Ordered an AR-15 Lower from Cabela's ...

[GBExpat]

I ordered a rcvr-less AR-15 "kit" (it's all ilbob's fault) so I needed to source another stripped Lower.

I looked for Andersons and found that AIM has them in-stock again for $39.95 ... but the shipping would cost a bit over $20. ... and then I would have to add in the Dealer Transfer (that used to cost me $15 when the guy's opened their store but by a year ago had jumped to $25) ... so this 40 dollar Lower was going to cost me over $85 in addition to the special drive to an area that I rarely visit (~40mi r/t).

I was casting about trying to come up with alternatives. My cousin recently shopped for one locally and ended up paying over $80 (IIRC) for one of the cheaper ones that he had found at a LGS.

While thinking about this I recalled the Cabela's that opened near here (and within a half mile of where I do my weekly grocery shopping) and figured that I would see if they offered something like that ... and they DO!

$49.99 + $3tx = $52.99 for the Anderson Lower. If they operate like any other LGS, I will not get hit with a separate transfer fee. I will come back and update once I have completed the transaction.

BTW, one big reason that I can do this is that, unlike most folks these days, I am not a member of the Instant Gratification Society... so Cabela's will contact me in a week, or so, to come down do the 4473 Shuffle.

Which is fine as I am in no-o-o-o rush.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I’m in Va too, but I fled my lifelong home of Fairfax ten years ago.

Anyway, they run that sale often. Limits vary. Also there is a dealer who’s north or Richmond who sells Andnderson lowers at gun shows for decent prices. It was $50 when I bought from him at the Roanoke show a year ago. At that time $50 was good. I don’t know what he charges now. But add tax and the $2 background and it wasn’t terrible.

Also watch Rural King in Front Royal they sometimes have good prices on lowers from time to time.

 

[herrwalther]

When I built my (so far first) AR I wanted to build around a stripped lower. I didn't want to start with a complete lower. I did the same thing looking at ordering a stripped lower, factor in shipping cost, and FFL transfer. $30 stripped lowers were hitting close to $100 to get. I made a post on my Facebook account that building a rifle was too expensive of a hobby. An employee from a gun store about an hour away messaged me that they were selling stripped Anderson lowers for $40. I was there in 45 minutes.

 

[someguy2800]

I've bought all my lowers locally. After shopping online I couldn't find one for less than $50 shipped + $25 for transfer which is what my local gun shop charges for transfers. I went to see what he had and he had some nice laser engraved Anderson's in stock for $75 so I decided I would rather give him my money rather than nitpicking over $5 waiting for something to go on sale and ship. I recently bought 3 more from another local retailer when they had them on sale. I had some coupons to use and got 3 for $40 each with tax.

 

[WestKentucky]

This unbelievable fee crazy system is what drives the 80% game. I bought an Anderson locally for 55 tax included a couple years ago. Since then I have only built 80% because I refuse to pay double the “purchase price” to get what I want.

 

[someguy2800]

How is a private business taking time to talk to you, then email there FFL licence to whoever you bought your lower(s) from, then call you on the phone to come get it, then doing the background check, talking to you some more, and only charging you $25 for this 20-30 minutes of work, which they then have to pay business taxes on, a "fee crazy system"? I wouldn't do it for less than that.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

How is a private business taking time to talk to you, then email there FFL licence to whoever you bought your lower(s) from, then call you on the phone to come get it, then doing the background check, talking to you some more, and only charging you $25 for this 20-30 minutes of work, which they then have to pay business taxes on, a "fee crazy system"? I wouldn't do it for less than that.

My FFL charges $20 for all on one transfer
Sometimes he runs a $15 special
The background check is $2

So it’s not bad
Some charge much more

 

[someguy2800]

Alot of them here charge $50 just because they don't want the hassle. No charge for background checks, they only do the federal one.

 

[Skylerbone]

I picked up a stripped Anderson last night from Primary Arms, 24 hour sale, limit 1. With a few other parts to divide the $9 shipping and my FFL charging $10, I’ll have $48 bucks in it. Wish I could have gotten a half-dozen or that local guys would carry them. I am glad to see the temporary price hike and scant availability of cheap lowers seems waning. Never would have thought of Cabelas as a source.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I picked up a stripped Anderson last night from Primary Arms, 24 hour sale, limit 1. With a few other parts to divide the $9 shipping and my FFL charging $10, I’ll have $48 bucks in it. Wish I could have gotten a half-dozen or that local guys would carry them. I am glad to see the temporary price hike and scant availability of cheap lowers seems waning. Never would have thought of Cabelas as a source.

