830singleshot wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2026 at 4:20pm:


And why not wait until any and all questions are answered by the seller??? Where's the harm in that? (Unless the seller is dilatory or uncaring to reply, I suppose.) Best to just throw money away and assume/hope for the best that it fits your needs? I don't think so. Is that how you conduct business every where else? Do you waltz into a car dealership and point at any car and say I'll take it without asking at least a couple questions? Would you buy a knife on line without at least asking what steel the blade is or what material the scales are? I think not, and the analogy fits here the same way no matter the scale of the purchase. (And if one doesn't ask those kinds of questions then one is letting himself open to a pretty fair degree of a chance for disappointment.) Edit to add: especially when dealing with old Ideal molds which we all know can produce diameters all over the map.

It has galled me over the years to witness the behavior of line jumpers here and on many other forums. It would seem to be normal behavior in some quarters. I've held my counsel about it until now when I've had it happen to me.

The first "I'll take it" on this form wins. Not PM's not questions while someone makes up their mind. That is how I do it as a seller and I see most on this form do it as well. If you are not committed you loose out. 

Flatlander

Ladies. Ladies, my head is starting to hurt.

The only way to settle this is pistols at dawn.

[quote 
If you were at a gun show and saw someone looking at an item for sale, and discussing price would you jump in and tell the seller "I'll take it?" Might get smacked in the nose for things like that.
[/quote]
I was walking around with a nice piece at a gun show and one of the table owners asked me if he could see what I was carrying. He looked at it and asked my price and I told him and he was immediately trying to get me to come down to a lower price. Of course that's not untypical of any firearm sale. A guy standing next to me to asked if he could see the rifle and I showed it to him and he said "I'll take it for that". Guess who got the rifle? Everybody has their ideas of how we should conduct a sale but it's always been the first I'll take it that counts with me. Holding up a sale by asking to see more pictures or trying to negotiate is rude to me while somebody is there ready to buy at your price. Just my take and I know it will differ from a lot of people.

Need some popcorn for this show

I'll be the odd man out here, on the issue of not getting in the middle of a buyer trying to lowball a seller.

I buy estates.  Many are gun/reloading/knife estates.  

Something I run into commonly is a widow selling her husbands stuff or a daughter selling her dads.  Very, very often there's a "good friend" of the deceased negotiating to buy some of the collection, usually the best, most valuable pieces.

I OFTEN interject myself into those transactons, and just clearly say "THESE ARE WORTH A LOT MORE THAN YOU'RE BEING OFFERED.  I'll pay real value, give you a written bid that is itemized so you can compare, and I'll take them all, not just the cream of the crop".  The "friends" are sometimes very, very angry.  But, I get a lot of these estates, get a lot of referrals from the sellers, and make a reasonable profit on them, while acting fairly.  

Any time I see a Great Negotiator trying to take advantage of a naive seller, I have no compunction in making a fair offer to compete.  

As a seller, I try to set my prices at a fair market value.  I hold firm at that, and don't negotiate price.  Then, the less time it takes to make a sale, the better the return on my time.  I have a set policy on my ebay and gunbroker sales. Two questions, okay.  Three, you're out.   If a buyer askes a question that is not covered in my description or the photos, I politely answer it.  If they ask a clarification question after that, I'll answer that.  If they start using targeted questions to make the item look bad (common lowballer tactic), I don't reply and block them.  If a looker continues to ask questions like "is that a rust spot I see?  Is it stained on the left side?  It looks like it has a slight burr?", I politely reply "It appears that you're looking for a perfect item that needs to suit your tastes exactly.  I am interested in happy buyers, that will be pleased with their item.  Since you are already not happy about the item BEFORE you have purchased it, you will not be pleased with it after you purchase it.  Please find another item that is exactly as you want it, and do not buy my item".  Then, if I can, I block them from bidding/buying.  Sometimes they get quite angry and find ways to message me to express that.  But, I genuinely believe that we're both happier not doing business.

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7drq0l

All you had to do in your initial post was to unconditionally say " I'll take it", end of story.  Now, even though you still don't know anything else about it besides what the seller originally posted your acting like you called dibs on the front seat while at the same time acting like I committed a capital offense . 
I have the same information you have and made a clean, easy deal for the seller.  You on the other hand wanted him to jump through hoops before you made a final decision.  Good grief, it was $65 to your door.  Take a chance once in a while or don't play.  Real estate and other business deals often get multiple full price offers the seller has to sort through.  A cash deal without qualifications as is beats a contingency deal EVERY time. 
Go back and read your original offer and mine.