Tweet
Howdy, I'm a very new member to CalGuns, but I'm not new to the world of internet buying and selling. Most of my experience is in watches however, and I had a weird interaction today from a seller. I'd rather learn from my mistakes than plow ahead with the wrong idea, so I wanted to break down what happened and ask for y'all's advice.
I posted a [WTB] thread looking for an AK in the LA area. I got a message from an individual that was looking to sell one, so I gave him my number and asked for pictures. He gave me the name/model number and texted me a starting price. The specific AK goes from $600 to $1200 depending on the condition and origins, and his price was on the upper end of that range.
He sent me two wide shots, both of the same side of the gun and nothing else. I asked a bunch of questions like "Is the barrel chrome lined?", "Is the truneon and receiver stamped or forged", "what year was it made", "what factory produced it". I've never owned an AK, so these questions are based on my google-research and seemed reasonable. He answered very few of them and just said he's the second owner and had no idea about the origin/year.
I figured, logically, that if he took a picture of serial numbers I could look it up myself (and also confirm that different parts matched up with each other). The seller said wasn't comfortable doing this and advised me to never ask that again in future interactions. I figured what I asked was pretty standard, aren't matching serial numbers a big deal with Soviet firearms? The seller seemed to think that one, wideshot picture should give me everything I need to know, is that really the standard? For watches I get 5 pictures minimum (front, back, both sides, and movement) and I'd expect to be even more thorough with firearms.
So to my point, did I make a mistake from ignorance, or am I dealing with a shady person? Are serial numbers personal information? Am I going about this incorrectly? Thanks for any and all thoughts.
Edit* I think I just weirded the seller out with my questions and inexperience on the site. I'm used to a much more robust transaction from my experiences. He's got a great reputation, and has been nothing but polite to me. I think I need to sit down and learn a bit lurking before I speak up.
I posted a [WTB] thread looking for an AK in the LA area. I got a message from an individual that was looking to sell one, so I gave him my number and asked for pictures. He gave me the name/model number and texted me a starting price. The specific AK goes from $600 to $1200 depending on the condition and origins, and his price was on the upper end of that range.
He sent me two wide shots, both of the same side of the gun and nothing else. I asked a bunch of questions like "Is the barrel chrome lined?", "Is the truneon and receiver stamped or forged", "what year was it made", "what factory produced it". I've never owned an AK, so these questions are based on my google-research and seemed reasonable. He answered very few of them and just said he's the second owner and had no idea about the origin/year.
I figured, logically, that if he took a picture of serial numbers I could look it up myself (and also confirm that different parts matched up with each other). The seller said wasn't comfortable doing this and advised me to never ask that again in future interactions. I figured what I asked was pretty standard, aren't matching serial numbers a big deal with Soviet firearms? The seller seemed to think that one, wideshot picture should give me everything I need to know, is that really the standard? For watches I get 5 pictures minimum (front, back, both sides, and movement) and I'd expect to be even more thorough with firearms.
So to my point, did I make a mistake from ignorance, or am I dealing with a shady person? Are serial numbers personal information? Am I going about this incorrectly? Thanks for any and all thoughts.
Edit* I think I just weirded the seller out with my questions and inexperience on the site. I'm used to a much more robust transaction from my experiences. He's got a great reputation, and has been nothing but polite to me. I think I need to sit down and learn a bit lurking before I speak up.
Comment