Gunbroker: seller failed to state no CA shipping

[dexter9659]

My friend recently was the high bidder on a CA list approved handgun on gunbroker. Upon contacting the seller, he was informed the seller would not ship to California, though the auction page failed to mention this. I know there have been many no-ca shipping issues however this seller said nothing about this prior to winning the auction. I was under the impression the buyer-seller agreement was a legal contract, which would require the seller legally to fill his end of the bargain. For all I know, someone else contacted the seller and offered a higher price after the fact and the seller is attempting to back out. Does anyone know if gunbroker will offer any assistance apart from voiding the entire transaction. No Money has been exchanged.

[wildhawker]

If GB has an ADR available, try that. Otherwise let it go - it's not worth the money or time.

[stix213]

Its a violation of gunbroker's user agreement to list an item for sale then back out of the sale in this manner. I'd complain to gunbroker about the seller backing out of the auction, but I don't see any further recourse beyond that available.

http://www.gunbroker.com/User/UserAgreement.aspx

Listing an item constitutes entering a binding legal agreement to sell the item to the highest bidder as determined by the rules of the auction. Items listed on this auction site may not be concurrently offered for sale on any other online auction site. Once an item is listed and has received a winning bid, the item may not be withdrawn from sale. Please consider carefully whether you want to place an item for auction.

[GUNNTZ]

Good luck, had the same thing happen to me. Seller just blew me off and I found a better deal somewhere else.

[Milsurp Collector]

If he just refuses to ship to California contact this Gunbroker seller. He will happily serve as the middleman for the transaction for $20 + shipping.

Help for California Buyers:

I am happy to ship to California. It is the buyer’s responsibility to make sure any item you buy is legal in your state. I am also happy to help with your purchase of a gun other than mine. If you see a gun you would like to buy but the seller can’t or won’t ship to California I’ll be happy help. You buy the gun and have it shipped to me. I’ll then ship to your California dealer. The cost for this service is $20 + shipping. Let me know if I can help!

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.aspx?User=158055

[kermit315]

GB dont care. They wont touch him.

[GOEX FFF]

If he just refuses to ship to California contact this Gunbroker seller. He will happily serve as the middleman for the transaction for $20 + shipping.

That's a smart dealer! I bet he's made some cash off of that.

Slowly, though maybe it's just me, I've seen a little less "NO CA SALES" on auction sites. Some sellers take on to say "If its CA legal go for it.. if not, don't bid" And of course some are just flat-out anti. There are even CA sellers now I've seen who state that they refuse to sell to bidders who list legal no CA sales in their auctions. Fighting fire with fire can work, but i still think refusing LEGAL sales between legal people just to make a stand just only impacts things for the bad.

I also ALWAYS try to make it a point even if I'm not bidding on something, that if a seller welcomes CA sales to send them a respectful "Thank you" message
for not abandoning fellow CA owners and residents on legal purchases. I've always received a friendly response back either having "some" symphony, or an intelligent understanding that contributing to the anti agenda is a slippery slope for everyone. I asked one gentleman a long while back why he doesn't sell to CA... and his response was "because I've read it on other auction listings"
I guess its all who you're buying from.

[QQQ]

I never, ever buy on gunbroker. Most of the users are anti-CA d-bags and the administration couldn't care less.

Maybe it's unfair to the .001% who do ship firearms to CA, but I don't like wading through a thousand perfectly CA-legal auctions just to find ONE that will ship here.

[mdouglas1980]

that's why if it doesn't state "no CA sales" if I'm interested that's my first question to the seller

[Quser.619]

Can relate & hate that I usually find a great deal on a seller who refuses CA

[Robidouxs]

Why don't we start something on Gun Broker saying no sales outside the state of CA?

[GM4spd]

GB dont care. They wont touch him.

This. Pete

[Milsurp Collector]

I asked one gentleman a long while back why he doesn't sell to CA... and his response was "because I've read it on other auction listings"

I think that is more common than we realize. It is monkey see, monkey do. It is the same thing with people who blank out digits of serial numbers when they post pictures of their guns. Some people who do that understand the reason, far-fetched as it is (someone falsely reporting the gun with that serial number is stolen, although making a false police report is a crime and the people who are afraid of their gun falsely being reported stolen after posting it on the Internet probably can't show even one documented case of it actually happening), but a lot of people blank out serial number digits only because they see other people doing it, without really knowing why. Paranoia is contagious.

Same thing goes for "no sales to California", even for C&R firearms that are perfectly legal in California. They see other sellers doing it, figure there must be a reason, so they do it too. Others see them doing it so they jump on the bandwagon too, and so on and so on. The fear and paranoia are contagious and a snowball effect develops.

One time when I went to my Oregon FFL dealer to pick up a rifle I bought from a Calgunner, he said "you didn't tell me you bought this from a guy in California. I heard that if everything isn't done right I could get in a lot of trouble". I explained that while California has extra laws regarding sales to California, there isn't any problem buying guns from California, because the California politicians don't want any barriers to shipping guns out of California, that makes them happy. So California has such a reputation in the rest of the country for complicated gun laws that my FFL dealer was nervous about receiving a gun from California, much less shipping to California.

[DisgruntledReaper]

about the easiest thing to get here is a CR pistol or Antique pistol since they are 'Roster Exempt'...only caveat is the Broomhandle Mauser model that uses a detachable Mag instead of std fixed 'load w/stripper(clip)' 10 rd cap.

CR rifle SHOULD be a cake walk...I have actually been asking sellers and offering up the CR code exemption to them...quite a few are cool...the *****es..I just let them know they are ignorant and should 'ed u macate' themselves so they get more sales....

Hard part is waiting for the stuff to come in......damn hunting seasons delaying shipping of my stuff.....argh.....

[Munk]

I like the idea of doing a counterprotest "No sales outside of CA".

Has the buyer contacted the seller and sent them the link to the CA approved handguns page? Trying diplomacy can work sometimes, and it's been effective for me.

However, I know that there are limits, and as Wildhawker said, you should find out if there's any kind of Alternative Dispute Resolution available to you, since the seller is in breech of contract.

Personally, I've been able to find sellers on GB who have the guns I want at prices I want, and had no issues shipping to CA.

I think that is more common than we realize. It is monkey see, monkey do. It is the same thing with people who blank out digits of serial numbers when they post pictures of their guns. Some people who do that understand the reason, far-fetched as it is (someone falsely reporting the gun with that serial number is stolen, although making a false police report is a crime and the people who are afraid of their gun falsely being reported stolen after posting it on the Internet probably can't show even one documented case of it actually happening), but a lot of people blank out serial number digits only because they see other people doing it, without really knowing why. Paranoia is contagious.

Same thing goes for "no sales to California", even for C&R firearms that are perfectly legal in California. They see other sellers doing it, figure there must be a reason, so they do it too. Others see them doing it so they jump on the bandwagon too, and so on and so on. The fear and paranoia are contagious and a snowball effect develops.

One time when I went to my Oregon FFL dealer to pick up a rifle I bought from a Calgunner, he said "you didn't tell me you bought this from a guy in California. I heard that if everything isn't done right I could get in a lot of trouble". I explained that while California has extra laws regarding sales to California, there isn't any problem buying guns from California, because the California politicians don't want any barriers to shipping guns out of California, that makes them happy. So California has such a reputation in the rest of the country for complicated gun laws that my FFL dealer was nervous about receiving a gun from California, much less shipping to California.

Wow, this kinda made me sad.