Buying guns, optics, equipment, etc from sellers on this site

[HoundTracker]

Hello to all members of this site!
I'm new to this site and I hope to learn from others experiences and knowledge that will share it with us newbies. I'm not new to guns but surely don't have the sweat and work others have put into the knowledge and experience that many others have. I'm here to learn and hopefully be able to share information with you all maybe in other ways. I come to this site to try and learn as much as I can about scopes before I decide to make a purchase, and found that they are sold on this site as well. So the question that I need help with is,
"Has anyone ever made a purchase from someone that can post to sell anything, that did NOT get the merchandise they paid a for"? SCAMMED in other words!!!! If you pay someone with a money order, pay pal, wire transfer, etc. I am looking to buy a used scope, but I want to be sure I get it..... Thank you all for your help in advance for your input and I look forward to enjoying this site and the people on it....

 

[pmclaine]

Ive bought plenty of stuff from the PX here and all transactions have been legit.

Hang out for awhile and get to know the personalities.

Check out the sellers rating.

Do your own google searching to vet any seller.

Do your homework, same as anywhere else.

Scammers dont get the opportunity to scam a second member if they choose to be dildos

 

[cattleman99]

I have yet to get burned here, but always be careful and do your due diligence

 

[canezach]

If you're asking if someone has been scammed or ripped off on here, the answer is unfortunately yes. It happens. But, as Pmclaine said, scammers don't get a second chance around here. Tucker does a good job of taking out the trash, so to speak.

If you're looking to buy something, I'd recommend buying from a long time board member. You can see someone's join date and post count, which should give you an idea of how long they've been around, how active they are, etc. You can also check feedback, but since the feedback system is fairly new, I'd recommend you check the Good Guys list. As with everything, you can never fully guarantee integrity, but you'll find more often than not, the guys on here value their word and name more than money.

 

[Blutroop]

I’ve bought on here. I only use usps money orders. I haven’t been screwed yet. If it’s too good to be true though..

 

[Stooxie]

Sometimes the best indicator is if a seller can put together a decent English sentence with a modicum of punctuation. That is my first test and has honestly served me well, along with lots of other commonly understood red flags to watch out for.

-Stooxie

 

[19Scout77]

If you need verification, get a phone number and have a chat. Hell I did a $4000 deal with some in rural CA, who had little history. I asked for a reference, then had a nice chat with the local police chief who vouched for him. It’s easy enough to do, just don’t be lazy.

 

[Lowlight]

We have 1000s of transactions on this site,

HOWEVER

This is not a for sale site, our PX is a value-added part of the forum designed for CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS

Because of the quality and popularity of our forum and it's PX we have allowed new members to Purchase 101 posts which give them access to the PX. That does not mean we are endorsing its use or validity of any ad placed on SH.

Buyer Be WARY is the first and most important caveat to doing business on the internet.

Heed the words spoken before every Prize Fight, Protect yourself at ALL times

 

[Amac305]

@HoundTracker,

I second what @pmclaine said, especially the part about the waiting around to get to know the personalities on this site. You’ll find that there are some incredibly knowledgeable folks on here have a wealth of experience. Do your research. Talk to people.

I came here a few years back trying to do some research on a scope I was going thinking about buying, found some reviews and ended up reading just about everything wigwamitus has ever posted. As long as you do your diligence and keep in mind that it’s not worth losing a few grand to save a couple hundred bucks on a “screaming deal”, you’ll be fine.

 

[pmclaine]

Just made a deal to buy a receiver here last night with @Barretn

Sent lots of pictures of the receiver when questions were asked and has been great to deal with.

Lots of good gear here.

 

[JB.IC]

Had a member sell me a “excellent” condition scope and the objective lens had scrapes hidden under a dusty lens. They blame shipping yet the lenses were covered with scope caps in a padded box. Luckily I used paypal goods and services and returned the scope and got a full refund minus shipping.

Out of 5 or 6 PX purchases that’s the only issue I’ve ever had in the past two years.

 

[Btrain]

I have had the good fortune of more than a dozen transaction on the Hide - Both buy and sell. Due your dilegence - My experience has been great people to learn from and deal with.

 

[deersniper]

A photo of the item with those drivers license and their username is good to get also.

