Armslist is now a pay to use site

[Member 5605]

This will drive more ads on Northwest Firearms now, just make sure you know who you are dealing with.

Better for those who are established and have a good reputation.


So how do we cancel our AL account since it's now all behind a pay wall?

 

[Mikej]

We have to remember that at least here in Oregon SB941 was passed using emergency actions, not a bill or something sent to the citizens to vote on. Washington is a mess more than once.

Many of the gun stores or smaller ffl have kept background prices reasonable. Others gouge. Ive heard one is 75 now. Wont name them, but needless to say I will never step foot in there if I need something 2A related

I realize this. But where were all the k8 brown recall petitions on the counters of local gun shops when they were needed? Without HER spurring 941 wouldn't have been passed. Seems these businesses that need the firearms owners/enthusiasts to survive don't really care about us. Worried about bad press? But screw the 2nd amendment? After all, make guns much more expensive to buy/own and they make more money? Is there actually any reasoning for the firearms businesses to not say one word about the constant barrage of infringements coming down the pipe? Seems we support these people, and a lot of them don't step up and help us?

I'd name that outfit that has the nads to charge $75.00 for a transfer, in a heartbeat!

 

[Mikej]

This will drive more ads on Northwest Firearms now, just make sure you know who you are dealing with.

Better for those who are established and have a good reputation.

A person's got to have some common sense. Honestly, when someone gets taken, and you look at the way it went down, most the time there were all kinds of thing that point to a scam. Some people just shouldn't even try to buy stuff online.

 

[trekkerpaul]

This will drive more ads on Northwest Firearms now, just make sure you know who you are dealing with.

Better for those who are established and have a good reputation.


So how do we cancel our AL account since it's now all behind a pay wall?

I couldn't find any way to cancel my account. There is quite literally no account access if you don't pay. I couldn't see my ads or favorites via my sign in. I can search and see my only ad, but thats it.

 

[Joe Link]

This will drive more ads on Northwest Firearms now, just make sure you know who you are dealing with.

Better for those who are established and have a good reputation.

Yep, along with the scammers unfortunately

A person's got to have some common sense. Honestly, when someone gets taken, and you look at the way it went down, most the time there were all kinds of thing that point to a scam. Some people just shouldn't even try to buy stuff online.

Exactly. I'll be adding more 'best practices' notices in a few places in the new system to remind people.

 

[Grizzly_A]

A person's got to have some common sense. Honestly, when someone gets taken, and you look at the way it went down, most the time there were all kinds of thing that point to a scam. Some people just shouldn't even try to buy stuff online.

I mostly agree with you. Unfortunately, I just had the unpleasant experience of getting scammed for the first time on Armslist a couple of weeks ago. I've done business on that site for 10 years off and on and it used to be really easy to pick out the scammers from the non-scammers. Especially when F2F transactions were legal. I've always reported those links, when I came across them. If you look at my last 2 interactions on different listings, you'd think both were legit, but only one was. I got scammed, but I don't blame AL for it. It was on me, and there's no recourse. It's just the way it is. I blame 2020. This whole year sucks, and for Oregon it's going to continue to suck.

I do think that it's the nail in the coffin for AL, and the anti-2A folks will list it as a win for them.
There's a lot of things that could've been done, but weren't. It's water under the bridge and there's very little chance of reversing it given climate.

Same thing here, there's gonna be changes to the classifieds system and there's gonna be a bunch of folks who don't like it. Can't make everyone happy, but it is what it is.

 

[JedB]

One of the things that I have seen used on the watch, pen and motorcycle forums I'm on, is that you have to have a minimum number of posts (usually 10) to send Private message and (usually 50) to post "For Sale" ads.

That doesn't punish sellers, and encourages participation.

@Joe Link see above as a possible solution & thanks for keeping a place for us here!

 

[Mikej]

I mostly agree with you. Unfortunately, I just had the unpleasant experience of getting scammed for the first time on Armslist a couple of weeks ago. I've done business on that site for 10 years off and on and it used to be really easy to pick out the scammers from the non-scammers. Especially when F2F transactions were legal. I've always reported those links, when I came across them. If you look at my last 2 interactions on different listings, you'd think both were legit, but only one was. I got scammed, but I don't blame AL for it. It was on me, and there's no recourse. It's just the way it is. I blame 2020. This whole year sucks, and for Oregon it's going to continue to suck.

I do think that it's the nail in the coffin for AL, and the anti-2A folks will list it as a win for them.
There's a lot of things that could've been done, but weren't. It's water under the bridge and there's very little chance of reversing it given climate.

Same thing here, there's gonna be changes to the classifieds system and there's gonna be a bunch of folks who don't like it. Can't make everyone happy, but it is what it is.

Sorry to hear about that. I've never posted or bought from AL. I came here and only bought for the most part. The rating system is Da' Bomb! If I don't get, what I consider semi intelligent communication, I'm not buying or selling. Joe's going to change it how ever he wants. I figure I'll always be in due to my support of the site and being a long time member, no sweat for me. I just don't want to see the classifieds dwindle. Heck, half the time I don't even know what I need until I peruse the ads constantly.

 

[ma96782]

This. ^^ I was surprised ALL the many gun related businesses just sat on their thumbs while Or and Wa passed the universal background check laws. Then those same businesses step up to do us the favor of charging $40.00-$50.00, or more, to do a 15-20 minute private transfer.

