Outgoing transfer fees

[rromeo]

This isn't a complaint for FFLs, just a question. Do you charge for shipping guns out? I sold a handgun on Gunbroker, and my FFL said it would be $40 to ship to the winner's FFL. That was $20.10 for postage with insurance, and $20 fee. I thought it was reasonable, but it's the first time I've had a dealer ship a handgun for me. The buyer complained that small pistols are usually around $20-25, and that I should find a new dealer. He said was going to pay because the selling price was good.
Is this guy just a dink, or is my FFL overcharging?

[edgerly779]

The fee for doing it yourself at ups or fedex can be 75 bucks so that is a good deal. FFL can ship usps you cannot. Your buyer is wrong. Tell him to check ups next day air .

[rromeo]

Yeah, I checked and it was $67 to ship to him UPS.

[acespawnshop]

We usually charge our typical interstate transfer fee ($25) plus you pay for shipping. The reasons why we started charging is we found it takes extra time and trips to the Post Office/UPS/FedEx store and we have to cover an employees gas and time. There was a point where we were provinding this service for beverages but it's no longer a viable business solution.

[Baboosh]

We do not for customers, we only charge the shipping cost. If we need to box it then we charge a boxing fee. If you have not purchased from us then we charge $20.

[SkyHawk]

$40 is reasonable. That is the same price that www.shipmygun.com charges. But using your local FFL is much more convenient for you.

Always put a fixed shipping price when you sell on Gunbroker, and then there will be no question for the potential buyer and no room for them to complain.

When it comes to shipping handguns, the price is going to be about the same no matter where in the lower 48 states you end up shipping, so always give the shipping price in the auction. There is no reason to wait and find out where the buyer is after the auction ends before you provide a ship price, but perhaps indicate that shipping to AK or HI will be an extra fee - they are used to it.

A large number of Gunbroker auctions for handguns show a $35 fee and that is even from regular handgun shippers, so your $40 fee is not far off at all.

I would always just quote $35 in my auction (more for HI or AK) and if I have to eat $5 because it cost me $40, that is OK because at $35 I'd be more inline with many other sellers on GB and less likely to turn off potential bidders.

[Burbur]

We usually charge our typical interstate transfer fee ($25) plus you pay for shipping. The reasons why we started charging is we found it takes extra time and trips to the Post Office/UPS/FedEx store and we have to cover an employees gas and time. There was a point where we were provinding this service for beverages but it's no longer a viable business solution.

Exactly, we do not make regular trips to the post office, so I have to figure it takes 1 full man hour to pack, print a label and round trip to the PO.

My posted price is $100, people don't ask very often anymore; they just take it to FedEx themselves.

[rromeo]

$40 is reasonable. That is the same price that www.shipmygun.com charges. But using your local FFL is much more convenient for you.

Always put a fixed shipping price when you sell on Gunbroker, and then there will be no question for the potential buyer and no room for them to complain.

When it comes to shipping handguns, the price is going to be about the same no matter where in the lower 48 states you end up shipping, so always give the shipping price in the auction. There is no reason to wait and find out where the buyer is after the auction ends before you provide a ship price, but perhaps indicate that shipping to AK or HI will be an extra fee - they are used to it.

A large number of Gunbroker auctions for handguns show a $35 fee and that is even from regular handgun shippers, so your $40 fee is not far off at all.

I would always just quote $35 in my auction (more for HI or AK) and if I have to eat $5 because it cost me $40, that is OK because at $35 I'd be more inline with many other sellers on GB and less likely to turn off potential bidders.

Thanks for the advice. I don't plan to sell a lot more, but I'll keep that in mind.

[rbetts]

We charge 20.00 plus the cost of shipping the firearm.