Reasonable FFL Transfer Fees

Best i can can find in Fort Lauderdale is 25 +5 background check +2 dollars tax =32 dollars.

$15, seemed like a fair price.

Every gunshop in Puerto Rico charges $120

The local shops were charging $27.50-$30 for transfers. I haven't used them since I found a kitchen table FFL whose rates have just increased to $12.50.

Our local shops are about $40.

I understand that the profit margins on firearms are very low, but I'm more put off by the 3% extra that many gun shops charge for using a credit card than I am about the expensive transfer fee.

If I could get a gun for $40 less by going on the internet, then it's a wash and I should support my local shop. If I buy used, or it's a gun that the shop can't order, then I should hope that the shop might give me a lower price on the transfer.

Most folks who use an FFL for transfer will gripe about any fee for 5 or 10 minutes of "work". How many here realize that we have to keep the paper records in a fireproof and secure place (a safe) for 20 years? How many realize that we get audited every year and sometimes spend hours with the FBI or ATF agent while they review those records? They don't offer to pay us for our time either, but do fine the crap out of us if we do it wrong, or even revoke the license or elect to refuse a renewal. If you ever wonder why we charge a fee, make an application for your license. Pictures, prints, interviews, endless forms and several very thick law books later, the lights will come on. I even had to go to the local PD and give a letter to the Chief and have a local detective come inspect my safe and home based shop. It may seem trivial to those who are sitting for a few minutes waiting on a NICS to come back, but it is not as simple as the five minutes you had to wait. Sorry, I am not really venting or complaining, I just think that very few folks know what it takes to get and maintain that FFL.

Griz44 keep your shirt on. The complainers would still not be happy even if we did transfers for free.

On a 10.00 transfer I make almost 7.50 after tax and NCIC fee. That is more than I would make if I sold the customer a new gun and they paid with a credit card.

So I really over paid the mom & pop shop out in the sticks when they charged me $20 and I threw another $20 on top of it because I happen to like em?

In Illinois I believe the calls to the state police for a check is $2 for the dealer. I think $20 is fair and I will gladly pay it, $30 is my high limit. For that money I expect as many guns to be transferred as come in the same box and fit on the same 4473 (ex: if I get 3 lower receivers on the same order, 1 transfer fee)

As a licensee, I charge a mere $20. That seems to be the cheapest around as one guy drives 60 miles for me to do the transfers. I base it on the phone call, $20 for 1 gun is resonable, but one guy picked up 10 or 12, in that case its a bargain! I will admit though, he paid me considerably more.

If anyone in the local area needs a transfer, just let me know!

I used to get my transfers done through waterhouse for $6, but then I moved away so now I'm up to $10 with my new dealer.

Lately, I've been using a fellow at a pawn shop that charges $20 (plus state sales tax) for a transfer. Previously, I've used a shop closer to me that now charges $35 (plus state sales tax). I figure I'm getting the same service, why pay more if I don't have to?

ive paid 15-40 but i usually pay 25

Here in Central Florida the FFL's are not our friends. I firmly believe they have conspired to eliminate transfers. Most FFL's that I have dealt with around here no longer will do transfers at all. The few that do charge $50-$100, and then impose all kinds of made up rules. Like they will not transfer ANYTHING they can order themselves. None will accept a transfer from a private party anymore. You must leave the store with a lock installed on the trigger (yeah, they will be happy to sell you one if you forget to bring your own). And they all enjoy giving you the third degree like they are doing the biggest favor in the world for us mear (non-FFL) mortals.

It has gotten to the point where I no longer will transfer, FTF only.

Very sad.

All it would take is one dealer to be reasonable and he would clean up.

$10-$15 in OKC at the 2 dealers I use.
The $10 dealer is my preferred place, lot of history; location isn't good for my shift work. Impractical to drive there and back home - 43mile round trip.
The $15 dealer is excellent and close, 5 rifles with him.
I found both of the dealers I use on Gunbroker ( or AuctionArms ?) I seem to recall.
I would never expect as local shop to work for less than $30 here in OKC. But they do have to keep the lights on and doors open.
A home office dealer - well, $15 is the MAXIMUM I will pay.

