Firing Line's New Transfer Fees-Price Gouging

[jslo]

While I agree with 90% of the general consensus of the posts, changing the fee for this particular purchase is, IMO, a form of extortion. If the firearm was purchased before the hike in fees the lower fee should have been honored.

[funkymonkey1111]

Moral of the story--you're wasting your time and money at Firing Line. Do your transfers at J&J Shooting Shack from now on, and be happy like every other person that's ever set foot in that shop.

[brobar]

Moral of the story--you're wasting your time and money at Firing Line. Do your transfers at J&J Shooting Shack from now on, and be happy like every other person that's ever set foot in that shop.

I pass at least a few dozen FFL locations in the 45 minute drive I make to the Shootin Shack. That tells you how pleased I've been with Jay's service... ESPECIALLY since I see time as money and am willing to take the time to go out of my way to do business there. My wife and I won't deal with anyone else for transfers.

[DHC]

Transfer service offered by FFL's has long been a topic for debate. Before the latest craze transfer fees ranged from $15 to $30 for a single transfer. Over the course of the past few years I have worked with at least 6 different FFL's for transfers. It is possible to do a bit of checking to find a FFL who explicitly seeks transfer business. In my experience, those are the best to work with. Naming those I prefer, J&J and Rapid Fire Bunker are my preferred FFL's for transfers. J&J charges a bit more for a single firearm transfer, but is less costly if transferring more than one firearm in a single transaction. Both are professional, courteous and want your transfer business. I believe it is because Jay and Steve are sincerely interested in building a large network of satisfied customers no matter the size of the transaction - and they are succeeding (IMO). And I should add that Bowers is closest to me and now that they have an FFL (just read that), I'll definitely be using Mike and Rob for my next transfer.

The larger shops seem to offer FFL transfers only as an aside to their primary business and the attention they provide reflects it. For a time (and maybe still) Bass Pro offered the best transfer price for multiple items in a single transfer, but they are located so far away from me that it was impractical. Still, all the bigger shops, like Firing Line, have had spotty reports in terms of their FFL transfer service for quite a while.

FWIW

[DeusExMachina]

The unfortunate fact is that retailers who can't get product to sell need to make their money elsewhere. Even though Firing Line is a high traffic shop, they pale in comparison to Buds or any other online gun dealer, so they are lower priority for receiving product to sell. Thus the increase in an attempt to recover the lost revenue from products they can't get to sell. Add in sneakerd's reasons and you can get a pretty good picture of what is happening and going to happen in the industry for the foreseeable future.

However, the reasoning for FL's crazy prices before the panic is just pure greed.

[Jmetz]

The unfortunate fact is that retailers who can't get product to sell need to make their money elsewhere. Even though Firing Line is a high traffic shop, they pale in comparison to Buds or any other online gun dealer, so they are lower priority for receiving product to sell. Thus the increase in an attempt to recover the lost revenue from products they can't get to sell. Add in sneakerd's reasons and you can get a pretty good picture of what is happening and going to happen in the industry for the foreseeable future.

However, the reasoning for FL's crazy prices before the panic is just pure greed.

The only problem with this line of thought is that they moved more product in a month (and at higher prices) then they normally move in a year. So money was made. The whole "we don't have anything to sell so we're not making money" thing doesn't hold water for me. You just made a years worth of sales in month, unless you already squandered your profit and didn't budget accordingly, there shouldn't be an issue.

[patrick0685]

Jay is a great guy...everyone I have ever sent there has been happy

[Great-Kazoo]

The only problem with this line of thought is that they moved more product in a month (and at higher prices) then they normally move in a year. So money was made. The whole "we don't have anything to sell so we're not making money" thing doesn't hold water for me. You just made a years worth of sales in month, unless you already squandered your profit and didn't budget accordingly, there shouldn't be an issue.

Yes you did and for the next 6 months have minimal inventory arriving at who knows what price increase, PLUS payroll, ins, etc. When inventory arrives the 6 AR that was part of the order has now been reduced to 2 if that.

[bellavite1]

While I agree with 90% of the general consensus of the posts, changing the fee for this particular purchase is, IMO, a form of extortion. If the firearm was purchased before the hike in fees the lower fee should have been honored.

+1

[DeusExMachina]

The only problem with this line of thought is that they moved more product in a month (and at higher prices) then they normally move in a year. So money was made. The whole "we don't have anything to sell so we're not making money" thing doesn't hold water for me. You just made a years worth of sales in month, unless you already squandered your profit and didn't budget accordingly, there shouldn't be an issue.

They moved more product in a month at normal prices than they normally move in a few months. I doubt they can stock enough product for one year. And then they ran out of product to sell, and it is difficult to get more. They raised prices since because of less volume of product being sold due to demand far outweighing supply.

Just because people bought everything they had to sell doesn't mean they're living like kings. It means they don't have anything left to sell going forward.