Jealous Local Gun Shops MOD PLS LOCK

[22dec]

I heard that a few shops in the Philadelphia area are not doing transfers. I will never enter their establishment. If they only want a large chunk of my money (50% markup per gun) rather than $40 or $50 for a transfer, then they will not get a d*** dime.

I help out a friend at his small shop. He charges $35 for handgun and $25 for long gun transfers here in Wisconsin.

He will try to order any new gun that someone wants at a price that beats the chain stores. If he can't find it, he tells people to go online to try to find one and have it shipped to him. Same goes for any out of production gun that a customer is looking for. He is all about customer service. Transfers are a good profit maker for minimum time spent.

As far a 50% markup on guns, that is a joke. $50/$75 is more like the profit he makes on a sale.

You really need to find a decent dealer.

Don

 

[moosedog]

If you do an FFL check on line you will find a lot more FFLs in your area than you expected.
You will also find people who are happy to have your business.

 

[snake803]

My shop does ALOT of transfers, $30 each. It's a service we're glad to provide for customers.
But you know what's really annoying? You'd be surprised how many transfers come in with NO ONE'S name attached to it. Nothing. No name, no phone number, etc. This is even after advising our customers to advise the seller to include some sort of bill of sale, buyer's name/contact info, etc.
Suppose we're just supposed to have a crystal ball and KNOW whose gun it is. PITA.

When that happens to me, I just log it in put it in the vault, and sit and wait.. Sooner or later the buyer will call and want to know where his stuff is.. Problem solves itself...
JIM..........

 

[snake803]

I was going to post the same question. I'm glad i'm done buying guns because my LGS charges me $35 and if he can get the gun and i bought it on line $50. He never charge me $50 but he try to when i ordered my Wilson Combat.
I bought a ruger W.C. gun when they first came out- Price $750 then a week later it was on sale for $600. I was pissed. I'm done buying guns from him. The on line prices are about 100 to 200 bucks cheaper even if you add the $35 or $50. I just sold my ruger mark111 and he told me $35 to ship it. When i gave him the gun to ship he called me the next day and said i o him 15 more. It was $50 bucks to ship the gun. If the guy that bought my ruger wasn't from this forum -i would of stop it and mail the money back to the guy who bought the ruger. I'm done with my LGS....
The LGS still calls me and asks me why don't i not come in anymore. I was a good customer. I would buy 2 or 3 guns a year from him. Now - i'm done with him.

I ship USPS Priority mail.. for the cost of shipping and my standard transfer fee . I don't charge for time and mileage to the Post Office...
JIM.............

 

[snake803]

I' m about 40 minutes from a major distributor.... If I order a gun for a customer and mark it up to be competitive, pay shipping, or drive the 80 minutes to pick it up using my $$$.. I have to absorb the time and mileage, or mark the item up some more.... I always suggest that the customer find what he wants online and have it shipped to me, for transfer..
I charge $25.00 for the x-fer and that's about what I'd make (to be competitive) with the expense of going to pick the item up, or paying an out of town distributor to ship... That may not seem right to some businessmen, but it works for me...I'm not looking to get rich, Just cover expenses.. and have some leftover for Jack Daniels..
JIM.............

 

[snake803]

Quote:
I have shopped there since they opened 22 years ago and have found a lot of good guns. They usually have a good selection of used and new firearms and will special order as well.

The fee on gun purchases is $10 for the first, and $5 for each additional gun purchased at the same time. Quote:

What is a "fee" If you're purchasing retail?????
JIM.............

 

[Arik]

Kinda late to this but.....I only know of one shop that doesn't but they don't do P to P transfer either. It's a long standing rule of theirs. They got burned a few times and now just don't do it. Otherwise I haven't found one that cares. That being said the ones I do use usually don't carry gun that i get shipped in anyway.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

The owners of the local gun shops in my area have been giving me a hard time receiving guns for registration. They sure are not cooperating with me. It is like pulling teeth. I will skip describing their little games.

Last year I bought 26 guns and 80% were shipped in to me. I think these guys get pissed off b/c the internet is kicking their butt. One shop owner has taken in over a dozen guns for me. If those were sales across his counter it would certainly be over a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars in his pocket. Jealous! I bought a single revolver and a .22 conversion barrel from him. I would have bought guns from him if he had anything I wanted. He pushes plastic guns.

I heard that a few shops in the Philadelphia area are not doing transfers. I will never enter their establishment. If they only want a large chunk of my money (50% markup per gun) rather than $40 or $50 for a transfer, then they will not get a d*** dime.

Is anyone else experiencing similar resistance?

Trolley

My local gun store will not, AFAIK, ordinarily take in transfers of guns that are the same as what they sell. I wouldn't particularly expect them to.

I like having a gun store around, so anything they carry, I buy there. They often knock some off the price, anyway. On new guns, which I don't often buy, the margin is about the same as or slightly LESS than their overhead. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep selling guns if they charged more, but at least they get you into the store so they can make a little money on the other stuff. Used guns are another story. It used to be that 50% of their price was margin, although I know that in the last few years, it has been a little less. Regardless, I have bought more than a few used guns at what I considered very good prices, yet I'm sure the dealer made money on them. I think that I was buying used Smiths before the bulk of the folks in the area were. It sure is nice when you can try out a used gun before you buy it.

