selling guns online can be a hassle

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OHJEEZE

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I think it was gunsamerica that I found a few on back in the mid 2000's.

But they was at ffl dealers, and I sent my money directly to them, then they shipped to my local ffl! Pretty simple!

Another I found listed on gunsamerica was at a semi local dealer in a adjoining county, so I just jumped in the truck and drove down for that one!
 

AlongCameJones

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why didn’t you just post them up on here?
I never gave the Classifieds here a single thought. I guess I could have if I thought about it. Of course, paid standalone online marketplace listings are going to reach potential buyers nationwide. I don't figure gun ads here would get national exposure on an Oklahoma-specific website. One can Google "Glock 21" or "Ruger American 6.5" and probably find a bunch of such listings on Gunbroker instantly. I also figured the particular two guns I was selling had low market demand in SW Oklahoma since five months of listing on Armslist bore no fruit anyway. What I was peddling was just not moving. A few text hits from lowballers and people asking if "the gun was still for sale" and that's it. Two out-of-town phone callers (one from OKC and another from Witchita Falls, Tx) "wanted to come by to look at my guns whenever they happened to be visiting Lawton in the near future" but they both eventually flaked out. There's a lot of flakiness one has to deal with in the gun business sometimes. You know, like tire-kicking and smoke-blowing on a dirt used car lot. Gunbroker buyers/bidders tend to be serious.
 
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OHJEEZE

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don't figure gun ads here would get national exposure on an Oklahoma-specific website.
I am from Ohio and a duckduckgo search for "dillon 550 9mm comversion" brought me here.

The listing was in the top 5 of the search!

I been hanging out and flappin my gums, fingers ever since! 🙂
 

edl

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ShipMyGun.com by BudsGunShop.com did not even offer USPS as a shipping option at its site. I try to avoid the post office anyway if I can help it. Long waits in line and sometimes crabby USPS workers. It was about $25 and change to ship a long gun out of state via UPS Ground which the buyers pay anyway.
Only FFL can ship firearms through USPS.
 

Jack Shootza 50

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I've just sold two guns via Gunbroker.com by auction, no reserve, minimum bid. This is my first online selling experience. The first time, I was sent a personal check because the buyer didn't want to be bothered by waiting at the post office to buy a money order. I decided I would go ahead and take the personal check. I would only ship the gun after confirmation that the check had cleared. It took several days for the personal check to get to me in the mail. I deposited the check on a Monday at my ATM but got no email alert that the check had actually cleared for one week. The buyer got antsy and emailed me about it. I had to call my bank on the telephone. I complained that I never was notified by email that the check had cleared but they said they comfirmed that it cleared on their end. I then went to ShipMyGun.com to buy the shipping label using a credit card. It took until the next day for me to finally get my shipping label because they had to have a human verify the FFL info. I finally shipped the gun off to the buyer today at my local USP Hub. The long gun was shipped in its orginal box and covered with white Reynolds freezer paper because no firearms-related markings are supposed to show. One cannot ship a gun using the UPS Store, which is closer and quicker for me to ship usually, but in my town, Lawton, it is real fast to use the UPS Store to ship things with prepaid labels. I'm usually in and out of there within a minute to drop off a preapid shipment and get a receipt and tracking number. It took about 20 minutes at my local UPS Hub to drop the prepaid-label gun off for shipping and get a receipt with tracking number.

Now, today I have just deposited the USPS money order I got for the second sale at my bank teller in person. My ATM won't take a money order for deposit like a check so I had to use the human teller inside. The woman told me it will take until tomorrow for the USPS money order to clear as there have been cases of counterfeit of even postal money orders. I could have taken the money order to the post office to be cashed, but that is much farther away to drive, wait in line there then have to drive back to my bank to deposit the cash.

I can't use PayPal because PayPal doesn't allow firerarms transactions. I've also made it a rule of mine to accept no more personal checks for online sales. I could use the GunBrokerPay system at GB.com, but they asked me for my username and password that I log into my bank online with and I said the devil with that. If I link a bank account with eBay, amazon or PayPal, they only ask for the routing number and account number of my checking account. Why GB wants my online banking login information I can't say.

After all the above is said, I'm wondering if anybody here has sold guns online and found it to be somewhat of a pain. I have used Armslist before and had good luck with it but then had bad luck this year trying to get rid of two long guns while paying a subscription fee of $6.99 month after month for 5 months straight. Online gun sales, for all their hassles, open up a much larger buyer market, however. It's still cheaper to sell online than give up a 20% cut to a local gun shop on a consignment sale. Gunbroker takes a cut on your sale but not nearly 20%.
I've sold a couple, but I always require a bank certified check that I can take into a teller at my bank and get a quick response to the validity of it, I would never take a personal check for a gun buy, too many crooks out there running scams.
 

