The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - My first FFL transfer: An absolute disaster.

Demogorgo · February 3, 2002, 07:41 PM

Last month, I got on gunbroker and decided to buy a gun that I can't find anywhere over here. This requires that I do a transfer involving an FFL holder, which I've never done before. I won the Gunbroker auction from a seller with lots of good feedback. I then printed gunbroker's and the seller's email messages, made a money order, and wrote out and stamped an envelope.

After visiting a friendly gun dealer who I did some business with, I asked if he did FFL transfers. He said yes, and that I'd have to pay $20 when the gun arrived. All he has to do is sign a form and send it with the payment and info to the seller. I let him do this and emailed the seller my address/phone as well as that of the FFL holder.

It's weeks later. I saw auctions on his feedback that ended after mine and the buyers left good feedback after recieving their items. I asked the FFL holder if he got my item, he said "no". I asked the seller what's up, he had to check. Later, he said that he never recieved my payment, which would explain why I never recieved the gun.

Did I do something wrong here?

The seller doesn't seem too bright, his mails are short sentences in all-caps with no punctuation, and I had to re-iterate info that was already quoted in my messages. But he has a lot of good feedback, so what can I say? Maybe there's a way to check if the money order's been cashed if I still have the stub. I don't think he intentionally ripped me off, but he does seem more than dumb enough to make a mistake.

I guess my plan is to find out if I can cancel that money order and get my money back for it, I don't know if my bank will do that but I'll see. I can bother the FFL holder about it again, but I don't want to give the third degree to the only dealer here that I trust. I don't think anybody's ripped me off here, because I sure don't know a way to cash a money order made out to someone else; and the envelope doesn't look like it has money in it, so I doubt that any postal employees got it (I'm more worried that they'll see the "steal me" sticker if/when my gun is sent).

I want this to be over soon, this is definitely the last FFL transaction I'll ever do. There's just too many people involved that can **** it up. If anybody has suggestions about what I can do, I'd appreciate it.

February 3, 2002, 07:41 PM	#1
Demogorgo Member Join Date: January 11, 2002 Posts: 19	My first FFL transfer: An absolute disaster. Last month, I got on gunbroker and decided to buy a gun that I can't find anywhere over here. This requires that I do a transfer involving an FFL holder, which I've never done before. I won the Gunbroker auction from a seller with lots of good feedback. I then printed gunbroker's and the seller's email messages, made a money order, and wrote out and stamped an envelope. After visiting a friendly gun dealer who I did some business with, I asked if he did FFL transfers. He said yes, and that I'd have to pay $20 when the gun arrived. All he has to do is sign a form and send it with the payment and info to the seller. I let him do this and emailed the seller my address/phone as well as that of the FFL holder. It's weeks later. I saw auctions on his feedback that ended after mine and the buyers left good feedback after recieving their items. I asked the FFL holder if he got my item, he said "no". I asked the seller what's up, he had to check. Later, he said that he never recieved my payment, which would explain why I never recieved the gun. Did I do something wrong here? The seller doesn't seem too bright, his mails are short sentences in all-caps with no punctuation, and I had to re-iterate info that was already quoted in my messages. But he has a lot of good feedback, so what can I say? Maybe there's a way to check if the money order's been cashed if I still have the stub. I don't think he intentionally ripped me off, but he does seem more than dumb enough to make a mistake. I guess my plan is to find out if I can cancel that money order and get my money back for it, I don't know if my bank will do that but I'll see. I can bother the FFL holder about it again, but I don't want to give the third degree to the only dealer here that I trust. I don't think anybody's ripped me off here, because I sure don't know a way to cash a money order made out to someone else; and the envelope doesn't look like it has money in it, so I doubt that any postal employees got it (I'm more worried that they'll see the "steal me" sticker if/when my gun is sent). I want this to be over soon, this is definitely the last FFL transaction I'll ever do. There's just too many people involved that can **** it up. If anybody has suggestions about what I can do, I'd appreciate it.