Do folks frown on buying online?

They hate losing a sale.

But when I can get the firearm 20-50% cheaper online with free shipping, damn skippy I will find an FFL that will work with me.

Viesel said:

I've gone to a couple shops and inquired about utilizing online merchants and shipping to gunshops with FFL licenses. Both times so far, the proprietors seemed less than thrilled about that. I've also seen posts on here discussing how a certain firearm is 'rare'.

The first shop I tried is one that I've spent a good deal of time in, and I feel like me and the owner of the shop have a decent cordial exchange every time I come there. I've purchased there numerous times. Still, it seemed like his mood shifted a little when I mentioned FFL shipping.

So is it that people just don't like shopping online? Is there some federal tracking that people are avoiding?

Click to expand...

I see you live in Erie county, ny there are many private guys that do an FFl service out of their homes. I have a guy who charges $25 for a transfer and BC just north of Buffalo. He’s a great older guy and I have used him a few times. PM me if this will fit your needs and I’ll provide you his info.

And yes they just don’t want to lose a sale, but I found a gun for $200 on line that was $340-$390 around here. I bought it online.

Give them a shot. Tell them what you want, and what you can get it for online. If they can’t be competitive, oh well. You’ll find many online sellers have a list of FFLs that work with them. There will be some near you to do the transfer.

If it is an issue with your local shops try finding a "kitchen table" FFL. These are people that maintain an FFL license primarily to facilitate transfers out of their home. Some may have a selection of firearms to sell but most just do transfers. It's a low hassle option if you can find one.
Barring that, shop around. Some dealers are more willing that others to do transfers. It helps if you can establish a business relationship with them. Many will appreciate if you can buy, say, some ammo from them at the time of transfer.
When I bought my Galil I did so via a shop local to the private seller for the transfer. I bought only 200 rounds of some cheap Tula steel case for it at the time but the proprietor seemed very appreciative nonetheless, got a big handshake after the sale. Sometimes it can be worthwhile to buy a gun at a small premium if it means establishing a relationship with a good shop.
I always try to buy firearms from a shop if at all possible, I find the markup to often be worth avoiding the inconvenience of shipping and then finding an FFL to do the transfer. Sounds like you have happened upon a less than ideal gun shop, see if their is a better one in the area, or see if the one you went to improves once you start sending some business their way.

Mike's Guns, Lancaster. Tabletop guy. Solid.

I have bought local before to support his shop .... My big beef is He never stocks anything I am looking for ... Cannot sell the expensive guns he says... Guns like the Walther ppq or H&K vp9 ... I bought a Ruger LCR from Buds Gun shop. online... .. Got the price off their website.... Do you have one in stock .. NO.... I can get it at this price from buds ... Can you match .... He claimed he cannot get one from his supplier at that price. Let alone sell it to me. .. At times tough to do business if they don't stock what I am looking for. Have bought several handguns from Buds and the Firing pin in Bergen will do transfer. When I go to pick it up the have more than once said ... You bought this for a good price. ..

Online sellers like Buds have a search tab for local FFL'S . Some will show if they have your dealer- ffl on file..It takes some phone calls but you'll find someone.

Sometimes there are things they just wont stock. Which makes sense. I used a tabletop guy for some of my stuff (Glock mag specific AR lower, etc).

Not to rehash the old argument but bear in mind that guns are expensive; if they're sitting on the shelf unsold they're basically costing the retailer money.

I have done both buying in store and online. I used a local FFL for my last purchase via gunbroker. To compensate I purchased ammo from the FFL even though I could have gotten it cheaper online.

The firearms market is no different than any other. The internet has increased competition and prices online are almost always lower than what you can get at a retail location - in many cases significantly lower.

While I have purchased online I always have a voice in the back of my head telling me how short sighted it is. If the online market drives most retailers out of business then it becomes infinitely easier for the govt to restrict gun sales. This won't happen during a trump administration but what happens the next time a democrat gets in?

I always ask my local guy first if he can get something. He often can’t get anywhere near the online price, sometimes he can’t get it at all as he’s low on the priority list being a one man shop. Then I’ll either get it online shipped to him for transfer or go to the local LGS who seems to be able to get everything.

Keep in mind they're is a no return policy if you don't like it for any reason such as fit your hand and body or it's just not what you hoped it would be.. My last local gun shop buy, I was offered to fire a few rounds through a demo model before buying.. you won't get that online..

Viesel said:

Im going to go to the local shop im used to and ask if hes willing to price match. Then if they cant im going to go to a kitchen table dealer.

Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Local shops generally can't come close to price matching something you find online. And there's plenty of places that can't even get a specific firearm from their distributors.
They might be willing to do the legwork to find a way to get it in your hands but don't expect them to be thrilled when you try to beat them up on pricing.
They might have wiggle room on certain firearms but I wouldn't assume that everything they carry can take a 20% haircut.

If you think about it if a gun is only $50 or even $75 cheaper online you aren't really saving much by the time you factor in shipping and transfer. All online sales now must collect state sales tax, which is bullshit, so you aren't saving there anymore. Problem is that online sales can sometimes knock $100 or more off the retail price, still kind of a hassle to buy guns online though. But I am a very lazy man, shipping annoys me. Selection has always been the real problem for me, particularly if I am looking to buy on the higher end of the market. If I feel like making the 2 hour trip to Mechanicsburg there is a shop there that has most anything my heart could desire.

I bought a rifle thru Davidsons Gun Genie. Where you pay a down payment online and the balance at the LGS. It was my first gun purchase. So I asked the owner if he prefered that I buy directly from him, or through Gun Genie. He said it didn't matter. I asked if it would be better for him. He still said it didn't matter.

