Selling a Firearm on NES

[Len-2A Training]

I’ve sold like 5 guns from people with 0 feedback as well as a “Im asking for a friend” these guys had literally zero posts too yet the transactions were flawless. The way I do business is straight up, I don’t care if your a guy who has as a ton of posts and feedback or a guy who has zero posts, I answer questions and unless you say “I will take it” the conversations don’t mean a thing to me. Money talks bullshit walks

Since I'm moving and won't be doing reloading anymore, I've been selling off a lot of stuff. I recently sold a lot of stuff to a guy that had no feedback (MANY NES'rs don't give feedback, ask me how I know!) and a handful of posts IIRC . . . he was a great guy. As long as the person isn't sketchy in Emails or phone conversation, I have found things go very smoothly or in some cases they ask and imply they will buy and just disappear (as long as no meetup was arranged, no big issue).

You should sell with “GOOSE RULES”


The Goose's Disclaimer:
First and foremost if you want something I am selling then say “I will take it”. I do not consider questions or inquiries as a commitment of any sort. Terms like “I am interested” mean nothing. The fact that we may be having a dialogue does not mean that I am waiting for you to make a decision. The person who steps up and says “I will take it, when do we meet” closes the deal.
• I expect you to read the ad. Every single time I sell anything I get at least one and usually multiple questions about something that is already stated in the ad. Yes it has a 5” barrel AS STATED IN THE FREAKIN” AD!
• I expect YOU to know that you want the item. I am not a store. Do your own research and visit a gun shop if you just want to handle a particular gun. And no I will not meet you at your club so you can try it out to see if you like it. Of course you get to inspect the gun before you buy it, but barring a mechanical or condition issue I expect you to buy it. If you are not sure then do not waste my time. I once met a prospective buyer at the range so that he could try out a revolver I was selling. After trying it out and BSing for more then an hour he simply said that it just did not fit his hand right. WTF!
• If you want to negotiate that is fine, but do not start out by telling me that my price is too high. This is not a good way to make friends and influence people. I have never made a dime on any private sale ever. In fact I routinely lose money and have often cut deals for a friend. I may be asking more then you want to pay, but the price is never too high. Also as stated in the first item above I do not consider negotiating a form of commitment. If you are in the process of offering less then I am asking and someone else says “I will take it” then you lose. Don’t bitch at me.
• I reserve the right to sell to whoever the hell I want. Having said that I scrupulously sell to the first person who makes a firm commitment. Provided that person does not piss me off. Such as demanding that the transaction take place that day, when it does not work for me. Also do not assume that just because you are the first person to post a reply on the forum that you are also the first person to contact me directly. Not everyone posts a reply, some folks just PM an “I will take it”. I am not obligated to justify anything to some guy I have never met who demands to know why he did not get the deal when he believes he was the first in line. You may also rest assured that if you take that tack that you will also not be first in line if the initial deal falls through.
• Do not ask me if it is MA compliant. Actually, feel free to ask me, but if you are depending upon my answer without doing your own research then you should not even be participating in a private transaction. Do your own damn research.
• Do not agree to a deal on line and then offer me less when we meet. If that happens the deal is over, no matter what. A deal is a deal. The time to negotiate is during the initial transaction, once the deal is made that’s it.

These rules work!

 

[mothybee]

Use the NES loophole or meet me in Walmart's parking lot, give me the gun, I'll go sell it for you and bring you the cash.............Honest.

 

[jron]

Who cares?

Im pretty sure one of my good friends on here as virtually zero posts.

I have sold to people who just joined, moderators, and people with negative feedback. If they have a license and money who the hell cares?!

 

[Al-Jim19]

The first person to offer me money for items is first in line, green or not. Ive only had one bad experience buying or selling on NES once the other party has passed my “common sense” tests” such as answering basic questions and agreeing to a concrete time, meeting place, and price.

 

[JenkkiMike]

cash is king, when in doubt a FFL transfer rather than a eFA-10

Why would there be any doubt about doing an eFA-10 in Mass? You can go onto the portal and make sure the LTC is active and valid. If the guy standing in front of you looks like the guy in the picture on the LTC and has a matching drivers license, what is the worry? In NH some people are weird about private transfers and refuse to do anything except through an FFL but there is no other easy way to be SURE that they aren't a prohibited person so I sort of get it but personally don't have any problems with private sales.

