Buying from gunbroker.com?

[user01394]

Can someone give me their feedback on buying handguns off gunbroker.com? In terms of "good deals" does it ever make sense to buy something off there and have it shipped in either from CA or outside?

If it gets shipped from outside CA do you pay more for DROS?

If the person you are buying it from is a FFL (rather than a store) can they waive the DROS fee or do they still have to charge you because CA charges them?

[i1800collect]

Can someone give me their feedback on buying handguns off gunbroker.com? In terms of "good deals" does it ever make sense to buy something off there and have it shipped in either from CA or outside?

If it gets shipped from outside CA do you pay more for DROS?

If the person you are buying it from is a FFL (rather than a store) can they waive the DROS fee or do they still have to charge you because CA charges them?

it's the transfer fees you will have to look into. you will still get charged DROS, but each FFL charges their own rate for out of state transfers. so look up their transfer fee, see if they charge tax on the gun, and add that to the price of the gun to get an estimate on how much it'll cost for you to purchase that gun from out of state.

here is a link that will help you find transfer fees for a few local FFLs:

http://gunbroker.com/User/DealerNetwork.asp

[$P-Ritch$]

I have bought two handguns and am about to get a rifle from gunbroker. Both of my transactions so far have been extremely smooth. Here are the only tips that I could come up with from my experience.

1) No matter what it says on the auction page I would contact the auction holder and confirm via email or phone that they will in fact ship to a CA FFL. Also to make sure that they are aware there is some more paperwork involved.

2) Before you bid at all check with your local FFL to make sure they are willing to do the transfer and get a DROS fee quote from them, because they will be the ones doing the actual transfer.

That's seems to be the two biggest issues for us here in the ROK. Also, as far as sales tax goes you shouldn't have to pay any. It seems that they only have to charge it for residents of the the state in which their business is located.

I've found some, not many, but some really good shops that will even do bullet button mods and such so they can ship you off list rifles here.

[leelaw]

Whether you buy from an in-state dealer, or out of state dealer, if it then gets shipped to your FFL for the transfer, then you will pay DROS plus whatever their transfer fee is.

Expect the fee to be about $50-$100, then add $25 for DROS on top.

If you buy from an out of state dealer, then the in-state FFL should collect the tax for it if the sale amount is known, otherwise you are responsible for it on your tax return (use tax).

[run8]

And I understand sales tax if the person your buying from is a dealer who's shipping it from out of state to your FFL. I didn't know this, but talking with another FFL I want to try out, he asked about the dealer issue, then that's when the deal about tax came into play.

[wildog8812]

Try this http://www.gunbroker.com/User/DealerNetwork.asp

It is a search that tells you places that do the transfer and some of their costs. But beware before you buy because some of the local gun shops will not do a transfer of a gun that they have in stock. Also if you are only gonna save $100 on the gun it is probably not worth buying on gunbroker because you will spend that on shipping and the transfer fee. Another thing to consider is if you are not gonna save that much on your gun why not support you local gun shops.

Not to get off topic but my new favorite way to look for a new gun is here.http://www.galleryofguns.com/Genie/Default.aspx

You search for your gun straight form the distributor and have the same buying power as the gun shops with their real time stock. You will pay a little extra over the gun shop like 6-8% but that is the name of the game. You can get an instant online quote from many gun shops in your area and compare prices.

[rivviepop]

Do the math as others have said -- I've had 2 gunbroker deals from out of state dealers and they went smooth, and I got deals that couldn't be beat (both were "like new" revolvers) and I am happy with the guns I received. City Arms up here in the SF Bay will charge you $70 total for the transfer and don't give you grief - you call, ask them to fax the FFL info to the seller and you're done.

[Stormfeather]

Ive got about 85 gun deals from out of state dealers, and have 100% feedback, Never had an issue, or problem, unlike EBay.

[Quiet]

I bought one handgun off of gunbroker, got lucky because the seller was also in CA. So, after I won the handgun, we met at a FFL dealer and PPT'd it.

[damndave]

bought a handgun off GB and was a fine transaction.

[GlennG31]

Try this http://www.gunbroker.com/User/DealerNetwork.asp

It is a search that tells you places that do the transfer and some of their costs. But beware before you buy because some of the local gun shops will not do a transfer of a gun that they have in stock. Also if you are only gonna save $100 on the gun it is probably not worth buying on gunbroker because you will spend that on shipping and the transfer fee. Another thing to consider is if you are not gonna save that much on your gun why not support you local gun shops.

Not to get off topic but my new favorite way to look for a new gun is here.http://www.galleryofguns.com/Genie/Default.aspx

You search for your gun straight form the distributor and have the same buying power as the gun shops with their real time stock. You will pay a little extra over the gun shop like 6-8% but that is the name of the game. You can get an instant online quote from many gun shops in your area and compare prices.

Gallery of Guns is an interesting website. I've never seen it before. Can you explain more of how the process works of ordering a gun from this site? It looks to me like you can get quotes from various gun shops for a particular gun that you're interested in. But does this mean that these gun shops have these guns in stock at these prices, and you're just placing an online order? Or are you actually ordering the gun from the website, and then it gets shipped to the gun shop that you choose with that shop's quoted price?

[user01394]

Ya, I'm thinking the way to go is finding auctions locally or really good out of state deals or if I was looking for something rare.

[coq]

I've done a few GB deals and met some good people, never a problem. I look at CalGuns first, but GB has really good variety on guns as well as parts.

[Gryff]

I've bought about five guns off of GB, but that was before dealers started raping on DROS fees. Now, it's not such a good deal unless it is a gun you just can't get anywhere else.

[pTa]

If your buying a pistiol make sure it is on the dreaded CA Roster...