Foxfire5

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I've just sold two guns via Gunbroker.com by auction, no reserve, minimum bid. This is my first online selling experience. The first time, I was sent a personal check because the buyer didn't want to be bothered by waiting at the post office to buy a money order. I decided I would go ahead and take the personal check. I would only ship the gun after confirmation that the check had cleared. It took several days for the personal check to get to me in the mail. I deposited the check on a Monday at my ATM but got no email alert that the check had actually cleared for one week. The buyer got antsy and emailed me about it. I had to call my bank on the telephone. I complained that I never was notified by email that the check had cleared but they said they comfirmed that it cleared on their end. I then went to ShipMyGun.com to buy the shipping label using a credit card. It took until the next day for me to finally get my shipping label because they had to have a human verify the FFL info. I finally shipped the gun off to the buyer today at my local USP Hub. The long gun was shipped in its orginal box and covered with white Reynolds freezer paper because no firearms-related markings are supposed to show. One cannot ship a gun using the UPS Store, which is closer and quicker for me to ship usually, but in my town, Lawton, it is real fast to use the UPS Store to ship things with prepaid labels. I'm usually in and out of there within a minute to drop off a preapid shipment and get a receipt and tracking number. It took about 20 minutes at my local UPS Hub to drop the prepaid-label gun off for shipping and get a receipt with tracking number.

Now, today I have just deposited the USPS money order I got for the second sale at my bank teller in person. My ATM won't take a money order for deposit like a check so I had to use the human teller inside. The woman told me it will take until tomorrow for the USPS money order to clear as there have been cases of counterfeit of even postal money orders. I could have taken the money order to the post office to be cashed, but that is much farther away to drive, wait in line there then have to drive back to my bank to deposit the cash.

I can't use PayPal because PayPal doesn't allow firerarms transactions. I've also made it a rule of mine to accept no more personal checks for online sales. I could use the GunBrokerPay system at GB.com, but they asked me for my username and password that I log into my bank online with and I said the devil with that. If I link a bank account with eBay, amazon or PayPal, they only ask for the routing number and account number of my checking account. Why GB wants my online banking login information I can't say.

After all the above is said, I'm wondering if anybody here has sold guns online and found it to be somewhat of a pain. I have used Armslist before and had good luck with it but then had bad luck this year trying to get rid of two long guns while paying a subscription fee of $6.99 month after month for 5 months straight. Online gun sales, for all their hassles, open up a much larger buyer market, however. It's still cheaper to sell online than give up a 20% cut to a local gun shop on a consignment sale. Gunbroker takes a cut on your sale but not nearly 20%.
Never had a problem ever shipping a firearm. Receiving one once yes. I will only ship a firearm FFL to FFL. I always bring a box to ship it in and if not most dealers have spares. I stay away from UPS stores and same with FEX and DHL. I use Al's Gun and Pawn here in Caldwell Idaho. I provide the address label and Al's does the rest. How hard can it be?

Many years ago I had a deal going on two handguns and at the time lived on 40 acres up in the boonies of WA State. I went to my FFL and sent my firearm to the buyer/trader who lived in Missouri with money exchanged. Everything looked good for a week until the Postman (woman) came by the house with a package. You guessed it there were two handgun's inside the box. Took a little while to get that one straighten out. In this day and age it pays to cover one butt.
 

Foxfire5

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Thank you for correcting.
Thank you for correcting.

How to Ship a Firearm​

If you haven’t shipped a firearm yet, odds are good you’ll do so in the future. Not only are guns shipped for sales, but they’re also shipped for repairs, custom Cerakote® finishes, and more. However, you can’t just throw your gun into a box and mail it using whatever means are most convenient at the time. There are federal and state laws in place regarding shipping firearms that you must know and follow. Remember, claiming ignorance of the law isn’t a valid legal defense.

How Do I Ship a Firearm?​

When trying to figure out how to mail a firearm, you might find conflicting information regarding packing methods and what paperwork to include. First and foremost, follow the rules and regulations set by the shipping carrier you’re going to use. Second, if you’re shipping a gun for repair back to the manufacturer or to a gunsmith, they’ll most likely give you specific instructions for packing the gun.

Paperwork that generally needs to be included when you ship guns, is a copy of your valid driver’s license and a copy of your local store’s Federal Firearms License (FFL). It can be a good preventative measure to include a copy of the destination FFL as well (take a moment to mark which FFL is the recipient FFL). You’ll find most, if not all, shipping destinations require a copy of your driver’s license be in the box with the firearms for their own records and also to complete a transfer, if one is being done.

Please note that modern firearms should generally be shipped to an FFL. However, when shipping from one nonlicensee to another nonlicensee within the same state there may be exceptions. According to the ATF website, “A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another state. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of their own state or to a licensee in any state.” Be aware, some states have laws in place requiring all transfers to go through an FFL. It’s also important to note that a person may only transfer a firearm to an individual who they don’t have knowledge, or have reasonable cause to believe, that the person is prohibited from possessing firearms. There’s an exception regarding transferring firearms between unlicensed residents of a different state if the transfer is to a non-resident who inherits a firearm under a will or by State law upon death of the firearm owner.

The ATF continues:

The U.S. Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.
 

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