Any FFLs here do NOT do transfers?
- Thread starter Bubba613
- Start date
- Status
It's not. The difference is that the dealer gets a decent markup on a sale from inventory to cover the costs.
I used to think that transfer fees were too high, until I started working in a gunshop. Then I saw how much work it is to receive the package, unwrap the bubblewrap mummy that the sender bound in 200 yards of tape, deal with the styrofoam peanuts, call the sender after looking up his phone number to find out who is supposed to get the gun he sent to the shop with no name on it, etc, etc. It's a LOT more work than selling a new gun.
Then the buyer decides that he doesn't like it, and wants us to repack the gun and send it back. Then they don't want to pay the transfer fee, because they didn't keep the gun. :banghead:
It's one thing on a used gun that is unique. It's another when someone buys a new gun that we stock. So you found someone in rural Nebraska who has lower overhead than we do and can offer the gun for $100 less. Then you want us to transfer it to you and do all the work we'd do on a new gun sale for $10, all from a store convienent to your house.
Guns and more
member
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
- Messages
- 1,929
Good to hear that all you gun dealers are so busy, you don't have time for FFL's. Good for you. Of course, it makes me wonder, if you're doing such volume, why are your prices so high?
As a customer, I have to say that I do almost all of my gun/ shooting supply business locally. I believe in supporting my local gun merchants. Guns I've bought from non-local sources have been unique items not readily available. And when I've needed the services of an FFL for a transfer, I've asked only one of a few shops at which I've done considerable business, and they've been happy to accommodate me.
I simply see no reason to expect a local FFL with whom I have no special relationship, and who has to pay rent, pay insurance, and tie up capital in inventory, to cheerfully help me buy a gun from someone else.
I simply see no reason to expect a local FFL with whom I have no special relationship, and who has to pay rent, pay insurance, and tie up capital in inventory, to cheerfully help me buy a gun from someone else.
iiibdsiil
Member
You don't have to do transfers. The better route is to raise prices. That's that whole supply/demand thing...
Personally, I have a small car repair shop. I don't turn away the little jobs. $25 is $25. If you are making enough money that you don't need it, then good for you.
I'm betting (for many) that the $25 you don't need from the transfer is the $25 you can't cut off the price of the gun I wanted that would have made the sale though.
Personally, I have a small car repair shop. I don't turn away the little jobs. $25 is $25. If you are making enough money that you don't need it, then good for you.
I'm betting (for many) that the $25 you don't need from the transfer is the $25 you can't cut off the price of the gun I wanted that would have made the sale though.
Lone_Gunman
Member
I have my own business which is not gun related. I figure from the time I get to work til the time I go home, I need to be working. So I stay busy. Even if its a little job that doesn't pay much, I would still rather do it than sit on my butt, do nothing, and make nothing. That is why I am busier and make more money than other people in my field.
It seems like some gun store owners would rather sit on their butts for an hour, do nothing but BS with their buddies at the shop, and make nothing than make a few phone calls, fax some paperwork, and log in some numbers in a book.
It seems like some gun store owners would rather sit on their butts for an hour, do nothing but BS with their buddies at the shop, and make nothing than make a few phone calls, fax some paperwork, and log in some numbers in a book.
craig
Member
it's entirely up to the owner to do transfers or not, and set his price for doing so.
a local shop raised their transfers from $25.00 flat to $36.00 plus $5.00 call in plus tax on the call in. the owner said he wasn't making enough, and wasn't selling many guns. of course this was before obamamania.
this same shop had good customer service but this has slipped recently. his gun prices have always been high, but now are basically insane.
if he's within $50.00-$75.00 of an internet deal i'll buy from him, (he hasn't come close to that in a year) but when i can get a gun delivered with transfer fee for $140.00 less i'd be stupid to buy it from him.
it seems lately he's of the mind he's the only place in town and he's not. this attitude has cost him 2 ruger gp100's, 1 rem. 1100 tac4, 1 g19, 1 wasr10, and 1 wasr2. that's just what i bought elsewhere, but i did get a dpms ap4 (?) from him for $750.
this may not sound like much $$$ to a dealer, but it's a lot to me. if he wants to lose that, it's his business. more power to him if he succeeds, but his competitor got the money he could've had.
i know he needs to make a living, but i'm not throwing my money away to keep him in business when i can save some major league $$$ by dealing with a guy 5 min. down the road.
a local shop raised their transfers from $25.00 flat to $36.00 plus $5.00 call in plus tax on the call in. the owner said he wasn't making enough, and wasn't selling many guns. of course this was before obamamania.
