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I'm not sure how much one really misses out by not shipping. I've done my fair share of buying/selling/trading and I've extremely rarely specifically said "no shipping" in my ads, but I can recall only a time or two that anyone has ever even asked... and of those one was a Californian and I didn't wanna mess with their laws about what's even legal to own over there. Basically, I don't get the impression that's there's a vast sea of buyers on this forum that would be buying my stuff if only I'd been willing to ship. In general I'd ship things like parts, accessories, or magazines but not firearms or ammo just because of the hassle and relative expense.
 
Speaking only for myself....
Shipping and or receiving a firearm is a PITA.

The least expensive FFL to work with , is about 45 minutes away...
They do "work" for shipping and receiving of a firearm...but they are also not consistent in quality of service regarding the same.

I have other FFL's nearer...but the transfer fees are out of my wallet range.
And the customer service with the larger of the two that is closer is fair to bad...But for a long time , he was the only game in town.
The closet one...is good on service...but limited hours.

I have a trade in the works ...but While I am sure that I will enjoy the rifle that I will get...
I do dread the experience of shipping my shotgun and receiving the rifle.
Andy
 
This: "

2) My mail gets delivered to somebody else and I get other people's mail/packages".

Packages...NO/Mail - all the time.

I just put it in the proper box as we have RFD or put the red flag up with a note to the mail man or woman: Wrong address.

I got someone else's packages. Fortunately they only live a mile or two away so I delivered them myself.
 
depends on the situation on if I will ship or not. I generally keep it local with my sales but will ship if its been up for awhile with no bites. However, even when I do consider shipping my list of who I ship to is small (site supporter or someone with a lot of positive feedback) and no haggle on the asking price and the shipping charges (no "what's your bottom dollar" and then ask for shipping but expect to only pay $5). I deal with internet sales at work, I have seen firsthand how badly PayPal will screw over the seller even with an insane amount of precautions (tracking, insured, signature required, etc), if you ask for shipping but don't like my terms I have no problem keeping my product to protect my assets
 
There are gun owners, and there are gun people. They are not always the same thing, especially on forums such as this one. For the former, buying or selling online just might put them out of their comfort zone. So, they are best off not doing so. And I will never push the issue.

For the actual gun people, and especially accumulators and collectors, if it was not for buying and selling online or thru catalogues, our hobby would be difficult. And we have evolved an extra sense, to know who to deal with. In my collector circles, often an item is shipped before payment is received. These folks are the kind of people I'd like to have as neighbors.






.

Ad to this that firearms owners, as a whole, would tend to be more on the ball than the general scrounger on craigs list, or let go, etc. We have that going for us! We're pretty easy to vet via the board too.
 
Lol, you know you can deposit a check remotely, right? How do you get your mail, Pony Express? You can print a label and the P.O. will come pick it up. Of course I know there's some old guys who probably don't know how to even turn on a computer, so there is that.

Funny too that the people unwilling to ship are usually the same ones bumping their adds every chance possible.

To some of us older folks we don't like "technology" so don't go giving us flack, keep it for yourself.:s0037:
 
Just folks exercising their God-given-right to bear their stuff to whoever they want to bear it, in the manner they want it born.

The buyer, as always, has the right to say yes or no.
 
Re. the question posed in the original post. NWFA covers a large regional area. Some people will post an ad hoping that someone nearer rather than farther away will respond.

Meet-ups have the potential for being much bigger time-wasters than shipping an object. The perhaps long drive, one guy gets lost, etc. I've done it successfully but prefer to ship if possible. I'd be willing to ship a firearm but the extra expenses involved can discourage NWFA buyers.

On another question: Why on earth would anyone sell something very low dollar like 10 or 20, yet I see it here all the time.

It all adds up. I was an accumulator for 60 years. Some things didn't seem very valuable when I took them under my wing but as the years have gone by. they have acquired value. A who knew thing. I'm trying to avoid leaving a house full of stuff for Mrs. Merkt to get rid of. Once I'm gone, the value of a lot of it would not be identified and realized. Just a personal thing, if I can get some money out of an object rather than give or throw it away, I will do it. Which doesn't count gift giving, a decent amount of which I've done. No matter how much money I have, I'm not one to leave it going to waste large or small.

The lines at the post office and ups are long and slow right now especially.

It's easy enough to set up an online account, generate your own postage and have the PO pick it up during regular scheduled delivery. I've been doing this for 15 years and have had few issues. It's no coincidence that I've been retired for 13 of those years. Ebay, Gunbroker, sporadically some other sites. I use whatever works.

And I won't buy unless it's free shipping. I hate seeing a $9 item for sale and a $22 cost of shipping!!!

