Gunbroker shipping estimate?

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WestKentucky

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I am ready to buy a youth 22 rifle and what I want is out of stock everywhere with none available through the various distributors. On GB the rifles are available, and when looking at purchase price plus shipping I can’t get a decent idea on shipping. One place says $8.50 and others go as high as $35. Is there any rhyme or reason to this or do sellers just put in whatever they want to charge for shipping? An estimator should probably estimate the cost somewhat accurately. I don’t want to go into a purchase thinking I’m paying X and end up paying X+20
 
Vendors on GB will charge shipping based on their own criteria. GB does not make any effort to harmonize / standardize shipping costs - nor could they.

Last I looked, GB doesn't consider shipping charges to be part of the selling price against which the selling commission was based. Accordingly, I assume that many sellers inflate the shipping charges ($35-$40? Really?) to make money on the transaction that isn't subject to the GB commission system.
 
I see. I wondered if they were gaming the system a bit with low “purchase” price and crazy shipping. Still, it’s a $140 rifle so shipping is a significant cost in percentage of purchase.
 
Shipping firearms isn’t cheap.

Packing - gotta box the original box or someone will cry about how their Lorcin or Jennings or HiPoint box being damaged and having no collector value.

Cost to bring it to USPS, UPS or FedEx - time, fuel.

Actual shipping cost - what is the actual shipping cost of a smal rifle from coast to coast as cheap as possible?

I’d be hard pressed to get a long gun to anyone’s FFL for $25, much less $8.

A local FFL charges $100 to ship guns...regardless of the gun. They don’t like to log them in, pack them and ship them, so they price it so no one does it.
 
I don't like to mention this much online, but I did work for a small FFL for a time. I assure you, nobody is shipping a rifle via UPS or Fed Ex for $8 (or $25) unless they have a HUGE volume of business and contract rates. $35 to 40 is pretty close to the usual rate. And that's not even including the cost of packaging or the time to do the paperwork.

(Up next, I'll get started on why a "$200 plastic pistol" sells for $500...)
 
Don't forget to also add in the FFL on your end for the gun,as that can add anywhere from $20 and up. So shipping and FFL can make that a $200 rifle easily.
 
Vendors on GB will charge shipping based on their own criteria. GB does not make any effort to harmonize / standardize shipping costs - nor could they.

Last I looked, GB doesn't consider shipping charges to be part of the selling price against which the selling commission was based. Accordingly, I assume that many sellers inflate the shipping charges ($35-$40? Really?) to make money on the transaction that isn't subject to the GB commission system.
Really :D
Shipping cost depends on carrier/distance/weight/dimensions/insured value/extra services such as adult signature on delivery.
To ship a rifle worth $500, in a box 50x8x4, weight of 10lbs from Plano, TX to Los Angeles with adult signature on delivery:
USPS $44.80
UPS Ground $42.95

Those are actual costs from the shipping calculators at usps.com and ups.com...….and I'll charge the customer $10 for my time on top of that.

When you see shipping costs of less than the above or "everything ships for $10" the seller is eating the extra cost, or may do enough volume that he qualifies for substantial discounts.

Quite often I'll ship a gun out for someone who sold it on GunBroker and only charged $25 for shipping, then is surprised that shipping to Alaska cost more than $25.
Some will want to drop insurance or adult signature to save $$$ but I won't ship without either of those.
 
It is not the actual weight its the dimensional weight. Light things that take up more room in trucks, cost more to ship because less can be loaded in the said truck.
 
My FFL ships everything for $35 They must do a huge volume. I know they ship handguns USPS. Their main business is transfers
 
I bought a revolver recently from a GunBroker seller. The listing showed shipping charges of $35. Thinking the shipping charges were a rip off I reluctantly ordered the gun. It was shipped second day air. I checked the UPS website and was quoted a price of $36 and change for the shipment. So the seller actually lost a bit on the shipping charges.
 
If the shipping is too much then just don't bid on the item. Its nice that your paying attention to it, some don't. Shipping is paid on any item you buy anywhere, the charges are direct or indirect. Direct means you pay extra, indirect means they are added in the cost of the item. Its hard to bear a high shipping cost for a inexpensive item. Sometimes it just the cost of doing business.
 
On some guns by the time you pay the price for it, shipping and your local FFL's fees you would be better off buying locally. I've noticed that a lot of the guns on various auction sites are more than at my LGS, I can't figure out who would want to pay more.
 
