First off let me say I have no connection to anyone involved in this transaction. I have bought and sold on a number of on-line gun sites though and I have a couple questions...

You say you exchanged emails & phone calls and finally struck a deal. I assume this means you made the deal outside the auction site?

Did he already have the gun listed when you started negotiating?

I'm not familiar with gunsamerica. Looked em over and wasn't impressed with the difficult to navigate site. Now if this is how GA operates - private negotiations between buyer & seller - then I'm totally out of order. Most auction sites have rules against making bargins outside the auction though. They also hold sellers (and buyers) to the deal made inside the bounds of the site.

Please don't be offended if I'm missing something but considering the above it sounds like your deal was the shady one - he should have never agreed to it or even entertained it by the rules. Had he honored the deal made to you and not the one on the auction site THAT guy (auction buyer) is the one who'd really been on the short end of the stick.

Again, if I'm missing something I apologize up front. Actually most buyers & sellers are pretty much on their own as far as safety. Its the chance you take. Just be glad you hadn't sent your money before he backed out!