this same shop had good customer service but this has slipped recently. his gun prices have always been high, but now are basically insane.
if he's within $50.00-$75.00 of an internet deal i'll buy from him, (he hasn't come close to that in a year) but when i can get a gun delivered with transfer fee for $140.00 less i'd be stupid to buy it from him.
it seems lately he's of the mind he's the only place in town and he's not. this attitude has cost him 2 ruger gp100's, 1 rem. 1100 tac4, 1 g19, 1 wasr10, and 1 wasr2. that's just what i bought elsewhere, but i did get a dpms ap4 (?) from him for $750.
this may not sound like much $$$ to a dealer, but it's a lot to me. if he wants to lose that, it's his business. more power to him if he succeeds, but his competitor got the money he could've had.
i know he needs to make a living, but i'm not throwing my money away to keep him in business when i can save some major league $$$ by dealing with a guy 5 min. down the road.
I've noticed that not one FFL responded. I was gratified that one guy who actually did this job knows that goes into it.
He did miss having to go to the PO to pick up the package the postman tried to deliver when the store was closed.
As for liability: that gun is sitting in my safe until the customer gets it. Who is responsible if anything happens to it?
If something screwed up on the 4473, who's responsibility is that?
I also love how some posters here attribute sheer laziness after I've mentioned my limited time.
He did miss having to go to the PO to pick up the package the postman tried to deliver when the store was closed.
As for liability: that gun is sitting in my safe until the customer gets it. Who is responsible if anything happens to it?
If something screwed up on the 4473, who's responsibility is that?
I also love how some posters here attribute sheer laziness after I've mentioned my limited time.
".....I used to think that transfer fees were too high, until I started working in a gunshop. Then I saw how much work it is to receive the package, unwrap the bubblewrap mummy that the sender bound in 200 yards of tape, deal with the styrofoam peanuts,..."
LOL what a lame excuse. Geez, are FFL dealers friggin that lazy? You sound like it's breaking rocks at a quarry. Give me a break!!! Go work a real job where you break your back all day, not filing papers or writing down serial numbers and complain about unwrapping a gun.
there should be a sticky where members can post which shops offer insane transfer fees and which shops refuse to do transfers due to being lazy about unwrapping a gun. It should be divided up by state. These FFL dealers are not even worth it to give them your business.
LOL what a lame excuse. Geez, are FFL dealers friggin that lazy? You sound like it's breaking rocks at a quarry. Give me a break!!! Go work a real job where you break your back all day, not filing papers or writing down serial numbers and complain about unwrapping a gun.
there should be a sticky where members can post which shops offer insane transfer fees and which shops refuse to do transfers due to being lazy about unwrapping a gun. It should be divided up by state. These FFL dealers are not even worth it to give them your business.
Fair pay for a service rendered is what you should get.
If you are mostly sitting on your butt, doing some dusting, a little bit of paperwork, straightening the ammo display then you should be doing the transfers cheaply as your time isn't earning much money right then.
If you have to continually tear yourself away from paying customers looking to buy TODAY or aren't able to keep up with the bookkeeping, then charge a lot more, because you are loosing potentially more money.
But seriously, here is what I suggest.
Raise the price. Post a sign that says 'all gun purchases and all ammo purchases totalling $100 or more come with a 50% off transfer fee coupon'
Also, you may want to restrict your transfer business to certain times...say only take transfers on Weds and Saturday....or 'I don't to transfers in the last hour of business'
If you are mostly sitting on your butt, doing some dusting, a little bit of paperwork, straightening the ammo display then you should be doing the transfers cheaply as your time isn't earning much money right then.
If you have to continually tear yourself away from paying customers looking to buy TODAY or aren't able to keep up with the bookkeeping, then charge a lot more, because you are loosing potentially more money.
But seriously, here is what I suggest.
Raise the price. Post a sign that says 'all gun purchases and all ammo purchases totalling $100 or more come with a 50% off transfer fee coupon'
Also, you may want to restrict your transfer business to certain times...say only take transfers on Weds and Saturday....or 'I don't to transfers in the last hour of business'
WOW !
You must be a real treat at parties.I don't see it being called hard back-breaking work by anyone. They are simply trying to explain that it takes time and time is money. I have never seen or ever expect to see a gun shop offer cheap transfers. I have always managed to find a home-based or part-time FFL to do it at a reasonable cost since they are likely just pulled away from watching another Seinfeld rerun instead of pulled away from another customer or some other profitable activity.
