I don't get buying guns online.

[jlr1962]

The sales tax savings for the end user is an unfair advantage for the online retailer over your local dealer, and a loss in tax revenue that needs to be paid somewhere. Sounds mighty liberal of me, blah, blah, blah.

This practice has closed many a business, cost many jobs, coast to coast.

I would not buy a pricey item over the internet. I barely trust local retailers not to sell me used, defective, or refurbished products of any kind that become my problem as soon as I open the box. The gun industry is fairly clean by comparison.

 

[rszwieg]

I'm in the "never buy a pig in a poke school" of thinking.

 

[tarosean]

Nowadays with all of the plastic guns and composite stocks are all the same anyway. So why not save a few bucks?

just cause its black plastic doesnt mean it feels the same, has the same balance, has the same weld, etc. etc. etc.

The only guns I have ever bought online were ones that were hard to find or unobtainium locally.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have bought many guns online. I have never had a dealer sell me a pig in a poke. I have bought several from individuals. Only one wasn't as expected. The seller made that deal right in the end.

I love Bud's. I can order, pay, and use a dealer already in their system to avoid sending a FFL copy. Buying a gun takes less than 5 minutes. Then, I can watch the tracking and pick up the gun minutes after it's delivered.

 

[commygun]

"I've found guns online that I've never seen in a local gun shop. If I find something I've been looking for online and the price is ok, I'll buy it. That said, I strongly prefer to by from the LGS."

This. Local selection is lousy. Not going to find a Trapdoor carbine or an FN 1900 at any LGS within a 100 miles.

 

[TennJed]

I live in a town of 100k plus. 7 or 8 gun shops off the top of my head. They have plenty of glocks and M&Ps. Ruger and khar pocket guns, but the really don't have a large selection. They have the guns that they sell a lot of. I can understand that.

Last gun I bought was a Colt Mustang. Not exotic at all. Nobody in town had it. To order it, was $100 to $150 more than I could get online (free shipping)

Pretty standard really. Wanted a 357 S&W J Frame. Couldn't find one local and could save $100 by ordering online (free shipping)

 

[alexander45]

Can't say I buy online much there is a local shop here in az that often beats buds price even befor shipping and transfer. And if not them I can look at other local places or even some of the big box stores and find a better deal

 

[secamp32]

You are lucky. In my county of 1 million people there are 2 or 3 gun stores. There is 1 gun store within 20 minutes of my home. They charge msrp for all guns. I recently bought off the internet a Ruger LC9s for $100 less than msrp.

 

[hso]

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

Not everywhere. Your personal experience can not be assume to be universal. While I'm in much the same situation (bigger community with scores of gun shops or counters), there are simply things that aren't locally available (lots of LE trade ins don't make it to LGSs and are offered by large internet presence dealers) and I've been in many communities with only one or two gun shops to visit.

 

[another pake]

I live outside a town of 2000. It is at least a 40 minute ride to Wally World and I don't consider that a gun shop. An hour drive puts me in an out of state location with a few choices, but the busyness of the big box sport store isn't conducive to my wanting to be there very long. Although they have a dedicated gun department, the help is spread so thin that any kind of personal one on one is virtually non existent unless you go at 9AM or something.

My favorite "local" gun shop is a two hour drive but also in a small town. There I have the time and he has the manners and selection to be of real service to me. It's a relatively small store front but what a lot of people don't know is that he also has a thriving on-line sales department. In his words to me he said, "Internet sales are what keeps my doors open. The guy on line doesn't care or need to know how big I am as long as I give him what he wants at a good price. I can compete with Cabalas and the like with practically no overhead and I get small town living as a bonus."

BTW, for me sales tax has never been a deciding factor. I'll gladly pay it to do business there, as even when I buy on line from him I pay sales tax. He's in my state.

 

[Turismo9999]

I almost always buy online unless my local store has something used I want. Since the Sandy Hook panic, my local store raised all the prices to msrp or higher and will not negotiate at all on new guns. Also they pretty much stock only Glocks and base, cheapest models. Online gives me great selection, at a great price. Usually free or very cheap shipping and no tax. The local FFL only charges $10.00 to transfer. Now about the tax. I live in North Carolina, when you do your state taxes at the end of the year you can keep up with the exact amount you spent out of state and pay the appropriate tax, or, the state will guesstimate it for you based on your income. It always is way less that what I really spend. So I just pay the state guesstimate. I'm happy, the state is happy and no one is looking for me. I don't have any local sales tax. Online just makes since for me.

