FFL Transfer Fees

They charge that much because they can and there is no such thing as FTF anymore :)
Seriously. The price deltas between shops in free vs less than free stars is crazy. I lived in Wisconsin just north of Illinois border and Pennsylvania just north of Maryland.

The shops in IL and MD priced treated their license like it was a platinum gift from God and they were doing you a favor while the shops in WI and PA treated it like a very basic piece of administrative paperwork and process.

High prices cure high prices and water finds its level. Always.
 
How many dealers were there back then though? 10+ years ago the density of dealers in that state was unholy absolute dog shit horrible. (easily far worse than mass) The # of dealers per 100K pop was tiny, not sure what it is now.



True but my point is most of those CA dealers probably not getting rich off the $100 transfer, its an annoying process to them that interferes with their other business operations. If they are /all/ at $100 and not one dealer wants to compete with another on their transfer rate, that tells me that transfers arent a big part of their business models or theres a time gating problem with transfers that make it difficult for them to justify discounting the fee.

It's like in mass with plumbers or something. Good luck trying to get a plumber to even show up for under $150 cash on the barrel. Because there aren't enough plumbers. And the ones that do exist are basically always drowning in work.

ETA: any gun owner that doesnt want to see the NFA abolished is just a straight up a**h***, lol. regardless of what they paid for their overpriced shit.

I can't say for SoCal, but NoCal was loaded with dealers. Hell, even now where my sister lives in Sonoma county, there are about 5 places I know of within a 10 minute drive... Take away Littleton Mill and the amount of dealers near me isn't that much...

I get that they aren't getting rich, but they are making more due to taking advantage of laws that benefit their business, which was my point :)

There are plenty of gun owners/dealers that like certain laws just the way they are.. Imagine if the AWB was struck down here in MA, just cruisin through the classifieds says someone would be out a LOT of money and a business if the PWA Commando is now worth what it should be, $276.98 lol
 
You're still not getting it. He wanted to sell the new guns because he made a far better profit by selling them than allowing those same new guns to be transferred in for a fixed fee (below what would have been his profit). Same work... same time spent... but he wanted a higher profit.

You're not getting it. That is TCV in a nutshell. And you cant say "same work same time".. lol, no, it's
not. It only appears that way because you're not familiar with what goes on. For a retail shop inbound transfers are inefficient and f***ing annoying compared to selling someone a new gun or a gun thats stocked.

When looking at the $ efficiency of the system selling a gun off the shelf as a dealer is more cost efficient than doing an inbound for someone is. Look at the big gun shops. All of them have either shit inbound transfer rates or pretty much hate doing transfers or almost intentionally make it annoying to use them for a transfer. There's a reason for this, becuase on the whole its less profitable than just selling someone a gun.
 
You're not getting it. That is TCV in a nutshell. And you cant say "same work same time".. lol, no, it's
not. It only appears that way because you're not familiar with what goes on. For a retail shop inbound transfers are inefficient and f***ing annoying compared to selling someone a new gun or a gun thats stocked.

When looking at the $ efficiency of the system selling a gun off the shelf as a dealer is more cost efficient than doing an inbound for someone is. Look at the big gun shops. All of them have either shit inbound transfer rates or pretty much hate doing transfers or almost intentionally make it annoying to use them for a transfer. There's a reason for this, becuase on the whole its less profitable than just selling someone a gun.
LOL!!! We are agreeing while disagreeing (or vice versa). [laugh] I'll let this go here. [thumbsup]
 
I recall at least one very popular shop that raised their incoming transfer fee on brand new guns into the stratosphere while maintaining a competitive fee on incoming used guns and person to person transfers. That's how they addressed the same problem.

Lol in that case that shop decided that they could split the baby by kicking the skinflints out of their
shop. They left the other options in place because the buyer archetypes in the other scenarios you mention
might actually buy something else from the shop while theyre there. The average flint OTOH doing a new inbound from puds gun shop isnt buying shit. And will never buy anything from you. So they made a decision to not waste time on people who will never buy anything. [laugh]

Did my shop come out ahead overall by raising it's incoming transfer fee to compete with same gun sales profit? Who knows? :(

Maybe, but thats only either showable on a ledger or maybe it exists in the guys own mind. Maybe he needed to do it to keep himself sane. [laugh]
 
Let me ask you this: At how many transfers per month does $40 or $50 per transfer start to add up for you? Does it ever start to matter such that you might decide to look elsewhere for more competitive rates?