I can't remember the charges on all the transfers one way or the other, but I don't think that it has ever been over $20, and some of those included shipping for outgoing.

I respect the dealer's desire to have a margin, and even a profit, on his sales. He respects my desire not to throw money away. Neither one of us is trying to cheat the other, and if either of us has any luck, there will continue to be a LGS close by.

 

[Stevie]

I imagine I could save money on about every gun I've bought by not buying it from a local gunstore...but then I like to be able to stroll into a store a buy a firearm.

I don't mind paying retail for guns at the local family owned stores. They know me..know I leave money in their pocket through gun and accessories purchases..have no problems transferring in online buys for me.

You can pinch pennies until it cramps your style! Logic would demand that a gunstore exists to serve the shooting sports...Hmmmm thinking about it this would seem to demand that a customer buys a gun at the store on occasion!

Buy a gun from a gunstore every now and then...This is what they do...services like transferring in guns you buy elsewhere I view as a customer courtesy. A customer is somebody that buys something from the store by definition....

 

[Arik]

I like the fact that my LGS doesn't care. They get money for the transfer too. This way they still win.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[rburg]

I'm guessing its tough to run a gun store. I don't have an LGS. I guess I need to go on a diplomatic run, visiting all those close by. I gave up on the one I used back in the last century. He stopped doing transfers. They wanted to sell the gun and make the profit on it. When I heard that I smiled and said "great". I want specific guns. Of course he didn't have them, but offered up some plastic models for my pleasure. Nope. And I went maybe 10 years before setting foot inside that place. He decided he didn't want my business because he didn't stock the guns I wanted. I actually did buy some new S&Ws from him, but he got to the point where his prices were at list +. So it made no sense for me to waste the gas and time.

Currently my "LGS" is 84 miles downstate. Good guys, but they too have some problems. I want a m69. Other shops have them, but S&W isn't shipping to everyone. They've done this stunt for decades now. Every dealer doesn't get the guns they order, or at least in the volume needed. So I'll bide my time.

Doing transfers seems like a real way to attract business, but what do I know. All the shop seems to see is my dollars going to someone else. They're too short sighted to realize they don't have anything I'd own. No, I'm not interested in a Taurus or Ruger. Couldn't give me either.

 

[Rastoff]

I've considered opening a store front and doing only transfers. The prospective customer orders whatever he wants on line, and I'll to the transfer. This would eliminate the necessity for inventory and the customer always gets exactly what he wants.

The drawback is they can't hold the gun prior to the sale. I'm sure the two local gun stores would actually appreciate it because it might drum up more business for them.

 

[Rick_A]

I'd gladly pay extra to be able to handle what I'm buying right then and there and avoid the transfer hassle.

I've FFL transferred two guns and two receivers in my lifetime as they could be found nowhere else at the time.

Most of the time the transfer fee covers the low profit margin of a price matched in store sale, anyway, and usually means less hassle for the lgs.

 

[S&WIowegan]

We have an LGS in Des Moines run by full-time curmudgeon. Give him half a chance and he'll go into a rant about too many people having guns...go figure. I don't think he could get a job elsewhere and hold it. He survives as a business so some people must like his act....amazes me.

 

[islamoradamark]

in florida a private sale is ok if both partys have a valid drivers licence in the same state. some people also require a conceal permit it shows the background check has been done ,but not necesary

 

[5Wire]

Re: OP. The business owner is in business to make a profit. If someone only wants them to provide a service with little or not profit then it should come as no surprise that the business owner has little interest in dealing with such persons. It makes no business sense. Cooperation is not even a consideration.

Charging $20 to $50 for a transfer without having to carry an inventoried item is ALL profit.

 

[arjay]

The employee doing the paperwork is being paid an hourly wage,the shop is using electricity for lights and gas for heat.Rent or a mortgage is being paid for the building....

 

[5Wire]

The employee doing the paperwork is being paid an hourly wage,the shop is using electricity for lights and gas for heat.Rent or a mortgage is being paid for the building....

Sure, true with or without cost of inventory. Still better than making no profit by refusing transfers.

 

[Dezfan]

A shop that refuses to do transfers or charges exorbinate amounts to do so is just biding their time until their doors are closed.

In the age of on line sales and availability, FFL fees are easy money and a service I require as a customer.

If you don't offer it or charge excessively for it, I guess you just don't want or need my business.

 

[LoadEmUp]

Quote:
I have shopped there since they opened 22 years ago and have found a lot of good guns. They usually have a good selection of used and new firearms and will special order as well.

The fee on gun purchases is $10 for the first, and $5 for each additional gun purchased at the same time. Quote:

What is a "fee" If you're purchasing retail?????
JIM.............

The "fee" (a general term used above) is the Transfer Fee which includes the background check required in PA (Pennsylvania Instant Check System), as well as the gun transfer tax.