Whether you’re buying stuff on Infinite Armory, GunBroker, forums, Reddit, or something from a Facebook/Instagram post, sending the payment to the seller is always one of the scariest and riskiest parts of the transaction … especially when it comes to 2A related kit.
Between scammers targeting us more than ever before and seemingly every payment service having anti-2A policies, the chances of becoming a victim of fraud can be extremely high if you’re not careful. Ultimately, the best option is to have a high degree of trust in the person you’re doing a transaction with. Features like our seller feedback is one example of how to build that trust with someone … but ultimately, if you don’t feel comfortable about a transaction… STOP. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. And if your spidey sense is tingling that something isn’t right, error on the side of caution.
But even after vetting a buyer or seller, the different payment methods can still be confusing. We thought it would be helpful to list out each payment method Infinite Armory currently supports along with some of the pros and cons of each one.
PayPal Goods & Services
The standard method of sending PayPal, known as “Goods & Services”, is the classic way to pay someone that is typically advertised as coming with “buyer protection”. Meaning if there’s a problem with the transaction (e.g., you never receive your item), PayPal will generally allow the buyer to file a claim and receive their money back. They charge a fee, typically 3.5%, to the seller for this service.
Facebook is rampant with people sharing their “I got scammed” stories and inevitably there will be 200 comments of people saying things like “that’s why I only use PP GS”. There’s some problems with that though.
While PayPal’s buyer protection generally works pretty well, it specifically doesn’t cover sales that are related to items that violate PayPal’s policies. PayPal is notoriously anti-gun and has denied claims for things even remotely related to firearms, including things like night vision and tactical kit. And beyond just denying claims, they will often straight up ban both the buyer and the seller if they get a whiff that gun related items were involved in the transaction. So, while you as a buyer might feel safe paying for something with PP GS, ultimately all the seller has to do when you file a claim is mention something gun related, and boom, claim denied and your PP account is locked.
PayPal Friends & Family
The alternative with PayPal’s “Goods & Services” is to send the payment via “Friends & Family”. This is an option that PayPal provides for … you guessed it … sending money to friends and family … and bypasses their fee structure, meaning that if you fund the payment with a bank account or your PayPal balance, the entire transaction is fee-free. The potential downside of course is that friends and family payments offer no buyer protection.
This tends to be the most common way we see payments sent for gun related items across various marketplaces. Because ultimately PayPal’s protection guarantees are empty promises within our hobby.