If you can afford to buy several guns a month you can afford a $50 transfer. [rofl]

That said if you really are buying that much a month you shouldnt be paying that much so I dont blame
you. Find some other dealer. I prioritize convenience and service above everything else on inbounds.

I get the impression from your posts that you are quite well off financially. [cheers] I am not. :(

Compared to others here? not really.
 
Ask you self this….. when no new Guns were available in years past. During Covid, after sandy hook, beginning of the Obama years etc…. I know shops that would actually stay open just to do 5 or 6. $25 transfers a day because they had no inventory to sell, and could not get any. Those are the dealers I support. Not the ones that charge extra for a frame transfer that requires less work
 
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Bottom line shops can charge whatever they want, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!

It's just like gasoline and food.

yeah, except there are a lot less FFLs than gas stations. And gas stations in different geographical areas all compete with their cohorts in the same area, which is way more free market. Although in MA you do see market adjustment for real estate and taxes. Big dump city / urban cup gas stations in MA can be almost a dollar more a gallon sometimes.

If you increased the number of gun dealers in a given state enough the low average transfer fee would fall because the smaller ones would need the pennies to keep the lights on.
 
If you can afford to buy several guns a month you can afford a $50 transfer. [rofl]
You'd be surprised how the guns I seek out almost never appear on a well-spaced-out schedule. [laugh]
That said if you really are buying that much a month you shouldn't be paying that much so I don't blame
you. Find some other dealer.
Oh, I have. $25 now all the time. Never more. [thumbsup]
Compared to others here? not really.
Sure sounds that way to me, but okay... [cheers]
 
Spent a couple years down in Bloomington for post grad study, wouldn't call myself a Hoosier tho. Drove up to Atterbury range every weekend with the homies good times.
I used to shoot over there and over on the ‘military side’ as well for CIHPRS matches (hi power). Lived in beech grove for 2.5 years and definitely consider myself a transplant Hoosier. Love that state!
 
Ask you self this….. when no new Guns were not available in years past. During Covid, after sandy hook, beginning of the Obama years etc…. I know shops that would actually stay open just to do 5 or 6. $25 transfers a day because they had no inventory to sell, and could not get any. Those are the dealers I support.

Sure beats laying people off though or not being able to keep the lights on. the better shops figure out how to balance all this stuff regardless.

Not the ones that charge extra for a frame transfer that requires less work

Not sure what that means, but you're free to just not use them. I dont get all indignant about it I just assume some cost has been calcuated in there and accept it or use someone else. It's just business. I laugh at people who get personally insulted because some shop asks $50 for a transfer or whatever Like who cares? [rofl] its not going to ruin my day. I'll just use someone else or pay the $50 if I think its worth it. One of my favorite dealers literally has a sliding scale of fees (which are obviously told up front to the customer) and even though its not set up with that wording the fee schedule punishes skinflints more than average joes. Like they might do an FTF between people for $20 or less but if someone is a puds deluxe skinflint they're going to get railed. [laugh]
 
There are plenty of gun owners/dealers that like certain laws just the way they are.. Imagine if the AWB was struck down here in MA, just cruisin through the classifieds says someone would be out a LOT of money and a business if the PWA Commando is now worth what it should be, $276.98 lol
We could also have a price crash in the classifieds on Glocks soon if Andrea doesn't continue the longstanding AG "top secret list" prohibition on Glocks as part of her punishing of us. After all, they are on the Approved Roster and mental case Linsky's newly proposed anti-frame bill says we can still have what's on the Approved Roster.

Another weird thing: Am I reading mental case Linsky's magazine registration bill correctly in that it does not differentiate between pre-ban and post-ban in regard to legally registering them?

Forgive me and ignore if I have messed up my facts on the newly proposed bills. It's a lot to take in. o_O
 
We could also have a price crash in the classifieds on Glocks soon if Andrea doesn't continue the longstanding AG "top secret list" prohibition on Glocks as part of her punishing of us. After all, they are on the Approved Roster and mental case Linsky's newly proposed anti-frame bill says we can still have what's on the Approved Roster.