I’m hoping they do another sale next month like the $39 per lower with a limit or five or six.

 

[WestKentucky]

How is a private business taking time to talk to you, then email there FFL licence to whoever you bought your lower(s) from, then call you on the phone to come get it, then doing the background check, talking to you some more, and only charging you $25 for this 20-30 minutes of work, which they then have to pay business taxes on, a "fee crazy system"? I wouldn't do it for less than that.

My ffl is 20 flat which includes the $10 state mandated background check. Email is free, talk is free, the total time invested is about 20 minutes tops so for somebody making 15 an hour the LGS has 5 bucks tied up in labor and then the cost of the background check, so realistically it’s about 10-15 bucks. Why in the hammered dogturd would I pay more than 20 bucks for the service? Did I mention that guns are expensive to ship because of all the special BS tied to that? So I’m paying 20 bucks to ship something that 2 or more would fit in a discount flat rate box, then paying somebody else 20 bucks to get my mail in an inconvenient spot that I have to drive out of my way to. If it was a fishing lure you would think it’s crazy. How is an inert piece of aluminum any different from an inert piece of balsa wood?

 

[someguy2800]

My ffl is 20 flat which includes the $10 state mandated background check. Email is free, talk is free, the total time invested is about 20 minutes tops so for somebody making 15 an hour the LGS has 5 bucks tied up in labor and then the cost of the background check, so realistically it’s about 10-15 bucks. Why in the hammered dogturd would I pay more than 20 bucks for the service? Did I mention that guns are expensive to ship because of all the special BS tied to that? So I’m paying 20 bucks to ship something that 2 or more would fit in a discount flat rate box, then paying somebody else 20 bucks to get my mail in an inconvenient spot that I have to drive out of my way to. If it was a fishing lure you would think it’s crazy. How is an inert piece of aluminum any different from an inert piece of balsa wood?

When you hire someone to work for you it cost a lot more than there base salary to keep them employed. You have to pay payroll tax on them and if they are full time you have to give them vacation and insurance and if they get hurt you have to pay there workmans comp, and if you have to fire them you can end up paying there unemployment. So if someone is working for you they need to be generating a profit. Plus you have a building to pay for so you need to make a profit on what your doing otherwise your not a business, your just a place where people hang out to chat. So you can complain to the government if you like about not being able to ship AR15 recievers to your house, but your local gunshop is not greedy for charging you $20 for doing it. Your greedy for expecting to get a service that costs money for nothing.

 

[sota]

best I've ever been able to do for a single stripped lower was $49.92 total... but I bought 5 lowers plus 4 long guns all at the same time, only a single NICS charge and my dealer discounts his transfer fee if you buy more than 1 item at the same time, so there was a lot of dollar-cost-averaging going on there.

next time I buy stripped lowers, I'm buying at least 10 for that reason.

 

[WestKentucky]

When you hire someone to work for you it cost a lot more than there base salary to keep them employed. You have to pay payroll tax on them and if they are full time you have to give them vacation and insurance and if they get hurt you have to pay there workmans comp, and if you have to fire them you can end up paying there unemployment. So if someone is working for you they need to be generating a profit. Plus you have a building to pay for so you need to make a profit on what your doing otherwise your not a business, your just a place where people hang out to chat. So you can complain to the government if you like about not being able to ship AR15 recievers to your house, but your local gunshop is not greedy for charging you $20 for doing it. Your greedy for expecting to get a service that costs money for nothing.

Not greedy, but not willing to suffer the impact of the vampires either. There is reasonable, and there is outrageous. Then there is idiotic law that compounds matters. It is stupid that the current system makes a $40 part cost $80 or more.

 

[MistWolf]

In my area, lowers cost more locally than they do online.

 

[AlexanderA]

Since you're in northern Virginia, why not wait until the next Nation's Gun Show in Chantilly? (They're every month or so, and the next one is June 8-10.) At least a dozen guys at the show sell stripped AR lowers. Lots of competition on price and selection.

I used Anderson lowers (bought at the show) in my last two builds, but now I kind of regret it. S&W M&Ps or Del-Tons have much nicer markings, and they don't cost much more than Andersons.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Not greedy, but not willing to suffer the impact of the vampires either. There is reasonable, and there is outrageous. Then there is idiotic law that compounds matters. It is stupid that the current system makes a $40 part cost $80 or more.

