I've used Gunbroker on rare occasion and recently stopped bidding on what I thought on an auction with a suspiciously high number of 'new' bidders. (new bidders being those with no rating)

The winner of the auction was a zero feedback bidder.

I just went back to the auction and noticed some rather odd characteristics.

Three 0 rating bidders bid on the auction. All of them (3 weeks later) are still at 0 activity/feedback. All 3 were created within days of their bidding on the item.

The 'winning' bidder still has zero feedback.

I may wait another month or so before I contact Gunbroker to highlight the shenanigans, but has anyone else here ran into that situation?

I stopped using GB two years ago. I hadn't won anything in the last 4~5 years and then boom, I won something. Then after my $100 winning bid the total was like 30% EXTRA after all the BS fees!
I gave up after that.
The good 'ol days are gone.

Maybe the seller is creating fake accounts to drive the price up

Do the items get relisted even though the fake bidder 'won'?

That would be my question.
Been happening for years on ebay as a way to avoidcthe charge for setting a min bid required, reserve amount, for it to sell.
For the most part fb is still mostly at stupod pricing though occasionally i find a reasonable 1 for something more rare.

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I've noticed many times I was bid up to my max bid.

Recently I placed 1 bid on an item. I was probably about $100 more than what the highest bid was at the time. I happened to bid $5 higher than that guy. The auction sat like that for several days with no more bids. Got the new gun for less than wholesale cost. I was surprised at that positive outcome for me.



Then there is this recent auction. I was bid up to just under my max bid.

I wish I could go back further than 90 days.

Gunbroker is my go-to for a lot of things because I can save so much money over buying through regular retail avenues. Just because you didn't win doesn't mean the platform sucks; maybe it just wasn't your time, or your expectations of the closing bid are unrealistic.

I've found that the best way to buy on there is to watch numerous "pure" auctions (low starting bid and no reserve) for the same thing, assuming that what you're buying isn't rare/one-of-a-kind. Do that over the course of 1-2 weeks to get a sense for the true price range (high and low), and if you're comfortable with where it sits at the low end, then start bidding at or just below that. Might take you a week or a month to win one, but eventually it'll probably hit. I do that with cases of ammo all the time, and sometimes I score some sweet deals, like 1,000 rds Fiocchi 9mm 147gr FMJ subsonic for $220 delivered - twice! Also scored a good deal on my 686+ that way. It's a patient man's game, most of the time.

I'll agree with you but it's all the "end fees" that are just nuts!
At least with fleabay you know upfront what the shipping is and of course your tax on the final price.

What's hidden to you?

Every auction I've won I wasn't surprised about any fee.

Usually a 3% discount if I pay by money order.

1% compliance fee. Just call it profit.

Tax

And then shipping.


I'm trying to see where additional hidden fees are?

The only time a fee is "hidden" is when the shipping section says "Buyer pays actual shipping cost" - in other words, it's not a pre-determined amount. That can get out of control, and I generally avoid those listings altogether. But the sales tax & compliance fee are known quantities, and the credit card fee (if applicable) is, too. Run all the #'s before bidding. I always work backwards from my all-in cost to my max bid.

I've been watching, nothing yet

Unless there's a stated shipping fee I do not bid.

I think you missed where I said I haven't won or been on GB for a long time, so the time I won anything before this last time that "compliance fee" wasn't there
and it caught me by surprise.
I also agree about not bidding on, "actual shipping charges". You know, the ones they pull out of their butts.

Do you all have an issue with paying for the actual cost of postage or shipping?


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I don’t

But it seems like an easy way for the seller to tack on whatever they want when it’s open ended like that

There's also no incentive for the seller to attempt to save the buyer any money on shipping, because they know the buyer is on the hook no matter what. This happened to me once, and it's why I now avoid listings that don't disclose the shipping cost up front.