Flippers dont/wont care about any of that stuff, they're just railing on the rubes for entertainment. They'lll move onto something else like beanie babies or whatever the next craze is.
 
If it was a person to person transfer like between father son and not new guns it might not hit the trip lever. You'd be surprised at the amount of guns transferred from father to son at one time, or from some guy that just got a restraining order transferring his whole collection to his buddy....... etc.... It happens a lot.

New guns brought in, Id think it would kick off a look.
I've done numerous multi-gun transfers, I don't think the ATF gives a shit unless its multiples of the same gun. 10 random guns is buying a small collection. Buy 10 Glock 19s and you might get noticed.
 
I've done numerous multi-gun transfers, I don't think the ATF gives a shit unless its multiples of the same gun. 10 random guns is buying a small collection. Buy 10 Glock 19s and you might get noticed.
Especially if its multiples of cheap trash. Buy like 5 hi point 9mms at once and id be shocked if the feds didn't show up at your house in a few days..... [rofl]
 
Transfer fees are whatever the FFL determines is worthwhile.
Mostly transfers are easy and straightforward, but all it takes is one shitbag sender/seller, mailing snafu or PITA transferee to make it completely not worth the time or energy.
Moral of the story is make friends with an FFL and they will take care of you.
 
A few years back there was a local FFL that offered free transfers his first year in business, never took advantage of it. but sure is a good way to drag people away from their regular FFL and get some traffic in your store, while trying to established a customer base.
 
A few years back there was a local FFL that offered free transfers his first year in business, never took advantage of it. but sure is a good way to drag people away from their regular FFL and get some traffic in your store, while trying to established a customer base.
I can see how in some cases it could be useful for doing that. I would think it would be more useful on days when the persons shop isn't really that busy.
 
yeah its great if you can facilitate 50 transfers without having it f*** up any other aspect of your business. I know some guys that basically only do transfers and they do pretty decent even at $25 or $35 although one guy I know is probably going to $45 because even as a transfer only guy hes starting to feel the TCV pinch. Even if it reduces the # of transfers hes not going to care much. Especially if it ends up breaking even. After a point in your life someone decides their time is worth more and charges appropriately. [laugh]

ETA: regardless of what anyone thinks the market tends to sort things out pretty well on its own.
I'll ask the question because I really don't know the answer. What is the markup in a new gun like a $600 Glock? Or a $1200 1911? Or a $2000 Sig MPX? The reason why I ask is some dealers give off the vibes that they are only making $50 or $100 on a new gun. It would seem that charging $25 or $30 for a transfer can add up quickly. Plus no cash outlay and no money tied up in inventory.

I used to own a retail type business that I would do the small sales all day long because it was quick and easy and they added up...
 
I'll ask the question because I really don't know the answer. What is the markup in a new gun like a $600 Glock? Or a $1200 1911? Or a $2000 Sig MPX? The reason why I ask is some dealers give off the vibes that they are only making $50 or $100 on a new gun. It would seem that charging $25 or $30 for a transfer can add up quickly.

I used to own a retail type business that I would do the small sales all day long because it was quick and easy and they added up...

It varies depending on the gun, unfortunately, so I can't give a simple answer. Also distribution price tiers, etc. One shop mighy have better margins than another. One shop might be getting " buy X grand this month get a free gun" from manufacturer x or y. The only universal thing is that cheap stuff seems to have shitty margins, but that's kind of obvious EG, if you're selling a hi point your margin is probably still better than a $25 transfer but not by much. There are shitloads of guns that someone makes 50-150 bucks on. On the other end you have hi brow stuff that's hundreds of dollars (like for example, a high end O/U shotgun) but the pool of buyers for like, a $4000+ gun that has that much cushion built into it is very limited......

Transfers are definitely great, when a shop isn't busy. On the other hand they can tie up resources when you don't want them to be.... like if a shop is doing an inbound from tinbuk 4 and the customer calls 5 times and wastes a half hour of staff time trying to find his gun that doesn't exist yet, etc. Thays why as a point of etiquette I let the inbound dealer reach out to me when they're ready to have me pick it up.

Also any inbound private transfer where the seller doesn't put a full ID copy in the box with the gun... ill just say that those incidents are f***ing terrible.... 🤣 its almost workflow cancer......selling hi points all day is better than even one of those shit shows happening.....
 
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