no local sales. anyone ever heard of this

[1911user]

There is a local dealer here who lost a sale (to me) because of his no-pickup policy. His loss, I found another dealer who was happy to make the sale. And I didn't have to pay an extra $15-20 for shipping it 5-10 miles plus an extra transfer fee. Guess where I'll look first for the next gun purchase? I educated some other shooters about the no-pickup policy when they were looking his direction; 3 lost sales that I am aware of.

 

[saddlebum]

1911user, where you at in oklahoma? might be talking about the same guy.

as far as window shopping: i ask in may email do you still have X for sale he said yes, i said i'll come get it, he said no dice. didn't wanna look around, chit chat or anything else. just give him 4 bills plus tax . he didn't want it.

i have a cpl and i buy 10 - 20 guns a year. so screw him if i'm not good enough to by a gun from him,then i hope he goes broke.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I'm surprised nobody brought this up yet:

He doesn't have a sales tax license!

And he doesn't want one, for whatever reason. Therefore he can't sell anything locally without breaking the law.

 

[hotpig]

I have discussed this issue with many friends of mine in various businesses.

The internet is the internet, and brick and mortar is brick and mortar.

You can save money online, but don't expect to get the same benefits as walking into a store.

You can get the benefits of walking into a store, but don't expect to get online pricing.

My safe business is the same way. We sell safes all over the country from our website, and also sell them locally. The terms of sale on the website are different than our terms if you would walk in the office and buy one.

Some Dealers complain that people walk into their shops and want them to meet or beat the internet price. As a rule of thumb it is not possible. Dealer could not do this unless they got a better than average deal or they just want to move the item.

 

[saddlebum]

why would it be any cheaper to ship it than to sell it face to face?

and he offered for me to send him the money and then ship it to a dealer in the same town. in that case he would still have to collect sales tax.

sometimes i think gun dealers are thier own worst enemies

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

No, the dealer he shipped it to would be responsible for the sales tax, since he handled the transaction. The state, city or county don't care who collects the tax, as long as somebody with a license, who will remit it to the gov does.

 

[saddlebum]

no if he collected the money for the sale he would be responsable for collecting sales tax in oklahoma

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

no if he collected the money for the sale he would be responsable for collecting sales tax in oklahoma

I think Mal H was right. the guy is a wholesaler. He doesn't want or need a sales tax license (and I can understand that, as a retailer).

something is wrong here. He said you could pay him and take delivery from a dealer he shipped to? He would be shifting the sales tax liability to the dealer you picked up from.

If he doesn't have a sales tax license from the state, then he doesn't have the means to collect or remit the tax to the state.

There are only two reasons I can think of why this guy won't let you take delivery from him, and they were both mentioned above. Either he is a wholesaler or he is prevented by zoning laws from having customers at his place of business.

I'm in the trophy business, with a brick and mortar store. A few years ago, a "garage dealer" as we know them tried to work out of his house and he tried to do it right, with the license and all. Well, the city told him he could do it, but he could have neither a sign nor customers, since he lived in a residential neighborhood. He had to do all of his business by phone, point-of-sale, and delivery. Needless to say, he didn't last long.

 

[saddlebum]

from his web site : Sales Tax
....................... charges sales tax for merchandise ordered on this Web site based on the applicable state sales tax rate and the location to which the order is being shipped. We only charge sales tax on orders shipped in the State of Oklahoma

i deleted the company name.

 

[1911user]

There are only two reasons I can think of why this guy won't let you take delivery from him, and they were both mentioned above. Either he is a wholesaler or he is prevented by zoning laws from having customers at his place of business.

Nope, there is a 3rd reason. He just doesn't want to have people do local pick-up unless they are part of his "good ol' buddy club". I learned this at a match where another person had just picked up 2 new guns from him. He certainly will collect sales tax for in-state sales on all transactions. His business (in my case) is in a rural area so no city zoning problems and lower sales tax also.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I guess all I'm saying is the guy probably has a legitimate reason.

Everything else is strictly my speculation.

I know I would never turn down a legitimate sale of anything, since that's the way I make my living.

 

[FireBreather01]

In regards to what this dealer told Saddlebum I'm curious about a statement made by an ATF agent I spoke to regarding FFL licenses - when I commented about 'internet only' sales she remarked that I could not sell only on the internet - in order to have a viable FFL I had to have some, and she didn't define what 'some' meant, walk-up business in which I sold directly from the address on the FFL to customers.

If this guy said he categorically sells only via the internet, how does that square with what the ATF told me???

 

[mnrivrat]

One other reason not mentioned ; maybe he makes money off the shipping ?

 

[1911user]

Saddlebum and I have PMed some info back and forth. The place I had a problem with is now doing local-pickup with an appointment (seems fair), but it was a different business that refused local-pickup for him. I'm glad to see his policy has changed for the better IMHO.