THIS IS A HUGE QUESTION

The_Dead_Eye

ok my mom is perinod about auctions online so i need a person that has order lots of stuff from GB.com to reply and tell me if its reliable or not and is the service good

The Eye of the Dead never misses so watch ur own @$$

nmyers

Your mom is right to worry; after all, on GB or any other long distance transaction you send your money to someone you don't know with the hope that they will send you the merchandise, and that it will be as described. I've had mostly good luck, but I've had a couple of problems. If you take reasonable precautions, you will minimize the risk of problems.

First, check the seller's feedback. A lot of negatives should be a red flag.

Second, DO NOT bid on anything unless you first understand exactly what the item is and have a detailed description of it. You should request high quality digital photos if they are not in the listing; even with those, condition and originality should be described in writing. Don't hesitate to ask questions; if no reply or the reply is evasive (happens often), don't bid.

You must also know all terms of the sale. Know & agree to the return policy and the inspection period; 7 days is not unreasonable. I always ask the seller "If the item is not as you described, will you refund the purchase price plus shipping both ways?"; I won't buy from someone who would not do that.

If you win an auction, don't send money until you verify the seller's name, address, and phone # on one of the Internet phone directories. If you can't locate him BEFORE you send him money, you sure won't be able to AFTER you send him money and have problems. If his # is unlisted, request a photocopy of his drivers license; if he refuses, you probably don't want to send him money.

Neal

Prebanparts

If your mom is worried perhaps you should make sure you are old enough to participate in any online dealings..just a thought..

mballai

I have done over 1600 transactions buying and selling on eBay, Amazon, Yahoo, half.com, gunbroker and a handful of other sites. Very few problems. Well under 1% overall.

If the person you are dealing with has mostly good feedback, chances are good you will have no problems. Most sellers are quite honest. Be careful with large dollar transactions--use a credit card in case the seller fails to deliver. If they don't accept credit, wait until you find someone who does. This is mostly just for your protection--if you don't feel comfortable doing business with someone, don't do business.

Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead

gskyhawk

the_dead_eye: NEVER use a postal money order to pay for a item you have won, the reason I say this is because you CAN NOT put a stop payment on them, also if they are lost or stolen anybody can cash them they are just like cash, use a bank money order or bank draft or credit card also send your payment with a delivery confirmation this means priority mail or first class well worth the extra money as you can prove that they received your payment,, if you sell something also ship using a method that has a tracking number so you know when it gets there, may cost a little more but well worth it in the long run ,, no arguing with a signature,,

ericthered

I have been screwed to the tune of 850 dollars for a night
vision scope by a business on Ebay. They re-rated a flawed
D scope as a B and claimed it was worth twice what it was.
I have contacted everyone I can including the BBB and still have
the scope in its' box and no refund.

FEEDBACK is very important. This company only had a few bad ones,
but it turned out to matter a lot.
Read all the fine print too.
You can use escrow to help protect your money. This costs about
50 bucks, but a third party is involved to make sure both parties
honor their word.
Most people have been honest, but I have had two bad experiences.
Another guy kept about 80 dollars of my money and never sent the
item, refunded, or responded.

Eric

thats'me

JudgeColt

If you cannot stand to lose the money, your mother is right, you should not bid. Life is uncertain, and full of risk. Your mother can only protect you from so much. Surely she told you there are bad people in the world, and there might be some who are selling things at auction. It does not sound to me like you should bid on anything.

You do understand that GunBroker is an auction site, don't you? You do not "order" anything from GunBroker, nor does GunBroker give you service, reliable or otherwise. You are dealing with individual sellers who are using the GunBroker auction site as a selling vehicle only, some of whom may be bad as your mother has warned you. GunBroker is not involved in the transactions, other than to collect a listing fee from the seller, and to offer some protection to defrauded buyers.

This is a HUGE question? Just how EXPENSIVE are the items you want to buy at auction?

competentone

quote:
NEVER use a postal money order to pay for a item you have won, the reason I say this is because you CAN NOT put a stop payment on them, also if they are lost or stolen anybody can cash them they are just like cash, use a bank money order or bank draft





gskyhawk, Dead_Eye, and all

Lost or stolen Postal Money Orders are NOT just like cash--assuming you have filled them out properly; if you send them "blank", then, yes, they are just like cash; but if a name is filled in the "pay to" part, only that person can cash it.

If they are lost, and subsequently are not cashed, if you have saved your receipt, you can get a refund (the waiting period is some months and it costs you a few bucks).

You also need to consider the seller's position, he/she doesn't want to ship an item before receiving payment--once an item is shipped the seller cannot put a "stop order" on it if the buyer's funds are pulled back.

The best advice is to only do business/send funds when you are confident the seller is legitimate.

And most importantly: MAKE DECISIONS WITH YOUR HEAD! DON'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS INTERFERE WITH YOUR BETTER JUDGEMENT!

The people who will try to con you, are relying on your "excitement" with your purchase to interfere with your good judgement.










Edited by - competentone on 06/10/2002 00:31:18

gundummy

The Dead Eye: Everyone here speaketh with alot of wisdom, so be very careful when dealing on ANY on-line auction. I've done many sales and purchases here and on ebay and have had a couple of bad experience myself. The chances of you getting the shaft is miminum if feedbacks show no negative, but it does not mean you won't get shafted if there are no negatives, because you might be the first to post a neg if you are not careful. As already stated, read the fine prints, ask alot of questions (and ask early and not last minute) and use common sense.

How old are you anyway? You sound very YOUNG, maybe too young. Listen to your mother. Mothers know best. GD

gskyhawk

competentone: I will not argue with you, all I will say is that is what I was told by the US Postal inspector that was working the case where I lost $1500 by a fake seller !! [they where is words not mine] He told me point blank never to use them for the reason that I gave,, I would love to talk more about what happen to me but I know if I do the powers that be here would delete the post and also give me the boot, so I will let it go ,, if you've been around for a little over a year then maybe you know what I'm talking about

e.tn.ret.cop

I sell on a bunch of sites and have NO negative feedback, why I have a 5 day return policy no questions asked just return as received for a refund less shipping. A person who has a no return policy and negative feedback should be a real RED flag. I have had very few returns and no matter how picky they are I respond positivly and have always got good feedback. Some of the best feedback can and will come from folks who were initally displeased and were astounded that you did business the way business should be done. Our society is in a sad state when you get commended for doing the right thing.