Transfer fees

fat tom

fat tom

Absent Comrade
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
7,212
Reaction score
12,381
Location
Central South Carolina
For the first time,I'm having to deal with transfer and shipping fees. For the last 30+ years,I've dealt with a friend who had an FFL and charged me nothing to use his license to transact business. Oh,I paid whatever the S/H/I costs were if I was selling,but nada if I was buying. Now,the best deal I can find locally is $30 just for the use of an FFL,PLUS whatever the USPS quotes for shipping and insurance,etc. From past experience,I've found this to be $20-$25 on average. When I do the math,I suffer from sticker shock. Do those of you who DO NOT have the advantage of a friendly FFL find this to be the norm,or not? :eek::(
f.t.
 
Register to hide this ad
man, i am in the same boat as you. i have had the same guy do all mine, in or out for the last 20 years. he was next door to a post office, and charged me 10 dollars for the paperwork either way. he has closed his shop and retired, and i have been diligently searching for another affordable, troublefree ffl ever since.

you may already know this, but you can get on gunbroker, and hit "for buyers", then hit "find a transfer dealer", and punch in your zip code, and it will list a bunch of them in descending order by their distance from you. most of them list what they charge, and their contact info is there.

it might be worth a try!

good luck,
ed
 
In my area, this cost is in addition-to the shipping and insurance costs. Cheapest in my area is $25 with the highest where I sight-see at $50.
 
fat tom said:
For the first time,I'm having to deal with transfer and shipping fees. For the last 30+ years,I've dealt with a friend who had an FFL and charged me nothing to use his license to transact business. Oh,I paid whatever the S/H/I costs were if I was selling,but nada if I was buying. Now,the best deal I can find locally is $30 just for the use of an FFL,PLUS whatever the USPS quotes for shipping and insurance,etc. From past experience,I've found this to be $20-$25 on average. When I do the math,I suffer from sticker shock. Do those of you who DO NOT have the advantage of a friendly FFL find this to be the norm,or not? :eek::(
f.t.
Click to expand...


In the abscence of having a FFL for a friend, you have only 2 choices....ship it yourself via FedEx Priority overnight (mandatory) which will set you back about $90+, a little more if you're shipping a heavy handgun, or utilizing your local FFL who will ship for the average fee of $30.00 plus 2 day shipping of about another $25.00 to $35.00, FFL to FFL of course.

You must have the receiving FFL fax a copy of his license to the sending FFL.
 
There are four shops in my area (I'm sure there are more, but these are the four I have dealt with.) Two charge a flat fee for outgoing shipments (like if I sell a gun): one charges $50 and the other charges $90 (guess which one I won't use!) That includes transfer fees, shipping, and insurance. The third shop charges $20 plus actual shipping costs. The fourth shop just charges me his costs...since I have bought a few guns from him. I recently shipped a handgun I sold and it came to $39 and some odd cents (included insurance.) He ships via UPS and he said his costs had gone up recently.
 
Use of license - $35.00

Any shipping, insurance, or background check fees additional at cost.

Surcharge for those who complain about use of license fee - $40.00
 
Last edited:
Same here. I guess they are able to charge whatever they want.
Here in OKC, I've seen as high as $60. Luckily, a good friend
turned me on to an FFL that only charges $10! I'm about to do
my fifth transfer with them tomorrow, & after that they only
charge $5. I believe though, I will continue to pay $10 if for
no other reason then to show them some appreciation for
providing this service for such a reasonable charge.:cool:
 
One dealer charges $40 and another $50 + tax on those amounts just to run it through their books. With shipping I'd be paying close to $80 to $100 more for a gun. That's why I don't buy on line.

Len
 
Welcome to our world!

