Pickup or post: which one sells your gel blaster faster in Queensland
Quick Answer: Offer both if you can, but not because itโs faster. On RedSpear this year, blasters listed pickup only sold in a median of 6 days. Blasters that also offered postage took 17.5. Postage isnโt what slows a sale, itโs what sellers reach for when there arenโt enough buyers near them. The buyer isnโt charged postage at checkout here either, so it comes out of your price. Offer it when you need the reach: youโre outside South East Queensland, or selling something only a handful of people want.
A gas pistol goes up at Burleigh Waters and sells the same day, pickup only. A full metal Well M4 goes up at Aitkenvale in Townsville, pickup or post, and waits three weeks. Both listings were honest and fairly priced, and the one that offered postage was the slow one. That surprised me, so I went back through every complete blaster sold on RedSpear this year. The pattern held.
What RedSpearโs own listings did
Seventeen complete blasters and bundles sold here between late May and early November 2026. Every listing states whether it was pickup only, pickup or post, or post only.
| How it was offered | Listings | Median days to sell | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup only | 8 | 6 days | Same day to 51 days |
| Pickup or post | 8 | 17.5 days | 3 days to 91 days |
| Post only | 1 | 4 days | One sale, proves nothing |
Source: RedSpear Armory Shopify sales data, 28 May to 7 November 2026, days from listing to sale. A small sample, quoted as what happened here, not as a market average.
Why the postage listings look slower
Read that quickly and youโd call postage a handbrake. It isnโt. Two things decide whether a seller offers postage, and neither is speed.
Where they live. Three of the eight pickup-or-post listings sat well outside South East Queensland: Maleny, Noosa and Townsville. Those three took 74, 91 and 21 days. The pickup-only group was almost all Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast, where a buyer can be at your door on a Saturday. A Townsville seller offers postage because the alternative is waiting for a buyer in Townsville.
What theyโre selling. The slowest in the postage group were a bullpup rifle, a bundle containing a pistol with a stuck slide, and a manual spring 1911. Niche, faulty or unusual. The quick ones in the pickup-only group were the gear everybody wants: M4-pattern rifles and gas pistols. A common platform at a fair price goes in days whether you post it or not, and something odd waits either way. Price against recent sales and honest photos are what move a listing, and thatโs the pricing guide, not this one.
๐ฃ Postage is a reach lever, not a speed lever
It changes how many people can buy it, not how quickly one of them does.
Most sellers add postage hoping itโll shift a listing that has gone quiet. Thatโs treating a reach problem as a speed problem, and itโs why it doesnโt work. A listing sitting two weeks in Brisbane with no messages hasnโt got a distance problem. It has a price problem, a photo problem, or itโs a blaster nobody wants this month.
If youโre selling: work out which problem youโve got before you change anything. Queensland is enormous. Iโve played at Kooralbyn and at Bundaberg, and those two are not the same drive. In Cairns, Mackay or Toowoomba, offer postage from day one: reach is your real constraint. In the South East, with a common platform, pickup only costs you nothing.
If youโre buying: flip it. A distant listing that offers postage has often been up a while, and listing age tells you more about your chances than anything else (offers and timing). A pickup-only listing in your own city is the opposite. Itโll go quickly, so turn up with gas or a charged battery and be ready to decide on the spot.
The part sellers miss: you pay the postage
RedSpearโs delivery settings give marketplace listings free standard shipping to any Queensland address, so the buyer sees no postage line at checkout. Which means that when you tick postage, youโre the one paying for it.
Three of this yearโs posted sales said so plainly in the listing: postage included in the price. Thatโs the right way to handle it. Work out what a padded box across the state costs and build it into your number before you list, not at the counter after youโve agreed a price.
Packing it, lodging it and the extra cover worth buying on anything valuable are all in the guide to posting a gel blaster. Australia Post puts standard Parcel Post within the same state at two to four business days with tracking, so it usually reaches a Queensland buyer inside a week.
Free download
Selling on RedSpear: From Listing to Payout
The two-page seller sheet: every step, the post-office checklist, what happens if a parcel is lost, and exactly when you get paid. No spam. QLD gel blaster news only, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
So which should you offer?
I tell sellers to offer both where they can, and I still do. Just be clear about what it buys you.
South East Queensland, common platform. Pickup only is fine. That corner of the state is where almost every quick pickup-only sale happened this year.
Regional Queensland, or anything niche. Offer postage from day one and price it in. Bullpups, snipers and high-end gas builds may have only a handful of buyers in the state, and they could be anywhere, which is why pages like Townsville exist.
Big bundles and whole kits. Pickup, honestly. Five blasters, batteries, a charger and a case is not a parcel, and a buyer paying bundle money wants to see the lot before they hand it over.
Dead or untested gear. Pickup, every time. A buyer who can poke at it before paying is far likelier to take a punt (selling one that doesnโt work).
Whichever you pick, put it in the first two lines with the suburb and postcode. A lot of the messages sellers get ask something the listing should already answer. You can change it later: listings donโt expire, and the check-in email every four weeks is a good prompt to look at price first and delivery second.
If youโre the one buying
Pickup is worth driving for: running it before you take it home tells you more than any photo set (what to check). Posted means trusting the description, so ask for a short video of it firing. Either way youโre not as exposed as youโd be in a car park off Facebook, because RedSpear holds the payment until the handover is done. Thatโs why four buyers whose sellers went quiet were refunded in full (how it works), and why a seller is usually paid within the hour of the buyer confirming.
Frequently asked questions
Does offering postage sell a gel blaster faster?
Not on RedSpearโs numbers. Pickup-only listings sold in a median of 6 days this year and listings offering postage took 17.5, because the sellers who offer postage are mostly the ones furthest from buyers. Postage widens your buyer pool. Price and photos set your speed.
Who pays for postage on a RedSpear listing?
The seller. Marketplace listings ship free to any Queensland address, so the buyer sees no postage at checkout. Build it into your asking price before you list.
Can I sell to a buyer in another state?
No. RedSpear is Queensland only, and both of the storeโs shipping zones are set to Queensland addresses. Interstate buyers have asked me to post to them and Iโve always said no. The guide to posting a gel blaster covers why.
Sources
- RedSpear Armory Shopify sales data, 28 May to 7 November 2026: 17 complete blasters and bundles, days from listing to sale, delivery option read from each listing
- RedSpear Armory Shopify delivery settings, 11 November 2026: marketplace listings ship free, Queensland addresses only
- Australia Post - Delivery speeds and coverage
- Australia Post - Parcel Post
Last checked: 11 November 2026. Check Australia Post before you quote a buyer.
Listing one yourself?
Pick your delivery option when you list, and change it whenever you like. List free and pay only when it sells, or see whatโs live right now.
Read next: How to post a blaster ยท Real sold prices ยท Offers and timing
Written by Patrick Amadeu
Founder of RedSpear Armory and a critical care paramedic since 1989. Iโve played indoor at Blacksite and the former GelSoft Yatala, and outdoor at Donnybrook, Kooralbyn and Bundaberg. RedSpear exists because my first rifleโs gearbox died four days after the shopโs warranty ran out. More about me
RedSpear Armory โ Queensland's dedicated marketplace for used gel blasters. Browse listings, sell your gear, and connect with the local QLD community at redspeararmory.com.au.