My average on long guns via Fedex will run around $25. Insurance will run about $1 per hundred. I usually charge $40 for a long gun unless it is a high dollar ($1000+) item. That will cover box, packing material, insurance and shipping. Handguns usually go USPS Priority Mail.
 
I’m with y’all and I normally make a point of shopping local. My issue here is that there is no stock available except gunbroker or Buds. I’m considering buying from buds and paying my local guys to receive if I can do so without a huge cost.
 
I got smoking deals on three brand name (not anti-2nd Yeti!) 80 liter rotomolded coolers, but they had to be shipped to my friends store 300 miles North of me to get the buy.

The UPS was closed for some reason and she shipped them Fed Ex. Shipping was 60 bucks a pop, which was really high (but the whole deal was still 120.00 under retail each so I was ok with it)

Most of my firearm purchases have between 35 to 50 added to ship, so I factor that in when I bid.

Stay safe!
 
Even a bare receiver runs about $15-20 shipping which I just recently bought from Numrich. $35-40 is definitely in the average price range for a long gun on Gunbroker. Never bought a handgun online so don't know about that.
 
I got smoking deals on three brand name (not anti-2nd Yeti!) 80 liter rotomolded coolers, but they had to be shipped to my friends store 300 miles North of me to get the buy.

The UPS was closed for some reason and she shipped them Fed Ex. Shipping was 60 bucks a pop, which was really high (but the whole deal was still 120.00 under retail each so I was ok with it)

Most of my firearm purchases have between 35 to 50 added to ship, so I factor that in when I bid.

Stay safe!
For that, you might have been better having them banded together and shipped via commercial truck.
 
As said, GB doesn't set the rate. It's the actual vendor shipping from his location to your zip code. One guy across the country could be cheaper but his shipping at $35, compared to another at a higher price with flat rate across the state might be cheaper.

This is entirely normal across all vendors across the internet.

I bought a pistol based on my "front door cost," the vendor was $10 more than everyone else, but he also offered "free shipping." Which it was, and that was the overall lowest cost to my "front door," ie the FFL.

This is the same thing I discuss with customers who state their internet vendor offers a lower price than my auto parts store. Ok, it is - the most common mentioned is Rock Auto - which is really a "server farm in strip mall," no storefronts, compared to the 5,000 stores in my company, most of who stock the part on the shelf nationwide ready to pick up, the shipping is part of the price. The customer never wants to include his shipping, making it an unfair comparison, and often never considers that a used part installed cannot be returned. I will accept your mistake in not describing your vehicle correctly, and I will warranty said part next year even if you installed it incorrectly. The internet won't.

I say all that to provide an example of how people look at things and think the brick and mortar store is "too darn high!" Ignoring the cost of shipping and the protection of addon service is usually ignored when it comes up. In the OP's case not finding one in stock is a bummer, but finding the best online price is still a matter of due diligence. Don't fool yourself when it comes down to price, include all the charges, to get to a front door price. That is what you will really pay, so it goes to including shipping to see who has the better deal.

I bought my Kahr .380 from a local dealer, a Taurus UL from the internet. The Kahr was no more expensive, but the local guys wanted $100 more for the Taurus "front door priced." Okay, I will have it my way and eat Burger King today. Next time? Who knows. It's always a spin the price and see what you get. No guarantees in life.

BTW I have shopped out of store for my auto needs, I can get synthetic oil $1 a quart cheaper than my employee price from the ag stores. A trailer hitch, not so much. Shipped to my store. You gotta shop it.
 
For that, you might have been better having them banded together and shipped via commercial truck.
Ya, that would’ve been better. My friend was doing me a favor so I wasn’t going to be too picky. Heck, I had four different sets of friends pass her place just three weeks earlier, coulda saved me a bundle to have them pick them up!
 
When I buy through gunbroker I always add the shipping and purchase price together and then compare it to the free shipping listings. Whatever comes out cheaper is what I buy. What I hate is when sellers don't include what the shipping charge will be on the auction page. While I understand that the price changes depending upon where its going, I don't want to have to message someone and wait 6 hours for their reply just to find out whether or not their gun was a better deal than another one listed. Ebay requires a shipping price in order to post an item and it would be nice if gunbroker would do the same.
 
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