Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Selling a rifle in the classifieds.......how big of a pain in butt is it?

Have sold guns locally before. Never sold one in the classified here, how big of a pain is it to box and ship a rifle to an FFL? Would I be better to let my FFL ship the gun for me? Totally newbie here and do not want to run afoul of the law.............help is greatly appreciated...........

I don't know about seeling a rifle but selling one isn't all that difficult. Make sure you put everything in the ad, be truthful and you should be fine.

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Selling a firearm as a private individual is getting harder every day. Seems many FFL's have made up their own rules and will not accept a transfer from a private individual. Therefore requiring a FFL to handle both ends of the transaction. Extra hassle and cost.

An FFL wants to sell his stuff, not ship your stuff. Box and mail to the buyers FFL your self, with the understanding, your rifle will be shipped from an individual.

The buyer should know if his FFL accepts shipments from a non FFL.

Sell with a right of refusal for any reason, and specify return shipping is on them.

It's not difficult at all.

For the sale - take decent pictures in good light, not dark cell phone pics with your dirty sweat socks in the frame. Try to take pics of any major flaws and describe the rifle honestly - buyers don't like surprises The whole firearms market is down right now so if you want top dollar, be prepared to let it sit unsold a while. You can do searches on www.gunbroker.com for finished auctions to try to see what similar items have actually sold for, not what a seller is asking.

State your terms clearly - what form of payment you will take, whether you will consider trades, whether you allow a non-firing inspection, etc. It's your sale, your terms. Ground shipment runs around $30-35 for a rifle in the continental USA these days but that obviously varies with weight, size and distance. Fairest all around is to charge actual shipping but it seems most folks want a "total shipped to your door" price on the ad. Again, your sale, your terms. If you don't want to ship through an FFL dealer state clearly in the ad their their dealer must accept shipment from a private individual. IME most will, but apparently some won't.

When wrapping the rifle, just use a good sturdy box and pad the rifle well. It doesn't hurt to put it in a cheap soft case inside the box but that's more cost to you. I just buy new cardboard boxes at a local shipping store, it's under $5 for a sturdy 6x6x48" box which will hold most anything. Bubble wrap is your friend, Walmart has it in small and large bubbles. Leave crush space around the rifle, i.e. pad it or leave enough room so if the box is dropped or something dropped on it to compress the cardboard it won't hit the rifle.

Shipping:

As to legality, it's legal for a private individual to sell to another private individual anywhere the firearm itself is legal. You may have seen folks that don't sell to CA, actually FFL dealers have to jump through more hoops than a private individual when selling to CA. But if you're uncomfortable about that, just state clearly you won't sell to CA.

Out of state the rifle has to go to an FFL dealer. Your due diligence in that process is to make sure the recipient is a current FFL holder. They can fax, mail or email a copy of their license, many won't and the ATF discourages them from doing so. But ask them for the first three and last five digits of their FFL license, most will give that. Go to https://fflezcheck.atf.gov/fflezcheck/ and plug those numbers in, it will tell you if the license is valid and the address of the licensee. Some may ask for a copy of your driver's license or other ID. I always include a good bill of sale to the actual buyer, at the very least put the actual buyer's name and contact info in the box. You wouldn't believe that someone would ship a rifle to an FFL with no info as to who bought it, but they do.

OR - you can take it to an FFL and let them handle the whole wrapping and shipping. Some will give great deals to regular customers and it's well worth it, some will bend you over, dry ass-rape you and charge double extra for lube.

You can also look into these folks: https://www.shipmygun.com/go/ I haven't used them but as a noob it may be well worth your while to check them out, folks that have used them have generally given them good reviews.

I'm lazy. My FFL will box and ship most rifles for me for approx $30. A little more sometimes for extra insurance. Never had an issue. Don't have to rearrange my work schedule nor my route of travel to accommodate getting to a ship point while they are open. The flip side is that I always leave money at my FFL when I am there. Always find a can of powder, or a brick of .22's for the grandkids, etc...

Long guns - just pop 'em in the mail. Priority to the FFL. Easy as mailing a postcard. Just a little more expensive.

Pay special attention to packing detail. Insurance claims usually are only upheld when guns are packed PROPERLY. Hard case is great, or double boxed with an insulation layer between is usually honored. Have FFL on the other end save packaging in the event damage is found, the shipper will want to see it or have photos of it.

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

Good communication instills trust. Contact buyer immediately when payment is recieved, FFL info is sent, and MOST importantly, shipping info INCLUDING tracking number. For some, it may be the firearm of a lifetime, and they feel very comforted in the fact that they are informed of every stage of the game, as we would want as well if we were on that end.

It's just common sense. Most I have sold a gun to have went on to become friends. Doesn't hurt to share a story, hunt, or photos involving the gun or just niceties.

I use USPS Registered Mail, takes a bit longer but it's signed for every time it changes hands and they will actually pay out the insurance claim, unlike UPS and Fedex whose fine print states they have limited liability on "collectibles".

Shipping is usually more hassle than selling

If the buyer's FFL will not accept shipment from an individual then just charge the buyer an extra six thousand dollars to ship from a FFL.


Mike

What ya got?

Is it Uber?

Yeah

What ya got ? Wilson is only about a hundred miles from me.


Mike

Do you live in Mountain Village or Bethel. I know you are in that area, too many Beans around there.

From readin the trainwreck threads in the classifieds, ya don't know how big a pain it's gonna be until *after* the sale.

Where is Bricktop when you need him? lol

This is the best option, if it can work.

Second, I'd go Armslist, unless it's a rare or unusual piece a fire member would appreciate.

Couple of my horses had beans this summer.

You mean deliver it personally don't you?