An Airsofter’s Guide to Buy/Sell Groups

Buying and selling replicas and gear through the interwebs is nothing new in the airsoft community, and there are a lot of ways people do it: reddit, facebook groups, HopUp, letgo/general marketplace apps, and selling directly to stores that have a “used wall.” But with the consistent influx of new members in the airsoft community, there’s often confusion on how to properly go about buying and selling online. In this document I’m going to compile a strategic “How To” guide, putting together what I believe to be the most valuable tips in order to serve as a general guideline for anyone who wants to buy or sell online.

Tip Number 1: PayPal Is Your Friend

Payment may come at the tail end of the buying/selling process, but it is the most important aspect of buying and selling and will prevent you from getting scammed. The vast majority of people in this community who buy and sell online use PayPal as their primary method of payment, and for good reason too. For those of you who have a PayPal account, the reason would be obvious. But for those of you who do not, PayPal offers incredible buyer protection and has the option to file a claim if you believe you have been scammed. But in order to utilize this protection, you must use the “Goods and Services” payment option.

What does this mean?

Let’s go through a hypothetical. Say you wanted to buy a plate carrier, and saw someone selling a lightly used model for enough under the stock price to warrant a purchase. You pay him $70 for the PC, and after he receives the payment he stops responding to you. Clearly he has just taken your money and has scammed you. But, if you paid him through PayPal Goods and Services, you can file a claim against the transaction. This claim will allow you to tell PayPal that he took your money and ghosted you, even allowing you to submit picture evidence (i.e. screenshots the sale post, the conversation, and the seller repeatedly ignoring you). If PayPal sees that you are in the right and have been scammed, they will remove the money from the seller’s account and return it to you.

If you are a seller, and a buyer files a false claim against you in an attempt to trick the system and get your item for free, you are also given an opportunity to present evidence to dismiss the buyer’s claims. The decision to refund the money or not is ultimately at the mercy of PayPal, which leads into the second tip I have for you guys.

Tip Number 2: Always Keep Receipts and Records

In the event that there is a dispute over the transaction, evidence is the most important thing you can have. This is often in the form of screenshots of conversations/the sales post, and videos of the product itself. From the buyer’s perspective, it is always important to keep a record of the conversations, details of the purchase, and any other information you believe to be valuable (i.e. an unboxing video with proof of no tampering prior to the recording) saved until you can guarantee that the item(s) arrived as advertised. If you find that it came in worse condition than advertised, or it did not come in at all, the evidence you compiled can be used to guarantee a refund in the event of a PayPal dispute.

From the seller’s perspective, it is just as important. Just as there are scammers that sell items and never ship/ship something that was not advertised, there are scammers that file false claims to take their money back. Saving conversations, providing proof of shipment (packaging/shipment video, tracking information), and time stamped proof of function (in the case of a replica or electronic item) will all help your case should a dispute be filed. Another important step for sellers is to confirm arrival and quality of the product. In the context of a false dispute from the buyer, if you have evidence of them confirming the quality and function to be as advertised, the task of convincing PayPal that you are telling the truth becomes much easier.

Tip Number 3: Be Specific In Your Listing

This one is surprisingly more necessary than you think. If you want a product to sell, you have to give specific details about it. If you just list “airsoft vest” or “spare motor,” no one is going to go for it. It is important to, at the very least, give the brand and general product name in the title along with its level of use (ie. lightly used Cyma AEG, brand new G&G GBBP, heavily used Flyye 6094a). Then the description can be used to give specifics to the item’s wear and conditions you have for the deal (who pays shipping, if you accept trades, local meetup only?). Providing these details allow any potential buyers to know exactly what they are in for and provides a baseline for haggling.

Tip Number 4: Pay Attention To The Listings!

I have had too many people message me about products I have listed asking questions that are answered in the sale post itself. Some beautiful examples are:

“So this is the price shipped, right?” No, my listing says the buyer pays for shipping.

“Is the whole lot still available? And how much for everything?” The description lists every item and their respective price, and no some of them have been marked as sold.

“Would you trade for a _____?” No, my post clearly says no trades.

There are a lot of sellers who will simply ignore potential buyers who neglect to read the posts before asking questions, so it is important to make sure that you read and understand them.

There is also a term that I want to cover in this section to make sure that all newcomers to the buy/sell part of the community understand. If an item is marked as “boneyard,” that means that it is either in a non-working or an unknown condition. This could mean the gearbox is locked, or the gearbox is missing, as an example. There is no standard condition that allows an item to be considered boneyard. Due to this, it is understood and practiced that a boneyard sale is final and there are no refunds. This is even practiced by larger companies such as Evike that have boneyard lots for sale. It is important to understand this term and the situations it is used in, because you will lose any refund dispute over a “boneyard” item.

