My ffl says no more Buds Gun Shop transfers

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gfpd707

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Tonight I went in to my local dealer to fill out the paperwork for a recently purchase firearm. I bought the gun from buds and having it shipped to him. While there the owner said he will no longer do any business with Buds Gun Shop. He told me that he was concerned that there where legal issues with recieving guns from them. He claims that the guns do not come from them but instead come from other suppliers and believes that this might get him in trouble. Has anyone else heard of this? My theory is he is unable to compete with there prices and this is a way to stop doing business with them. He charges $35 per firearm transfer. It looks like I will be driving the extra 8 miles to the next dealer who charges $25 and has no problem with Buds.
 
Buds "drop ships" from various warehouses. Trust me, they're big enough that they've worked out all the issues.

For the best service for online purchases, I've personally found it better to go with FFL transfer guys who don't normally do local sales. Those guys specifically WANT to deal with Buds as transfers are their primary source of income. There's one guy here locally doing several dozen per week.
 
I don't blame you for wanting to get a deal and buy from Buds, but do you actually spend any money with this FFL besides the transfer fees, for stuff you buy from Buds, etc? ( A lot of people don't) If not, he isn't making any money dealing with you and is probably making a smart business decision. A guy has to make a living, and he didn't get his FFL to loose money just doing transfers. The good news is you just need to go down the street to work with a someone who will play tat game. Might be worth your while to spend some real cash with him to keep the transfer relationship going. Just a thought.
 
It looks like I will be driving the extra 8 miles to the next dealer who charges $25 and has no problem with Buds.
I would, right after I told him not to blow smoke up my ... backside.

It seems likely to me that he just doesn't want to do transfers from Bud's, especially if he carries or can get the same guns for only a little more, but he should be honest about it and not make up BS. There is no legal commodity tracked from manufacturer to distributor to store as closely as firearms.
 
I don't blame you for wanting to get a deal and buy from Buds, but do you actually spend any money with this FFL besides the transfer fees, for stuff you buy from Buds, etc? ( A lot of people don't) If not, he isn't making any money dealing with you and is probably making a smart business decision. A guy has to make a living, and he didn't get his FFL to loose money just doing transfers. The good news is you just need to go down the street to work with a someone who will play tat game. Might be worth your while to spend some real cash with him to keep the transfer relationship going. Just a thought.
I purchase about 50/50 from online and locally through this dealer. Sometimes however the price online is just to good. This paticular purchase was a Browning Buckmark for $398. The local dealer price was $530. I am all for supporting the local guy but 33% before taxes is a bit much. I also purchase alot of small items through this dealer on a biweekly basis.
 
I purchase about 50/50 from online and locally through this dealer. Sometimes however the price online is just to good. This paticular purchase was a Browning Buckmark for $398. The local dealer price was $530. I am all for supporting the local guy but 33% before taxes is a bit much. I also purchase alot of small items through this dealer on a biweekly basis.

Maybe he should look into Davidson Gungenie.

A couple of the shops around here dont really like the Bud thing either. It turns them into paper pushers.

But, as an example, if that Buckmark you mentioned is a based model, I can get it for $380ish through Davidsons and the shops are guaranteed a certain $ amount and the shop loves this business.

He doesnt have to stock. He has to do paperwork if he sells regardless. But he actually gets to make a profit instead of charging you for him push'n paper.
 
Maybe he should look into Davidson Gungenie.

A couple of the shops around here dont really like the Bud thing either. It turns them into paper pushers.

But, as an example, if that Buckmark you mentioned is a based model, I can get it for $380ish through Davidsons and the shops are guaranteed a certain $ amount and the shop loves this business.

He doesnt have to stock. He has to do paperwork if he sells regardless. But he actually gets to make a profit instead of charging you for him push'n paper.
I hope there is some way we can work this out. I would really like to see him stay in business and do well but the prices of the guns he has in stock are almost always overly inflated.
 
It's a fine line between ordering online and supporting the local store. I try to support the local store whenever possible but sometimes Bud's prices are too good. I buy 90% of my guns locally.
 
I live about two miles from Bud's in Lexington, they are good to work with and charge me $ 10.00 when I purchase rifles on various auction sites.
 
