Not another GPal – the simple proof that GunTab is safe
Some people in the firearms community learn about GunTab and are reminded of the GPal disaster. They don't need to worry.
What was GPal?
GPal was supposed to be a gun-friendly PayPal clone. So gun-friendly, in fact, that its official name was GunPal, Inc. It launched in November, 2009. But problems started to surface within weeks. Buyers were not getting their merchandise, and sellers were not getting their money. Soon they started filing complaints with third parties. For example, the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center started receiving complaints in January, just 2 months after GPal launched, and even published a Scam Alert later in 2010, calling it "a Ponzi scheme". By 2011 GPal had formally shut down. It was a disaster.
Many people in the firearms community got burned by GPal. Some lost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Many of them are still angry about it. Rightfully so. What happened to them was really rotten, and it wasn't their fault.
What happened to GPal?
The story behind GPal's collapse was never made public. GPal stated there was "excessive holding of customer funds by the credit card acquiring banks." That means the banks got scared – but why? Almost certainly because GPal was overrun by scammers. Most likely they were using stolen credit cards to funnel money to bank accounts they controlled. GPal would not have been the first payment platform to succumb to this type of fraud; "spiraling fraud losses contributed to many of [PayPal's] competitors like eMoneyMail, PayMe, and PayPlace ceasing operation" (The PayPal Wars, p. 154). Ultimately, GPal's lack of fraud protections basically turned it into a siphon for fraudsters to suck money out of the firearms community.
How is GunTab different from GPal?
GunTab is not another GPal. Yes, we have far more effective scam protections. In fact, we have been successfully running transactions since 2015 without a single buyer getting scammed. That is twice as long as GPal even existed. But we're different from GPal in a much more fundamental way.
GPal was simply "a payment processor" for the financial aspect of a transaction. It didn't really care about the transaction. In fact, it got paid before the transaction was even complete. GunTab is an escrow service for seamlessly conducting your entire transaction. We only get paid after the transaction is complete. In other words, our business model requires that our customers have successful transactions.
What if GPal hadn't failed?
Even if GPal still existed, GunTab would be superior because it offers a much nicer service at the same price. GPal didn't help you find an FFL to ship to. GPal didn't send shipment delivery notifications. GPal didn't hold your funds securely until you received what you purchased. GPal only processed your payment. That's it. The rest, complicated as it is, GPal left you to puzzle out on your own. That is a huge difference from GunTab.
GunTab walks the buyer and seller through every step of the transaction to help ensure it is safe, simple and legal. That includes not just payment, but also shipping and transfer. And GunTab offers complete transaction security for both the buyer and seller. Yet GunTab only charges 2.9%, presumably what GPal would charge if it still existed today (because it was a PayPal clone and PayPal currently charges 2.9%; it charged 2.8% in 2011). Even if GPal still existed, why would you pay the same price for so much less?
GunTab might seem like a spiritual successor to GPal. But ironically, there are ways in which GunTab is the exact opposite of GPal. Foremost, GunTab is consistently reducing the firearms community's exposure to scammers. The scammers that doomed GPal didn't just disappear. They and others like them are still around, posting fake firearm ads and asking for checks, money orders, Venmo, Zelle, and bitcoin. These people want to steal payments and commit identity theft. GunTab is successfully thwarting them. Where scammers loved GPal, they hate GunTab.
Moving into the future
Many people invested in the promise of the technology revolution in the 1990s and lost money in the dot-com bust in 2000. Hopefully that didn't stop them from investing in other technology companies after that. The promise of technology was real, and technology companies have delivered huge returns since then. Those people could have tried again and enjoyed the tremendous investing success they originally wanted.
Likewise, if you lost money on GPal ten years ago, hopefully it doesn't stop you from using GunTab today. The promise of online firearm transactions is real. With GunTab you can have the safe, simple, fantastic transactions you originally wanted. It's free to open an account. Try it now.