Lone_Gunman
Member
I have found the best thing to do is actually just forget about the gun shop guys and find a pawnbroker. My local pawnbroker will do transfers for $15, and doesn't bitch about it.
CoRoMo
Member
+1 Lone Gunman
I use a pawnbroker and they love my business even if all the revenue I bring them is in transfers. They used to charge me $20 per, but now that they know my face, it is down to $10. No dealer could possibly tear me away from them. They don't make mistakes on their 4473 so they don't spend wasted time making their $10.
If the local guys want to play in terms of price, I'll certainly buy from them, but stocking up for what is to come means I need A LOT of items and need them each as inexpensive as possible.
Edit:
I actually forgot. I did in fact buy a gun out of their (my pawnbroker's) cabinet, so their good customer service earned them a sale and a margin of profit.
I use a pawnbroker and they love my business even if all the revenue I bring them is in transfers. They used to charge me $20 per, but now that they know my face, it is down to $10. No dealer could possibly tear me away from them. They don't make mistakes on their 4473 so they don't spend wasted time making their $10.
If the local guys want to play in terms of price, I'll certainly buy from them, but stocking up for what is to come means I need A LOT of items and need them each as inexpensive as possible.
Edit:
I actually forgot. I did in fact buy a gun out of their (my pawnbroker's) cabinet, so their good customer service earned them a sale and a margin of profit.
misANTHrope
Member
Ill go ahead and post the same story I did in the last thread where people complained about transfer fees. Just a bit of an alternative to what most people think of as "a few minutes of paperwork."
This story isn't mine; it comes from an FFL on a local gun board I frequent.
This story isn't mine; it comes from an FFL on a local gun board I frequent.
if you are worried about dotting the "i" and crossing "t" and getting into trouble with paperwork, get a job where comprehension of the English grammar structure is not required!!!
again, an FFL saying it's too much work to unwrap a gun is lazy and for them trying to say it is hard work is such a lame excuse. Avoid these dealers at all cost, they are not worth giving business too.
again, an FFL saying it's too much work to unwrap a gun is lazy and for them trying to say it is hard work is such a lame excuse. Avoid these dealers at all cost, they are not worth giving business too.
ohgrady
Member
I like buying from the local/little guy. But I have to pay bills and I'm on a budget like most people. I routinely travel to small towns roughly 90 miles from the urban/metro area I live in. I stop in a couple of small town gun shops when I travel. They actually carry Wolf/Brown Bear ammo I can't get at my local shops. One of these small town shops had a PSL on the shelf for $950.00 (which would have also had $67.00 in sales tax added too) a couple of weeks ago. I had found the same thing online for $700. With shipping and transfer fees, I could have had the online PSL for $750. I would certainly give a guy a chance to price match-including the shipping transfer fees in the total. But if he wouldn't budge, would you spend and extra $250.00? That would buy a lot of ammo. I can understand that an FFL might not be happy doing a transfer for a firearm that he had on his shelf, but would he routinely spend an extra 25% when he buys things?
"Ill go ahead and post the same story I did in the last thread where people complained about transfer fees. Just a bit of an alternative to what most people think of as "a few minutes of paperwork."
This story isn't mine; it comes from an FLL on a local gun board I frequent."
I read that little story....guess what?? What do you think running a public business is all about?? Dealing with customers!!! If they don't like customers, I'm sure a lonely 9 to 5 job in some dark office space somewhere would be more suitable.
This story isn't mine; it comes from an FLL on a local gun board I frequent."
I read that little story....guess what?? What do you think running a public business is all about?? Dealing with customers!!! If they don't like customers, I'm sure a lonely 9 to 5 job in some dark office space somewhere would be more suitable.
Missing the point, I see.
The poor guy spent what sounds like an hour or more, neglected paying customers, and had to endure an enraged customer who couldn't figure out why he couldn't get the gun he paid for. For all the aggravation and time the FFL made $25. Given his time, he lost money on that transaction.
And that happens a lot more often than you might think.
The poor guy spent what sounds like an hour or more, neglected paying customers, and had to endure an enraged customer who couldn't figure out why he couldn't get the gun he paid for. For all the aggravation and time the FFL made $25. Given his time, he lost money on that transaction.
And that happens a lot more often than you might think.
ScotZ
Member
Tell your customers you dont have time and be done with it. If you dont want to do them simply quit doing them. My guy does them for $20 and old regular customers like me still get them for $10. Its a business decision that only you can make.
