Question About the Buying/Selling of Firearms
Entw1ne
Member Posts: 10 ✭
Hello to everyone on here. I have a couple short questions I'd like to get straight regarding the buying & selling (primarily selling) of firearms in the United States. I recently inherited several firearms and while there's a few I wish to keep, there are several that since I do not do any hunting, I'd like to sell so others may make better use of them while helping me financially and I just want to make sure I'm doing everything 100% correctly and more importantly, legally.
1) The FFL thing - So, in regards to this... Once my firearm is sold, I would get in contact with the buyer once payment has been approved and confirmed, and we agree on an FFL location to Send/Receive the item to/from? So, I would go to a local FFL and mail it through them to the designated FFL given to me by the buyer? Or is there more to this than that?
2) Payment - Is USPS Money Order / Money Order the only realistic, legitimate payment method worth using in order to prevent/limit scams as much as possible?
I apologize if these are simple questions I can find the answers to if I did more research, but I thought asking on the forum where more experienced/tied in people could answer would help. I merely want to make sure I'm doing everything up to standard and in a 100% legal way. Thank you to anyone who can help, I appreciate it!
Comments
Read this sticky and see if that helps you out:
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/1800878/shipping-ammunition-firearms-hazmat#latest
Local FFL holder for shipment might not be necessary, will depend on the FFl holder on the receiving end. Some do, some don"t, it is not BATF required but sometimes it is a company policy. Their game their rules.
Be sure to post good pictures and details of firearm and make all info very clear, especially shipping cost, inspection, and returns.
Side note, there are a couple characters that do a very good job of selling firearms that roam around on this site quite often. Ricci and Locust Fork. They will get top dollar for the items they list and best of all is that you only have to count your money, No muss, no fuss.
Thank you Butchdog2.
Appreciate the replies! Sounds good, then. I just wanted to make sure everything I did was 100% correct and legal like I said, so thank y'all for the information!
I have a few of them on-hand, the others I have to go pick up so I'mma try listing a couple today. Thank you once again!
Please list the item number on this forum. Pays WELL !!!!
Is there a section of the forums for that or do you mean list in within this post? I'm only now listing one of them, got tied up last week and didn't get around to it.
[When you actually list the item, cut and paste a link to the auction listing into a "Shameless Plug" thread you which you create in the General Discussion forum. Good luck with the listing. Best, Mark C.]
Bear in mind- while you CAN mail rifles and shotguns in the US Mail (yes, it IS legal) only a Dealer or Manufacturer can MAIL a handgun. The rest of us unwashed masses can ship handguns by UPS or FedEx- but THEY require we use Next Day Air for handguns. Expect that to run you about $80 or so. If you are shipping a handgun, you may be better off paying a dealer to mail it for you.
Ok so I'm late seeing this and only recently made the long trip to pick up the rest of the guns I had inherited and am in the process of listing them this week. So I had recently listed the Ruger Mark II but I believed I could ship it out myself.
By Dealer/Manufacturer does that mean FFL too or is the only way for me to ship this handgun (should it sell) is to do through a Dealer/Manufacturer or pay the outrageous Next Day Air fee?
Also, if anyone knows... Is there any drawback to adding a return policy? Scam-wise, I mean. I know to really only trust Money Orders so no one can chargeback but I'd prefer adding a return policy because I have not tried firing these firearms myself. I don't want to unknowingly sell something that doesn't function, and would prefer to be as transparent as possible.
Yes, that is exactly correct. (The terms "dealer" & "FFL" are often used interchangeably.)
Many of us who are not in the business will take handguns that we sell to our local dealer, & pay him a fee to ship the handgun by US Mail. Fees will vary, depending upon how complex the transaction is, & how good a customer you are.
When you list the gun, it's important to state the exact amount YOU will charge the buyer for shipping. If you say "I charge the exact shipping charge", that will drive away most potential buyers. I usually pick an amount close to what a dealer would charge for shipping, say, $40-50; I eat the difference. If you state that you will charge $100 (which may be close to the actual amount), people will think that you are trying to gouge them.
Neal
Got it, thanks a ton for the quick response. I had my listing (909132727) set to "Exact amount" and just changed it to $50 - like you said, I'll eat the difference if it's more. Appreciate it!
Pay attention to the buyer's rating & feedback. An honest buyer won't mind an extra couple days for the check to clear. Oh, good communication is a must. I like to actually speak with a buyer or seller on the phone at least once.