Vent: Got cheated a little at the gunshow Grand Junction

[.45Cole]

I was polking around at the local gunshow here in town and came across a box of "junk" for cheap. In looking through the box I saw quite a few old winchester cartridges (two 50-95 expresses) so I figured the box was worth it. The guy was making small talk with me and grabbed a cartridge I had already looked at (38-40 Rem UMC with the copper U stamped primer) and asked what it was. We came to a price and I went over and horse traded with another guy to free up a little cash. I bought the box and when I was going through it at home, seemed to find only one 50-95 cartridge, and NO 38-40's!

I was pretty peeved that he took some (who knows what) out, and more peeved that he actually took the one cartridge that he identified was in there! He could have gone through it and then brought it in and sold the rest.

[frkelly74]

Some times a seller will forget what he has in a box of stuff. I once got a round ball mold on a set of RCBS handles for $10 and the seller looked real hard at it when I took it to him to buy it. I kind of thought he might start talking about reneging but he didn't. I did not put it down once it was mine. But it sounds as if the seller you wrote about out and out stole the items back from you. That is a real ugly thing to have happen. I am sorry it happened to you and I guess you can console yourself by knowing that what goes around comes around. And watch out for them in future.

[quickdraw66]

We all have to answer for our actions some day.

[salpal48]

At a Gun show . Buy when You see it. money Talks BULL Walks.. It was his Until you paid For It

[opos]

If I'm at a swap meet or sale I limit the "small talk" with the seller..if he's got an item I want and I got the money I just buy it..I had occasion some years ago to find a "grab bag" full of stuff and there were a couple of items that were pretty valuable...the guy had it priced and I grabbed it...wasn't going to tell him what he was selling...that's his responsibility to know..If I find something and "walk away" to think it over..when I come back it's an "all new sale" and I got no claim on what was in the lot before I walked away.

[knfmn]

That was a little sleezy, but I'd have probably taken another look through the box before giving up the money.

Gun shows are dangerous if you spot something you like and have to free up money to pay for it, or if you even take a few minutes to think about buying it. Buddy of mine was at one a couple of years ago and found a model 29 at a great price (no clue what the price was) and told the owner he'd think about it. Buddy got two tables down the row and went back after the revolver. It was already gone.

[EMC45]

Around me gunshows are where one goes and WILL get cheated!

[osteodoc08]

Dang. That sucks big time. Lesson learned and Karma will come back around.

[jcwit]

[QUOTE=salpal48;3284214]At a Gun show . Buy when You see it. money Talks BULL Walks.. It was his Until you paid For It[/QUOTE

Absolutly, my wife had a spot at the Shipshewana Trading Center "AKA Flea Market" for 20 years. Nothing is written in stone, one ever knows what a "beback is" or for that matter if/when they'll ever beback.


Cash on the spot is king, anything else if BS.

[Charley]

Have to agree with the "it ain't yours until you pay for it" crowd. If you look at something, set it down, and go back later to buy it, you MUST look at it again. Don't assume anything. Unless the seller and you had an agreement, where he said, "yes, I will hold this box with these particular items in it until you come back and pay for it", he didn't cheat you. You made a wrong assumption.

[Artful]

Have to agree with the "it ain't yours until you pay for it" crowd. If you look at something, set it down, and go back later to buy it, you MUST look at it again. Don't assume anything. Unless the seller and you had an agreement, where he said, "yes, I will hold this box with these particular items in it until you come back and pay for it", he didn't cheat you. You made a wrong assumption.

Have to agree with this statement. - When dealing with people you don't know - never assume.

[.45Cole]

We had worked out a price on some brass and the box, I told him I'd run out and grab a few bucks. I figured if he wanted something, he'd say "hey, I'm keeping this". I agree, it's his unitl the money is in his hands. I still got a great deal, I was most upset about the fact that he took the one cartridge that implicated him!

I was mad enough that I took the stuff back to call him out for my cash back, but the show was over when I got back and in my haste I locked myself out of the car:groner: I think karma was catching up to me on somethin', or I was payin' it forward!

[NavyVet1959]

Just one of those lessons that we need to learn in life... Like never order off a menu that doesn't have prices on the items, no matter how small and low budget the restaurant looks like in a foreign country. Yeah, my wife recently found out about that rule...

[fatelk]

Sure, it was his until cash changed hands, so he didn't legally rip you off. On the other hand, if you had a gentleman's agreement (handshake deal) that you were buying that box and would be right back with the money, then what he did was unethical. The world's full of them; you'd like to think you could trust people to be honest but unfortunately, as others have said, you sure can't assume.

Another thing to keep in mind- when buying anything in bulk don't feel bad for asking to count instead of just taking the seller's word for it. Twice in the last year or two I've ran into this problem. Once I bought what the seller said was a box of 1,000 pieces of carbine brass for a good price, only to get home to count it and find out it was more like 550. I thought it seemed light but didn't want to question someone's honesty. I assumed wrong.

The next time was a completely different show and seller, selling a bunch of 7.62 ammo loose in bags. I got a real good price, but again it seemed light so I went out and counted them. Again, less than 2/3 what he claimed! I went back and he was all over himself to make it right and get me away from his table. He didn't question my count or anything, which made me wonder.

Funny because I don't go to many shows anymore, and I have too much junk already so I don't buy much of anything either. I just go when there's a show close to wander and visit, look for cheap odds and ends to tinker with. I'd never had that kind of problem in years past, then twice in a row.

[jonp]

How many times do you think a person at a gunshow/yard sale/flea market/used car lot hears "I'll be back"? It's not yours until you buy it. Pay cash for it when you see it but if you have to run off or think on it don't expect it to be there when someone else shows up with money in hand. Always check what you have before you hand over the funds.

Trust in someone you don't know is a precarious thing. You used to be able to give your word and it was good but not anymore.