Anyone used Armslist?

[kkborre]

I have a funny story!  I contacted someone that had a listing out of state from me for a handgun I was interested in.  Price was reasonable, but not too-good-to-be-true.  I asked if they would ship to my FFL.  He gave me a price for basic postage; I thought that was odd.  Postage with insurance and tracking seemed more reasonable.  We went back and forth with emails about payment.  I obviously wasn't about to just send a check or money order and hope they mailed what I was expecting!  I suggested an escrow service; they declined.  I was still wondering if it was a scam.  I asked if they would mail directly to me.  Deep breaths here people!  I know, it's illegal.  I wanted to know if he knew it was illegal.  I figured a scammer would agree to anything to get me to send a payment.  The seller declined to do that (good sign!).  We still couldn't agree on a way to transfer payment, so I suggested we let it go.  Then I received a long email about how it's illegal to ship a firearm directly, he's going to report me (to whom, exactly??), I'll go to jail (for what, exactly??), blah, blah, blah.  What a hoot.  Threatening me isn't going to motivate me to send them a payment on faith.  Definitely not moving forward with that transaction! 

[indenial]

I know you're done with him. But can't you pay his FFL and have the FFL give him the money?  I'm ignorant as to how to pay, with confidence, for a long distance handgun.

[kkborre]

I don't know.  My next step was going to be to call my FFL and ask for advice, but it got weird before I got that far.

[Droopy]

That's sort of the problem with Armslist even if you are local it's best to meet at a range or even a police station that is within reason. You could also ask them to list it on Gunbroker since there they have the buyer confidence plan or something like that where they guarantee the transaction. There is an explanation there about how it works. I like to use Gunbroker as an indicator more than a store since to me it still seems high not as high as I find at my local stores in Michigan but still high. It seems if I can find what I'm looking for on Gunbroker then I can find it on Gundeals.com for even cheaper from an online store soon or rite then even. I personally buy every new gun I get online and have never had a single problem or gotten a gun with so much as a scratch on it and I generally save myself $100 or more on my CZ's.

[CZ Aficionado]

I've sold and bought enough firearms, Armslist included, that its easy enough to tell who I will and won't deal with anymore. Any issues that arise like this individual displays makes any deal a NO-GO.....not even a second thought.   

[knoxy]

I only deal locally on armslist. Never had an issue. Picked up my P01 from a guy down the road from me.

I actually spotted a scammer posting pics of a vz2008 that belonged to a member here.

[eagle-eye]

I buy and sell on Armslist every now and then. I always do it locally. Many people ask to see ID, or meet at the local police station. Some police dept's here have a "safe room" where exchanges can be made.
The benefit of Armslist is, like Craigslist, you can sell something at a more reasonable price for you, not have to settle for a low price from an FFL that is looking to maximize their resale potential. Just like you would do to get a better price selling your used car. Also, you might find something for sale that no FFL has in stock.
The down side is, so many sellers ask high prices for used stuff. I think many expect to be offered less, so they start high to begin with. Some want to make money on their sale. When you see something on sale that is $50-100 higher then new prices at Academy, you have to wonder what they are thinking.
I think Armslist, and Gunlistings.org, and other sites like them, do a service to gun buyers, I'm glad we have them.

[Sicamosley]

I have a funny story!  I contacted someone that had a listing out of state from me for a handgun I was interested in.  Price was reasonable, but not too-good-to-be-true.  I asked if they would ship to my FFL.  He gave me a price for basic postage; I thought that was odd.  Postage with insurance and tracking seemed more reasonable.  We went back and forth with emails about payment.  I obviously wasn't about to just send a check or money order and hope they mailed what I was expecting!  I suggested an escrow service; they declined.  I was still wondering if it was a scam.  I asked if they would mail directly to me.  Deep breaths here people!  I know, it's illegal.  I wanted to know if he knew it was illegal.  I figured a scammer would agree to anything to get me to send a payment.  The seller declined to do that (good sign!).  We still couldn't agree on a way to transfer payment, so I suggested we let it go.  Then I received a long email about how it's illegal to ship a firearm directly, he's going to report me (to whom, exactly??), I'll go to jail (for what, exactly??), blah, blah, blah.  What a hoot.  Threatening me isn't going to motivate me to send them a payment on faith.  Definitely not moving forward with that transaction!