There is no such thing as "Free" shipping. Someone will pay it because the USPS, UPS, Fedex, etc., won't work for free. When I sell stuff online, I practically never list an item with so-called free shipping. Just about anything over a pound in weight will be zone rated so not knowing where it will be going in the country means you won't know how much the shipping will cost. Being located on the west coast, you are guaranteed to have some buyers all the way across country in Zone 8, maximum shipping cost. I guess some sellers might try to average shipping costs over X number of transactions. That's too inexact for me. But a good deal of this is avoided by using USPS flat rate packaging. I specify shipping charges on small parcels, too. Which as a class/category, have experienced higher rate increases several times running as the PO discovered the true costs of processing them. I have a very good sell-through rate on stuff that I list. But then again, nearly all of it is one-off, it's not like I have 40 foot containers full of the same thing with lots of on-line competitors. There aren't a lot of buying options for what I sell.

I wonder at those exorbitant shipping costs that you sometimes see quoted. You have to wonder what the seller is thinking. Are they expecting some fool to not see the shipping cost and buy the thing unaware? That just leads to trouble.
 
Why limit yourself to potential buyers within close proximity? Who do you think is going to drive an extended distance to pick up an item to save a few dollars over retail? Is it really that difficult in today's day and age to accept electronic payment (or heaven forbid a PMO or check in the mail) and box an item up and drop it off at the Post Office? Makes absolutely no sense to me, but what do I know.
You have time to meet someone, but not the time it takes to ship? Okay.


Somewhere in between your first question and your last argumentative response, your first question was answered. Many times. I don't know why you seem unable to believe that some folks do NOT think like you. But they don't. You seem unable to accept that Buster. What do you think that tell you about yourself?

Just curious.
 
Shipping hazmat (powder, primers) by private sellers is not practical.

Shipping ammo involves explanation. It can only go UPS or some other common carrier. USPS is barred from accepting it for mailing. It has to be packed for and shipped by ORM-D (Other Regulated Materials) which is not hazmat but must go surface. When I've shipped ammo, it's been by UPS. If you attempt to arrange shipping label and payment online, it will deny the transaction when you fill out contents as "small arms ammunition." So no label, no pickup. Which you can schedule for other things but not ammo, at least not in my experience. This requires you to take it to a UPS hub center. UPS stores aren't allowed under their franchise to accept guns or ammo for shipment so don't bother stopping there. The ammo has to be packed with individual rounds separated from each other. So no GI cans of loose rounds in ORM-D shipments.

By the way, effective the end of this year, the ORM-D label is obsolete. Some time ago, Federal DOT has redesigned the labels for limited shipments of this kind of material.

Primed brass isn't hazmat but cannot be mailed. Must go common carrier.

The above offers insight into why some people on NWFA don't want to ship ammo.

However, I see people offering to ship ammo sold on Gunbroker shipped by USPS Priority Mail. Because it's against regulations doesn't stop somebody from attempting it and even being successful. I don't know the extent of surveillance of the mail. Priority Mail goes mostly by air; there may be some security imaging of air cargo if only at random. If caught, you can be fined for violation.
 
I've shipped, and had stuff shipped to me. I would much rather meet someone in person, allow the buyer to see and handle the goods, and look the other person in the eye.

It's a royal pain when the shipping company damages an item. I had a shotgun shipped to my FFL, and it arrived with a cracked stock, thanks to the rough handling the Fedex guys gave the package. At least, that's how it seemed. (The seller, in another state, swore up and down that the thing wasn't cracked when he shipped it to me.)

Both the seller and the shipper made a lot of promises about paying me for a replacement stock. Neither one of them ever sent me a dime.

I repaired the thing. It's just a working gun for the farm, so it doesn't have to be pristine.

A man can bellyache all he wants about the world not running exactly according to his wishes. But I've found it's best to just take things in stride.

Some people aren't keen on the idea of shipping firearms. I'm one of them.
 
So then.....
What is it with people thinking that something is wrong with ME because I don't want to ship an item?

I don't care if a potential buyer doesn't want to deal with me because of it. It's my terms of the sale. Don't like it? To bad. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

As another poster pointed out......YOU sound entitled.

Aloha, Mark
 
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For me payment is the only thing that stops it. Only thing I would take would be a check or MO I could walk into a bank and cash first. Few times someone wanted me to ship something they did not like this and that was the end of the conversation. ANY other form of payment leaves you at risk. Even if your bank tells you something "cleared" that does not mean a week later they will not have a problem and just take the money back from you.
 
I got someone else's packages. Fortunately they only live a mile or two away so I delivered them myself.
FedEx for some reason the last decade or so seems to be the worst for this. I buy a LOT of stuff online and for some reason the problem is by far them. They beat USPS for screw ups which is saying something. A few times now they (FedEx) have made a delivery to me with someone else's package along with mine. Few of them I could tell where the correct place was so I would take one of the dogs for a walk and deliver it. Get some strange looks when they open the door and I ask "is this you?" It was left at my house:D
 

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