I have a guy in Houston who does transfers for $15 for non CHL holders and $10 for CHL holders. Great guy with a store front too. I have bought a few guns from him, and have had a few transfered in from Buds Purchases. He understands the game, and is making money on volume, and is doing quite well!
 
My favorite FFL also just dropped Buds and any transfers. She told me that she actually loses money when performing the transfer, plus the tax plus the credit card payments. I really liked Buds since they have the 6-12 months to pay with no interest. I don't blame her for dropping them too. Honestly, it actually costs me more to buy a gun online, but it's also nice to pay it off in a few months.
 
I have never dealt with buds but I have ran several other tansfers thru my local FFL guy/small gun shop. He charges a flat $30 bucks regardless of whether handgun or long gun. Normally before I order I do stop by for a visit or call and see if he has or can get me the same thing for somewhere in the neighborhood of the same price. If he can come close and I save on shipping and transfer fee I'll just buy from him. If its something he doesn't have in the first place or his suppliers are out of stock on then I order it and do the transfer thru him. It takes practically no time or effort on his part to fill out the paperwork. Granted its not the only thing I buy from him, I have purchased a handgun and quiet a good bit of ammo and other do-dads from him and usually try to pick up something else when I go to get the transfer gun. He is also pretty good at trying to sell me a box or 3 of ammo to go along with my new gun even if I didn't buy it from him.
 
Yup $35 to fill out some paperwork just isn't making money :rolleyes:
Seriously, it isn't, or at least not nearly $35 bucks!

He has an annual FFL fee to pay.
He has insurance it pay, on himself, his employees, and his business.
He has taxes to pay, local & state sales tax, property tax, inventory tax, income tax, plus a few others.

Then there is wages, Social Security, unemployment insurance, sick time, and other expenses on any employees.

And lets not forget rent on the building.

All so you can go into his store and coon-finger the guns, then undercut him by buying the gun from Bud's!

Then expect him to pay his phone bill so he can call the ATF and do your background check to give you the gun?

And then keep your record in his ATF "bound book" for the rest of the years he can manage to stay in business?

Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!
The scoundrel really stuck it too you didn't he!!

rc
 
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Hmmm... Thats funny because most every Gun Dealer I've talked to always says:
"I'm only making like $10 bucks on this gun!"
Which to me seems like they would love getting those $35 fees to just write in some info.
Unless of course they were...Lying!!! Bum bum bum!!!

As they say, "I know you gotta make some money, but you ain't gotta make it all off me!"
 
i would think any income is a plus, rather than having a gun sitting on a self for years. Like some loacal gun shops here.

One guy really only deals with online sales, and transferring. I usually go to him to do transfers. I go to my local gun shop to buy guns there as they only do transfers for guns they do not carry, like AR's.

If he is on the buds preferred ffl list, i think he could get in some sorta trouble with them? but i dont know.

Just find a guy that will do the paper pushing, and use another guy that has big inventory to buy locally. Usually the guy that wants to do ffl transfers, thats his bank right there and he probably has verry little instock inventory and probably just orders stuff for people.

Sometimes i buy locally, when i find a deal that is. But when i buy a gun i base my purchase on the gun, cond etc. Not the guys overhead.......so his over priced wat ever sits there for a long time usually till he marks it down to where it should be, but when that happends he makes probably nothing, then snubs a ffl transfer that is cash right there.....go figure.....
 
Just find a new FFL. One that just does transfers and isn't trying to sell guns on his own. Bud's had an entire listing of FFLs on their website.
 
Or you can look at it as a few minutes worth of work for a guaranteed $35.00 bucks that he would otherwise not be making. If he did 10 a week that would be $350 income for his shop that probably didn't add up to an hours worth of labor. Personally, when I open my shop I'll be happy to do transfers. You aren't going to force people to buy your guns at a higher price by refusing to do it. My LGS happily accepts guns for me, they also ship for me and don't charge a dime to do it. They know that because they help me out I'm a loyal customer and I do buy guns, ammo, targets, range time, etc.. from the shop. If the difference isn't too great from the online price I'll even buy it from them instead of online. None of that would be true if they didn't do transfers for me. I would just go to another shop that did.

