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So I found a pistol I'm looking to buy from an individual who lives in Arkansas and I live in Oregon. My ffl wants him to bring the pistol to his ffl who will then ship the gun to my ffl which the buyer is willing to do. My question is how do I know he actually dropped the gun off at the ffl? and what's the best way to send money? he wants me to pay using USPS money order or a verified bank cashiers check. I've always used PayPal to buy things from strangers but this is the first gun I've bought from a private party that needs to be shipped so I'm kinda lost on how to do this all properly. Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated.
 
There is only safe way to pay the seller and that is to have his FFL broker the deal. You send funds to his FFL and he gives funds to seller in exchange for the pistol to ship, after inspection. Anything else is too risky.
Be sure to confirm the FFL with the ATF website... I had one scammer fake an FFL certificate.
 
There is only safe way to pay the seller and that is to have his FFL broker the deal. You send funds to his FFL and he gives funds to seller in exchange for the pistol to ship, after inspection. Anything else is too risky.
Be sure to confirm the FFL with the ATF website... I had one scammer fake an FFL certificate.

So I should get his ffl info send them the check or cash and then they will then give the seller the money once they receive the pistol and verify that it's not stolen or anything.
 
So I should get his ffl info send them the check or cash and then they will then give the seller the money once they receive the pistol and verify that it's not stolen or anything.

Correct. You mail USPS MO made out to seller to the FFL who will give it to the seller upon receipt, inspection, and serial number checking out as not stolen. Also you will probably have to enclose a separate MO (or credit card by phone) to the FFL, made out to FFL, to pay the brokerage fee.

Be dang sure the FFL is legit and you talk to them and have them email you a copy of their FFL certificate to run the info...
 
Moved from education & training to firearms general...

Adding:

Supposedly PayPal will lock accounts if used for firearms purchase.

Paypal will 100% lock and ban if they get wind of a firearm sale / purchase. Seems like the silliest thing in the world to do when most of your customer base lives in America where firearms are completely legal.

mini-rant over...:mad:
 
There is only safe way to pay the seller and that is to have his FFL broker the deal. You send funds to his FFL and he gives funds to seller in exchange for the pistol to ship, after inspection. Anything else is too risky.
Be sure to confirm the FFL with the ATF website... I had one scammer fake an FFL certificate.
What he said...
 
The shipping FFL will have to examine the firearm to make sure it's unloaded and check the serial numbers and also make sure the seller has included his ID for the receiving FFL.
 
Who pays the 6.5% sales tax in Arkansas?
Since the seller is going through and intermediate in his state, sales tax should be paid, and typically the buyer would include that in the funds delivered. If no tax is collected the FFL on the buying end should collect it. I know this is skipped many times but it's still how it should be handled.

If the seller were to send the pistol directly to the buyers FFL no tax would be due (assuming OR here) since the "sale" would be in Oregon, not Arkansas and then Oregon sales tax provisions would apply.

I'm not suggesting the seller send the pistol directly to the Oregon FFL. By the time the shipping costs and paperwork are factored in it's much easier to let the FFL in his home state handle the transfer.
 
Well the seller told he that he wants me to send the money directly to him so I think i am going to have to pass on the deal. I'm glad I asked the question here cause I feel like I would have been scammed.
 
Well the seller told he that he wants me to send the money directly to him so I think i am going to have to pass on the deal. I'm glad I asked the question here cause I feel like I would have been scammed.
Definitely pass. Good spidey sense... :s0155:
 
I have sold and shipped out of state more then a few firearms.
One guy called me, asked where to send the money order for a rifle worth around $1,400.00 and that was was the last I heard from him.
No questions asked, just asked if it was still for sale and a couple of days later the money showed up.
I shipped it to his FFL and all was good.
Another sale was the complete opposite. The guy was nervous to start with, asked me a million questions and only after I gave him my gunsmiths phone number so he could verify that I wasn't a flake, he finally sent the money. He called me everyday until the package finally showed up at his FFL.
The FFL called me that it had arrived and he said that the guy was having a mini stroke worrying so much about it, and this was just an inexpensive .22 rifle.
 
In the past few years, I've sold quite a few guns on Gunbroker through interstate sales. And several through Armslist deals. Not a single buyer ever asked for a brokered/escrowed deal. But I understand the anxiety. The handguns I've always shipped through my local FFL dealer. I take the gun to him, he charges me a fee for running it through his books and shipping charges. The long guns I've shipped directly to the buyer's FFL dealer. I've never discussed tax issues with buyers; I assume this is always handled on the other end by the receiving FFL.

As to an FFL dealer checking a firearm serial number to see if the gun is stolen. Do some states/localities provide a mechanism for their dealers to do this? I've never heard of it around here. I know some local governments require that dealers provide them with descriptions of used guns they take in, including serial numbers. Then the authorities check themselves and only if the gun is hot will the dealer ever hear back on it. Years ago, I had a neighbor who was a sheriff's deputy. I asked him once if he could check firearm serial numbers for this purpose. He said yes, but if it turned out to be hot, he'd have to take it into custody. So I wonder if a brokered deal would provide such assurances.

I agree that as a buyer, I'd be apprehensive about sending money away to a person you don't know. Payments I've gotten have sometimes arrived using various mail methods that allow at least for tracking the mail piece containing the payment. US Postal Money orders of course can be verified as having been cashed and by whom. They are hard to fake, what with the watermark and security stripe through the paper but it has been done. "Certified Bank Checks" are pretty easy to replicate; I never take them. Only USPS money orders.

These days, I'm thinking a certain amount of information is available about people on the internet. Most people who aren't particularly hiding anything. A buyer can usually get some info about people this way. Heck, I look up buyers and FFL's routinely to see if they are real. Gunbroker transactions at least are done through an organized system. Armslist stuff is really flakey. Those I've sold interstate on Armslist I have voluntarily offered references but I never got the sense that the buyers were particularly interested in taking me up on it.

I'm also curious as to whether many FFL dealers are willing to involve themselves in a brokered or escrow arrangement.
 

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