 

[Cee Zee]

I've only bought one gun off the net. It was from a business that has a pretty good reputation. It was a hard to find gun in incredibly good condition and for a great price so I couldn't resist. I've bought lots of ammo online though.

I have to admit I'm hesitant to buy from an individual online. You never know when you're buying a gun with a body on it as the cops would say. I don't need that hassle even if it ever becoming a problem is a very remote possibility. I even hesitate to sell my guns online because they could be going to someone who really shouldn't be buying a gun (are they going to get caught robbing a liquor store with the gun I sold them?) plus I know of one person who got in huge trouble for selling a gun to a minor from a different state. That guy probably knew what was going on but it's possible to fake an ID. You sell to a kid especially if they are out of state and you could find yourself in prison or at least spending a bunch of cash trying to stay out of prison.

I know I'm paranoid. It's the hillbilly in me. We were raised to be leery of lots of things. I don't like to buy from individuals I don't know locally either. I prefer a gun shop that will give me a receipt and a trial period. And there are several shops like that close to my home. I get great deals locally too. For example they were selling CZ's for $150 less than everyone else in the country for a long time. I paid $100 less for my Marlin 60SS than they sell for elsewhere. Actually they are up another $50 since then making my savings $150. I bought a rifle brand new for $40 (a Marlin 795), I bought a used Savage 110 with a scope for $225. I know that isn't a great deal but it's a good deal. I've bought Topper shotguns for $50 that looked brand new. Local shops can and do have some great deals a least where I live. And one of my favorite shops matches Buds prices. Yes I have to pay taxes but I don't have to pay a transfer fee plus they pay to ship guns back to the factory for me if I happen to have a problem. I've been buying from that place since I got my SKS for under $100. There was a small shop that gave me absolutely insane deals but he had some issues with not doing his paperwork right and the gubmit shut him down. I bought a bunch of ammo from him for really ridiculously low prices.

I will spend a little more to buy from a local mom and pop gun shop. I like keeping them in business. At least I like keeping the good ones open anyway. One locally I'd like to see go back to the previous owner. That previous owner gave me a great deal on a Sig and let me shoot his machine guns one day too. The new owners tried to get me to tell them where I was buying ammo because I told them I could get it cheaper than they were selling it. They wanted to go buy it all up and mark the prices up. It was too obvious. They asked me 10 times where I was buying that ammo. Jerks.

But most of the LGS owners where I live treat me great. Not all of them but probably 9 out of 10 of them do. BTW we have so many gun shops locally it's crazy. Just in the local town of about 3000 people there were 5 gun shops at one point. I think there are only 2 still going but still. Both of them have given me great deals though. And both of them give me trial periods (they know I won't bring something back without a really good reason).

 

[Bezoar]

i lieve between 3 one horse towns. each has a place that sells guns. all are mom and pop.

1 wont order you anything fancy. ie, they wont take an order because when i wanted to order a sw model 10 new in box, he admitted it would be at least a year long wait for him to get anything.

2. other place only orders from one distributor catalog. You really wouldnt believe it but ive looked through it. almost nothing in it. want a sw? its only j frames and x frames. nothing in between. want a percussion revolver? its only two brass frames from pietta.
And then the thing is, they only let one person handle firearms sales or orders. Its realy really bad when you have a 'date' scheduled for 3 pm tuesday on your day off, and learn they decided to take a vacation at noon on tuesday and wont be back for 9 business days.

3. Everybody gets to pay the same price for the same gun at say buds, sure they have a lower price for people who go to thier store, but it gets annoying becuase to many posts on here end with ?but because im the owners friend, he knocked 200 off the price of that nice little used mint condition high way patrolman"

 

[Jackal]

I have 2-3 gunshops in my county. Selection is lousy and prices are high. Online is usually not just a cost saving measure, its often the only way I can get a gun of my choosing. Transfer fee/shipping is chump change compared to the 220 miles, 4 hr drive to the nearest Cabela's.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

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.

But when you buy a $1,000 gun and have to pay 9% sales tax, you're $90 in the hole already, besides the gun itself.

And how many local gun stores have a dozen or more Colt New Service revolvers, pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters and similar guns?