15-25 fair price to me. 30 maybe

The dealers i have used both charged $20

over 30 i think is excessive

Here in Central Florida the FFL's are not our friends. I firmly believe they have conspired to eliminate transfers. Most FFL's that I have dealt with around here no longer will do transfers at all. The few that do charge $50-$100, and then impose all kinds of made up rules. Like they will not transfer ANYTHING they can order themselves. None will accept a transfer from a private party anymore. You must leave the store with a lock installed on the trigger (yeah, they will be happy to sell you one if you forget to bring your own). And they all enjoy giving you the third degree like they are doing the biggest favor in the world for us mear (non-FFL) mortals.

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So get an FFL, and become an immortal!

I don't understand all the whining on this thread. If the locals are charging $50-$100, and imposing all kinds of made up rules, then quit whining, and open your own FFL transfer business. Charge $25, don't impose any unnecessary rules, and in ten years your kids will push Sam Walton's off the Forbes "100 Richest Americans" list.

I suspect that you'll find that some of your assumptions are incorrect. But prove me wrong - that's how business innovation happens a capitalist society. Moore and Nyce decided that they could build a better chip and started Intel. Fred Smith was sure that the could deliver packages faster and cheaper than the Post Office, and now we have Fedex. Steve Jobs thought he could deliver music cheaper and faster than CD companies - and now every kid wants an iPod. Sam Walton thought he could sell household goods cheaper. Many fortunes in this country were built on inventions, but many were also built on someone's vision of a faster/cheaper/better way of delivering an existing service.

For a board that prides itself on being 100% all American independent thinkers, these posts are strange. Are we a bunch of sniveling Marxists? "Oh, mean old Mr. Business Owner is oppressing us poor peasants! He's such a meany!" Hearing this kind of simpering on a board where it's normal to label anyone who doesn't believe that creationism should be required in public schools a Marxist is downright strange.

Mike

You must leave the store with a lock installed on the trigger...

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Not to hijack, but that's a Federal law. Don't blame the FFL for that one.

I am not sure I understand what problems you expect to encounter.

What kind of things might need to get straightened out from the other end?

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Real life examples:

Gun arrives with no paperwork or indication of who it is for. Only a return address is available. No phone number comes up for that address through online searches. I now have a gun I can't log in, so I have to send a certified letter to the return address and keep a copy of the certified letter with the gun, so I can show it to the ATF if they come and ask why the gun is not logged in. This process ended up taking a few weeks. This was an extreme to fix, but guns arrive without paperwork fairly often, and more work must go into all of these transfers than should have to go into them.

Gun arrives and guy gets delayed on the background check, but he is leaving town. He ends up moving before the background checks clears. It wasn't a big issue, because the guy was a good customer, but it is another example of a transfer requiring more work than usual.

I've only had one denial, but that was quite a hassle. The seller doesn't want the gun back, the buyer can't have the gun, no one wants to pay for sending the gun back to the seller.

98% of transfers are easy, but the 2% that aren't can take up ridiculous amounts of time.

For the OP, when it got above $25 I broke down and got my own license, so I guess that was what I considered reasonable.

I'll pay $20.
Less is fine (I can still find $15 occasionally), but if you want more than $20 then I will gladly drive further away for the pleasure of not supporting your business.

Question for you FFL's out there; why do you charge for the background check call? Is it not a toll free number, or is there another reason?

Question for you FFL's out there; why do you charge for the background check call? Is it not a toll free number, or is there another reason?

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In WV there is no charge to call NICS, so we don't charge the customer.

Some states, like VA, require the FFL's to call the state police, and the state police check NICS and some state databases. The state police in VA charges $2 for the background check, so that charge gets passed on to the customer. Other states may have similar processes and fees.

Hanzerik said:

Question for you FFL's out there; why do you charge for the background check call? Is it not a toll free number, or is there another reason?

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Would you walk into a restaurant, take out your bag lunch and eat it at their table? Hey, there were plenty of empty tables, didn't cost them anything. Right?

An FFL is a -business-, a -service- business. They make money by providing a -service- and charging for that -service-. It's not about what it costs them to provide every little aspect of that service, anymore than it is for any other service business.

$20 - $40

Well,

Considering that it's one of the most regulated business areas in the USA, and they have stringent requirements placed on them, I beleive that it's a small price to pay. 20-25 bucks is the standard rate in NOVA.