For some FFLs....
I suspect that collecting the "fees" were/was a big part of their business plan. The FFL near my home (now out of business) was in FAVOR of making every gun purchase go through an FFL. He claimed that it would be SAFER.

Rrrrrright......

At any rate.....the 15-20 mins???? Well, in some places/cases, it's now days to weeks and I've even heard of months in delays.

Aloha, Mark

 

[STEELE]

I've used them in the past never had any issues. Got a few really good deals on things. Not to surprising that they want a piece of the pie.

The reality is that someone has to pay for the pie, either in $$ or time. Nothing is free, sadly.

 

[doobee8]

They have Ads everywhere though. What a scam!

 

[Sporting Systems]

While I think some local businesses do share some of the burden (especially the ones who sat by knowing that it would benefit their bottom line), I'm mostly talking about the BIG guys such as Cabela's (and to a lesser extent Sportsman's, Fisherman's, etc). We do have some fantastic local shops who are really stepping up, such as @Sporting Systems.

And the battle continues today, with a new lawsuit being tee'd up right now.

I'd be happy to see Armslist go away. We dealt with them for years, with about 500 listings at any given time. 95% that came through there just wanted to argue with us, scam us, ask about 30 different guns, or complain about something. They had no support for premium vendors, refused to answer inquires from us, didn't allow us to change the primary email on the account, and finally would allow us to quit. We cancelled the card it charged to, it was the only way to cancel out. I think the local classified pages like on NW Firearms is a better set up, and serves a regional client base much better.

 

[trekkerpaul]

And the battle continues today, with a new lawsuit being tee'd up right now.

I'd be happy to see Armslist go away. We dealt with them for years, with about 500 listings at any given time. 95% that came through there just wanted to argue with us, scam us, ask about 30 different guns, or complain about something. They had no support for premium vendors, refused to answer inquires from us, didn't allow us to change the primary email on the account, and finally would allow us to quit. We cancelled the card it charged to, it was the only way to cancel out. I think the local classified pages like on NW Firearms is a better set up, and serves a regional client base much better.

Thats very interesting to hear. I do remember the email issue in the past, even at sign up for a free account. Nice to hear first hand from a vendor that was paying good money to list items.

The contact I've had with them via email was usually turning in scammers. Many times I would search pics or text and find they were copied from old ads on forums or even gunbroker. Scammers were even copying gunbroker ads from current listings. I contacted the sellers and asked and they had no idea. AL not only wouldn't respond, they would leave the ads up. This is with the links to the original listing elsewhere being sent along with the AL scam listing. I had the direct email to report scams. AL has really done a disservice to the 2A world if they are only looking to make a buck without doing the work. This pay to play plow will backfire 100%.

 

[RVTECH]

If I win my run for Governor of Oregon the FIRST thing I will do is rescind SB941!

 

[Bushman]

I'm honestly not surprised about this. Betting that Craigslist is going to do the same exact thing soon, and FB marketplace already asking for money to "boost" your ads TacSwap requires a $5 one time fee for verification, and it seems decent, but not quite the same as Gunbroker or Armslist..

CL charges me $7 to list ads to hire contractors for projects or even small repairs. I pay a guy $40 to replace a faucet at a rental, I have to pay $7 for basic HTML and CSS listing....

 

[Bushman]

I got the Armslist email today and just checked out the Armslist site where I have a couple of things listed.

With this new website change (that I didn't know was coming), I can't even edit my existing listings unless I upgrade.

At the moment I'm not going to upgrade as it doesn't seem worth it if buyers also have to pay to communicate as that will drastically shrink the audience.

Time will tell if I change my mind to stay on Armslist.

Yup. Once they begin charging for that garbage site it will go away. There will be only 3 people on there left, messaging each other about their $1,200 gen 2 Glocks with a single 10 round magazine.

 

[2A2Dend]

Bye bye CL.
I'm holding up my right hand. Back of hand towards you.
There is one finger at full extension.
Guess which one it is.

 

[gunner13]

Get ready for an influx of new users here. You can't even email a seller without paying? HUGE mistake... You can make the sellers pay to list, but buyers will go somewhere else.

View attachment 766212

Completely agree

 

[Ducati_Meister]

CL charges me $7 to list ads to hire contractors for projects or even small repairs. I pay a guy $40 to replace a faucet at a rental, I have to pay $7 for basic HTML and CSS listing....

I've got my car on CL, and they charge $5 for a 30 day ad and I still get these bubble gum scammers contacting me daily. Scammers are probably getting pre paid cards (stolen ones most likely) and using them to infiltrate CL, AL etc. What a screw.

 

[Ducati_Meister]

For some FFLs....
I suspect that collecting the "fees" were/was a big part of their business plan. The FFL near my home (now out of business) was in FAVOR of making every gun purchase go through an FFL. He claimed that it would be SAFER.

Rrrrrright......

At any rate.....the 15-20 mins???? Well, in some places/cases, it's now days to weeks and I've even heard of months in delays.

Aloha, Mark

One of my local shops charges $40 for out of state transfers and $50 for in state transfers. It's a gravy train I'm sure. I did a form 3 for an NFA item and they charged me $200 on top of the $200 transfer tax to the feds. $200 to do a PDF form in 5 minutes? Good lord, talk about gouging.