Just a heads up, "they" are definitely watching, be careful out there

[Bosco]

I put an AR lower on Louisiana Sportsman and had quite a few weird interested "buyers". Most of them made it completely obvious that something was definitely not right.

One texted me asking if they could build an assault rifle out of the lower. I told him no it was not registered to be fully automatic and he wrote me back asking if there was a way he could modify it to be fully automatic. I never wrote him back.

Another called me collect from a phone number that showed up as "Puerto Rico" on my iphone. I hung up and he called me again (not collect) so I answered and told him I could not sell to someone who was not a resident of the state of Louisiana. He started blowing up my phone with text messages with scans of his military ID, his drivers license, his facebook address, his home address... He just wouldn't let it go. He even took a picture of the money saying he just got his tax return back and was ready to buy a lower. Taxes don't even start until the 30th so there's no way he just got a return.

I removed the ad from LA Sportsman and almost immediately got a phone call that basically went "Hey I saw you removed your for sale article. Did you end up selling it? Do you know who the buyer was? I am going to see if I can buy it from him because I'm really interested in building an assault weapon." Really bizarre stuff.

I even had someone on the forums message me about it saying "i want the ar lower. call me 'namehere' at ###-####" and I thought it was real bizarre the name had quotes around it like "this isn't my real name" bizarre. I texted her back and forth about it for 30-40 minutes and she breaks out "so what's your name" and didn't seem too happy that I would only give out my first name. Told her I could meet up anytime during the week and she said her husband didn't want her to go alone and it would have to be the weekend and I would have to drive to her.

So if you guys have a sale going on and there's anything "funny" feeling about the person you're selling to. Abandon ship! It's not worth it to make a bad sale because you have dollar signs blocking your field of vision. I ended up making a deal with someone I've done business with before on these forums for quite a bit below my asking price because I trust him.

 

[jchebert1979]

Tons of scammers too. One guy on Armslist wanted 2200 for a sig 716. I told him to call me but he said he was hearing impaired. Then I told him the only way that I would make the transaction was if I paid an FFL who would ship the gun to my FFL. He said he didn't have time for that. At this point I knew but I went even further. I said okay, I will use Pistol Pay. At that point he started sending me rude emails saying that he was deaf and not stupid. He basically started begging me to send half of the payment for him to ship and I could send the other half when I got the gun.

Needless to say, I flagged the listing with different computers until it was removed. Yes, buyer or seller, beware.

 

[jmcrawf1]

Its just fudds being fudds

 

[Gator 45/70]

+ 1 That's real good advice gentlemen, Thanks' for the head's up !

 

[edman87k5]

Guess I got lucky. Swapped a lower recently with a guy on la sportsman. Nice guy with a lot in common, met him half way and made the swap and BSed a while.
I will have to dig up my refrigerator emails, that was a hoot. I posted a mini fridge on Craigslist and got an idiot responding to the ad.

 

[tibodoe]

You guys have all the fun. All I get is honest people that do what they say.
Lucky Bastages!

 

[Scott.Thornton]

There is a reason I haven't met ftf with a new seller or buyer without a buddy in the the vehicle with me if it was involving a firearm.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[DS727]

Weird. I sold my AR on LA Sportsman a few weeks ago and didn't have a problem.

One thing I NEVER do is put my number or email address in ANY ad. I make people go through the trouble of contacting me through the site.

Hasn't done me wrong yet.

 

[madmax4x4]

You know I don't think you have a tinfoil hat on. Got some weird PM's on here about odd payment, shipping to ban states so it would be "modified" for them and selling mags to ban areas. If it was just one I would just say ****um but yea looks like somebody playing games

 

[gunz4me]

One of my friends in Austin said he had some really weird responses to a DPMS AR-15 that he listed on a Texas gun forum. I told him to just tell everyone that he required a signed and notarized bill of sale with a copy of their driver's license OR a copy of the FFL if shipping out of state. He inserted that into his ad and most the BS stopped.

 

[the dubshow]

good eye. have to keep your guard up. Entrapment can be a mofo.

but on the tax returns, I'm just now about to get mine in. If you filed an extension for 2011, you can very likely just now be getting a check back.

but every idiot with google is likely hitting up every classified. Esp if they cant walk/wait in line/know a person... crazy times.

 

[enutees]

I had some odd contacts with weird questions when I recently sold an AR. I think it was just people that are not "gun people" trying to buy one quick before they are banned. I ended up selling mine on Gun Broker and transaction went smoothly. I would have posted it here but then I would have had to listen to the crying about the price.

 

[OneDudeWolfPack]

Seems like quite an experience. Lots of crazies have been coming out lately.

+1 on bringing a friend

 

[jmanrogers]

They (being you know who) were buying guns left and right the past week at the Kenner gun show. Paying cash and making sure everything was done correctly. I heard one dealer was there selling with an expired license an the BATFE came in and documented everything as he was doing it. They have protocol, so they couldn't just shut him down, but I know that it had to have sucked for him today or it at least it will this week when they pay him a visit.

You did the right thing Bosco!

 

[SpeedRacer]

There's definitely shady creatures afoot, and while I mostly doubt "they" are secret squirrels it's still a good rule of thumb to keep your guard up. Whether selling on Bayou Shooter or Gunbroker make good use of the feedback system and use common sense. That goes for selling or buying. The current market is a breeding ground for scam artists.

 

[Isaac-1]

Also keep in mind a lot of media people may be thinking this is a great time for one of their "investigative report" sting operations where they meet up to do FTF purchases that they will then film from a distance and air with creative editing and dramatic music.

 

[Mayonnaise]

I had some bizarre emails for a complete lower with buttstock I had on la sportsmen. One asked if the selector had "all three positions" and a other asked if I could remove the stock and sell it as a pistol. I'll deleted the add, I'll just keep it. It's not worth the hassle. I don't need the cash bad enough to deal with the hassle. I had forgotten how much I hates trying to sell stuff to people I don't know.

Right before Christmas I sold a complete AR for a fair pre panic price. The man wanted a notarized bill of sale, which I had no problem with. We made the deal at my office and notarized it free of charge on the spot. Took less than 5 min. Good honest people are out there. I find that when you're selling for a fair price they find the add right away and snatch it up before the crazies catch wind of it vs marking things up. The real good buyers don't looks twice at anything above msrp.

 

[JWG223]

Scammers, a local MD where I live bought a Barret 6.8SPC from Armslist for $2200. It never showed up, and the person selling it...was in a coma, was busy, was sick, was a woman, was a man, all sorts of BS e-mails. He filed with the PD. Sucks.

Deal F2F, or with people of KNOWN quality.

 

[CEHollier]

Scammers, a local MD where I live bought a Barret 6.8SPC from Armslist for $2200. It never showed up, and the person selling it...was in a coma, was busy, was sick, was a woman, was a man, all sorts of BS e-mails. He filed with the PD. Sucks.

Deal F2F, or with people of KNOWN quality.

With firearms I only deal face to face. Other things I put in the ad. Paypal only or cash face to face. Usually several "Busy Businessman" try to set up some other plan. My response is always the same. CAN YOU NOT READ!

 

[JWG223]

With firearms I only deal face to face. Other things I put in the ad. Paypal only or cash face to face. Usually several "Busy Businessman" try to set up some other plan. My response is always the same. CAN YOU NOT READ!

I've bought/sold a fair amount of stuff and as of yet never run into that. I've shipped firearms across the US on many occasions and never had a problem. What kind of sites are you frequenting?