass some time in the offseason though.
 
seller

It's tough being the seller somtimes, i have sold a couple of items at a price i later wished i did'nt but i should of said no to the deal, it seems on some items you want to get rid of more than others so we make what we feel are bad deals sometimes. That being said i agree i do not make ridiculous offers in hope to scoop something cheap, i respect a fair deal and if i want it i buy it but if i feel the price is ridiculous idon't even make an offer. Most all the guys i have dealt with have made a friend in me with fair smooth deals and you get to know who the good guys are after a while (most all of the gunnutz are good and fair.)
 
It is very difficult or even impossible to friendly bargain when your reponses are written.The chuckle and the joking around ,take greater writing skills than I have.
 
so true, i think if you spend a couple bucks but gain some good points with a guy, if you need a favour, im sure he would be happy to comply. Its all karma man.
 
I haven't done a lot of deals on the board. A couple with Doug, Nester, Xcaliber guys I know from around here and trust. Every deal was top notch. In fact knowing that the guys I was dealing with was great I went the extra mile for them and every time I bought something they did the same for me.

I did one deal that was a little off because the guy I sold to kept trying to beat down the price, then include shipping. I finally agreed and shipped it to him and I never even got a "hey it arrived, thanks" from the guy. In fact I am not even sure he is on this board anymore. It was crappy.

Jacky
 
RickF,

What a great summary of the thoughts that most of us have (I'll bet) regarding the deals we make here on CGN! Thank you. :)

With only two exceptions, all of my deals have been top notch - with my lasting feeling of "having made a new friend". :) The other two were just so-so.:rolleyes:

I sure do appreciate when my buyers respond with "I got it" and tell me something about what they think of the gun...this is important to me, because if they are not satisfied, I want to know so I can arrange some kind of compensation or a return. I guess some people just don't think to ask.

Jeff/1911.
 
All my deals save two have been good here. One the post office lost (and it was a small thing not worth insurance, but I really needed the part), the other was a certain fellow out Vancouver way who advertised guns, took the money, and never coughed up. Lot's of excuses 9which I bought at first, silly me), and then just silence. Oh well, live and learn. He certainly doesn't post here under his old name (and I don't know how to track him if he uses a new one. But other then that, two thumbs up for CGN. - dan
 
All in all it is pretty good

I think all in all it is pretty good - if it was not we would not be using it anymore.

All of my experiences have been good ones....even the one where I had to return an item due to damage was a positive experience. Persoanlly if someone is going to nickle and dime me on price and then bicker with shipping/insurance I will typically pass and wait for the next. After all if your price is good there will be another buyer - and generally I do like to sell my stuff to people I at least like!

John
 
Dan;

Was it a gun deal or high priced item that went bad? If so, I would PM a Mod or GT. Have them search his IP address and follow it up by sending to the police. For a couple of bucks, it's not worth everyones time, but chalk it up to a lesson learned. But for a couple of hundred bucks. I'll be all of it "like Oprah on a cheesecake" or a "fat kid on a Smartie"

trublu
 
I think the deals are what they are, some have gone very well, sometimes I try and dicker a bit. Sometimes the price is out to lunch and I make an offer, but when I do, I explain where the offer came from and nobody's offended, in fact 2/3 have sold me to gun and we were both happy. I have had a couple where I made offers with or without scopes etc which kind of went sideways, including one where I offerred his asking price with scope and an offer without. He declined both and raised the price the next day, it's still for sale. I have had very good dealings with RickF, Rembo, and several other guys, only a little bit of stress which all worked out.
 
I always try to bargain, and have come up with some good deals. A few times I haven't been able to get to a deal, but wtf, it doesn't hurt to try. If the price isn't high enough, just a simple "no" works. If i'm on the selling end, my feelings arent hurt by a lowball offer, I have a bottom line in mind too but at the end of the day, if it isn't selling for what you want it's not worth what you want.

There are a lot of guys who are just plain dreaming too, I see things advertized used all the time for more than I could get them for new.

those are my thoughts, guess I must be part Mexican.

milo
 
trubluscrew said:
Dan;

Was it a gun deal or high priced item that went bad? If so, I would PM a Mod or GT. Have them search his IP address and follow it up by sending to the police. For a couple of bucks, it's not worth everyones time, but chalk it up to a lesson learned. But for a couple of hundred bucks. I'll be all of it "like Oprah on a cheesecake" or a "fat kid on a Smartie"

trublu
Click to expand...

It was a gun deal, not even an expensive one $125 for a Moisin, but no go from the guy, and no satisfaction. Really, $125 isn't even worth going to court over, I've phoned him a couple of times (got his number from fellow gun nutz, thanks guys), and he now dances around claiming it's all the CFC's fault. No mention of giving me my money back tho', just talk of arranging a "loan" of the gun until the CFC comes through. Guy's an ex cop too apparently, you'd think he knew better, but maybe that's how he got to be an "ex". oh well, live and learn. - dan
 
Good thread. Well said, Rick - and others. I've had a couple of deals that left a sour taste in my mouth, but the majority have been good to great and I've made some friends.

Great: Yorgi! - I bought a muzzle-loader off him and since he was close I went to pick it up. He had a pot of coffee on and went through complete disassembly and re-assembly with me, offered some suggestions for ammo, etc. and when he found out I was joinging the same range he goes to asked me to call him when I was going up there and he would join me to give me pointers about loading and firing.

Bad: I bought a gun off a guy and he shipped it to a CGNer in Calgary while I received the other guy's guns. I let him know and was calm about it and polite. Shipping a gun to the wrong place is extremely irresponsible, but what was done was done. Meanwhile, he blamed his wife. Uncool! He did apologize but when I re-packed the other guns and shipped them to Calgary I quoted him actual shipping charges and suggested that if he wanted to throw in a little extra for duct tape, extra handling and me running back and forth to the post office I wouldn't mind. He didn't. And he only would answer about every third pm I sent him. The guy in Calgary was great, though and everything ended up fine but I sure wouldn't deal with the seller again. I still gave him positive feedback because the gun was even better than described and I was pleased in that respect - plus all's well that ends well...

I've had a few other sour deals but the majority have been great.

My biggest problem is people who misrepresent what they're selling. When a gun shows up that looked good in a couple of pictures and is quoted as "excellent condition" I don't expect to find pitting on the bbl and receiver, a broken rear site and scuffs and scratches all over the stock and the entire thing filthy. What gun was in those pictures? :mad: This happened to me once, too. Then the guy says it wasn't his fault as he was selling it for a friend and he never saw the gun since it was already packed when he got it. Meanwhile he shipped it back to me in my box! :rolleyes:
 
All deals have been good but one. Guy took 3 months to pay me.
He had my phone # & e-mail addy but did not call.
I screwed up one deal, sent a guy 50 green tipped ss109 instead of tracers :eek: .I told him I was sorry & he could keep them Free & got the tracers out right away.:D DAN>>>
 
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