Consumer Tips to Avoid Internet Classified Scams

[LeftySixgun]

@Das375 is a SCAMMER!!

 

[Paul K]

Has anyone here used an escrow account on gun purchases here and how do they work and who do you recommend.

Paul

 

[rookhawk]

Has anyone here used an escrow account on gun purchases here and how do they work and who do you recommend.

Paul

I've only done this once and it was years ago where I had a funny feeling about the seller. (Texas/Oklahoma type that was bragging so much I feared all hat, no cattle) I asked who his tiny town's attorney was. He told me. I suggested he drop the gun off there, I follow attorney's directions for wire or cashiers check, attorney forwards the weapon on.

It did two things for me: 1.) A local "townie" attorney knows everybody. They are also super helpful humans. IF the small town attorney wants no part in the deal, the seller or buyer in that town is going to be trouble. 2.) I was able to give the seller confidence, because HE picked the agent rather than me.

Since that time, I've learned a better way. I don't buy firearms sight unseen from people with no preceding reputation. It's pretty easy to vet people on AH and I've had zero issues as a buyer or a seller because you can sniff out legitimacy pretty quickly. I also find that high dollar gun transactions involve a business phone call that then meanders into a social phone call. You get a good measure of the man in total when you speak of Africa, bird hunting, kids, and past hunts.

The thing I don't like about gun escrow services is they only guarantee you get a gun, not that the gun is any good. Vetting the seller and reference checking for integrity is going to give you great confidence the gun that arrives is worth the price you paid.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Has anyone here used an escrow account on gun purchases here and how do they work and who do you recommend.

Paul

I have used “Guntab” it’s an escrow service

 

[rookhawk]

I have used “Guntab” it’s an escrow service

I manage risk for a living and one thing that is absolutely true is people never correctly price in risk correctly in any transaction. People also easily succumb to the illusion of trust/security/warranty when the actual terms and conditions of the "safety nets" provide very little risk mitigation.

People focus on payment methods, escrow services, elaborate contracts, warranties, guarantees, insurance, and all sorts of means to transfer/mitigate/avoid risk.

Most of it is a big waste of time. Remedies are usually so expensive that they are impractical to pursue in the end.

So what's the solution? Keep your circle of trustworthy people close. Rely upon their confirmation that unknown others can be vouched for past performance.

I have far more trust in the referrals and reputations of members of this forum than I do in my credit card fraud protections, the services of a good attorney, or a manufacturer's warranty.

Checking seller references is the #1 best transaction protection you can possibly do. Picking up the phone to check in double-verifies everything including the potential that the seller's account hasn't been hijacked by a crook.

 

[Altitude sickness]

My personal GunTab experience


I was perusing GI one morning and saw a Dakota 76 in the elk caliber I had been looking for. .338wm.

The seller had very little history. Through emails and then phone calls I verified he seemed to be legit. He had received his late Father in Laws guns.

He posted his add with the Gun Tab service. Which he paid for.

I got a pretty nice Dakota 76 for just below $3200 shipped. (Scope wasn’t included) And piece of mind my money wasn’t sent to him until I was happy with the purchase.

None of my friends had this rifle at this deal.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

READ THIS >>>>>>>>

As close to a foolproof method as is likely to exist, which I've preached ad nauseam, is to insist on a video call with the seller holding the item he's trying to sell and take a screen shot of them for future use if necessary. Don't know why there seems to be resistance to doing this. As the saying goes, "a fool and his money are soon parted"!

<<<<<<<< READ THIS