 

[appraiser]

because you would be in a public place is the reason I would do a FFL and not burn a eFA-10 transaction.

YMMV.

 

[Freddy B]

I have had a much better experience buying and selling guns here than I have had with sundry benign merchandise listed on other classified platforms. Hell, I've had more difficulty giving stuff away on Freecycle than I've had buying and selling here. I think the NES classifieds are great. Am not at all concerned if somebody is a noobie or not. What we're doing here is perfectly legal, at least for now.

 

[houdini]

if you want to sell it go threw a dealer

 

[Machines]

Here's another reason to not count out new members: They're the ones who actually want to buy. A large percentage of the members I've dealt with (in normal times, not even talking about scare periods) have been guys looking for their first gun or first gun of a given type. Not owning a gun makes for a pretty motivated buyer. Meanwhile your typical green/high feedback member may already sitting on a pile like something out of The Matrix.

Edit: As I typed this a guy PM'd me about something I'm selling saying he's looking for his first gun. I'm not even joking.

 

[FrugalFannie]

I would just add that I try to make any meetup as convenient for me as possible when I am selling. That way if they don't show, not a big deal. I do this with all sales. If someone doesn't want to meet at my house, or I don't want them to, I give them a nearby public address (grocery store or something) and say text me when you are 10 minutes away or something like that. Also, if they are flaky with returning messages prior I am less likely to go out of my way for their convenience in timing etc. In the case of a firearm sale in MA or any state requiring a license/permit I would have them send me a photo of their license via text. (they can obscure something really important/sensitive if they wish) This is what I did when I was selling stuff here and had to ship it - had buyers send me picture of their license and I shipped to address and name on license only.

 

[1st4040]

Many new or non green members simply sign up for access to the classifieds not to actually post in the forums. I’ve sold to a handful of people most weren’t green members. Every transaction has been exactly how they should have been.

 

[ridleyman]

D

 

[Buck F]

OP's going to jail

 

[Dench]

Looking for an opinion from the NES braintrust. I've bought, sold and traded a few things on NES over the years, nothing tremendous. I recently posted a few firearms for sale. The first sale was a breeze. Priced it right and it sold it to the first guy in about 2 hours.

The second one is the one I'm having a little bit of a conundrum. I've had 4 responses (in order of being received) as follows:

Buyer A is a Green member, has been an NES member for less than 4 months, has no feedback and no posts.
Buyer B not a green member, , has been an NES member for 2 months, has no feedback and no posts
Buyer C not a green member, has been a NES member for ONE day, no feedback and no posts
Buyer D not a green member, but has been a member for a few years , no feedback and a few dozen posts

Who would you sell to? Or more importantly, who would you NOT sell to?. Do you dismiss new members out of hand or give them a chance (we were all new at one time)?

I was going to make the sale to buyer A, but it looks like it's not going to happen.

WWYD???

I'd personally sell it to the person who's the least likely not to be a problem, and if they turn out to be go down to the next person.

In order of how I'd value them based off of your listed info:

1 - Feedback
2 - Standing on NES (time here with posts of substance, not the AG posting occasionally to make the account look live)
3 - Membership status. This is as simple as paying a fee, should not be considered anything more than person paid X amount at Y place for Z reason.


That said I've only had very few people give me a hard time on NES trades. One guy was fine on one sale, and then another he fell off the face of the Earth in the middle of negotiating, another apparently went out of his way to pay me by personal check after I specifically asked to not be paid by personal check. Nothing to bad. Some people do have some tough stories, but thats the case with any transaction - theres always a risk.

 

[PaulR]

I wouldn't sell to any of them, only because I'm a chicken-sh!t and I'm not up-to-date on all the laws.
I've done 4-6 transactions/group buys here over the years, all went smoothly, sans the dealer who should remain nameless that took 3 YEARS
to refund me on a rifle he said I picked up and never did. See that's where I lose, I'm way too nice, way too patient with people.
The buyer would be like "oh I forgot to bring my license with me but I have this copy" or some such crap and I'd be like "duh, ok, I guess that works"
and off to Federal Prison I would go.

