Buying/selling/trading MREs - please read

[kman]

Welcome to the Buy/Sell/Trade forum!

Please note - MREInfo.com is just an information site run by a private rations enthusiast - I don't buy or sell rations commercially. I have my own personal collection and am always happy to talk about buying/selling/trading rations with other individuals.

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I just wanted to get that out of the way because believe it or not, I get a number of emails from individuals wanting to contract with me for supplying rations to other groups and companies in other countries. While I'm flattered, I'm afraid my own little rations collection wouldn't supply very many groups for very long. And especially seeing as most US MREs are marked "Commercial Resale Prohibited"...and that it's the US Govt/Military making the markings, I don't want to ask for that kind of trouble.

I also receive a lot of requests along the lines of "where can I buy British/French/<insert country here> rations?" Those requests are welcome here, too, and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction.

[DangerousDave]

Kman, I have a great 1992 issue U.S. Lensatic Compass I'd like to sell you. The Tritium is all worn out, but if you have a flashlight with 2 "duty" batts, it will glow in the dark, for 2 minutes and 27 seconds.

[DIRTYDAVE]

I have some swampland down in FL here that I would like to part with as well...

[rationtin440]

Hey Kman, I recently got some info from a friend of mine who was in the Army criminal investigations for several years before he was discharged last fall. According to "official guidelines" (and please everyone take this with a grain of salt, not necessarily accurate) it is only a crime to sell them if you are a member of the armed forces on duty and in uniform and selling cases of them from your supply room or the back gate of your base. He told me there are a lot of mis-conceptions about the regulations but he served 12 years in the CID and he does not recall a single incident of a soldier being in trouble for this. Basically they'll bust a service member if they catch them but they don't go looking for it. Myself I'd still follow Kman's advice and not ask for trouble. Not to mention if someone is trying to sell you a case of MREs from the early 1980s in a different shaped cardboard box than what we have now, well....... not like you can sue the Army if you get sick.

[kman]

Thanks for the information, rationtin440. That's pretty much what I suspected - Army CID probably does have much better things to do than go around hunting down soldiers selling a case or two on eBay. But when you see someone on eBay or Craigslist posting a picture of their garage full of hundreds of cases of fresh MREs, I wouldn't be surprised if that makes them want to take a peek at the auction.

[rationtin440]

You're very welcome kman! While I have some serious issues with the government's crackdown on people trying to prepare for wtshtf by stocking MREs that they have acquired legally, anyone who'd sell them on ebay like you mentioned is either extremely dumb or some kind of plant/quisling/government agency trying to ensnare survivalists or militia groups. I recall during the latter part of my service time in the 1990s, there were efforts to monitor what known militia groups were acquiring from gov't auctions but nothing major came of it.

[kwiklot]

Great info kman

[6redline3]

Well, it's been a million years since I've posted on here ( starting and maintaining a construction business) but I'd be willing to pay a premium for some Pangea wsb. I know, the kind that most preferred to toss. Just broke into some stash from 04-05 and still find these little square treats create a literal carnival on my taste buds! The search continues.....

[Thomas Fernaays]

Hey Kman I looked into there is no law that would make it illegal to buy or sell MRE’s the legal but may be how you obtain it. For example you take some cases from the base and sell them the will charge the one who took the rations the buyer may be fined but they cannot arrest you.

[kman]

Hey Kman I looked into there is no law that would make it illegal to buy or sell MRE’s the legal but may be how you obtain it. For example you take some cases from the base and sell them the will charge the one who took the rations the buyer may be fined but they cannot arrest you.

The first part you probably have right. But the part about "they cannot arrest you" makes me think of the term "receiving stolen property". The internet tells me this means it's only a crime "to purchase or accept property that you know or believe was obtained through theft". But then again, I Am Not A Lawyer...take my legal advice at your own peril.