Home Based FFLs

[GreaseMonkeySRT]

Anyone on here have one? I'm thinking of getting one as a side business to buy/sell online, as well as doing transfers for my local populace. I do know FFLs info is published publicly, but that doesn't mean every retailer will automatically ship to you if someone selects you. What I'm curious about, is if you complete a transfer for a friend say through Bud's Gun Shop, do they then keep a record of your license so that anyone can now ship to you? I am not extremely interested in having randoms show up at my house or shipments arriving without my knowledge.

If this is the case, I may get a C&R FFL instead.

[Jackam]

I am not extremely interested in having randoms show up at my house or shipments arriving without my knowledge.

I've often wondered about guys that do $15 or $20 transfers out of their homes (God bless them!)
It just seems like way too much work for too little pay. The last time I bought something and had it shipped, the FFL had to go to Fedex himself and pick it up!

I always check with my FFL first to make sure it's ok if I order something from Buds and have it shipped to him. At least that way he's expecting it. He told me that there have been quite a few times that a package had shown up that he had no idea was coming nor whom it was for.

As far as random shipments, I would doubt that anyone would do it without first establishing contact with you or being a previous client.

[pkuptruck]

Anyone on here have one? I'm thinking of getting one as a side business to buy/sell online, as well as doing transfers for my local populace. I do know FFLs info is published publicly, but that doesn't mean every retailer will automatically ship to you if someone selects you. What I'm curious about, is if you complete a transfer for a friend say through Bud's Gun Shop, do they then keep a record of your license so that anyone can now ship to you? I am not extremely interested in having randoms show up at my house or shipments arriving without my knowledge.

If this is the case, I may get a C&R FFL instead.

not sure it still applies today, but back in the 80's and 90's I had the home business FFl thing. Mostly for myself and family..

I did do transfers, etc on a limited basis.. sort of to make money to spend on other crap I wanted.

It wasn't too bad... til the 94 AWB came up. Then I had to fight the locals PD and TWP for my license. After a while,
it just wasnt worth it for me.

Most distributors get your license once a year ( or less) and keep it on file til it expires. Then they request an updated copy.
Some require one EACH time you order, but these are few and far between if I remember correctly.

The "random" shipment to your house WILL occur.. especially with friends and family.. Then the "opps.. I was going to tell you".
depending on your friends and family.. it isnt too bad.. If you list yourself as available for transfers.. always put " by appointment".
it tends to keep the random stuff from happening.

Another issue to take intoconsideration.. The BATFE will now have the right to randomly visit you.. whenever they please, to audit your
books. Could be never.. could be weekly. expect little to NO notice if they DO come.

[Danco411]

I got my 07 FFL for my Cerakote business and because I wanted to build custom rifles. First off it is a PITA from the start. The ATF will not grant you an FFL unless you have a valid Michigan business with a tax ID. They will do an inspection of your location of business and determine if you are going to be a business to make money. If they sense you are just going to be a home FFL and do transfers (and buy stuff for yourself) they will reject your application.

Having my FFL for four years now I have learned a few things. First and foremost is doing transfers is a waste of time. At $25 each it is not worth the time for the paperwork and more importantly having a bunch of people in your home all the time. If your married forget it! LOL Second it is very hard to make any money in retail gun sales. Unless you have storefront and can carry a large inventory forget it. Retail is about volume. Like Jackam stated shipping is a complete pain especially if your not home all the time. I completely stopped doing any transfers unless it is for a few good customers who do other business with me. The only reason I am keeping my FFL is because of my custom rifle and Cerakote business.

[Cletus]

I am not extremely interested in having randoms show up at my house or shipments arriving without my knowledge.

Yeah, this seems odd.... However, the local guy I used a couple times said, don't bother calling he doesn't need to know when a gun is arriving.

Of course, I'm sitting at his dining room table while he is doing the paperwork, his wife was in her pajamas laying on the couch 15 feet away.