If shipping and fees on guns pains you this much, you'd have a coronary paying the fees and taxes to be an FFL, and the shipping on manufacturing materials is over the top.

Believe me, no FFL is getting rich on $20 or $30 transfer fees. Doing transfers would barely be worth my time at $50. I only do them for friends; the guy I don't know from Adam can go pester a type 01 in town.

 

[Hasaf]

In my area, lowers cost more locally than they do online.

In Salt Lake lowers also cost significantly more locally than online. I was checking last summer, when lowers were available online for 35-40 and locally the cheapest I was able to fins was just under 100 for a poly lower that I didn't particularly like. Any sort of metal lower started at 130. My FFL charges 15 for a transfer. The decision isn't hard.

 

[Speedo66]

I'm fortunate to live close to a couple of large online dealers who also have retail outlets. So a $39.95 Anderson lower was $39.95 plus local sales tax.

When I put my sole political backlash AR together a few years ago, the word was Hillary was eminent, so I bought 3 Anderson lowers at the same time. Two are still sitting in their plastic bags and will probably never be assembled by me.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

If shipping and fees on guns pains you this much, you'd have a coronary paying the fees and taxes to be an FFL, and the shipping on manufacturing materials is over the top.

Believe me, no FFL is getting rich on $20 or $30 transfer fees. Doing transfers would barely be worth my time at $50. I only do them for friends; the guy I don't know from Adam can go pester a type 01 in town.

That sort of attitude is why many of us avoid many local dealers.
I’m all for you making a profit. But I’m not for being overcharged. If your competitors can provide a service for $20 or $30 and are efficient enough to make a profit doing it, them I’m going to go to them not you. If they’ll do it without the attitude, I’ll avoid you like the plague.

I’m sure as hell not interested in making you rich on transfers.

As a business owner, I understand profit, making a living, competition, service, and attitude. If doing 15 or 20 minutes worth of woek when you’re not busy isn’t worth your time you must be doing so much business to care. You remind me of the automotive shops here who complain about doing state safety inspections saying they don’t make enough. Yet the get $20 for less than 15 minutes woek.

What you and they don’t realize is that if you make a little less on transfers or inspections, but have a good attitude, and treat your customers well, customers will spend money with you. In fact, many of us will be loyal and go to you first. But cop the attitude and as I said above, I’ll find someone else even if they’re further away. And worse case I’ll mail orderif necessary even though I prefer to buy local when I can.

 

[WestKentucky]

That sort of attitude is why many of us avoid many local dealers.
I’m all for you making a profit. But I’m not for being overcharged. If your competitors can provide a service for $20 or $30 and are efficient enough to make a profit doing it, them I’m going to go to them not you. If they’ll do it without the attitude, I’ll avoid you like the plague.

I’m sure as hell not interested in making you rich on transfers.

As a business owner, I understand profit, making a living, competition, service, and attitude. If doing 15 or 20 minutes worth of woek when you’re not busy isn’t worth your time you must be doing so much business to care. You remind me of the automotive shops here who complain about doing state safety inspections saying they don’t make enough. Yet the get $20 for less than 15 minutes woek.

What you and they don’t realize is that if you make a little less on transfers or inspections, but have a good attitude, and treat your customers well, customers will spend money with you. In fact, many of us will be loyal and go to you first. But cop the attitude and as I said above, I’ll find someone else even if they’re further away. And worse case I’ll mail orderif necessary even though I prefer to buy local when I can.

Amen, but I do understand

 

[MachIVshooter]

That sort of attitude is why many of us avoid many local dealers.
I’m all for you making a profit. But I’m not for being overcharged. If your competitors can provide a service for $20 or $30 and are efficient enough to make a profit doing it, them I’m going to go to them not you. If they’ll do it without the attitude, I’ll avoid you like the plague.

I’m sure as hell not interested in making you rich on transfers.

As a business owner, I understand profit, making a living, competition, service, and attitude. If doing 15 or 20 minutes worth of woek when you’re not busy isn’t worth your time you must be doing so much business to care. You remind me of the automotive shops here who complain about doing state safety inspections saying they don’t make enough. Yet the get $20 for less than 15 minutes woek.

What you and they don’t realize is that if you make a little less on transfers or inspections, but have a good attitude, and treat your customers well, customers will spend money with you. In fact, many of us will be loyal and go to you first. But cop the attitude and as I said above, I’ll find someone else even if they’re further away. And worse case I’ll mail orderif necessary even though I prefer to buy local when I can.

