I don't get buying guns online.

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Did anybody mention the convenience of the web after you get your C&R FFL? Oh my! Some local shops and especially big chains dont even recognize it so they want to charge another $10 for the nics. Online, most want to give an additional discount, no nics, no transfer, just wait for santa to show up with another long box in his big brown truck. Too convenient.
 
C&R Advantage

OldMac said:
Did anybody mention the convenience of the web after you get your C&R FFL? Oh my! Some local shops and especially big chains dont even recognize it so they want to charge another $10 for the nics. Online, most want to give an additional discount, no nics, no transfer, just wait for santa to show up with another long box in his big brown truck. Too convenient.
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Oh, yee-aah !:D:D:D
 
Another vote for the C&R. I have had mine for many years. Most of what I buy are C&R guns. Some dealers will not honor it but most will. No transfer fee and shipped direct to my house. New guns I normally buy locally from dealers that I know well from attending my local gun shows routinely who usually give me deals close to or better than I can get on line. This is a benefit from attending the gun shows that many seem to think are a waste of time. Used guns that are not C&R I transfer through a local FFL for $25.
 
Bezoar said:
your only PARTLY right on buying guns online.

Alot of local dealers are small time mom and pop shows, that had to sign an agreement to only buy from on particular distributor chainto get guns from. Its really sucky when you go to one of those stores and say "id like a butter cup long slide in 38 super" and they dont sell anything from that company.



online stores have the benefit of

1. they can sell any brand, model that they want to

2. shipping can be an issue, but most reputable companies seem to 'include" the shipping fee inside their list price. Buds does.

3. Honesty is different with online companies. Some companies will let you pay a yearly fee to get "privileges" like prefered customer status that lets you get quicker order processing.

4. online companies do seem to treat everyone the same way.

pros and cons of local stores

1. cant always get what you want from them. A 30 dollar transfer fee from an online store is quite reasonable when the guy behind your local store counter says "ill have to charge you a 18 percent special order fee based on the msrp"
think about it, if you want that .357 mag j frame, the list is 800 dollars, and buds has it for 500, and the local dealer wants 800 dollars plus nearly 20% extra to order it for you....

2. Service. local gunstores arent always going togive good service. Its wonderful when the 'gun expert" doesnt even know that a company makes a 6 inch barrel 357 with adjsutable sights when hes reading the new company catalog.
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That doesn't sound right. When I was a kitchen table FFL, my mailbox was constantly jammed by mail from competing distributors wanting to sell me guns. Even if a distributor required a retailer to sign such an agreement in order to sell them guns (I'm not sure that would even be legal, let alone OK with the manufacturers), there would be no practical way to enforce it.
 
thirty-ought-six said:
There are tons of places online that sell guns.

There are tons of local places that sell them as well.

I could see if you wanted some rare or collectible firearm, but again, they are local too, or usually within an hour drive.

Heck, my town of under 30k has over 5 firearm dealers, besides department stores.

When you buy online, you have to pay a FFL fee, usually $25, plus shipping, usually $30.

So your $55 in the hole already, besides the gun itself.
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you buy a $1k gun online, right away I save $87.50 in sales tax. there are many reasons to buy wherever you find what you want.
 
I buy where I can save the most money, which is usually online. People cry out "you should support you local dealer". I figure I am when he gets $25 bucks for the transfer.....Pretty good money for picking up the mail and doing a little paperwork.
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I support my local gun store to the extent it supports me.
 
while i have quite a few places locally to purchase firearms. i can narrow that down pretty quick. first there is a small "chain" that is a gun store and indoor range. theres 3 total in my area-ish (2 really, the third is a stretch its closer to an hour and a half drive). this particular chain i used to use a lot, but ever since a couple years ago when ammo disapeared and guns were flying off the selfs (no AR's to be seen and Glocks were not so easy to find) they were price gouging a lot of guns. and they stopped negotiating the price on any guns. even the not so popular ones.

I was in there about a year ago with cash in had to purchase a total of 4 guns at one time. roughly $2500 in firearms. and walked out with my $2500 as they were not willing to budge, even in the slightest. on any of the prices... this was a ruger 10/22, a ruger american in 30-06, an NAA Mini revolver, and a Ruger sp-101 in .22 for the wife.

after purchasing from this store for years, always getting decent deals. and getting to know the people there. i was not happy to be treated this way.

other shops around here are pretty small, and often only have the more popular guns. there price to order them usually comes out way more then if i order online, even after the added costs.

I look locally first, and will pay a little extra to both support a local shop, and to get the item faster (Conceal carry license so no 3 day wait). as been mentioned before. a lot of times shipping is free. depending on wear you purchase. but i still find myself purchasing online at least 50% of the time. if not more.

a good portion of the time, if i purchase online, i wait until im ready and have the money for multiple guns, because my local FFL charges one flat fee, up to 5 guns. so if i purchase, say, 3 guns. that fee gets divided by 3 and making it an easier pill to swollow
 
I bought a brand new Rem 870 for "$189 shipped about 2 years ago on special. I also saved about $12 taxes from ordering online. It cost me $15 transfer fee including the FDLE cost. That store is closed now so now transfers cost me $25 for 1 gun and $20 for others if done together.

