Know what you’re buying. This is even more important when you can’t see it in person. When it’s an intangible, such as information, you must be especially careful.
As part of my research for The J Frame Project, I was perusing eBay last night for J Frame stocks. One of the items I came across was a ‘Hogue Tamer‘ for a very low price. It didn’t look quite right (a color I didn’t recognize Hogue ever making) so I czeched into it a bit further. I realized that someone had replaced the stock on their Polymer Bodyguard with the Tamer and then put the Bodyguard stock back in the Tamer package.
The downside of non-sealed packaging is that it’s not hard for this to happen. It’s not always an attempt to deceive, either, just a method of personal accounting for your items. I’ve done that myself. The problem arises when someone else gets hold of the package. The re-packaged factory stock was what the seller was trying to peddle, as New.
As I sometimes do with such erroneous listings, I sent a polite message to the seller letting them know that what they were selling wasn’t what they were describing. There are a lot of esoteric aspects to J Frames that casual gun users don’t always understand, and I try to help people with that. In response, I received a message from the seller this morning:
Dear fst-llc,
Please note the package reads “Hogue Tamer”. Either bid or don’t. Pretty simple.
-thumper0713
Whether the buyer just doesn’t know their product or is being deceptive is unknown to me. The low price is a Red Flag, though. If it’s New, why is it listed for 20 percent of the price every other Seller is charging for the exact same item?
That’s why the phrases Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware) and Pig in a poke have existed for so long. These cautions don’t just apply to products but also to information. The information aspect is something I’ll be delving into quite a bit in The J Frame Project.
tacticalprofessor 
The biggest problem (and more so on GunBroker than even eBay!) are
1) Awful people who do not accept your comments and help. This is a tame response in my experience trying to solve the same sorts of things. 2000 word screeds about how I am stupid in response. Not kidding.
2) The selling sites have no way (or at least no easy way) to report things that are clearly knockoffs, or incorrectly listed. So the community nature of the system is totally lost. I assume because they DNGAF and just want the selling fees, happy customers be damned.
Too bad really, but very, very much: you are 100% right. Be aware what you are buying. Read very closely, look at photos, etc. And you are likely stuck with it, even if it gets to deliberate deception.
Agree fully! I’m interested in your thoughts on the Tamer stocks. And as far as the, “J Frame Project,” you had my interest at J-FRAME!
TNO Trust No One!
To quote Ron White: You can’t fix stupid!
I was once ISO factory parts for an S&W revolver. The new (MIM) parts are not compatible with guns that were manufactured from case hardened billet stock. I bought two hammer/trigger combinations from Gun Broker sellers and they were BOTH incorrect.
Maybe some folks who own guns, shouldn’t?
Hhhmmm…I hope this doesn’t turn out to be the case for the 3 Shield magazines I bought as new in the pkg last night. Not from Ebay or Gunbroker, but $15 each from Sportsmans outdoors superstores.
I have dealt with them. They’re legit!
If they’re legit, then in this case, they’re ignorant.