purchasing firearm online?

[djgtek]

can anyone share the process of buying a new/used firearm online? anything i should look out for? be aware of? based on my research, so far i understand that i should check to see if the firearm is legal in ca and also arrange for the firearm to be shipped to a ffl to do the transfer/paperwork...

[hyperion.excal]

why not just ask on your other threads instead of making new ones? you joined like 2 days ago and have 5 threads all on handgun discussion all asking about technically the same related stuff. ie. buying first handgun, shopping first handgun, purchasing online and pricing and which gun to buy.

[djgtek]

sorry, just thought they were relating to different subjects... mods can go ahead and lock this thread if they feel appropriate and i can ask in one if my previous threads

[keenkeen]

Don't worry about it...we all started out as newbies on this site at some point.

Make sure the seller will ship to CA many won't even with items that are roster approved.

[Santa Cruz Armory]

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. What are you looking for and where are you located?

[greybeard]

Hey how else does one increase their post count?

[Fizz]

I researched this for a while before just deciding my interests were best placed in the hands of a local dealer.

It largely depends on which online dealer you're thinking of using. Some of the online dealers may have agreements with your local FFL(s). Usually this means that the FFL has agreed to accept all incoming transfers from that specific online dealer.

If the online dealer doesn't have such an agreement, you'll need to look up their terms. Some will allow you purchase the weapon and they'll hold it until they receive the FFL paperwork from your desired FFL, or they may require you to have your desired FFL dealer send them the paperwork before they'll even process your transaction.

Step 1: Find the dealer who has what you want.
Step 2: Ask them if they have an agreement with any FFLs around you. If they do, pick one, if they don't find a local FFL and ask them if they're willing to submit their info to your desired vendor and process the transaction. Repeat as necessary.
Step 3: Purchase firearm from vendor and have it shipped to the FFL.
Step 4: When the FFL gets it, do the paperwork and get ready for the 10 day waiting period.

[X231]

You pretty much have the basics down. I bought 2 guns from an online dealer and both sales were flawless. Now that you have to pay sales tax on out of state sales and give the local FFL guy a little cut you generally won't save much money over walking into a local store (with fair prices) and buying the gun. Gun genie might save you a few bucks and keep it local.

[Fizz]

You pretty much have the basics down. I bought 2 guns from an online dealer and both sales were flawless. Now that you have to pay sales tax on out of state sales and give the local FFL guy a little cut you generally won't save much money over walking into a local store (with fair prices) and buying the gun. Gun genie might save you a few bucks and keep it local.

Yeah, that's what I found with my M&P. Though, I believe if we're to be technical you're not charged a Sales Tax, you're charged a CA "Use" tax for out of state incoming transfers.

It was Either ~570 Online dealer cost + CA Use tax, +3-5 days shipping, + FFL Transfer Cost, + Fees, + DROS then 10 days.

The accounting didn't make any sense for my individual circumstance. Though depending on the deal or availability of what you're looking for, it might be worth it.

[IVC]

Pretty much all covered, so I will bring up a few potential caveats:

- A firearm labeled "in stock" for an online retailer does not necessarily mean "in stock". Some really are, some are just available from the supplier and will take days or weeks to ship. Some will be sold from underneath you if you are dealing with smaller mom'n pop shops and they don't act quickly.

- Make absolutely sure that you are ordering the correct model. If you get one with the standard capacity magazine over 10 rounds and the retailer doesn't notice it, your local FFL most likely will. In such a case it goes back to the retailer and you can get hit with the restocking fee. I've seen it happen. To be safe, always include the manufacturer model number and the in-house model number when ordering.

- Include shipping in your calculation as it can be relatively high, particularly for less expensive firearms (as a percentage of the price).

- For common service type pistols and for cheaper firearms in general your savings will be minimal. Consider a "normal" local store as a viable alternative, then use online to track down those hard to get models.

[groovidad]

why not just ask on your other threads instead of making new ones? you joined like 2 days ago and have 5 threads all on handgun discussion all asking about technically the same related stuff. ie. buying first handgun, shopping first handgun, purchasing online and pricing and which gun to buy.

Do you really enjoy firearms and helping others with the same love OR are you an angry troll with nothing better to do with his/her time?????

[socalpistolero]

Do you really enjoy firearms and helping others with the same love OR are you an angry troll with nothing better to do with his/her time?????

YEAH!

[Fizz]

Do you really enjoy firearms and helping others with the same love OR are you an angry troll with nothing better to do with his/her time?????

It's not a trolling post, unless you're alluding to a known history to which I'm not aware. It's a sincere correction of forum faux paus and instruction of etiquette. I fail to see the trolling aspect of that post.

In fact, your post is higher on the troll scale than his.

Oh? Did I just get it hook line and sinker?

[halifax]

Yeah, that's what I found with my M&P. Though, I believe if we're to be technical you're not charged a Sales Tax, you're charged a CA "Use" tax for out of state incoming transfers.
...

To be exact, the CA dealer is responsible for paying the Sales Tax on the firearm you bought out-of-state and he is delivering to you in CA. In all likelihood, the CA dealer will collect the tax from you. Use tax is what you, as a non-retailer, pay on purchases you made out-of-state of tangible goods for use in CA. That tax is declared and paid on one's Form 540. Dollarwise they will be the same unless you live in a district with a different tax rate then the dealer.

[Fizz]

To be exact, the CA dealer is responsible for paying the Sales Tax on the firearm you bought out-of-state and he is delivering to you in CA. In all likelihood, the CA dealer will collect the tax from you. Use tax is what you, as a non-retailer, pay on purchases you made out-of-state of tangible goods for use in CA. That tax is declared and paid on one's Form 540. Dollarwise they will be the same unless you live in a district with a different tax rate then the dealer.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/business/current/btlg/vol2/suta/495-0843.html

Interesting, the verbiage seems to indicate that if the out-of-state dealer has a resale license, they are obligated to collect a use tax on behalf of the state. If they don't the FFL will. If paid by the dealer, it's a use tax, if paid by the FFL (both of them are forwarding cost to buyer) it's THEN a sales tax.

Thanks for the clearing the failure to extract proper understanding of law (I think).

Sounds familiar to a situation I sometimes deal with at work. I sometimes get calls from customers in Texas, where one of our vendors that we drop ship from has a business presence. I have to either have the product delivered to me in CA first and THEN ship the Texan to avoiding charging the customer tax, or I have to have our vendor collect Sales Tax from us since we don't have a resale license in Texas to really collect on it ourselves.

Technically we charge the customer line items including the tax in product price, and then ship with no tax assessed on our documents, but we do have a sufficient paper trail to prove that the tax was taken care of at some point. My understanding anyway.

This is why I leave the beans to the so-paid counters.