Hey fat tom
Welcome to our world! You don't know how good you have had it! Transferring an out-of-state gun is nothing but expensive! If the seller, out-of-state, ships the gun he must use FedEx or UPS and they have regs that the package must be shipped Overnight which can cost $75.00+. If the seller uses an FFL, which can ship USPS, he pays the FFL plus the USPS shipping charges. Now, at the recieving end you must find an FFL that will recieve from a private party and he will charge the buyer what ever amount he wants, $25-$50(in this area)! I have an FFL less than 5 mi from my house but he WILL NOT receive a hand gun so I must travel approx. 30 mi to an FFL, more time and money! Most of the time an out-of-state purchase that is a good deal becomes an expensive deal with all the added charges needed to get the gun to my house!
jcelect
 
The guy I use charges $30.00. He's fast & friendly. Another guy across town charges $50.00 or 10% of the purchase price of the gun, whichever is higher. He's neither fast, nor friendly. Amazingly, he manages to stay in business.
 
Last edited:
Those numbers are about right. You've been a lucky guy for the last 30 years. Welcome to our (expensive) world. In this stae we also get dinged $25 for each NICS check unless we have a recent CCW permit.
 
fat tom, As LVSteve said, you've been lucky over the last 30 years, and have probably saved at least hundreds on FFL fees. Potentially thousands, if you got your friend's FFL/dealer prices on guns, and bought very many. You have essentially had all the priviledges of having an FFL, and none of the responsibilities or expense. Sweet!!! Now welcome to the real world. I have seen FFL fees from $10.00-$140.00. After one wanted to charge me $140.00 to receive a gun, I made other arrangements. All the others I have dealt with, I considered reasonable. LGS in my smaller town charges $30.00 to recieve a firearm. I, of course, pay any shipping charges in addition to the FFL fee. I am happy to pay their fees as they are the ones who have to put up with all the issues and potential liabilities associated with the legal transfer of firearms. No thanks! I'll pay the fees...
 
If I am buying from my local FFL there is no fee. If I sell to him there is no fee. If I buy and have it shipped to my FFL I pay $30 the same if I sell to some one out of state. I think it is fair, it's for his time and the effort he goes through to keep his FFL. He has to keep his book and files up to date so it's fair.
 
Central Florida i have paid 25$ and 30$ fees for transfer in addition
to shipping.
Gl and have fun
Dave
 
Previously I used two pawn shops here in Houston and each charged only $15 per transfer. Both of these have been absorbed by large chains who will not transfer any firearms. Dealers I now use charge about $30 - $40 per transfer. There are some dealers here who charge as much as $85 per transfer.

Be careful when choosing dealers from the Gunbroker listing. Most I checked with charged more than was indicated on Gunbroker.

I prefer shipping as a private individual to an FFL dealer who will accept such shipments. Most of the buyers I have had were able to find an acomodating dealer. I usually ship only the gun by Fedex overnight and the box etc by Fedex ground. This minimizes the overnight charge. Also, I prefer packing any gun I sell and making sure it is adequately insured. I do not like the idea of entrusting the US post office with a valuable firearm.
 
I never sell so I don't know about that, but I use a local gunsmith and he charges $25.00 to transfer them. If you look at Buds Gunshop, you can search ffl in your, area and when you select a dealer it tells you the last reported price for receiving. I hope this helps.
 
I never sell so I don't know about that, but I use a local gunsmith and he charges $25.00 to transfer them. If you look at Buds Gunshop, you can search ffl in your area, and when you select a dealer it tells you the last reported price for receiving. I hope this helps.
 
My local= $25. Gets visited regularly by atf, lot more nit picking these days, recieves item, documents, holds in safe, contacts seller, calls me, files paperwork after nics call, copys ID, files and stores. Yuck. Worth 25 bux.
 
My LGS, shipping and receiving $40.00 shipping costs additional, local transfer $25.00.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
transfer fees
2
Replies
55
Views
2K
RSBH44
RSBH44
Rammer Jammer
  • Locked
WTT: SR22 4.5"
Replies
0
Views
272
Rammer Jammer
Rammer Jammer
P
  • Locked
Withdrawn: 640-1 Carry Comp $1300.00 shipped
Replies
3
Views
2K
pbramlett
P
P
  • Locked
Withdrawn: 625MG 45LC, 29-4 3”, 629-1 3” - price drops
Replies
6
Views
3K
pbramlett
P
S
FFL Responsibilities
Replies
26
Views
2K
Rat458
R

Latest posts

Back
Top