 

[deersniper]

Asking for a money order with tracking is a giant red flag to me. They do that so they can see when the money order is going to come to the address they gave you so they can sit there and get it. Obviously not their real address.

 

[Quest1000]

I built my first custom rifle from used equipment in the PX section. This one reason I hope frank keeps it open.

 

[Waco Kid]

Sorry if this is a hijack, not trying to derail but wasn't sure where to ask this. Can members with less than 100 posts buy from the PX? I have nothing of value to sell nor do I really enjoy selling stuff online (too many Craigslist experiences haha). But, being on a budget, if I were allowed to buy from the PX, I would likely use it here and there. The sticky only mentions the post count for sellers tho.

 

[Lowlight]

Sorry if this is a hijack, not trying to derail but wasn't sure where to ask this. Can members with less than 100 posts buy from the PX? I have nothing of value to sell nor do I really enjoy selling stuff online (too many Craigslist experiences haha). But, being on a budget, if I were allowed to buy from the PX, I would likely use it here and there. The sticky only mentions the post count for sellers tho.

This is beyond a stupid question and you are not the only one asking it ...

I get this question every single day and delete it every single day

We don't say anything about buying, whether nor not someone wants to sell to you is a different question

but since we are pretty straight forward, pull very few punches on here and not a single post is dedicated to BUYING ON THE SITE, would it be safe to assume that we don't put limits on BUYING

I mean we say a lot, we have dozens of PX posts and warnings about scammers, etc, but do we say anything about BUYING on the site?

Why in a market place type- setting would we limit buying? I mean is there such a thing as limiting buying, because if I can charge you to buy something I would definitely consider it. I hate the PX enough to charge you both ways

So tell me about BUYING limits and how I can institute them because if I am gonna field this stupid question I may as well get paid

 

[Waco Kid]

Whoa, just trying to do everything by the book man! Didn't realize it was a touchy subject! Maybe we need a Stupid Website Questions section to go along with the Stupid Marksmen Questions
Edit to add: previous websites I've used (mostly car forums) had a post limit to buy & sell, that's why I asked

 

[Lowlight]

I have that section, it's hidden but I can show it to you

 

[Lowlight]

I also supply a welcome private message that specifically says, dont respond unless you have a question and every day I get responses that say, Thanks ...

But for sure, we have a stupid PX question area, let me know I will grant you access to it

 

[Waco Kid]

I totally get it, I can't imagine the amount/type of shit you probably sort thru on a daily basis! I tend to avoid asking less than intelligent questions if possible, just stumped my toe a bit this time I guess. ?

 

[Lowlight]

If there was an issue buying for new or unregistered members I can just make the PX disappear

I can make any section visible or invisible based on post count, I can easily make the PX disappear for unregistered or new members but we don't do that.

If we didn't want you to use it, I would just pretend it doesn't exist for you

 

[Waco Kid]

Makes sense. Guess I successfully derailed the OPs topic, apologies!

 

[Baron23]

Not here, but on other unrelated forum sites I have done some buying and selling and have found the following to be extremely important:

1. Exchange FULL contact information and if there is any hesitation, stop immediately
2. If still concerned, do a reverse look up of the phone number for the address and see if it matches.
3. Contact the person directly...that is, via telephone. Talk to them. If they are not willing to give you a phone number or talk, stop immediately
4. Ask for a picture of the item (in a buying situation) that includes the members handle and today's date in the picture to ensure that they actually have the product. I see someone above suggested requiring that they put their drivers license in the photo....I don't think I would do that as the buyer could be an identify thief and I kind of think that the driver's license would be a step too far.
5. If you use money order, then any theft is fraud and you can engage the USPS and Fed law enforcement....though I don't know how much of a reaction you will get.
6. Paypal can offer some level of protection but I'm not expert with Paypal and hesitate to say anything too firmly. They seem to have changed some features a bit in the last year. Used to be you could "gift" money, that is, just send it to a friend and I believe in those cases you are not covered by them. But, you can ask the seller to send you and Paypal invoice and then I believe you are covered. Be sure to have a clear understanding of who is going to absorb Paypal fees.
7. Require a three day, no firing if its a gun, inspection period. Now, if you are really being scammed, this will not help very much, but it will perhaps be helpful if the transaction is between two decent people who just have very different ideas on product condition (such as "like new").

I hope this was helpful and not just an iteration of the obvious.

Cheers