Excellent point Red-Leg. I did not read the post that budrichard was complaining about as being a personal attack. It seemed to me to be reasoned defense of auction sites and how they can be used to purchase guns and the advantages to the buyers to do that, for example trying to purchase guns that may or may not be available in that person's area or that one dealer has a monopoly on the market, thus controlling the price for that particular gun in that area.Red-Leg said:
Having bought many guns both on and off line, there are advantages to doing it both ways.
Honestly, I prefer (like budrichard) to buy guns face to face, because for me it is much more about comparative fit, i.e. being able to hold and handle the various guns that I am thinking about purchasing than it is about getting the absolute best deal on price, although that is #2 on the list. Another consideration is supporting my local dealers who I want to stay in business, so often if the prices are close even if they are a bit higher, often I will get it through them.
However, having said that, there are alot of guns that my local dealers do not carry that I would like to and have considered buying. Also, when I do know that the gun is a good fit, then I can price shop online and sometimes it is lower, sometimes higher, but most often lower. I also insist on a 3 day inspection period. Most (90%) of the sellers that I have dealt with had no problem with that, the ones that did, certainly did not get my sale. Gun Broker.com and Auction Arms seem to have more safeguards than Guns America, but if you are smart about what you are doing, then you should have minimal problems.
For example, one of my local dealers is offering the FAIR/Rizzini LT-20 and LT-35's for $1500 and $1700 respectively. Not a bad price, but I found the exact same guns NIB for considerably than that from a dealer via Guns America.
Shopping online is like anything else. Be smart about it, keep records and documentation, ask questions, shop around and don't be afraid to walk away.
Brad
