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Get Protection from fraud in my gun sales

Old-School
I am a newbie to selling my guns online. I am most concerned as how to protect myself from fraud from any potential gun buyer. I was victim of this on ebay years ago.

I have been getting Gunbroker emails asking me to call different people with questions about my Colt Sauer and BAR Grade III. I would like to look at their buying history to see how they perform but do not know how to look them up? Any tips on insuring success in my sale would be appreciated.

I have been advised that I should get a money order but have been recently told these can be counterfeit/fake as well.

I know that I have to send my sold guns to licensed FFL dealer.

My question is can any of you good folks give me tips on how to protect my sale?

As a private owner am I able to send the rifles directly to the buyers FFL dealer or do i have to also go to a FFL dealer and have him do it adding to the costs?
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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • He Dog
    There is no reason for you to ever call anyone to give them information on what you are selling. That can be handled by e-mail, or they can call you. That part might even be a scam for major long distance charges, like to the Ukraine.

    Some FFL dealers will accept firearms from private owners, some will not. That is not BATF regulation, it is their policy, which they can, of course, make. You should make it clear in future auctions that you are a private seller and that you will only ship to an FFL who will accept from a private seller, or else eat the cost of a FFL shipper on your end or build the cost into your minimim bid.

    Money Orders (and accept only USPS) can indeed be counterfeit, but they are still probably the best bet. You can state in your auctions that you will not accept bids from new bidders, but everyone starts with a first bid in a first auction, and even a first post here. You will have to sort out what you are comfortable with. There are a number of private and FFL sellers here that can tell you much more.
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    "Money Orders (and accept only USPS)"........WITH A USPS M/O YOU CAN 'CASH' THE M/O FIRST (HAVE 'CASH-IN-HAND') BEFORE YOU SHIP. YOU CAN ALSO CHECK THE RECEIVERS FFL BY GOING TO THE ATF WEBS SITE AND USEING THE 'E-Z CHECK' FUNCTION. THAT'S JUST ABOUT AS SAFE AS IT CAN GET.
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  • Old-School
    quote:Originally posted by MIKE WISKEY
    "Money Orders (and accept only USPS)"........WITH A USPS M/O YOU CAN 'CASH' THE M/O FIRST (HAVE 'CASH-IN-HAND') BEFORE YOU SHIP. YOU CAN ALSO CHECK THE RECEIVERS FFL BY GOING TO THE ATF WEBS SITE AND USEING THE 'E-Z CHECK' FUNCTION. THAT'S JUST ABOUT AS SAFE AS IT CAN GET.
    '

    Mike the picture looks like a cannon my father helped capture in Anzio in WWII. Thank all of you for your help. My son landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan this Monday as a Corpsman assigned to US Marines. Please keep him and his comrades in all your prayers.
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  • Old-School
    Thanks all for your knowledge. I have another question [:D]

    3 different potential bidders have asked me if I was interested in ending the auction and sell to them offline. They all claim that is okay to do.

    It seems on the face of it to be unethical if I am at auction to do that but again I am new to this and maybe that is considered normal.

    Any advice on this question would be welcomed.
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    quote:Originally posted by Old-School
    Thanks all for your knowledge. I have another question [:D]

    3 different potential bidders have asked me if I was interested in ending the auction and sell to them offline. They all claim that is okay to do.

    It seems on the face of it to be unethical if I am at auction to do that but again I am new to this and maybe that is considered normal.

    Any advice on this question would be welcomed.


    Yes, ending the auction early and selling it on the side is unethical.
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  • moonshine
    quote:3 different potential bidders have asked me if I was interested in ending the auction and sell to them offline. They all claim that is okay to do.

    that is where the scams start. Read the rules and post about selling on gun broker.
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  • garanch
    Ending an auction to sell it offline is a NO-NO. If Gunbroker finds out that you do this then you will no longer be allowed on their auction site.
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  • Old-School
    Well then my moral compass was right. Thanks guys and I will see where it all ends. At least but I am getting lots of interest.

    I wish to be clear however I did not vote for Pelosi or Reed, nor did I forget that I did not, nor did the CIA lie to me, nor by selling my guns am I giving up my second amendment rights.

    I just feel better being on the record. [:D]
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  • givette
    Hi! Advice above is solid. Let the auction run its course. Now, an E-mail heads-up: don't make your auction username and the E-mail address the same. Scammers look for that, and will respond in kind. My username is givette. My E-mail address is not givette.

    When you get the check cashed, send the item to the address that appears on the ATF E-Z check website and no other. I sent to an address that was on the FFL, and the FFL was counterfeit. The E-Z check would have prevented this, had I known at the time.

    Now, the big gun: My dad was at Anzio, also. (488th Port Battalion-Presidential Unit Citation awarded the 488th after Anzio). He inspected the gun after the Germans abandoned it during their withdrawal to the North. Pic above is of Anzio Annie. My dad was unloading ships, so he was on the receiving end of ol' Annie! (Shipping was the primary German target in Anzio). Best, Joe
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    "Mike the picture looks like a cannon my father helped capture in Anzio in WWII. Thank all of you for your help. My son landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan this Monday as a Corpsman assigned to US Marines. Please keep him and his comrades in all your prayers.".........givett is correct the gun is 'Anzio Annie' and is (or at least was) at Aberdeen proving ground, Md. the picture was taken while I was stationed there in 1969. Thank your son for me (for his service).
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  • Old-School
    quote:Originally posted by givette

    Now, the big gun: My dad was at Anzio, also. (488th Port Battalion-Presidential Unit Citation awarded the 488th after Anzio). He inspected the gun after the Germans abandoned it during their withdrawal to the North. Pic above is of Anzio Annie. My dad was unloading ships, so he was on the receiving end of ol' Annie! (Shipping was the primary German target in Anzio). Best, Joe


    Joe if your father is still around, sadly mine is now gone, please give my respect and regards for his service. This is link to my father memorial page.
    http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/36division/archives/memorial/cahoon.htm

    He was in FIRST wave at Salerno/Pastuem landings with 141st Alamo regiment of famous Texas 36th Division. As you probably already know they were the very first American Division on mainland Europe in WWII. He was also at Southern France Invasion and with Lost Battalion in France. Fought in Italy, France, Austria and Germany. They captured Herman Goring and other Nazi big shots.

    Thanks again for all your help everyone.
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  • nmyers
    The fact that a check or money order clears is not a certain indicator that it is "good". Often these will clear your bank, but several weeks later they will come back to your bank & YOU will be on the hook for the full amount.

    Many retailers (& some banks) use MoneyGram MO's, but I have heard stories of problems with this company. I can't verify them, but now accept only POSTAL MO's or bank checks from major banks.

    I have found that some wary buyers like to phone me, just to make them feel more secure; certainly, if every call to a phone number just gets you a generic answering machine message, I can see where that could set off alarms. Some folks always ask for additional photos, as that makes it less likely that you have posted someone else's photos of a gun you don't really have.

    Neal
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  • rhmc24
    nmyers is right. Further to the cashier check, I get my bank to phone the issuing bank to verify they issued it, etc. Friend of mine sold a motorcycle for $9k and got a phony cashiers check. He had to employ heroic measures to get his bike back. Him being a retired LEO helped.
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