I once had a non-functioning GBBP slide for sale, as it was gifted to me by a friend and I had no way to test its functionality myself. So I put it up for sale, detailing the situation and listing it as a boneyard item. The slide did not work with the buyer’s GBBP, so he filed a PayPal dispute against me and lost because I had sufficient evidence proving that the listing was boneyard and the understood policy behind those types of sales. A lack of understanding will only hurt you when buying and selling, especially if it is in the context of item specifications.

Tip Number 5: Get Verification

This tip should be used to confirm that the seller actually has the product he/she has listed and that you will not get scammed. Before a payment is made to the seller, always get confirmation of the product. This can include, but is not limited to, extra pictures of the item(s), a picture of the item(s) with the buyer or seller’s name written on a piece of paper next to it, a video of the item(s) functioning (in the case of a replica or other mechanical item), and a time stamped picture (picture of the item(s) with a piece of paper showing the current date). This extra step will verify that the seller has the item he/she has listed, and that the item is currently in the same condition that it is advertised as.

Another form of verification that is incredibly important is a shipping confirmation and tracking number. Most sellers will already plan on sending you the tracking number, most commonly by sending a picture of the shipping receipt, but it is important to provide clear communication to the seller that you expect to see one. It is a common trick for scammers to not send a tracking number and claim that they either didn’t get a receipt or lost it, and you should be incredibly suspicious of any seller that attempts this kind of behavior.

Tip Number 6: Proper Pricing/Labelling

One of the most common points of conflict in the buying/selling world is how a product is priced. “Why would I pay $__ for it used when I can get it new for an extra $10?” Pricing can be difficult, especially if you don’t have much reselling experience. There are varying thoughts and opinions on how to price items, and even more on how to sell “rare” or “discontinued” items, but here is a general guideline you can follow:

• If pre-owned but still new in the box, the resale value is roughly 75–80% the current price
• Being discontinued does not mean that it is rare or valuable
• Rare and valuable are not one in the same
• If the product is still available for purchase at a retailer, do not list the item as rare
• Used gas replicas (GBBP and GBBR) with one magazine are often only worth about half their original retail value, but extra magazines will add roughly 80% of their retail value per magazine to the overall worth

If you have a custom replica (upgraded, customized, or modified in any way), the following formula is often used to calculate the replica’s resale value:

(0.65x[retail value of replica]) + (0.50x[retail value of upgrade parts]) + (0.75x[retail value of accessories & add ons]) = resale value of replica

You do not have to follow the percentages or formulas exactly when selling your replicas and gear, but these are the conditions that many in the buy/sell airsoft community follow and you will be more likely to attract buyers if you do.

Another key point for pricing is to be flexible and willing to negotiate. With the resale value of used replicas and gear varying so much, it is wise to not be firm on your price. If you get a lowball offer (an offer significantly below the listed value of the item), give them a counter-offer, and go back and forth until you either agree on a price or get to the lowest you will sell at. It is common practice for sellers to anticipate negotiation and in turn raise the listing price of their item. This is done to raise the “middle ground” price that negotiations typically settle on, allowing it to be closer to the true value of the item.

Tip Number 7: Trading Precautions

Trading can easily become the wild west, so it is important to understand why and what to do. The risk of trading with someone on the internet is that, outside of a possible text conversation, there is no trail of a transaction taking place. When trading items, there is no PayPal to provide buyer protection, and trades are one of the most common transaction types to get scammed in. Personally, I do not trade unless it is face to face, allowing both parties to be present and not relying on trust to ensure that your item is actually sent your way.

But, with the risk comes an equal amount of reward. If you are looking for an item that is no longer sold, was custom made, or is often incredibly hard to get a hold of, it can be quite beneficial to have the owner of that item also want something that you own. If you decide to take the risk and trade, there are a few rules that are commonly followed. Each party will usually cover their own shipping fee, but it is also commonplace for the total shipping cost to be split evenly amongst the parties involved.

It is also highly recommended to use a platform that utilizes vouchers when trading. Do not trade with a person that has less than 10 vouchers. Low voucher counts often mean that the person is new to selling, does not have a good reputation, or had to make a new account. Under any of these three circumstances, the user has not been put in a trustworthy enough light to consider a trade with them. It is also always recommended to contact the vouchers of the individual you wish to trade with. This will allow you to gain first hand accounts of how the individual conducts their business, clueing you in on what to expect with your transaction. When it comes to shipping items in a trade, the individual with the least amount of vouchers will ship first, with the other either shipping after receiving the item or once a tracking number is provided (this will be decided before the first item is shipped).

Tip Number 8: Shipping

This one is short and sweet. NEVER SHIP AN ITEM BEFORE YOU RECEIVE PAYMENT FOR IT!!!

Hopefully you guys were able to learn some valuable skills and information from this guide. The intent is not to control or police how people go about buying and selling their airsoft stuff. I simply want to have a complete, sharable set of guidelines for anyone who may not be sure about something in the airsoft buy/sell community. If you got this far, congratulations! I’m glad that you took the time to read all the way through and I hope you were able to benefit from the information above.