Lone_Gunman
Member
I think if this is causing you so much time and trouble, then you ought to just quit doing it. I think you will probably lose a fair amount of business if you do this, but its up to you.
Transferring dealers becoming an endangered species?
I can understand that transfers in a busy gunshop can be a hassle and may not be worth the trouble. My "go-to" dealer here locally just flat stopped doing transfers a few months ago. I've purchased five firearms there in the past year along with a few transfers, and still it's a no go. Well, his shop, his business, his decision. I respect that.
Anyway, I know a firearms instructor with a FFL and he does transfers. I've done a couple through him over the past couple of months. Now, he says he'll no longer do them, either. Too much of a pain in the neck, he says. Guys who can't clear the background check cause him headaches. OK, so I'm out of luck there, now.
So, I check on-line to see if there are any other FFLs in my area who'll do transfers. I get the phone number for some "tactical" place I've never been to or even heard of before, but it's just a few miles out of my zipcode. I give them a call and ask what they charge for a transfer. "One hundred and twentyfive bucks!" the guy says. "Holy sh*t!" I say.
Now, I'm still trying to dig up a place that's not too far out of my zipcode to do transfers.
Maybe the transfer operations are fading fast and no one will have to concern themselves with internet sales of firearms in the not too distant future.
I can understand that transfers in a busy gunshop can be a hassle and may not be worth the trouble. My "go-to" dealer here locally just flat stopped doing transfers a few months ago. I've purchased five firearms there in the past year along with a few transfers, and still it's a no go. Well, his shop, his business, his decision. I respect that.
Anyway, I know a firearms instructor with a FFL and he does transfers. I've done a couple through him over the past couple of months. Now, he says he'll no longer do them, either. Too much of a pain in the neck, he says. Guys who can't clear the background check cause him headaches. OK, so I'm out of luck there, now.
So, I check on-line to see if there are any other FFLs in my area who'll do transfers. I get the phone number for some "tactical" place I've never been to or even heard of before, but it's just a few miles out of my zipcode. I give them a call and ask what they charge for a transfer. "One hundred and twentyfive bucks!" the guy says. "Holy sh*t!" I say.
Now, I'm still trying to dig up a place that's not too far out of my zipcode to do transfers.
Maybe the transfer operations are fading fast and no one will have to concern themselves with internet sales of firearms in the not too distant future.
Whoopity-freakin-doo, you're complaining about making $25 for an hour of paperwork?
I get $6.55 an hour for dealing with a$$holes and the messes they make.
Find another job that pays $25 an hour.
But you know what? I get my transfers done for free. I dedicate my purchasing from a single dealer, with a small premium on anything in shop, in exchange for deals here and there and free transfers. His prices are still extremely reasonable, he's still a great friend, and he still gets all my business and all the business I refer to him. He does that by working with his customers, to find out what THEY WANT, not what he thinks they want or what he thinks would be easiest. There is one counterman working at any given time, I've yet to see two. And they all have the same work ethic.
I get $6.55 an hour for dealing with a$$holes and the messes they make.
Find another job that pays $25 an hour.
But you know what? I get my transfers done for free. I dedicate my purchasing from a single dealer, with a small premium on anything in shop, in exchange for deals here and there and free transfers. His prices are still extremely reasonable, he's still a great friend, and he still gets all my business and all the business I refer to him. He does that by working with his customers, to find out what THEY WANT, not what he thinks they want or what he thinks would be easiest. There is one counterman working at any given time, I've yet to see two. And they all have the same work ethic.
i gotta say complaining about having to go to the post office, or shipping errors. come one, anyone who does anything with whole salers or mail order has to deal with wrong shipments. when i worked in a deli we used to receive stuff we didnt even sell, and not recieve the advertised sale items! you ever been on the receiving end of 100 pissed off soccer moms, mad because thier low fat honey smoked turkey wasn't delivered. ya now do that for 7$ an hour and not 20$/H.
as for not knowing the intended recipient thats your customers fault for not giving them a proper mailing adress
i believe you can ship with a "Care of" or "attn:" address
meaning
Hoppy590
Care of: Angry Transfers FFL inc.
123 Fake Street
BATFE Town, XX
00000
as for not knowing the intended recipient thats your customers fault for not giving them a proper mailing adress
i believe you can ship with a "Care of" or "attn:" address
meaning
Hoppy590
Care of: Angry Transfers FFL inc.
123 Fake Street
BATFE Town, XX
00000
Last edited:
- Status
