I have a pistol I'm selling and called a few gun shops to find out how much they charge to ship it. All of them told me it their charge would be $50-60 plus the actual cost of shipping, putting it up around $100. Is this normal?

I ship through my FFL , to another FFL ,using the USPS, $25 on average.

There are a few dealers by me that only charge $20-25.00 plus shipping(around $20.00).

If I ship it myself through UPS, it's typically $80-$100 for UPS Next Day Air Saver with insurance.

If my FFL ships it, it's $20 plus actual USPS Priority Mail shipping. Typically around $40 total, with FFL fee, shipping, and insurance.

Needless to say, I tend to let my FFL ship handguns for me.

Wow. I wonder why all the folks around me charge so much. Does the USPS only charge $20 for shipping? The two shops I called said the shipping cost would be double that.

For FFL ->FFL mailing, USPS has mailing options for as low $6.52 if a handgun will fit in a Regional A flat rate box (2 different shapes available) and you are only mailing a zone or two away. Maximum for Zone 8 is $10.28 for a Regional A box.

If you need to use a Regional B sized box (2 sizes again), the price varies from $7.17 to $20.41.

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:
Does the USPS only charge $20 for shipping?

Depends on what you're shipping, where it's going, and what service you're using.

But the handguns I've shipped over the past few years have all fit in a USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate box. So that's a flat rate of $13.60 for 2-3 day shipping anywhere in the US. Plus another $6 to $7 in insurance, to cover the full value. So yeah, about $20 total in shipping costs.

Thanks guys. I'll call a couple back tomorrow and make sure I understood them correctly.

If I package it my ffl charges $25-$35 depending.

Find another FFL.
The ones by me charge $25 and USPS Priority rates

Shops often have rather expensive transfer fees in order to discourage people from buying elsewhere and just using the shop for a transfer. Their business model is to sell product. They could offer different charges for incoming and outgoing, but it seems they often just keep it high.

My FFL guy charges $35 plus FedEx shipping costs, which is usually around $20. So approximately $55 total. I've shipped a bunch with him, so occasionally he throws me a freebie, like shipping cost only.

We usually charge $35 to bring the gun into and then out of our bound book for an off-the-street customer, less for a regular who actually spends money with us. Then roughly another $30 to $40 for boxing up and sending via 2nd day FedEx, depending on the size and weight of the package, and its destination.

Using USPS would be cheaper for the customer, but a couple or so negative experiences with "lost" and extremely delayed "misplaced" packages through the post office killed off future use of that so-called 'service' for us.

Of course when one works at a LGS the cost to send out a sidearm goes WAY down...

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:
I have a pistol I'm selling and called a few gun shops to find out how much they charge to ship it. All of them told me it their charge would be $50-60 plus the actual cost of shipping, putting it up around $100. Is this normal?

Take a look at "shipmygun.com" for the most reasonable cost I've seen. Around $40.

A lot of dealers use signature service sending items USPS, so that adds roughly $6 to the price, in addition to insurance and the priority mail cost.

$25 to ship a handgun
$35 " " " Long gun
Plus
$20 FFL fee to book them in

$60

For handguns we normally charge $25 + shipping (most handguns depending on the case they come in can fit in a medium flat rate box for USPS and it's around $20 with signature and stuff.... insurance is a minimal charge I can't think off the top of my head what it is, but it's cheap)

find out what your Dealer charges for transfers,

go to USPS.com and create your own account,
go to a local post office and pick up some free priority mail boxes, or order some online, delivered free to your house,,

box, weigh (round up to the nearest pound) and print a postage label,
insured, delivery confirmation, signature required,
price will be charged to your credit card, and varies by weight, distance, etc if you are not using flat rate (small, med, large, rate A/B/C boxes are not fixed cost)

take unsealed box to your dealer for the transfer, and have them seal once they do the paperwork,

easy peasy

My FFL charges $50 to ship a handgun, which includes his fees.