He has all those expenses for his business whether he accepts the extra income from doing transfers or not. There is however little added expense to doing them.

As a matter of fact, the business model I hope to adopt when I do open my shop is to do a large amount of my business online. Both sales and accepting transfers for my customers. My overhead should be low enough (the building space will be paid for) that I'll be able to make my local sales economically so I can draw business to our small town and benefit the community as a whole. Thats the plan anyhow.
 
2 of the 5 local ffl that I have asked locally will not do buds. I have not asked the other 3
 
If it is costing him money, then he should stop and find something else that will make money or charge more for the transfer. I hate ordering from online companies, but shops around here are charging a lot more money for the same item. I work just as hard for my money as the LGS, so why should I foolishly pay more for an item then I need to? I understand the thought of supporting the LGC and such, but it makes no sense to work my rear end off to earn a check, just to throw it away.

The LGS's around my neighborhood seem to give you an attitude when you want something they do not have in stock. When I ask if they will order something for me, they give me the run around and in most cases takes 2 to 6 months to get it.

I for one will spend my money where I get the best deal. That deal includes value and customer service.
 
Or you can look at it as a few minutes worth of work for a guaranteed $35.00 bucks that he would otherwise not be making. If he did 10 a week that would be $350 income for his shop that probably didn't add up to an hours worth of labor. Personally, when I open my shop I'll be happy to do transfers. You aren't going to force people to buy your guns at a higher price by refusing to do it. My LGS happily accepts guns for me, they also ship for me and don't charge a dime to do it. They know that because they help me out I'm a loyal customer and I do buy guns, ammo, targets, range time, etc.. from the shop. If the difference isn't too great from the online price I'll even buy it from them instead of online. None of that would be true if they didn't do transfers for me. I would just go to another shop that did.

He has all those expenses for his business whether he accepts the extra income from doing transfers or not. There is however little added expense to doing them.

As a matter of fact, the business model I hope to adopt when I do open my shop is to do a large amount of my business online. Both sales and accepting transfers for my customers. My overhead should be low enough (the building space will be paid for) that I'll be able to make my local sales economically so I can draw business to our small town and benefit the community as a whole. Thats the plan anyhow.
Oh boy, I just can't wait to see how you get rich doing transfers ... and can do -all- the work to do 10 in less than an hour.
 
Of course, the local dealer has the prerogative as to whom they do business.

Bud’s must supply the FFL to the local dealer and therefore eliminates the issue of illegal purchases.

It baffles me to hear that the local dealer is not making money or is losing money by performing transfers. I’ll use my experience as an illustration:

First I must purchase the firearm from Bud’s and pay with a cash equivalent or credit card; this is a contract between me and Bud’s, not the local gun dealer. The firearm is sent to the local dealer; no shipping cost to dealer. Since the firearm was purchased out of state, I do not have to pay state taxes. This may vary by states, but if taxes are required, you pay the tax not the local dealer.

The ATF provides the forms for free or nominal charge. I fill out the form. If I have a CCW, no call is necessary for background check; otherwise it is a five minute call. They make an entry in their records book. I take the firearm and leave. The charge is normally $15 to $45; $20 in my case. And that’s profit; the fixed costs of running a business are there irrespective of whether you buy from the local dealer or not.
 
Some small dealers are just 'like that' for lack of a better word. The occasional 'good buddy deal' where the consumer doesn't know the dealer price is a relative thing of the past.

Some dealers want to add a few bucks.. which I honestly have no issue with esp. if it's a hard to get item or you are dealing with or NFA.. which requires a lot more work on the dealer's part.
 
Dont listen to his crap. Find another dealer. He will lose in the long run.

By turning away the business, he will come out ahead in the short , and long run.

$35 to own any business, operate, & insure & make any transaction involving Federal Paperwork. is a loosing proposition.

Don't even mention having to be there to receive the package, sign for the package, take responsibility for said package. Open package, store package, secure package document package, retrieve package, present package.oh yea fill out paper work, plus everything else that has been mentioned. Most of us are looking for a deal, but for a guy to make a living someone has to pay him some $$$$$.
 
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