But once you add in the shipping and the FFL fee the price is usually higher than the local stores. Much higher in some cases even when you take taxes into account.

That's another thing. When I buy a gun at a local shop, I spend more on sales tax than I would on shipping from an out-of-state shop.

Gunbroker is an auction but not really an auction since mostly dealers reside there and keep their minimum bids high. I have sold 2 guns thru them and got more then a trade-in at a local dealer but less then retail price. They are good as someone pointed out for reference prices and that is pretty much about it. My local dealer will match any price on one of these auction sites.. I will pay tax as opposed to the transfer fee and shipping which in some cases can be a wash. At least the gun is in my hands where I can examine it. Lots of people have been burned buying misrepresented guns ..not everyone but a lot of people have.

I use Gunbroker for buying and selling. If you do your homework, you can find a bargain every now and then. If I had no conscience last week , I could have really gotten a deal. There was a guy selling, what , to him, was an old winchester model 70. He had it up for no reserve, with a starting bid of 350. based on the serial number, it was an originaal pre-war model 70. I emailed him and told him what it was before anyone bid on it, and he re-listed and got about 1500.00 for it. I wish I could ditch the conscience sometimes. You can find bargains but you really have to search.