Armslist No Longer Free?

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  • Eastwind

    Nice!
    May 3, 2020
    119
    I woke up this morning to bump my listings on Armslist. Looks like I can't- the site is blocking me from my already existing listings and saying that I have to pay a monthly fee for features that have been free since its conception.

    It's such a shame too. Looks like these greedy bastards are looking to cash in on the people who are going to try and sell their firearms before the election. Why on earth would I ever use Armslist over Gunbroker now? One is far superior to the other and actually justifies its fees.

    Is there a chance that this is just me? Is there something I'm missing here? Maybe my account is limited? I've tried logging in via an alternate account and I get the same message. That and when I try to create a new account, it forces you to enter payment information.

    Anyways, looks like I'm done using Armslist! Anyone have any good alternatives, other than the wonderful classifieds located here? Asking for buyers AND sellers.

    Also all the anonymity of Armslist is gone. You are now required to provide payment information and personal information, all of which makes it easy for any entity to determine your identity.

    Edit: Seems buyers have to pay to message sellers too. Thanks DutchV

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    DutchV

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 8, 2012
    4,703
    I get the same popup. The links are dead for anything but "Upgrade". Luckily I didn't use them much.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Gunbroker is the alternative, but it will cost you money if you sell stuff. ar15.com is pretty great if you're willing to ship.

    It's not reasonable to expect AL et al to operate for free when they are continuously targeted with litigation.
     

    DutchV

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 8, 2012
    4,703
    They want to make buyers pay too. You can't contact a seller without upgrading your account.
     

    budman93

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 1, 2013
    5,267
    Frederick County
    Craigslist did this for some listings too. Since they started charging a fee to list cars the fake/scam listings have dropped precipitously. I'ts not a bad thing.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    They want to make buyers pay too. You can't contact a seller without upgrading your account.
    Wow... no. $70 a year (I'm not doing ACH, lol) is crazy for buyers. That's not gonna fly. They'd be better off just charging you a buck to contact a seller and call it a day. Would nuke spammers and looky-loos, but wouldn't dissuade legit buyers.
     

    E.Shell

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 5, 2007
    10,245
    Mid-Merlind
    I advertised on Armslist and had a ratio of scammers to honest inquiries of about 5:1. Once my ads sold or expired, I was done.
     

    dweissman

    Member
    Mar 23, 2020
    34
    I've always had more luck with the (free) classifieds on this forum and others (ex. VA gun trader) than Armslist anyway. Good riddance.
     

    Sirex

    Powered by natural gas
    Oct 30, 2010
    10,380
    Westminster, MD
    I have gotten several good deals on AL in the past, as well as sold a few items off, however the large number of scammers has gotten ridiculous. Last time I tried, and set up and account, it kept telling me it was invalid or something. Just too hard to use anymore, and as previously stated, the anonymity is gone. I have mainly stuck to looking on here, but have also been able to search Gunbroker by state, find a couple items, and cut out the shipping and do a face to face. Last I saw, Gunbroker only kept auctions available for 90 days after closing or so, so I think there is a little privacy at least.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    They want to make buyers pay too. You can't contact a seller without upgrading your account.

    Then where are people going to go for shady dealings? Back to the streets? This is uncivilized :)

    I put a pistol on Armslist once and regretted it. Nothing but people wanting to make deals and not use MSP or FFL for the transfer
     

    Eastwind

    Nice!
    May 3, 2020
    119
    Then where are people going to go for shady dealings? Back to the streets? This is uncivilized :)

    I put a pistol on Armslist once and regretted it. Nothing but people wanting to make deals and not use MSP or FFL for the transfer

    I got lucky with all of my deals. One active military and all upstanding individuals. It also helped that I only sold unregulated firearms, but the point stands. Never got an email from anyone trying anything illegal, usually only the copy paste scammers.
     

    noddaz

    bonehead
    Jan 9, 2014
    529
    Arnold
    Dear Armslist User

    This is what I see.

