Washington Selling and shipping a handgun out of state

[MARCH66]

You select an FFL on SMG's preferred list if possible, then you select what size box for a handgun, then declare what it weighs and pay SMG for the overnight shipping.
You then get an email from them stating that it's all good and you print out the label. You can have then have Fed Ex pick up the package, or you can drop it off at one of their hubs.
You don't need an FFL to ship your own firearm, either a long gun or handgun. you just need to ship it to a legal FFL address that receives private shipments.
You can box it up yourself and walk into a UPS or FED EX hub and declare it's a firearm and the shipping fee will be about twice as much, they will also want to see the receiving FFL's current up to date license on paper.
What SMG does for you is cut out the hassle and charge half as much.

I believe they use UPS now. That's where I dropped off my shipment. And I'm pretty sure they won't pick up you have to go to a customer center only.

Okay, help me understand how SMG works. I've been to their site, read all the rules & FAQ's, read some reviews online. And it still isn't entirely clear to me how it works. Specifically for handguns. Which I, as a non-licensee, cannot ship directly to a buyer or an FFL dealer in another state. I have to ship it through a dealer on my end who ships it to a dealer on the buyer's end. SMG says I take the package with their label directly to Fedex to shipping. If this is the procedure, where is the involvement of my FFL? Do I run it past them while on the way to Fedex? Clarity, please.

I've sold handguns out of state using an FFL dealer. Who can ship through the US Postal Service, which non dealers cannot. Using a Priority Mail flat rate box, the shipping is pretty reasonable. Without needing someone to broker the shipping cost.

Long guns I can ship myself to the FFL dealer on the buyer's end. If SMG can get me a discounted price on that, well and good.

 

[jbett98]

I just read their website and you're right about them changing to UPS. I liked FED Ex, as they were easy for me to stop by the airport and drop off shipments.

 

[gmerkt]

You don't need an FFL to ship your own firearm, either a long gun or handgun. you just need to ship it to a legal FFL address that receives private shipments.

Okay, I get this part. Non-dealers can't ship a handgun through the US Postal Service. And some common carriers won't take firearm shipments from private people. SMG smooths the way for private sellers to ship by common carrier. SMG requires that shippers pick a local FFL dealer as part of the process. Is this because their business name/address is used for returns? This is the part I don't get; since we can ship guns privately and SMG facilitates it through a common carrier, why do we need to identify a local FFL on our end?

 

[jbett98]

Where does SMG state that you have to pick a local FFL near the sellers address? I've only had to pick an FFL near the buyers address.

 

[gmerkt]

Where does SMG state that you have to pick a local FFL near the sellers address?

It doesn't. Sorry to belabor this but I interpreted their wording wrong. Here's what it says:

"Our FFL list above allows customers to see what dealer licenses we already have on file in the area they need to ship a firearm."

If they had added another word "to" on the very end of the sentence, I would've got it first time out. Now the entire process comes into focus and makes complete sense.

I like the idea. There have been issues in the past where individual counter clerks at UPS wouldn't take firearms shipments from individuals, saying they would only take them from dealers. Having the pre-paid label smoothes this over. And I take it they get a corporate discount over full retail and pass some of that on to the shipper.

I put in a couple of scenarios for guns that I've shipped recently "the old fashioned way" to see how the numbers would come out. One handgun, one rifle. In both cases, using SMG would've saved the buyers money.

It may be that I don't need to ship another gun any time soon, as I've done most of the culling out of my holdings for now. But I've shipped probably 20 to 25 guns in the past year. Had I known about SMG, I would've tried one shipment just to see how it turned out. One try-out might not be definitive. Having a shipment go wrong, which you never want, might be the real test. A problem never came up with the handguns my FFL dealer shipped through the post office. I'm glad, I don't know how the claim procedure would've gone in such a case. Meaning, would he do it as shipper, or would I do it as owner of the shipment. I asked my dealer and he said he'd never had a claim situation arise using the PO. Having SMG doing the claim process, if necessary, might be a blessing. I have read reviews pro and con about the responsiveness of corporate SMG.

Thanks again.

 

[jbett98]

The only issue I have had with SMG was when a buyer insisted that I ship a handgun to an FFL that wasn't on the preferred list, even though it was closer to him then the one he had picked.
I had to wait over three days to receive the shipping label e-mail from SMG, and the buyer started to freak out since I had cashed the USPS money order and hadn't immediately shipped the gun.
I contacted SMG and a nice lady told me that they were waiting on the FFL to send them a valid license, as the one he had faxed to them was expired.
I like being abler to save a buyer cash, as I don't like having to deal with UPS counter persons who sometimes don't know jack about the process.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Okay, help me understand how SMG works. I've been to their site, read all the rules & FAQ's, read some reviews online. And it still isn't entirely clear to me how it works. Specifically for handguns. Which I, as a non-licensee, cannot ship directly to a buyer or an FFL dealer in another state. I have to ship it through a dealer on my end who ships it to a dealer on the buyer's end. SMG says I take the package with their label directly to Fedex to shipping. If this is the procedure, where is the involvement of my FFL? Do I run it past them while on the way to Fedex? Clarity, please.

I've sold handguns out of state using an FFL dealer. Who can ship through the US Postal Service, which non dealers cannot. Using a Priority Mail flat rate box, the shipping is pretty reasonable. Without needing someone to broker the shipping cost.

Long guns I can ship myself to the FFL dealer on the buyer's end. If SMG can get me a discounted price on that, well and good.

You don't need an FFL on your end. The seller's FFL is all you need if you can get the gun there legally. I've hand carried pistols to an out of state FFL for a sale.

 

[gmerkt]

I contacted SMG and a nice lady told me that they were waiting on the FFL to send them a valid license,

When I've typically done it the old fashioned way, getting ahold of the FFL from the buyer or from his dealer has on occasion been a headache. Some dealers aren't in a hurry. I like the idea that SMG does this. I've used the ATF online site to check the validity of the FFL copies that were furnished to me.

As a seller, I have no idea what the fees may be on the buyer's end, what they must pay their dealer to receive the gun. This might be an issue having to do with the selection made using one of SMG's "preferred" dealers vs. an off-list choice.