Shipping by FFL.

[oso grande]

Would a holder of a Federal Firearms License tell me what's involved in your shipping a hand gun to another FFL?
Why does it cost so much?
Thank You,

OG.

[Cokebottle]

Must go by overnight.
That's not cheap.
If you are using an FFL to ship (which you legally don't have to) they are going to charge you for the service... do you expect them to take responsibility for your gun, pack it, and ship it for free?

[oso grande]

Must go by overnight.
That's not cheap.
If you are using an FFL to ship (which you legally don't have to) they are going to charge you for the service... do you expect them to take responsibility for your gun, pack it, and ship it for free?

I didn't say that I expected to have them ship for free. I believe they can send guns via USPS,and I'm curious about the charges. I'm merely curious as to what's involved.
The problem is: as more FFL's arbitrarily decide to accept shipments only from other FFL's and FFL's charge inflated prices to ship, it makes it almost impossible to sell a gun that must be shipped.
I didn't mean to rile you up. You seem to be a little thin skinned about this. I assume that you have a FFL?

[Cokebottle]

No, I'm not an FFL.

What kind of costs have you been quoted? Overnight shipping is not cheap, even by USPS.
If it's a long gun, then you're starting to push oversized with the length, though I don't believe rifles need to go overnight.

I've been floored by what it costs to ship some items. I shipped come scuba gear to Florida that was not bulky or heavy and it was like $40 to ship a 1x2x2 box 3-day.

[oso grande]

The one quote I have was for $102.00. (Meant to discourage me).
I might be wrong, but I don't think FFL's have to ship USPS overnight...Priority Mail will do.
I appreciate your comments and I'll look forward to having some licensees respond.

[halifax]

USPS Flat Rate Priority with insurance and "adult signature required" can run ~$35 for a handgun depending on insurance coverage. An additional $25 dealer fee wouldn't seem unreasonable to me. Your mileage may vary.

[Cokebottle]

Ya... I agree. Like Turner's $125 FFL transfer fee, the $102 shipping was "We don't want to do this but if we do it's going to buy us a nice dinner"

[GoingQuiet]

Would a holder of a Federal Firearms License tell me what's involved in your shipping a hand gun to another FFL?
Why does it cost so much?
Thank You,

OG.

Here's my process.

Place gun in USPS priority box.

Mail it.

If CA delivery, clear delivery with CA DOJ beforehand.

That's basically it.

[oso grande]

Here's my process.

Place gun in USPS priority box.

Mail it.

If CA delivery, clear delivery with CA DOJ beforehand.

That's basically it.

What do you charge for that service?

[GoingQuiet]

What do you charge for that service?

It does not come up very often, but when it does I charge shipping with insurance, typically $25-35 depending on the gun + my standard transfer fee.

Usually the bill is $50-75, unless someone wants me to drop everything I'm doing and ship it overnight.

[Mike's Custom]

Here's my process.

Place gun in USPS priority box.

Mail it.

If CA delivery, clear delivery with CA DOJ beforehand.

That's basically it.

You left out a step. A FFL must fill out PS Form 1508, Statement by Shipper of Firearms, and give it to the Post Office along with EACH firearm being shipped in a seperate package. This has to be done at the post office and not just handing it to the mail carrier. So, this reqiures a trip to the PO to present the form with the firearm.

Link to form: http://about.usps.com/forms/ps1508.pdf

[GoingQuiet]

You left out a step. A FFL must fill out PS Form 1508, Statement by Shipper of Firearms, and give it to the Post Office along with EACH firearm being shipped in a seperate package. This has to be done at the post office and not just handing it to the mail carrier. So, this reqiures a trip to the PO to present the form with the firearm.

Link to form: http://about.usps.com/forms/ps1508.pdf

I said basically to truncate the technical part.

However, I hand 1508's to my mail carrier all the time. I checked the DMM with the USPS manager and there is no specification that requires the trip to the PO.

[tenpercentfirearms]

Just find another dealer that will accept guns without an FFL shipping them. If you sell a gun online or at auction, specify if their dealer only accepts firearms from an FFL, you will be using your closest FFL and that fee will be $125.

As far as shipping them yourself, you must use UPS or Fed-Ex which requires overnight because they employees like to steal handguns. Great isn't it.

[kemasa]

Must go by overnight.

This is NOT true. A FFL can ship USPS and can ship by any USPS service, although a signature is required. Also, there is NO law which demands that it has to be shipped overnight, just shipper rules and policies (in order to make more money).

The issue is that you have to log the firearm in, record the information, package it, fill out the form 1508 and then take it to the post office, and log the firearm as being shipped, plus you should also confirm that it was delivered and it is good to keep a record of that.

I tend to charge $10 (plus actual shipping cost) to ship a firearm because I hate what UPS and FedEx did in order to make money. I want to keep it cheap enough for people to decide to not ship with either of them. The firearm needs to be packed, but not sealed, and just need to be sealed.

[GoingQuiet]

This is NOT true. A FFL can ship USPS and can ship by any USPS service, although a signature is required. Also, there is NO law which demands that it has to be shipped overnight, just shipper rules and policies (in order to make more money).

The issue is that you have to log the firearm in, record the information, package it, fill out the form 1508 and then take it to the post office, and log the firearm as being shipped, plus you should also confirm that it was delivered and it is good to keep a record of that.

I tend to charge $10 to ship a firearm because I hate what UPS and FedEx did in order to make money. I want to keep it cheap enough for people to decide to not ship with either of them. The firearm needs to be packed, but not sealed, and just need to be sealed.

There is no signature required on USPS.