    Dear Armslist User,
    I hope all is well.
    You may be finding yourself having some difficulty navigating the site. We thank you for your patience as we upgrade our infrastructure in an effort to reduce scams, and improve the overall user experience. As you may know, we are facing yet another lawsuit from the anti-gunners at Brady United. In an effort to offset the mounting legal costs, we have created a new paid account type: The Premium Personal Program. While it's still in it's early stages, our roadmap for the program includes some exciting new characteristics for our users including exclusive discounts, exclusive deals, and a plethora of new site and account features in the months to come. If you'd like to give it a try, click here. You still are able and always will be able to browse the site for free.
    Thank you again for your continued patience and support as we experience these growing pains. We hope to offer a vastly improved experience soon.
    Best,
    J. Gibbon
     

    Eastwind

    Nice!
    May 3, 2020
    119
    "...our roadmap for the program includes some exciting new characteristics for our users including exclusive discounts, exclusive deals, and a plethora of new site and account features in the months to come..."

    'exclusive discounts, exclusive deals' It isn't a good sign when you can't think of anything else to say so you just sort of repeat yourself and try to make it sound like there's more than there really is. What is this, a high school essay?

    Laughable. If you want to justify a price tag, you provide the product upfront. You don't charge people and then vaguely mention what you are thinking about adding. They have no responsibility to actually deliver on any of those promises, they're just saying that to get people to stick around.

    If they need money for the lawsuit, they could have easily set up a fund raiser. Failing that, what about all the ad revenue they've been collecting over the years? They certainly haven't made very many improvements to the dated website layout...

    "You still are able and always will be able to browse the site for free."

    This doesn't mean jack shit. You can browse the site for "free," find 20 listings you want and buy a subscription, only to have none of them respond to any of your inquiries. Even if they do respond, there's nothing compelling them to complete a transaction. So you'll be out your initial fee and have nothing to show for it. At least Gunbroker provides checkout systems and feedback features and so on. On top of that, they have insurance and a whole host of other features. Plus Gunbroker costs half as much and instead of paying once a month, you only have to pay ONE SINGLE TIME! How nice is that?

    As it stands, Armslist is making you pay a tax to use the most fundamental features of the previously FREE platform while providing nothing new. The ONLY value in Armslist were its userbase and anonymity. One is about to dry up and the other is pretty much gone. Nice.

    Sorry about the venting but I just have to put it out there. :D
     

    Sirex

    Powered by natural gas
    Oct 30, 2010
    10,380
    Westminster, MD
    This is what I see.

    I just got that email today. I tried messaging a seller the other day about something, and instead of getting the squares you click to verify you aren't a bot, I got a message saying I needed to upgrade my account. To ask a seller a question. I can do that here, or Gunbroker for free. I get with the lawsuits, they need money, but they have tons of ads on there. I can even be okay with a minimal fee for selling/listing. I mean, using their platform for profit, but requiring potentials buyers, those who drive the platform, pay to communicate with sellers. I searched my emails today, and I never got an email warning me about this, and if I did it went to spam. Usually just sweepstakes emails, and product emails. But without warning? I was just communicating with a seller last week. If this is due to lawsuits, this is exactly how the left will attack private gun sales if they can't outright ban them, and with Bloomberg funding, an almost inexhaustible legal fund. Win these kind of lawsuits, another reason I am opposed to jumping on the Jo Jorgensen bandwagon. How long before they come after MDShooters and try to shut this down for some BS? I think Armslist is done, like Myspace faded away.
     

    platekiller

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 7, 2011
    1,780
    Martinsburg, WV
    I use Armslist all the time. I figured with all the ads and all they could cover operating costs. Scammers are pretty easy to tell and I like to mess with them lol. I have met some really good folks and made some friends from my armslist dealings. I was trying to write someone with primers. My wife said for as much as I use it just pay the $4. I paid and it still is listed as pending and needs to be processed. We will see how it goes
     

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