 

[Snora]

6) Try to complete both sides of the feedback process before leaving.

Creepy.

 

[bdb]

I would tend to sell to the first person who contacted me unless there was something fishy.

I recently sold a rifle I listed almost 2 years ago but no one had an interest in. The guy had signed up that day and contacted me. Turns out he was a Sheriff in an upstate new york town and used to be a state tropper and wanted my 100th anniversary new york state commemorative Winchester 94. Point is not all new members with no feedback are a roadblock unless something is off.

 

[MarkT]

I’ve sold to people who signed up just to buy what I was selling.

for the most part, I sell to the first person who says I’ll take it and has the cash

Same here and I've had zero issues.

 

[beaker]

The only concern i would have right now, Covid, is that somebody who knows nothing about guns believes the garbage that anti's put out there that you cane just go and buy a gun from someone in MA on-line. I would just screen and ask if they have a MA LTC first in order of how you want to prioritize. I can see someone signing up just because they see something they want.

I am assuming you are in MA due to the caution. ..

 

[Bt74]

Why would there be any doubt about doing an eFA-10 in Mass? You can go onto the portal and make sure the LTC is active and valid. If the guy standing in front of you looks like the guy in the picture on the LTC and has a matching drivers license, what is the worry? In NH some people are weird about private transfers and refuse to do anything except through an FFL but there is no other easy way to be SURE that they aren't a prohibited person so I sort of get it but personally don't have any problems with private sales.

I'm in NH, and when I sell a gun FTF, I want to see a Pistol Permit. I take some flack for that, but that covers me, to a degree, from selling to a prohibited person. Otherwise, it goes through an FFL.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

MASSACHUSETTS

Agree to pay specific amount in CASH

Text a picture of your LTC

Proof of current license thru mass gun portal

 

[seanc]

I have bought and sold a lot on here. I have never had an issue with anybody.

that said. Get the rules and everything clear up front. Face to face. Has all the right paper work. Cash ( or trade) agreed to. Mutually acceptable location. If any question, bring a friend or friends..

if anything does not feel,100 percent right. Bail. there will always be another buyer.


i would add these as immediate bail factors.
1 buyer does not understand what they are buying. Hard to explain. But you’ll understand if it happens.
2 buyer questions document requirements or sale forms/ procedures.
3 has to happen NOW. Not tomorrow. Not on the weekend. But right now.
4 wants to buy for an unspecified friend. Again, you’ll get it when you hear it.
5 objects to reasonable locations.

and my rule.. no first time buyers. People that you know don’t know what they are buying and will just whine and expect you to take it back.

 

[JenkkiMike]

I'm in NH, and when I sell a gun FTF, I want to see a Pistol Permit. I take some flack for that, but that covers me, to a degree, from selling to a prohibited person. Otherwise, it goes through an FFL.

I'm also in NH and private sales is my main reason to even have a pistol permit. I ask to see one too and also fill out a bill of sale. There is a certain shop in southern NH that does free transfers which is great for online orders but kind of bad for private transfers because a bunch of people on armslist demand that their sale "must go through an FFL" and use the fact that it's free as an argument against FTF transactions.

 

[VTJPM]

Looking for an opinion from the NES braintrust. I've bought, sold and traded a few things on NES over the years, nothing tremendous. I recently posted a few firearms for sale. The first sale was a breeze. Priced it right and it sold it to the first guy in about 2 hours.

The second one is the one I'm having a little bit of a conundrum. I've had 4 responses (in order of being received) as follows:

Buyer A is a Green member, has been an NES member for less than 4 months, has no feedback and no posts.
Buyer B not a green member, , has been an NES member for 2 months, has no feedback and no posts
Buyer C not a green member, has been a NES member for ONE day, no feedback and no posts
Buyer D not a green member, but has been a member for a few years , no feedback and a few dozen posts

Who would you sell to? Or more importantly, who would you NOT sell to?. Do you dismiss new members out of hand or give them a chance (we were all new at one time)?

I was going to make the sale to buyer A, but it looks like it's not going to happen.

WWYD???

None of the above.