Gunbroker.com Safe/Secure?

[Gnome]

So, I've been eyeballing a C&R rifle on Gunbroker.com. I started to set up an account, but I stopped when it asked for my CC number. It said it needed it because it couldn't verify my IP address. Or something to that affect.

Is this on the up and up? Is my CC number safe/secure? Why do they need my CC number?

[Josh3239]

I have used it several times and been very happy with it. They ask for your credit card number as insurance to them that if you have a balance on your GunBroker account that you will pay. I believe the only fees they will charge you is a small percentage of the final sale.

[5150Marcelo]

I have used it several times and been very happy with it. They ask for your credit card number as insurance to them that if you have a balance on your GunBroker account that you will pay. I believe the only fees they will charge you is a small percentage of the final sale.

fees charged for buying, or selling?

[69Mach1]

I thought they only wanted a CC when you register as a seller. Don't think you need to give them that if you're just buying.

[69Mach1]

fees charged for buying, or selling?

Selling only. There are no fees to the buyer.

[5150Marcelo]

I think they want a CC to buy/register too, that way winning bidder cant back out.

[Gnome]

I thought they only wanted a CC when you register as a seller. Don't think you need to give them that if you're just buying.

I only saw one way to register. It didn't see anything for seller or buyer. I could be wrong though.

[69Mach1]

I was able to find this.

Bidding / Buying: We charge no fees to bidders or buyers who register with a corporate, government or ISP email address. We charge no fees to register and no membership fee of any kind. Users of free email services like Hotmail or Yahoo or persons whose registration information is flagged as suspicious by our fraud prevention systems may be required to place a credit card on file to pay for identity verification.

https://www.gunbroker.com/User/Fees.asp

[586L-Frame]

I recently registered on GB and checked the box/circle for buy only
so I did not have to enter a CC. No problems for me to register.
Since as a buyer there are no fees to GunBroker.
Your transaction is just one on one with the Seller via email.

586L-Frame

[Gnome]

I was able to find this.


https://www.gunbroker.com/User/Fees.asp

Mach, what you highlighted in red is exactly what I'm talking about. See, I'm confused. Are they saying my info is suspicious or fraudulent?

[69Mach1]

Did you use a hotmail or yahoo email address when you registered? That's probably it.

[Gnome]

Did you use a hotmail or yahoo email address when you registered? That's probably it.

I used my aol account.

[NeoWeird]

AOL is too easy to make multiple addresses under one account. The idea is to prevent someone from ripping off a number of people. So let's say you decide to rip off several people and they ban you. Now that CC is banned as well. So now the person has to acquire a new credit card number (or commit credit card fraud) to get a new account. It just makes it that much harder for carrer criminals from exploiting it. It might also be used to prevent ghost bidding, and would make ghost bidding more difficult to achieve.

It's my understanding they do NOTHING with it outside of records. You could always just use a "legitimate" email address to sign up with.

[Spyder]

They charge you a buck to set it up as a way of verifying that you're real. Then, when you have your first fees, they subtract a dollar from it. If you never sell anything, ever, you could conceivably lose a dollar. Well worth it though, because I've got some hella good deals on gb.com.

[hawk1]

I also found that when I wanted to use the "buy it now" option on a handgun I didn't have the required number of feedback left for me from previous purchases. They allowed me to enter a CC and they charged a buck to it to verify I was who I said. Then I was able to use the buy it now and close the auction.