It just seems shady... LOL

[Ol` Joe]

Local laws can be a part of having a home based business. I worked with a FFL holder that sold out of his garage for years (IIRC Dearborn) until the fed's decided to reduce the number of "kitchen table" dealers with new and more heavily enforced restrictions that also stirred up the local governments. All of a sudden he needed a store front, had to have posted business hours, a "approved" gun locker and could no longer run a firearm business in his residential area - business signs in front yards were probibited, so he had to move to a business district. He dropped the license.

[joepistol]

yes, it seems that WHERE you are (live) may greatly influence what hoops you need to jump through, to have a home-based business.
I have a local home-based FFL dealer that I use, only rarely, as my buying days are behind me (so I say..)

I thought of having my own sell-from-home business, back in the late 70's ? /early 80's ?, while living in So.Calif.. (pre-internet)
I sent in my $, & got my FFL easily enough.. (different times, then) but after reading through the material, decided against starting a business.
Though being a law-abiding citizen, the thought of having a BATF or ( other govt agent ) searching my premises @ any time , was a deal breaker for me.

as said above.."Another issue to take into consideration.. The BATFE will now have the right to randomly visit you.. whenever they please, to audit your
books. Could be never.. could be weekly. expect little to NO notice if they DO come."

Not for me..
but happy there are those willing to go through this..
I refer all my shooting friends to my home based FFL , when they need the service.

[Danco411]

Not with no notice. They give you a weeks notice if it is a random audit. I imagine if your suspected of something that could be a no-knock.

[Coctailer]

Not with no notice. They give you a weeks notice if it is a random audit. I imagine if your suspected of something that could be a no-knock.

Normally they don't give notice. They just show up and show you their creds.
If you live several hours from their office, they will call to make sure you will be there and not on vacation or closed for remodel or something.
They are only allowed to inspect once per 12 month period.
I went 16 years before my first inspection.

[castrotikon]

Anyone on here have one? I'm thinking of getting one as a side business to buy/sell online, as well as doing transfers for my local populace. I do know FFLs info is published publicly, but that doesn't mean every retailer will automatically ship to you if someone selects you. What I'm curious about, is if you complete a transfer for a friend say through Bud's Gun Shop, do they then keep a record of your license so that anyone can now ship to you? I am not extremely interested in having randoms show up at my house or shipments arriving without my knowledge.

If this is the case, I may get a C&R FFL instead.

I just went through all of this pretty recently setting up my FFL about 6 months ago. Your FFL info is listed publicly elsewhere if you look it up but you will need to set yourself up with various dealers to have yourself listed as a "preferred dealer" (meaning they just ship straight to you). Some will keep your FFL on file but will require the buyer to contact you to verify you're accepting transfers. It's kind of a double edged sword: if you're not listed as a preferred dealer, you may not be getting much cash flow/transfers. If you are, there is always the chance you'll get a random shipment sent your way. Before I had my license, I always considered it common courtesy to inform my local FFL that I had something coming their way before ordering in case they were out of town or something...but that's just me. But the ATF made it very clear to me that part of doing transfers was the possibility of random people showing up to your home.

I setup an LLC and registered for a federal tax ID, none of this was particularly difficult or costly and it looks good to ATF to show you are running a legitimate business (plus it just good practice). I didn't find the actual FFL portion particularly difficult, the business side of things was actually far more of a PITA (setting up a business checking/credit account, getting invoicing software going, setting up a website, getting a domain and business e-mail, sales tax license, etc...).

The ATF "inspection" wasn't really that big of a deal. They basically asked if I was in compliance with my local zoning laws (which I checked with my local zoning dept. and they said it wouldn't be a problem), scheduled a day to come out, and basically spent a couple of hours going over the paperwork, rules, and regulations. They asked a few basic questions about how I wanted to conduct my business, who I was intending to target, but all said they were pretty nice people actually and I didn't think the inspection was really much of an "inspection".

They are allowed to visit unannounced once a year. They explained to me if I'm not home at the time, they'll just call to schedule something but being a small home based FFL, the chances of them coming out are pretty slim.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, this is all still pretty fresh in my mind lol.