Armslist out of state sale question

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TomJ

TomJ

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I've always used Armslist for face to face sales only. I currently have an offer from a buyer in another state, which I refused due to the scammers that lurk on that site. A solution that was suggested was for me to transfer the gun to my FFL, have the out of state buyer pay my FFL by credit card and then have him ship it to the buyers FFL. We'd confirm that the buyer's FFL is legitimate. Given that we'll receive payment by credit card is there a risk I'm not seeing? I understand the buyer can dispute the charge, but that will be hard to do as we can confirm it was shipped and received.
 
George P said:
Maybe use a USPS postal money order?
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We discussed that, but the buyer will have to send it with no guarantee I’ll ship the gun after I cash it. He was understandably concerned about that.
 
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If the gun shop pays you out in cash, that would be good enough for me.

That’s my rule. Cash in my hand before the item takes off.
 
Wisco said:
If the gun shop pays you out in cash, that would be good enough for me.

That’s my rule. Cash in my hand before the item takes off.
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It was the gunshop owner’s suggestion. He’ll pay me as soon as he receives payment. They’re a family owned business run by nice people, so I’m trying to make sure they aren’t hurt somehow either.
 
TomJ said:
It was the gunshop owner’s suggestion. He’ll pay me as soon as he receives payment. They’re a family owned business run by nice people, so I’m trying to make sure they aren’t hurt somehow either.
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If there was a chargeback, businesses are in a much better position with banks to fight it just by volume of business.

I think your FFL is a real winner and sounds very helpful.

I wouldn’t worry. It’s probably the safest sale for a seller I’ve heard of in a while.
 
TomJ said:
I've always used Armslist for face to face sales only. I currently have an offer from a buyer in another state, which I refused due to the scammers that lurk on that site. A solution that was suggested was for me to transfer the gun to my FFL, have the out of state buyer pay my FFL by credit card and then have him ship it to the buyers FFL. We'd confirm that the buyer's FFL is legitimate. Given that we'll receive payment by credit card is there a risk I'm not seeing? I understand the buyer can dispute the charge, but that will be hard to do as we can confirm it was shipped and received.
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You can use Paypal.
He would send the payment to your Paypal account, then you enter the tracking number after you ship it. Once the shipper marks it delivered the funds are released to you. You would then most likely contact the buyer to make sure he's happy with the gun before withdrawing the money or at that point he could pay the return shipping and you could refund him the same way.

They, of course, charge nominal fee for the service but everybody is protected.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
You can use Paypal.
He would send the payment to your Paypal account, then you enter the tracking number after you ship it. Once the shipper marks it delivered the funds are released to you. You would then most likely contact the buyer to make sure he's happy with the gun before withdrawing the money or at that point he could pay the return shipping and you could refund him the same way.

They, of course, charge nominal fee for the service but everybody is protected.
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We looked into Paypal. Their policy is no gun sales, so in the event of a dispute I couldn’t count on them to intervene.
 
TomJ said:
We discussed that, but the buyer will have to send it with no guarantee I’ll ship the gun after I cash it. He was understandably concerned about that.
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Then you have it go to your FFl or use a third party service on both ends.

And NEVER use anti-gun Paypal - they will freeze your account and money
 
You have to trust that he's trusting and won't worry that the buyer will challenge the charge on his CC statement (which is why you always get a signed receipt).
 
TomJ said:
We discussed that, but the buyer will have to send it with no guarantee I’ll ship the gun after I cash it.
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That is pretty much status quo for Internet sales.

Now, because it's armslist., it would have to be cash in hand period, green backs; no checks money orders or cashiers checks or other forms of payment.
 
Aside from concern for disputing the charge, the FFL also has the 1-3% (depending on his processing vendor and card used) CC processing fee.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
You can use Paypal. . . They, of course, charge nominal fee for the service but everybody is protected.
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I can't understand why this misconception is still so common. PayPal prohibits payments for firearms and most accessories (brass, bullets, etc), and they are famously anti-2A. If you have a payment dispute related to a firearm, you will certainly receive no help whatsoever from them.
 
It's done. I was at my FFL while they called the buyer's FFL as well as the buyer. Payment was made by credit card, and my FFL assured me they do this often with no issues. It wasn't much of a money maker for them, but I've bought quite a few guns from them and they do all my gun smithing, so I think they did it in part as a service to me for the busienss I've given them.
 
edwardware said:
I can't understand why this misconception is still so common. PayPal prohibits payments for firearms and most accessories (brass, bullets, etc), and they are famously anti-2A. If you have a payment dispute related to a firearm, you will certainly receive no help whatsoever from them.
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Well, unless you read the fine print of their user agreement, you wouldn't know and this is the first I've heard of them being anti gun. Its not like there is a giant banner that pops up when you create an account with them saying: DO NOT USE OUR SERVICE FOR FIREARMS TRANSFERS YOU MOUTHBREATHING GUNTOTING REDNECKS!

Now that I know, I certainly won't be using them again for gun transfers, but there is really no choice when it comes to buying/selling on EBAY- having a Paypal account is pretty much mandatory there.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Well, unless you read the fine print of their user agreement, you wouldn't know and this is the first I've heard of them being anti gun. Its not like there is a giant banner that pops up when you create an account with them saying: DO NOT USE OUR SERVICE FOR FIREARMS TRANSFERS YOU MOUTHBREATHING GUNTOTING REDNECKS!

Now that I know, I certainly won't be using them again for gun transfers, but there is really no choice when it comes to buying/selling on EBAY- having a Paypal account is pretty much mandatory there.
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It has been this way for several years. I have had friends whose accounts were frozen for many months
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Well, unless you read the fine print of their user agreement, you wouldn't know and this is the first I've heard of them being anti gun. Its not like there is a giant banner that pops up when you create an account with them saying: DO NOT USE OUR SERVICE FOR FIREARMS TRANSFERS YOU MOUTHBREATHING GUNTOTING REDNECKS!

Now that I know, I certainly won't be using them again for gun transfers, but there is really no choice when it comes to buying/selling on EBAY- having a Paypal account is pretty much mandatory there.
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The only reason I thought of checking whether it could be used for guns was because another potential buyer who I was suspicious of was pushing it. Otherwise it would not have occurred to me that they'd ban the sale of a legal product.
 
The post office sometimes won't cash a money order for a large amount. You have to take it to your bank. My bank told me money orders can be forged and often are. They don't do any vitrifaction of the MO and will tell you if it comes up as being forged you loose.

Best bet is cash in hand. I buy from dealers but I won't ever purchase or sell on Armslist. That's just asking for trouble.
 
I have never had an issue taking a USPS MO to them and cashing it. Once cashed, I ship the gun.
 
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