You think it's 15 minutes worth of work to do a transfer? Ha. It might be 15 minutes for you to fill in the 4473 and the check to come back, but by the time you add up the phone & email conversations with you and the other FFL, "is it in yet" phone calls, walking people through the 4473 because they have poor reading comprehension, having to wait on them to produce another document because they're still using an out of state license, etc., it's more like an hour.

I'm an 07 Gunsmith and manufacturer, not a retail dealer. I don't have stocked shelves to keep people busy while waiting on CBI check, so if CBI takes an hour, the transferee is generally bothering me the entire time, keeping me from paying work. I also can't stand the general public. And that's why I don't do transfers. Not for $20, not for $50. Just for friends.

Likewise with the safety inspections, you're not talking about just the 15 min of actual checking. Time on the phone, coordinating/scheduling with customers, keeping a bay open, checking in the vehicle, doing the inspection, filling out the paperwork, invoicing you out. Not worth the time.

I don't know what business you run, but it seems that you're completely unfamiliar with the service industry. Bottom line, it's really not worth the bother for less than an hour's labor. Which is why so many in the service industry have a 1 hour minimum charge.

And speaking of attitudes, you should check yours. Your hostility is totally unwarranted.

 

[WestKentucky]

I don't know what business you run, but it seems that you're completely unfamiliar with the service industry. Bottom line, it's really not worth the bother for less than an hour's labor. Which is why so many in the service industry have a 1 hour minimum charge.

I know it probably either doesn't apply at all, or to a minimal effect, for a manufacturer, but the FFLs that I know personally (one $25, the other $20) both look at the transfers as a good way to just get people in the door. You charge a minimum for a transfer and Jimmy walks in with intention of buying a holster and a few boxes of ammo when he picks up his pistol, or a scope, a case, and ammo for his new rifle. The money is made on other sales rather than the transfer. If you break even on the transfer, you still have a customer in the shop. It's now up to you to sell him the other things that you stock. For a no-inventory business I would absolutely agree that there is no rational reason to do it, but as a LGS a cheap transfer is good advertising and a customer at your cash register, and a great chance to make friends to continue selling things to in the future.

 

[GBExpat]

Since you're in northern Virginia, why not wait until the next Nation's Gun Show in Chantilly? ...

Thank you for the excellent advice, but ... attending that gunshow rates as a HUGE hassle for me. Not an enjoyable experience. I gave up on gunshows about 15-16 years ago and Chantilly events (whether gun or computer shows) a couple of years before that.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I know it probably either doesn't apply at all, or to a minimal effect, for a manufacturer, but the FFLs that I know personally (one $25, the other $20) both look at the transfers as a good way to just get people in the door. You charge a minimum for a transfer and Jimmy walks in with intention of buying a holster and a few boxes of ammo when he picks up his pistol, or a scope, a case, and ammo for his new rifle. The money is made on other sales rather than the transfer. If you break even on the transfer, you still have a customer in the shop. It's now up to you to sell him the other things that you stock. For a no-inventory business I would absolutely agree that there is no rational reason to do it, but as a LGS a cheap transfer is good advertising and a customer at your cash register, and a great chance to make friends to continue selling things to in the future.

And it is if you're in the retail business. I, on the other hand, have to take time away from work that pays anywhere from $40 to over $100 per real time hour, risk errors from distraction, have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't touch any of the myriad interesting things in the shop and potentially cause damage. At best, I can showcase my suppressors, which are the only thing I actually sell, but relatively few people are serious about the NFA game, and very, VERY few people, no matter how impressed they are or how much they want them, do an impulse buy on something rather expensive that they can't take home for months.

As I said, I just don't like dealing with consumers in general. The overwhelming majority of the public is comprised of idiots, so anything I can do to minimize exposure is a plus. 95% of my gunsmithing work comes from FFL01 shops, so at most it's usually not more than a phone call to the customer to go over what they want vs. what can actually be done. Of course, there are still plenty of entitled morons there, too, like the guy yesterday who thought he was getting a PPQ slide set up with an RMR and the rear sight relocated forward for the basic $90 Glock RMR cut price, balked at the much higher price of having to fabricate a completely custom base to fit the slide which is too narrow for the RMR mounting screw pattern. I wasted a good 20 minutes just explaining and looking at his options for co-witnessed sights.