Maybe with this arrangement the LGS gets a better deal?

2A all the way!

Bustedknees said:

Online sellers like Buds have a search tab for local FFL'S . Some will show if they have your dealer- ffl on file..It takes some phone calls but you'll find someone.

Click to expand...

This is exactly how I found my FFL many tears ago. He owns a hardware store but does not sell guns. He is probably the busiest FFL in lower Westchester that does only transfers.

I have no problem supporting my local gun shop. They are reasonably priced and whenever I buy a gun the owner throws in like two boxes of ammo for free. When I purchased my Marlin they didn't have the cardboard box for it so they have me a shop branded soft case ($50 value) for free.

I purchase ammo online and have it shipped to a small hardware shop that is an FFL to offset costs of supporting my local shop.

If I'm going to the range and I'm short on a specific cartridge I purchase a small amount but generally I purchase ammo in large quantities online because the mark up at the local shops is way too much. The local shop sells one box of 20 rnds of 6.5cm for $34.95, on ammoseek.com I can get it for $10.95 for box of 20.

Yeah, ammo is waaaaaaay to much in physical retail stores. The worst part about unSAFE Act is it scurred off the best online retailers from selling to NYS. SG Ammo is just about the best online ammo seller. I don't think they will sell to even an NY FFL. Really sucks too, they sell numerous brands of 5.56 brass case for $300 and change for a 1k case. Russian steel case goes for around $230 for a 1k case. 9mm is almost cheaper than water online.

I prefer online sales, and the gun stores brought it upon themselves.

Kirk_STNY said:

I bought a rifle thru Davidsons Gun Genie. Where you pay a down payment online and the balance at the LGS. It was my first gun purchase. So I asked the owner if he prefered that I buy directly from him, or through Gun Genie. He said it didn't matter. I asked if it would be better for him. He still said it didn't matter.

Maybe with this arrangement the LGS gets a better deal?

2A all the way!

Click to expand...

I bought my PC carbine the same way last month. Very smooth, and my local guy seemed pleased. I also bought a few boxes of ammo when I picked it up.

Darth said:

I prefer online sales, and the gun stores brought it upon themselves.

Click to expand...

Yep. Fuck em. They only want to sell 20 rd boxes. Why can’t they buy and sell whole cases?

They don’t even have normal defensive ammo. No Gold Dots. No HST. No Critical Duty. No Buffalo Bore. No Underwood. Just crap ball in 20 rd boxes like if we just need 2 boxes for a whole day at the range.

And when they do sell hollow points, it’s the old kind.

I use a hole in the wall guy for transfers. Order what I want with no excessive bickering.

Bananabandit said:

I use a hole in the wall guy for......

Click to expand...

FIFY
@Eddie Gunks @GUNSICK

Doc8404 said:

FIFY
@Eddie Gunks @GUNSICK

Click to expand...

Wow. Very clever. I am impressed.

Kirk_STNY said:

I bought a rifle thru Davidsons Gun Genie. Where you pay a down payment online and the balance at the LGS. It was my first gun purchase. So I asked the owner if he prefered that I buy directly from him, or through Gun Genie. He said it didn't matter. I asked if it would be better for him. He still said it didn't matter.

Maybe with this arrangement the LGS gets a better deal?

2A all the way!

Click to expand...

I found no reason to buy from Davidson. Same price as any retailer..

Podmonkey said:

If it is an issue with your local shops try finding a "kitchen table" FFL. These are people that maintain an FFL license primarily to facilitate transfers out of their home. Some may have a selection of firearms to sell but most just do transfers. It's a low hassle option if you can find one.
Barring that, shop around. Some dealers are more willing that others to do transfers. It helps if you can establish a business relationship with them. Many will appreciate if you can buy, say, some ammo from them at the time of transfer.
When I bought my Galil I did so via a shop local to the private seller for the transfer. I bought only 200 rounds of some cheap Tula steel case for it at the time but the proprietor seemed very appreciative nonetheless, got a big handshake after the sale. Sometimes it can be worthwhile to buy a gun at a small premium if it means establishing a relationship with a good shop.
I always try to buy firearms from a shop if at all possible, I find the markup to often be worth avoiding the inconvenience of shipping and then finding an FFL to do the transfer. Sounds like you have happened upon a less than ideal gun shop, see if their is a better one in the area, or see if the one you went to improves once you start sending some business their way.

Click to expand...

A lot of local FFL's don't like losing sales, as some here have already noted. Some have very reasonable FFL transfer fees, while others have progressively hiked their fees in an attempt to make online sales less attractive. I find the same trend with ammunition, though some online vendors are willing to ship direct for NY buyers.

My take is this: this is a free (relatively speaking) market economy....buyers are going to go with the best deal they can find. While I have some sympathy for the local, small-time gun shop, it's incumbent upon them to stay competitive in this new age....meaning they need to set prices that aligned with online pricing and they probably need to be somewhat involved in the online market place. I've literally had gun shop owners yell at me over the phone when I inquired about FFL transfer fees...1) that's not a way to treat potential customers and 2) I have no obligation to buy products at unreasonable prices.

I have never bought a gun at a local gun shop, and probably never will. The selection and pricing online is just so much better...some local gun stores have figured out how to integrate with the online market, while others are being stubborn (and foolish) holdout's. However, I do agree with @Podmonkey in that I will buy other products/materials at a gun shop with facilitates a FFL transfer (like small amounts of ammo, cleaning supplies, ect.)...it's a good way to show your appreciation and inject some money into the local economy.

Ammo is a story unto itself...there is a huge discrepancy between online pricing and local pricing...only a few local gun stores will accept ammo transfers, but some online vendors do ship direct.