Gunbroker and money orders

[smith and wesson]

I always wondered why do some sellers on gunbroker only take checks or money orders. Just curious.


I have had one time where the guy only wanted check or money order and I convinced him to take a credit card via paypal (before I found out paypal was anti).

[Exile Machine]

https://www.gunpal.com

-Mark

[09rubicon]

Check or money order so they dont get scammed, its harder to charge back. Lot of guys are worried about selling/shipping a firearms then the buyer refuting the charges for some BS reason and burning the seller.

[smith and wesson]

Check or money order so they dont get scammed, its harder to charge back. Lot of guys are worried about selling/shipping a firearms then the buyer refuting the charges for some BS reason and burning the seller.

Ah ok so it's kind of like paying cash.

To me I'd be a bit skeptical since that buyer protection ISNT there. Also sending anything snail mail is so slow.

[smith and wesson]

www.gunpal.com

-Mark

Hah I'm aware.

[71MUSTY]

Less paper trail. Paypal and CC processing co's reports gross transactions to the IRS. Some don't want IRS to think they are in a business or to know their gross sales.

[BigPimping]

It is all about the paper trail and security of being paid. Like others said, very hard to charge back and is same as cash essentially.

[ke6guj]

Ah ok so it's kind of like paying cash.

To me I'd be a bit skeptical since that buyer protection ISNT there. Also sending anything snail mail is so slow.

you want buyer protection, buy from your LGS. all you can really rely on is their feedback. buy from a A+ seller and you'll probably be OK. And taking CC's cost 2-3% so many dealers don't want to take that extra hit on the sale, or else will state that auction price reflects 3% cash discount and you have to pay extra for that service. many times, I'll just pay the fee since by the time I go to the PO to get a MO and mail it to him, plus the 3-5 days of waiting for the PO to arrive, it "easier" to me to just spend the $20 in CC fees.

[smith and wesson]

you want buyer protection, buy from your LGS. all you can really rely on is their feedback. buy from a A+ seller and you'll probably be OK. And taking CC's cost 2-3% so many dealers don't want to take that extra hit on the sale, or else will state that auction price reflects 3% cash discount and you have to pay extra for that service. many times, I'll just pay the fee since by the time I go to the PO to get a MO and mail it to him, plus the 3-5 days of waiting for the PO to arrive, it "easier" to me to just spend the $20 in CC fees.

Yeah I'd rather just pay cc. I don't mind the 3% especially if it's something I can't find locally.

[shakyshoot]

There are costs involved in taking credit cards over and above the 3% processing fee. A typical merchant account is $50/mo or so, even if no payments come in. Makes it prohibitively expensive for someone who might a gun now and then. Paypal specifically does not allow payments for guns and ammo, despite the many Gunbroker sellers who take it. That "gunpal" site doesn't inspire confidence when I see this message when clicking the link:
www.gpal.net uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate expired on 5/14/2011 6:59 PM. The current time is 9/23/2014 10:05 PM. (Error code: sec_error_expired_certificate)
I'm sure there are other fly-by-night outfits who will happily process your gun and ammo payments, but not many options beat the security of a USPS money order.

[smith and wesson]

There are costs involved in taking credit cards over and above the 3% processing fee. A typical merchant account is $50/mo or so, even if no payments come in. Makes it prohibitively expensive for someone who might a gun now and then. Paypal specifically does not allow payments for guns and ammo, despite the many Gunbroker sellers who take it. That "gunpal" site doesn't inspire confidence when I see this message when clicking the link:
www.gpal.net uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate expired on 5/14/2011 6:59 PM. The current time is 9/23/2014 10:05 PM. (Error code: sec_error_expired_certificate)
I'm sure there are other fly-by-night outfits who will happily process your gun and ammo payments, but not many options beat the security of a USPS money order.

There was an incident that happened here on calguns with gunpal, you should lurk a bit more.

And there is a way to send money to gun dealers via paypal, again you just have to use your noggin.

[shakyshoot]

There was an incident that happened here on calguns with gunpal, you should lurk a bit more.

And there is a way to send money to gun dealers via paypal, again you just have to use your noggin.

Sure, you can send money to anyone with Paypal without referencing any sale. If I were selling on Gunbroker I wouldn't take it, because I sell on ebay and another antiques site. Can't afford to get banned by Paypal.

[Sabot]

They do it for seller's protection. That way they are in control.

[shakyshoot]

They do it for seller's protection. That way they are in control.

Well there is that factor. Paypal just announced a site-wide 180 day return policy. Would you want to take back a gun sold new in the box back after 180 days? Better require money orders then. (of course it would be pretty hard to make a claim through Paypal on a payment that doesn't mention any specific transaction, which I believe is how most of them do it.)

[Ronin2]

Best way to transfer funds for both buyer and seller is a federal funds wire transfer;

The federal funds wire is better for the seller in that it is guaranteed funds as soon as it is confirmed deposited into your account. Immediately good funds. No bounced /fake cashiers checks/money orders.

It is better for the buyer in so much as if the seller is fraudulent there is a verified and easily traceable path that your money took and a bank account with a verified identity that received it. Crooks don't like having to use their real names and expose themselves.

With a federal funds wire, the seller can still keep your money and not send the gun, but you know who he really is and so will the authorities should you get ripped off. A crook will never accept a fed funds wire. They will insist on a cashiers check or a USPS postal money order to a fake name.