Find me a store that offers that price EVER.

The only reason I bought that thing was because I knew I could then sell my scratched and dinged and 25 yr old used trade in Rem 870 that I bought about 12 years ago.

I got a brand new shotgun and made about $100
 
I buy where I can save the most money, which is usually online. People cry out "you should support you local dealer". I figure I am when he gets $25 bucks for the transfer.....Pretty good money for picking up the mail and doing a little paperwork.
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I agree wholeheartedly with this. AND also doing transfers for a reasonable price gets people in the door. Do youknow how many times I have done a transfer and then bought some ammo or magazine or something? Probably almost every time.

There is a gun store about 2 miles from my house, he has good stuff at a reasonable price but charges $75 transfer fee. I only go to him when it is an absolute emergency. I drive past his shop and about 10 miles away to the guy that has reasonable transfer prices.

I hold very little loyalty to any gun shop around me because I have had bad experiences in almost all of them where they have shown they are not that loyal to their long time customers. My $ goes to the cheapest bidder.
 
That doesn't sound right. When I was a kitchen table FFL, my mailbox was constantly jammed by mail from competing distributors wanting to sell me guns. Even if a distributor required a retailer to sign such an agreement in order to sell them guns (I'm not sure that would even be legal, let alone OK with the manufacturers), there would be no practical way to enforce it.
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I can only speak of my experiences with local gun shops. I frequented one a lot until the owner retired this year. I asked many times if he could get a gun for me, had him look on-line through his distributor accounts only to tell me "I can't find any available, you might as well order it through an Internet dealer."

So, I did. The ones I can think of immediately are: SIG RCS .45 ACP, HK P30 with V1 trigger, Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 magnum, and a S&W .460 with 5-inch barrel - but, there are more than that.
 
I wouldn't buy a gun without a personal inspection (and that includes new guns). Therefore, I don't buy guns online. Parts, ammo, and accessories are OK online.

I find the best places to buy guns are at large gun shows, where competition means that selections are wide and prices are low. Local gun shops can neither have the selection seen at a large gun show, nor the competitive prices.
 
I didn't read the answers as it is a pretty straight forward question. First of all my credentials are, lol, I spend part of every day shopping prices of guns online since the internet made it possible to shop online. I have never found a store price that I could not beat by looking online using a search engine like Gun Watcher. It's impossible to shop thousands of stores in real time, no one can do it.
The downside is that you need to know exactly what you are looking for, and you may not fine some less popular guns that you could possibly find in a pawn shop in El Paso or Montana, "just examples", but otherwise if you know what you want, it's almost impossible for a Brick and Mortar store to compete with a company that has no overhead.
They just can't do it without losing money.
If you need to touch and feel the gun then it's not for you, unless you go to a store and look at the gun, and then buy it online, or a Gun Show is really a better place to not waste peoples time by letting them think you are a buyer when you are just a comparison shopper.
 
I've bought a lot of guns online, from local gun shops, face to face, etc. Problem is I can rarely find what I want from the LGS and if I do they want $150 more than the online places.
 
I have my C&R license. Have bought a bunch of C&R guns online and have them shipped to my door, no problem. I find some guns locally that are C&R on Armslist by a local gun shop that I would like to buy. I email them and ask them if they will accept my C&R on a FTF sale. All of them have said no. Screw them, if an online seller will accept my C&R on an online purchase no problem but the local shop says no and wants me to fill out 4473 and pay for it well screw them. I think eventually the scene will be FFL transfers done by someone who does nothing else but transfers for guns purchased onlone and a very few independent gun shops and of course the large retailer's left.
 
buckhorn_cortez said:
I can only speak of my experiences with local gun shops. I frequented one a lot until the owner retired this year. I asked many times if he could get a gun for me, had him look on-line through his distributor accounts only to tell me "I can't find any available, you might as well order it through an Internet dealer."

So, I did. The ones I can think of immediately are: SIG RCS .45 ACP, HK P30 with V1 trigger, Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 magnum, and a S&W .460 with 5-inch barrel - but, there are more than that.
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I am a small dealer signed up with about five different distributors, however, due to the small nature of my business, I cant get much of the popular stuff as its already been allocated to the dealers that do huge numbers with distributors. Its really a numbers game, there is a finite number of "hot" items and the guys that drop hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, get those allocations, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise when local guys cant always get ahold of the hottest items.
 
Gaucho Gringo said:
find some guns locally that are C&R on Armslist by a local gun shop that I would like to buy. I email them and ask them if they will accept my C&R on a FTF sale. All of them have said no. Screw them, if an online seller will accept my C&R on an online purchase no problem but the local shop says no and wants me to fill out 4473 and pay for it well screw them.

I think eventually the scene will be FFL transfers done by someone who does nothing else but transfers for guns purchased online and a very few independent gun shops and of course the large retailer's left.
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Perhaps am misreading this but, assuming I am not.............you are aware that an FFL can NOT do a Face To Face SALE, right??? All sales/transfers have to take place at the business location.
 
