"Now" hunorous story...
If you have used GB for decades as I have you may have done it once, maybe twice. Worked a deal on the sidelines. Not to maliciously cheat GB out of anything. It's just the peculiar circumstances. 99% of the time they get their 5% and NOW state taxes! I have given them literally hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the years, and still do. A great service I will continue to support. I also use Gunsinternational who offer a one time listing for $15 flat fee, no matter how long it runs.
I worked a deal communicating through the auction question feature. He was about $300 too high for me initially, but took my offer. I had his name and mailing address. He closed the auction that had no bidders as of yet, as is allowed. BAM our ability to communicate was cut off! As rightfully so. But I had forgotten it would do that and I was not fully prepared. I had sent a stranger $1000 in money orders and other than knowing where I sent the money and the money order numbers I was done. Neither of us had any current auctions on GB to use as vehicles of communication. All he had was my name and a promise to send money. He dd not have my email, phone, nor did I have his.
Cripes! Talk about exposed. It was all my own fault too. Being a sneaky Indian I did have his GB handle and made him a "favorite seller". If either of us posted an auction we had communication again. In his GB handle he had "xxxxddsxxx". Everyone knows lots of crazy dentists love guns, hunting, and have the disposable money to pursue adventure and nice things. I had the town where he lived. A home phone number was conjured, with some effort, off the net. But no answer, no machine. I then found a dentist listed (DDS) with his name in the town. A phone call to the receptionist got a chance to leave a message. I told her I sent him "money for a 338", didn't even say rifle or gun, and wanted to leave my contact information for him. Thankfully he had trained her well. She said "I think he'll want to talk to you himself, let me see if I can get him". It showed promise. Low and behold it WAS him! LOL. Whew! Really nice guy and a perfectionist as presumed.
Boy did I pull my fat from the fire. Praise Jesus who loves me, despite my dumb self. Don't do what I did. By buying out of auction I did expose myself and any benefits the Brokerage service offers from years of refinement. It's not a regular thing but does present itself on rare occasion. I thought the recounted story might be amusing and a bit of cautionary information. Sometimes being a Misfit can be trying.