List Of Legitimate Metal Detector Dealers

[Steve Herschbach]

The issue with counterfeit metal detectors is getting bad. eBay in particular is full of them. Amazon not as bad but they are there. If you Google for lowest pricing, you will find scammers. Be careful buying used now, could just be a front for a scammer. Fake Gold Bugs Destroyed

It’s pretty simple. Metal detector products generally have enforced minimum advertised prices. That’s the price you see most often and at all the legitimate sites. It’s the price I list in the Detector Database. Anybody pretending to be a dealer and selling the item for significantly less is likely to be a scam. Either accept that you have to deal with legitimate dealers selling at the higher prices, or find yourself a scammer selling for less. If all you care about is finding the lowest price on the internet, you WILL get ripped off. Well, not really. It’s voluntary.

I am deleting all the links to these rip off sites when people post them. Outfits like King Detectors or Alibaba. The links below list a lot of them. I don’t mind identifying them by name but I do not want to advertise for them with links. Just accept that they are out there. Thanks.

However, there can also be scammers selling at the minimum advertised price and really making a killing. All manufacturers have lists of legitimate dealers on their websites. You want to stay safe, stick with those. Just a tip however. They can sell for less than the advertised prices... just call them and find your best deal. Tell them you don’t need the “free stuff”, you just want their best deal. 

Genuine Bounty Hunter Metal Detector Dealers 

Genuine Fisher Metal Detector Dealers

Genuine Garrett Metal Detector Dealers

Genuine Minelab Metal Detector Dealers

Genuine Nokta/Makro Metal Detector Dealers

Genuine Teknetics Metal Detector Dealers

Genuine XP Metal Detector Dealers (U.S.)

Genuine XP Metal Detector Dealers (International)

[Jim McCulloch]

Steve, really excellent and timely information. About three years ago a local guy telephoned me asking for my best price on a new GMT. When I gave him the price, he got angry. After all, he had been quoted a price which was LESS than HALF of dealer's cost. The only problem was that he had to wait 3 weeks for it to be shipped to him from CHINA. I wonder how that worked out for him...

[kac]

Aliexpress and Alibaba are usually pretty quick to shut down most the scams if brought to their attention. Ebay is probably at the bottom of the list when it comes to enforcement of this stuff. I certainly would buy a machine from any of those sources or even Amazon as they are just merchant outlets. As soon as a scam merchant is kicked they will be back on doing the same thing under a new name.

I have bought a machine from a USA dealer that happened to have an Ebay store but they also have a regular online store. I do prefer to purchase from the small dealers for stuff directly when they have what I want in stock.

Bigger issue I think is the shopping adverts that direct people to poor sources when they do Google searches or Bing etc. The search engines have been so horribly hijacked with bad data it is almost impossible to find anything legitimate. As long as people are directed in the wrong direction they will continue to make wrong choices.

[Steve Herschbach]

There are a few dealers who hang out on these forums and help answer people’s questions, like Jim up above. Reward them for it when possible.

[KD0CAC]

Don't forget - if you want a store front near by , buy local .

Think about how many interests you have had over time , and they'er fewer independent stores you can goto for too many things , discounting franchises .

I took too long [ a week or 10 days ] thinking about a used one at Metal Detectors of Minneapolis .

Went back & bought a new Equinox 800 without acc. ? a week later bought a Garrett Pro Pointer AT and there was a sale on the pointer I wanted .

Been buying from this store for 15+ yrs. 

A lot of info from having someone to talk to face to face , works here too faceless to faceless , I like when all the sources agree on , here and my local store .  

[Flowdog]

I will put in a plug for Gerry from Idaho here. Based on Steve's general advice that a good dealer is one you can call for help after they have your cash, Gerry has answered the phone and will take his time if you need help. He helped secure military discounts for a pair of 800s for my friend and I. Gerry made sure I had what was necessary to get started, but not more. A gentleman dealer.

[AussieMatt]

It's becoming a big issue in Australia too. The favourite model being ripped off & getting sold down here is the "Fisher" Gold Bug Pro. They retail for over $AUD1000 from legitimate dealers & the rip offs are around $AUD500 on eBay. There is a lot of fake GPX5000's around down here too & no make/model is really safe at all. 

A lot of new buyers feel they have gotten a good deal even after finding out that their new machine is a fake which is the biggest worry. If it beeps on metal they seem to think it's ok.

My advice to new comers is there are no shortcuts or unbelievably cheap deals. If you want the real deal buy from a dealer or do your due diligence on used machines by checking with manufacturers & retailers invoices etc. If I can't verify the purchase details on a used machine I walk & advise others to do the same.

 

[Gerry in Idaho]

On 10/23/2019 at 8:26 PM, Flowdog said:

I will put in a plug for Gerry from Idaho here. Based on Steve's general advice that a good dealer is one you can call for help after they have your cash, Gerry has answered the phone and will take his time if you need help. He helped secure military discounts for a pair of 800s for my friend and I. Gerry made sure I had what was necessary to get started, but not more. A gentleman dealer.

Thanks for the plug Flowdog.  Just realize, on occasion I am down at Rye Patch or Eastern Oregon training customers on their gold detectors.  If that is the case, it might take a couple days before I get the message.  But you know I am great with email too. Now when we are detecting out of county, then the wait time will usually be a week.  Sorry but I enjoy this hobby so much I get withdraws when there is not a new product to test and compare.

Yes, being a VET myself, I offer 15% off the Minelab detectors to all VETS of all branches of US.  We work with White's, Garrett, XP, Nokta and Fisher, but you'll need to contact me to get the discount.

[YubaJ]

Ask Show Me Treasure--Craig Nichols--what kind of deal he can give you. His quote to me was very good and I've dealt with him many times--a right-on guy.