Bought my last two guns online. SR40C because everyone was sold out locally. Savage 99 in .300 Savage because everyone locally wanted collectors prices for beat up rifles.
 
"When you buy online, you have to pay a FFL fee, usually $25, plus shipping, usually $30.

So your $55 in the hole already, besides the gun itself."
Greater exposure to competition online reduces most prices, not coincidentally, by about this much in practice. Online guys have to make it worth your while to buy from them, and the local guys are well aware they are more convenient that dealing with a complete stranger via email. Both price accordingly. In TX, we also have an 8.75% sales tax that swings the equation a lot (yes, people are supposed to pay it anyway, but they don't)

As far as "why buy online," I would say the OP doesn't have very exotic tastes in firearms, just yet. I've been in a lot of gun shops, and there is usually one, at most, item there I find cool. Everything else is Glocks, ARs, AKs, and Mosins. In that order. And after I've seen the cool item sit unsold two or three times (my tastes aren't very popular with the body public), at two or three times what I could find it online for, it loses its novelty.

Some gun stores still tempt me, though. The much-maligned Cheaper than Dirt (combines all the worst traits of online and in-store gun sales :D) that just opened in Rockwall, TX had --not one, but two freakin' Boberg pistols on display. Now, these are the only new production gun I've never seen in person besides the ill-fated Caracal, and I think they've been made in far lower numbers than that misfire so far. Super cool. The price was pretty good, too, though they are still at best a 1000$ DA 9mm, and simply not something I can put ahead of other purchases (I will have one for the collection one day, though)

TCB
 
C&R and Sales Tax

I have a C&R FFL also, more than a few dealers I've asked don't even know what one is & aren't really interested to learn! I have used it successfully online mostly, but did do an in person transaction with it when buying a C&R eligible revolver from a pawn shop in Utah when I was visiting last year.

Here in WA, if you have a firearm shipped to an 01 FFL they are required to collect state sales tax on the value of the firearm, plus their transfer fee.
 
Not everyone has tons of local gun stores. My city has over 100,000 people in it, but only two FFL dealers who have storefronts, and one of them is Gander Mountain, so that hardly counts.

And while you pay transfer fees and shipping for buying guns online, you can usually avoid paying sales tax as well, so it ends up being at least an even proposition as far as extra cost over the dealer price goes.

Plus guns in my state tend to cost more than the national average, whereas online prices due to their nature tend toward the national average or a bit lower.

I will say as a warning though that I would be hesitant to buy used guns online if there is any likelihood that the gun won't be as described or just flat out doesn't work. Armslist is the worst about this, as Gunbroker has dispute resolution, but the great thing about Armslist compared to Gunbroker is that most Armslist transactions are completed face to face, so you get that last-second "Hey wait a minute, this "minor rust pitting" covers 90% of the frame!" check.

barnbwt said:
The much-maligned Cheaper than Dirt (combines all the worst traits of online and in-store gun sales ) that just opened in Rockwall, TX had --not one, but two freakin' Boberg pistols on display.
Click to expand...

This is one place where Minnesota has a slight advantage, since all the Bobergs say "Made in White Bear Lake, Minnesota," we were generally the first to see them. :)
 
gibson_es said:
while i have quite a few places locally to purchase firearms. i can narrow that down pretty quick. first there is a small "chain" that is a gun store and indoor range. theres 3 total in my area-ish (2 really, the third is a stretch its closer to an hour and a half drive). this particular chain i used to use a lot, but ever since a couple years ago when ammo disapeared and guns were flying off the selfs (no AR's to be seen and Glocks were not so easy to find) they were price gouging a lot of guns. and they stopped negotiating the price on any guns. even the not so popular ones.

I was in there about a year ago with cash in had to purchase a total of 4 guns at one time. roughly $2500 in firearms. and walked out with my $2500 as they were not willing to budge, even in the slightest. on any of the prices... this was a ruger 10/22, a ruger american in 30-06, an NAA Mini revolver, and a Ruger sp-101 in .22 for the wife.

after purchasing from this store for years, always getting decent deals. and getting to know the people there. i was not happy to be treated this way.

other shops around here are pretty small, and often only have the more popular guns. there price to order them usually comes out way more then if i order online, even after the added costs.

I look locally first, and will pay a little extra to both support a local shop, and to get the item faster (Conceal carry license so no 3 day wait). as been mentioned before. a lot of times shipping is free. depending on wear you purchase. but i still find myself purchasing online at least 50% of the time. if not more.

a good portion of the time, if i purchase online, i wait until im ready and have the money for multiple guns, because my local FFL charges one flat fee, up to 5 guns. so if i purchase, say, 3 guns. that fee gets divided by 3 and making it an easier pill to swollow
Click to expand...
$2500 would not get you those 4?!!!

A Ruger 10/22 is ~$300 (you neglected to say which 10/22 so I assumed their standard carbine)
A Ruger American in 30-06 is ~$500
A Ruger SP101 in .22LR is ~$650
An NAA Mini Revolver is ~$250

My math tells me that is ~$1700, and the LGS owner would not come down to $2500? They must think VERY highly of their firearms.
 
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