Calguns vs Armslist

[geoint]

I have had experience on both as a buyer. On Calguns I feel more comfortable sending payment because nobody can really hide by distance if they do wrong. But it has never come to that, everyone I have dealt with was really nice.
On Armslist, my brother bought a rifle and accessories valued at just over $1k. The seller in Denver sent the rifle, and my brother had an arrangement with him to pay half and inspect it at our gun shop before sending the other half of payment. It was as described and we sent the rest 2 days later. The man went out on a limb sending his rifle for half payment and hoping we kept our word. He didn't get all of the money until 5 days after he sent the rifle. We did keep an open line of communication with him so maybe that is why he trusted us. (I wouldn't do what he did, I'm not that trusting especially across state lines.)
I think its hit and miss on Armslist as some times the seller will flake out! I missed one handgun and one rifle like that. They get scared when you tell them shipment is to California.

One thing that bothers me about both sites is methods of payment, if you send money order or wire transfer you can get shafted. At least with PayPal you can dispute it, but they don't like firearm related transactions.

What payment options you guys like to use?

Cash only for convenience

[steel30]

I used Armslist quite a few times before joining Calguns, still check there frequently. Had to deal with a few flakes and a few firearms that were clearly NOT "as advertised"! There is no community, which is why I joined up here

[BlueKrush]

I've had 3 good transactions on CG net. Real sellers, local FFL (sometime split the drive) to do a face to face deal. The folks I dealt with were stand up guys that showed up on time. No drama. I've so far had 5 failures on armslist either because the buyer wanted an over the counter trade (without going through an FFL, a no no in CA!) , claimed to be an out of state dealer, wanted wester union up front, or just didn't feel quite right.
I don't doubt Armslist works in free states, on FTF trades, but I've just had no luck. YMMV, but seems to me CG is more of a community and there is a fair amount of self enforcement to weed out the flaky traders.


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[BEE]

I use both and kept transactions local; face to face. I've had positive experiences with both, but more so CG.