Buying guns online

[Keelebilly]

I’ve found a rifle on guns international that I’d like to buy. I’ve never bought a gun that way before. Any advice? Any red flags to watch out for?

 

[jruby]

I buy quite a few firearms on gun broker. My recomendation is to talk to the individual selling the firearm over the phone. You can tell a lot by talking to someone. I also pay with a USPS money order. No guarantees when dealing remotely. I have been lucky so far.

 

[BJH65]

I’ve purchased 4 rifles from them over past several years, two from Cabelas stores and the rest from verified sellers. All sellers were businesses and took credit card payment. I think if it’s a private seller, make sure they are verified, talk to them and do your due diligence

Avoid unusual payment like Zelle, Venmo, Bitcoin or wire transfers.

Use protected payments like cc if able.

Request photos of the gun with a handwritten note with current date.

Check for duplicate adds, do a reverse image search on the listing photos to see if they appear elsewhere which may indicate a stolen image. I know many legitimately list on GB too as well as guns international.

Check guns international frequently asked questions, they have a list of things to check to help protect you from scammers.

If it feels wrong, walk away.

 

[thriller]

Talk to the guy on the phone it will be very clear if it’s bs real quick

 

[BJH65]

Guns international does not have any form of automatic checkout. You have to talk to the seller by telephone in order to buy. Of course that would be the time to vet the seller.

 

[Andrew62]

Earlier this week I saw a gun online that I was interested in. I messaged the seller, asked for a picture with my name and date, I also put pictures in ChatGPT to verify the gun store, and I reached out to another member on this site for his opinion. I purchased the gun Monday, it arrived to my FFL on Wednesday. As others have said, due diligence is critical.

 

[mdwest]

I buy online pretty regularly… I purchased a “varmint” AR from Buds Gunshop online today actually, and bought a Kimber Pro Varmint 22-250 bolt action on Gunbroker about 2 weeks ago. Prior to that I bought another 22-250 (interarms mark X) from Cabelas online back in December…

For me, I stick to known, vetted entities like Buds or Cabelas.. or if buying off of somewhere like gunbroker or guns international I pay close attention to seller reviews, and do my homework to make sure the seller is a legitimate entity.. for example, the 22-250 I bought on gunbroker was from a pawn shop in Virginia that I was able to verify was real, held an FFL, etc.. and they had a couple of hundred positive reviews on gunbroker…

If it’s a new or un vetted or un reviewed seller, I don’t buy, no matter how good of a deal I think it might be… there will always be another deal…

 

[Wildwillalaska]

Be smart, look for clear red flags, like no history or canned description. Feel free to ask basic questions and talk with the seller if not a dealer with brick and mortar store and long verified history.

And if it looks like too good of a deal, send it to me. I’m not bashful, I’ll check it out. That is mostly for @BJH65, if too good to be true, send it to Will. Lol.

Sometimes even the ads that look like a scam, might not be. There was a Heym 89b that had all the telltale signs. Description cut and paste from Heym, lower quality photos, no additional specific information, brand new seller with zero history. Everyone thought the same thing, one member talked to him briefly about bringing to another town not so close by where a forum member lived. But it sat for a bit because it just screamed trouble. I couldn’t resist and had to call. Chatted with the gentleman for a while, he shared information I was able to verify, came down on price and learned he had a ton of accessories from a bunch of new brass, 6-boxes of ammo, custom leather case serialized to the gun from Heym, and even a brand new culling belt and optic. Ended up a stellar deal but one that required caution. Most those I sway from.

 

[RedTag]

I try to buy in person wherever possible, but sometimes a deal online is too good or too rare to pass up. As others noted, trust your instincts, if it seems off it probably is. I got scammed trying to buy a Leupold scope online 21 years ago. I paid with debit which was a huge mistake. Other than that the seller had a price that was much lower than any other seller; that should’ve been a big red flag. I swore off buying online for a long time after that. If the seller is a brick and mortar business then I’d recommend you pay with a credit card (never debit) so you’d have some protection as a buyer. If the seller is a private party then I’d recommend you pay with a USPS money order. If the seller takes the USPS money order as payment and doesn’t follow through then he has committed mail fraud and the postal inspectors will go after him without any sense of humor. Above all else, as others have said, trust your instincts, use common sense, verify the business or individual, and make a real time phone call. Scammers will communicate with emails and text messages. Legit people will speak on the phone.

 

[dchum]

I only buy guns online, as my local gun stores are way of the mark usually.

Its easy! Don’t stress

 

[Keelebilly]

I appreciate all the great advice

 

[coreydb]

I've bought off Guns International and Gunbroker with no problem. I have talked to the sellers in every case though.

 

[FrogFan]

Talk to the guy on the phone it will be very clear if it’s bs real quick

This is my standard procedure, and has worked out well for me so far.