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Shipping rifles
John5966
Member Posts: 1 ✭
Hi I'm new here and trying to sell some personal rifles on gun broker. Does anyone now if you have to pay taxes on online sales if you're not a business? Looked it up but still a little confused. Also what is the best way to ship a rifle without an FFL?
Comments
All sales have to have sales tax now. Most online auction sites will add the sales tax automatically and file it for you (if you're a seller).
When you say "best way to ship a rifle without an FFL" -- who are you shipping to? That determines a lot. I'm going to make the assumption that you're shipping to a buyer.
Federal law permits you to ship a rifle directly to an out of state FFL (or to a non-FFL who is in the same state).
State law is all over the place so you better check on that. If your state doesn't restrict shipping, then you can ship to the out-of-state FFL even if the recipient state requires FFL shipping (since Federal law permits). If your state requires all firearms to be shipped by a licensee (FFL) then there you go.
No matter what, if you're shipping out of state, you have to have a licensee (FFL) involved somewhere as it is an interstate transfer.
Simply put, if the state of the recipient collects sales tax, that may need to be paid by you. Be sure your description says, "If your state collects sales tax, you must pay that amount to me before I ship." Not all states are currently in Gunbroker's data base, so CYA because that may change at any time.
You should never ship a gun to a non-licensee in your own state, even though it may be legal; too many things can go wrong.
You need to state, "Be sure that your FFL is willing to accept shipment from a non-licensee (that's you)." Some will not. Many will, but you should offer to include a copy of your drivers license for the FFL's records.
State "no sales to CA". State "sales only to CONUS." State your shipping charge; some folks are stuck in the '80's & still think that it should cost only $10 to ship a rifle.
You can ship a rifle only by USPS, UPS, or Fedex; each has their own procedures. USPS insurance is twice the price of insurance from UPS & Fedex, so you need to consider that. You can ship from any Fedex Office store for the same price as the Fedex hub. You cannot ship through a UPS Store or packing center, they are just contractors.
In addition to full insurance, pay for adult signature; be sure that you have proof that you asked for that on your receipt. Nothing on the package should indicate the contents. If sending it to Bill's Gun Shop, address it to William Smith Co or something similar.
Be sure to pack securely. Pretend that the carrier's drivers will play catch with your package at lunch time.
Personally, I have tried every way possible, but I now just pay my Local Gun Shop to ship by USPS for me. He charges me $20-40 for his service. He has a computerized system that prints out standard USPS labels, & the letter carrier picks up from him every afternoon.
Neal
death and taxes
I personally agree with Darryl. Talk with your local FFL/gunshop, find out what he will charge you to ship your rifle and pass that charge on as your shipping cost to the buyer. Saves all kinds of messing around, not knowing for sure if you are doing it right. We wont even discuss the problems if you do something wrong and you have a Fed knocking on your door.
Since I have no personal experience, I can only assume a Fed knocking on your door is NEVER a good experience!! 😁