 

[buckhorn_cortez]

Every state with a sales tax has a "use tax" as a component of the sales tax.

...but the PURCHASER is legally liable for the sales tax on everything they purchase.

Not applicable to the state in which I live.

You're assuming you know all of the individual state tax law requirements and that they're all the same - they're not.

For example, the state in which I live doesn't have a "sales tax," it is a "gross receipts tax."

That is a tax on the gross amount of money that the business takes in. It is the responsibility of the business to pay that tax - NOT THE PURCHASER as it is very clearly NOT a sales tax.

Most businesses choose to add that tax charge onto the gross sales price of the item - but, they do not have to - they could choose to pay the tax themselves without passing it on to the buyer. The state really doesn't care - they just want the percentage tax due on the gross receipts of the business.

In the case of a gun purchased out-of-state, the local business does not take the sales money from the gun into the business so it is not taxable (not part of the business gross receipts). However, the transfer fee is taxable so that is the money that the gross receipts tax is applied to.

In my case, I do pay a tax from buying a gun from an out-of-state business and it is calculated on the dollar amount of the transfer fee.

 

[EHL]

I almost exclusively buy all my firearms online. The cost savings for these as opposed to my local gun dealer is crazy! Often the difference of at LEAST 100 dollars or more is what I save per gun, even after the transfer fee and shipping.

 

[Warp]

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 [you're] $55 in the hole already, besides the gun itself.

You can't always get what you want locally. And sometimes it's cheaper to order online even if it is available locally.

 

[rogerjames]

Just curious and not trying to be a jerk, but... I've read a couple of your other posts and you're obviously a NEWB on the firearm scene. You are definitely in the right place to ask questions and learn.



I'm just curious... you bought your first rifle, a Marlin 60 .22lr... Why is your screen name "thirty-ought-six"? Good blues song?

 

[Cee Zee]

your first rifle, a Marlin 60 .22lr

That was the first rifle I ever shot much even though it belonged to my dad. That was 50 years ago almost but still. Actually it might been 50 years come to think of it. Time goes by so quickly. But I still remember how much I loved that rifle named after a fish (shows you how young I was).

So should my name me Marlin 60 now? People pick their names for lots of reasons. I do have a CZ BTW. It's a dandy too.

 

[Warp]

That was the first rifle I ever shot much even though it belonged to my dad. That was 50 years ago almost but still. Actually it might been 50 years come to think of it. Time goes by so quickly. But I still remember how much I loved that rifle named after a fish (shows you how young I was).

So should my name me Marlin 60 now? People pick their names for lots of reasons. I do have a CZ BTW. It's a dandy too.

Are you saying you joined the forum 50 years ago when that Marlin was the only rifle you owned, and you had just purchased it a few days ago?

 

[Scooter22]

You must not be looking too much. I've found guns online I've never seen locally for good prices. Plus I've won bids and "Buy Now's" for 1/2, 1/3 or less than the going rate. I've never got a gun I had to return or that wasn't what I expected. Buying online is one of the best places to get a great deal.

 

[Ankeny]

Me: "I want this gun"..... Hand him a print out of the gun I want
Him: "let me check........I can't seem to be able to get it"
Me: "well, I'll just order that one then, so be expecting it"
Him: "ok, sounds good to me. I'll call you when it gets here"

Same here, I always shop at home. In fact, I sometimes spend substantially more from my dealer than the price on-line. In return, if my dealer doesn't have it or can not get it, he doesn't charge a transfer fee. As far as taxes, that is one of the reasone I shop at home, so the local govt. can use the taxes. I don't mind sales taxes at all. Increases in taxes (county) need to be approved at the polls with the tax earmarked a particular use. We have no state income taxes.

 

[Agsalaska]

I buy almost everything online and generally avoid gun stores at all costs. While a lot of that has to do with the poor customer service in the gun industry, price is the main factor. It has been a long time since I have seen a LGS that competed at prices online. I have a local kitchen table FFL that does the transfers so I dont ever really have to deal with the gun stores.

That being said, I do occasionally venture into them looking for old cool stuff. Old cool stuff is actually more expensive on line as they bring in more demand(The more mainstream production stuff has the opposite effect online).

 

[Cee Zee]

Are you saying you joined the forum 50 years ago when that Marlin was the only rifle you owned, and you had just purchased it a few days ago?

Of course I am. Weren't you on the net 50 years ago?