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Living in a remote area, my local gun store (LGS) is not even a gun store.
Back during the Clinton years, Bill's ATF drove all the "kitchen table" FFLs out of business and now I have just this one guy. The place is a liquor and sporting goods store that sells hunting licenses, primarily to tourists. He stocks no new guns but does take firearms on consignment.
His primary (gun) business is accepting delivery of guns bought elsewhere by customers who have to use him to transfer the firearm and create that paper trail. He charges $35 per gun to do so. I recently bought four Glock frames when GlockStore had a sale and he discounted his fee to only charge the fee for three guns, and then it was only because I asked him for some kind of discount, being a good repeat customer and all. (Whenever I ask him: "What kind of a deal can you get me on a ....?" he says, "Just buy it on line. I can't compete with those prices." I suspect he makes more money this way than if he ordered one for me.)
If I want to see an actual walk-in gun store, it's a 140-mile trip to Flagstaff. Three hundred to the Phoenix area. Suffice to say that I somewhat envy you guys that have multiple LGSs from which to choose. I have no place to go and try out or even just test the grip of various models. Most guns I buy are bought sight unseen.
Anyway, since I mostly buy on line, I have to factor in the $35 transfer fee. If he charged more, I'd probably pay it. (Don't tell him!) When one factors in the cost of travel, it's still cheaper to buy on line and pay his fee.
Just curious: how much do other FFLs charge to receive your on-line purchase and transfer a firearm?
Back during the Clinton years, Bill's ATF drove all the "kitchen table" FFLs out of business and now I have just this one guy. The place is a liquor and sporting goods store that sells hunting licenses, primarily to tourists. He stocks no new guns but does take firearms on consignment.
His primary (gun) business is accepting delivery of guns bought elsewhere by customers who have to use him to transfer the firearm and create that paper trail. He charges $35 per gun to do so. I recently bought four Glock frames when GlockStore had a sale and he discounted his fee to only charge the fee for three guns, and then it was only because I asked him for some kind of discount, being a good repeat customer and all. (Whenever I ask him: "What kind of a deal can you get me on a ....?" he says, "Just buy it on line. I can't compete with those prices." I suspect he makes more money this way than if he ordered one for me.)
If I want to see an actual walk-in gun store, it's a 140-mile trip to Flagstaff. Three hundred to the Phoenix area. Suffice to say that I somewhat envy you guys that have multiple LGSs from which to choose. I have no place to go and try out or even just test the grip of various models. Most guns I buy are bought sight unseen.
Anyway, since I mostly buy on line, I have to factor in the $35 transfer fee. If he charged more, I'd probably pay it. (Don't tell him!) When one factors in the cost of travel, it's still cheaper to buy on line and pay his fee.
Just curious: how much do other FFLs charge to receive your on-line purchase and transfer a firearm?
uttahere:I just ordered a Steyr STg77 and if I had him do the transfer, that would come to around $200 for the transfer fee. The third one we have in town mainly deals in shoe and canvas repair but also deals in sporting goods. They only charge $20 so that's the one I deal with.