Postal Money Orders.  Fraud w/ Postal Money Orders involved is a federal offense.


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[ttrashman1]

I have bought three handgund
s off of armslist. sp-01 tact, springfield ro, and a sig 938, all at a good price and all ftf.

[1Shot1Kill]

An Armslist vendor (business) advertised the CZ 75B Limited Edition Stainless that I tried to buy. Upon conducting the transaction I found out they did not actually have the guns and could not confirm if they would ever get them. So personally,  I stay away from Armslist. So far, I've had good results buying from Gunbroker, Guns International, CZ Forum, AR15.com & M4Carbine.net.

[gunsrtools]

I have bought and sold on armslist.
All local. All successful!

[StevenJ61]

I buy and sell on Armslist every now and then. I always do it locally. Many people ask to see ID, or meet at the local police station. Some police dept's here have a "safe room" where exchanges can be made.
The benefit of Armslist is, like Craigslist, you can sell something at a more reasonable price for you, not have to settle for a low price from an FFL that is looking to maximize their resale potential. Just like you would do to get a better price selling your used car. Also, you might find something for sale that no FFL has in stock.
The down side is, so many sellers ask high prices for used stuff. I think many expect to be offered less, so they start high to begin with. Some want to make money on their sale. When you see something on sale that is $50-100 higher then new prices at Academy, you have to wonder what they are thinking.
I think Armslist, and Gunlistings.org, and other sites like them, do a service to gun buyers, I'm glad we have them.

100% agree Armslist is like Craigslist, I use it all the time and have had great luck with it. I either do cash plus trade in person or paypal online. I only shipped one gun via Armslist the first time I sold to the guys FFL, no issues. Again, like Craigslist, there's scammers out there trying to make a quick buck with bounced checks but all my encounters have been good. I bought a VZ58, Zastava CZ999, and traded my Century AK63D for a Century Wasr 10/63. I also sold a Ruger Mini 30, S&W 6906, Rossi 357 revolver, Star Model B, and some small items on Armslist. I tried gunbroker, for buying it's okay but for selling it's a hassle going through their verification process. For local Armslist is great. You don't have to meet at a Police station but always take a photo of the buyers Carry Permit and Driver's License plus fill out a bill of sale. I have records backed up on each firearm transaction I did through arms list in my safe.

[BigBL87]

I've used Armslist several times, but only successfully sold one firearm (my PT-92) with it.  I actually had someone interested and I was ready to go, ran a FOID check (Illinois's take on mandatory universal background checks using our Firearm Owner Identification cards) and it came back denied, so let him know it was a no-go.  He didn't know why it would be denied, but I'm obviously not going to break state law.  Did some googling, found some underage drinking charges but not much else, so who knows.  Anyway, a week or two later another guy messaged me and everything worked out.  We ended up meeting up in the parking lot at our local Rural King to make the exchange.  Figured with them selling firearms, if someone saw one they wouldn't freak out.

The guy got a pretty good deal and I got the money I needed to buy my CZ-75B.  I call that a happy ending!

[larryflew]

Postal Money Orders.  Fraud w/ Postal Money Orders involved is a federal offense.

PO does not work to get your money, just to get the person doing the fraud. $500 lesson you get for free or the 5 years he got for free.

This was not an arms purchase (RC helicopter) and I use Armslist a lot.

[Madger]

I've used it successfully three times. Sold two handguns and one holster. All local, face to face, cash in hand.
For the two handguns the buyer's permit number was called in to receive a transaction number for the transfer form. I could have just been lucky, but I was able to "feel" the buyer out before we met to conduct the transaction. Even then my rami was riding in my OWB holster under my t shirt just in case.