purchasing from OzGunSales

[MG5150]

Hi all

I've found a rifle I want to buy on Ozgunsales listed as new and about $150-$200 cheaper than some of the dealers close to home have it.

The dealer doesn't have a website and is located in rural Victoria (Portland) but sent me a picture of his firearms license and it looks legit. (Happy to share a picture)

Any reason not to go ahead with the purchase? Any additional steps to vet the person?

[No1Mk3]

Hi all

I've found a rifle I want to buy on Ozgunsales listed as new and about $150-$200 cheaper than some of the dealers close to home have it.

The dealer doesn't have a website and is located in rural Victoria (Portland) but sent me a picture of his firearms license and it looks legit. (Happy to share a picture)

Any reason not to go ahead with the purchase? Any additional steps to vet the person?

None apparent, I know many dealers, especially rural ones, who don't maintain a website so that is no consideration. If they sent you a copy of their Licence I would think that good faith on their part, but the only way to "vet" such a person is to ask dealers you know if they have a good name in the industry, it is not that big that they don;t know or hear of each other, although like all industries there is a small degree of gossip-mongering. When buying by internet you must at some point act on faith alone.

[womble]

The price difference is around the cost of shipping to your dealer and transfer fees.

[Cape_Yorkee]

I've got around this before but sure it's different for interstate buying etc. As I'm in QLD I've told the seller I would do the PTA but any transfer of money would only be done when they are in the shop handing the firearm over. Then asking them to put someone from the shop on the phone to verify the sale is legit.

[GQshayne]

The price difference is around the cost of shipping to your dealer and transfer fees.

My thoughts too. I would be much happier spending a few extra dollars on a firearm I can inspect myself.

[MG5150]

He quoted me $25 for shipping to Melbourne which is still $175 less than any of the local dealers - I was well aware that $100 less isn't worth the petrol or shipping.

Might be in a tough spot and desperate to make a sale so he

Might ask my local if they can price match

[womble]

It good to support your local if you can. The one I go to he’s not the cheapest. And I’m ok with that.
Only a small shop. But he employs 4 local blokes. And they’re not even competent actually
But that’s ok. It’s old fashioned service, have a yarn.

And he’s also offered me better than average prices when buying a gun of me.
If you haven’t as yet tried selling a gun to a dealer you’re in for a shock.

A lot of shops have closed down. The smaller operators can’t compete with the big ones.

[womble]

And shippings going to cost him a bit more than that. So that’s not totally honest, but I guess he’s built it into his price and you’re probably getting the best price there. He’s not making much of the sale.

[MG5150]

It good to support your local if you can. The one I go to he’s not the cheapest. And I’m ok with that.
Only a small shop. But he employs 4 local blokes. And they’re not even competent actually
But that’s ok. It’s old fashioned service, have a yarn.

And he’s also offered me better than average prices when buying a gun of me.
If you haven’t as yet tried selling a gun to a dealer you’re in for a shock.

A lot of shops have closed down. The smaller operators can’t compete with the big ones.

He's a small country town dealer and probably needs the business, wheras I have 3 shops to pick from within 5km of my house here in Melbourne. I usually buy from Mansfield H&F because I prefer to send my money to regional/rural vic.

[bladeracer]

I've got around this before but sure it's different for interstate buying etc. As I'm in QLD I've told the seller I would do the PTA but any transfer of money would only be done when they are in the shop handing the firearm over. Then asking them to put someone from the shop on the phone to verify the sale is legit.

I think the only time I had some concerns over a deal was when I bought a rifle from Qld via a post on a Facebook forum. The owner had gone to Canada a few years before and decided to stay there, but he had rifles still here in Australia in the care of his dad. His licence was up for renewal I think and he didn't want to have to come back here to sort it out so was asking for ideas to sort it out. He hadn't seen the rifles for years and wasn't in regular contact so couldn't even assure me that his dad hadn't already disposed of them. Sounds like a pretty iffy deal But I told him that if he could get hold of his dad and have him take the rifles into his local dealer, and let me know, then I would ring the dealer and ask him whether they were in decent condition. I few weeks later I got a call from a dealer telling me a rifle had been delivered to him and that I was apparently interested in it. The second rifle I wasn't actually interested in but had offered to buy both of them to help the guy sort his problem out, figuring I'd just pass it onto somebody else later. The dealer already had somebody interested in the .308 so that one was sorted already. He described the rifle he had in front of him and it sounded pretty decent. So I got onto the owner, told him the deal was fine, paid him and asked him to have the dealer send it to me. It worked out just fine and I got a nice M96 Swede out of it.

While I personally haven't been screwed on a firearm purchase I do know people that have been. One of my mates fell into the "Friends & Relatives" Paypal trick a couple weeks ago buying a non-existent Dillon press, hopefully his bank will reimburse him as Paypal won't. A dealer I know got ripped off a couple grand on a Hi Power pistol that doesn't exist. Another mate likes to place wanted ads when he's looking for specific firearms and always gets messages and calls from scammers.

Portland has a bit of a Cowboy community so you could perhaps try to contact somebody in the area that might be willing to inspect the firearm for you to confirm it actually exists.

[MG5150]

My local dealer is going to price-match anyway, so that's nice and convenient.

[alexjones]

The gun is cheap probably because someone bought it and lost their licence or bought it and don't want it anymore.

A lot of dealers are small time and have no websites.

[Cape_Yorkee]

I've got around this before but sure it's different for interstate buying etc. As I'm in QLD I've told the seller I would do the PTA but any transfer of money would only be done when they are in the shop handing the firearm over. Then asking them to put someone from the shop on the phone to verify the sale is legit.

I think the only time I had some concerns over a deal was when I bought a rifle from Qld via a post on a Facebook forum. The owner had gone to Canada a few years before and decided to stay there, but he had rifles still here in Australia in the care of his dad. His licence was up for renewal I think and he didn't want to have to come back here to sort it out so was asking for ideas to sort it out. He hadn't seen the rifles for years and wasn't in regular contact so couldn't even assure me that his dad hadn't already disposed of them. Sounds like a pretty iffy deal But I told him that if he could get hold of his dad and have him take the rifles into his local dealer, and let me know, then I would ring the dealer and ask him whether they were in decent condition. I few weeks later I got a call from a dealer telling me a rifle had been delivered to him and that I was apparently interested in it. The second rifle I wasn't actually interested in but had offered to buy both of them to help the guy sort his problem out, figuring I'd just pass it onto somebody else later. The dealer already had somebody interested in the .308 so that one was sorted already. He described the rifle he had in front of him and it sounded pretty decent. So I got onto the owner, told him the deal was fine, paid him and asked him to have the dealer send it to me. It worked out just fine and I got a nice M96 Swede out of it.

While I personally haven't been screwed on a firearm purchase I do know people that have been. One of my mates fell into the "Friends & Relatives" Paypal trick a couple weeks ago buying a non-existent Dillon press, hopefully his bank will reimburse him as Paypal won't. A dealer I know got ripped off a couple grand on a Hi Power pistol that doesn't exist. Another mate likes to place wanted ads when he's looking for specific firearms and always gets messages and calls from scammers.

Portland has a bit of a Cowboy community so you could perhaps try to contact somebody in the area that might be willing to inspect the firearm for you to confirm it actually exists.

I've purchased 2 x nice rifles from rural NSW using the method I've quoted initially. Have I been lucky? Yes, maybe a little - but I certainly did my due diligence by having lots of photos sent, sounding the seller out and then having them take the firearm to the dealer and putting him on the phone. It's worked out well.

Certainly nothing beats inspecting in person and putting it to your shoulder for feel.