Face to Face WITH 4473 Transfer Payment

sndmn11

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I haven't sold a firearm since Colorado changed to private sales requiring a 4473 background check. It would make sense to me that the buyer would pay the seller prior to the 4473 being processed, but I may be overlooking something. I landed on that thinking that once an approval is reached the serial number is documented as being transferred and someone could possibly choose to not pay or pay less than was agreed and there wouldn't be much recourse for the seller.

So, what has everyone done? Pay first, have the FFL "hold" the cash, pay after, ______?
 

wildcat33

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Get paid first. If buyer doesn’t pass the check you can give his money back but you’ll have to pay for a background check to get your own gun back.
 

FOS373

Lil-Rokslider
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Oct 8, 2019
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Buyer pays seller. FFL runs check. You guys figure out who is paying FFL for check. Once it clears.... buyer gets new boom stick.


And FWIW check to see how long check times are running. Havent run one in a few days, but they were up to 4 days for a bit. you don’t want to be running around twice for this.
 
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sndmn11

sndmn11

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Buyer pays seller. FFL runs check. You guys figure out who is paying FFL for check. Once it clears.... buyer gets new boom stick.


And FWIW check to see how long check times are running. Havent run one in a few days, but they were up to 4 days for a bit. you don’t want to be running around twice for this.
They were a half hour last Friday.

Get paid first. If buyer doesn’t pass the check you can give his money back but you’ll have to pay for a background check to get your own gun back.
The next step if failure didn't cross my mind. Since it is $40ish to do a transfer, would it be out of line to tell the buyer to hand me the purchase price plus $40ish, the latter either refunded to them or used to get my gun back on their failure?
 

tdhanses

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They were a half hour last Friday.


The next step if failure didn't cross my mind. Since it is $40ish to do a transfer, would it be out of line to tell the buyer to hand me the purchase price plus $40ish, the latter either refunded to them or used to get my gun back on their failure?
Have them pay the FFL not you, just part of the cost buying.
 
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sndmn11

sndmn11

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Have them pay the FFL not you, just part of the cost buying.

They pay me for the firearm, they pay for their own background, in the event they fail their own check is it out of line to ask for the cash up front to pay for a background so I can get my firearm back from the FFL?
 

5MilesBack

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They pay me for the firearm, they pay for their own background, in the event they fail their own check is it out of line to ask for the cash up front to pay for a background so I can get my firearm back from the FFL?
You didn't transfer the firearm to the FFL, it's your firearm until the buyer pays you AND the background check clears.
 
Joined
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Here in CA with our 10 day wait it’s customary that the buyer pays seller 100% up front and pays the transfer fee to the FFL on day 1. Then if all is good by day 10 the buyer pics up without seller having to be there.
 
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In PA if you are face to face you can do it right at the FFL. Depending on the day time, that can take an hour or more to run. Some FFLS charge a fee. Some are just happy to have you in the store with your wallet in hand. If it was an auction I ask for money upfront before going to the ffl. If it was more of a local sale, I’d meet the buyer there and change hands the NICS check doesn’t transfer the guns ownership. That doesn’t happen until you sign the seller portion of the 4473.
 

tdhanses

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They pay me for the firearm, they pay for their own background, in the event they fail their own check is it out of line to ask for the cash up front to pay for a background so I can get my firearm back from the FFL?
If they fail would you have to since no transfer happened?
 

WCB

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Man some of you guys have terrible luck buying guns... I have never waited more than 10 minutes on a check and have bought multiple guns in the last couple months. Are your FFLs fricken snail mailing it?
 
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sndmn11

sndmn11

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If they fail would you have to since no transfer happened?

I don't know. I had never considered it until @wildcat33 brought it up in like post 2/3/4 above. I think he may be right, since "I think" the firearm can only be transferred from the FFL to someone, not someone to someone. When I did one on Friday, the person was thinking out loud how to do person to person, and I thought he said he had to transfer it to the FFL books, and then off the books to the new owner.

I'll just ask before we get rolling what the process is if it fails before we start.
 

tdhanses

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I don't know. I had never considered it until @wildcat33 brought it up in like post 2/3/4 above. I think he may be right, since "I think" the firearm can only be transferred from the FFL to someone, not someone to someone. When I did one on Friday, the person was thinking out loud how to do person to person, and I thought he said he had to transfer it to the FFL books, and then off the books to the new owner.

I'll just ask before we get rolling what the process is if it fails before we start.
Yes the FFL puts it in their books, no different then a gunsmith that works on a gun but there is no transfer back to the owner, your the owner until the new owners background passes.
 
Joined
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Man some of you guys have terrible luck buying guns... I have never waited more than 10 minutes on a check and have bought multiple guns in the last couple months. Are your FFLs fricken snail mailing it?
Buying in Pennsylvania, I have not had one take less than 30 minutes in the last year. Most have been just under/over an hour. I have adopted the habit of going in right before lunch to fill out the paperwork and then going back after to pick up the gun.
 

freddyG

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Man some of you guys have terrible luck buying guns... I have never waited more than 10 minutes on a check and have bought multiple guns in the last couple months. Are your FFLs fricken snail mailing it?
Yeah, I don’t think I have had one take more than a couple of minutes. Strange.
 

wildcat33

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Yes the FFL puts it in their books, no different then a gunsmith that works on a gun but there is no transfer back to the owner, your the owner until the new owners background passes.
I don't know. I had never considered it until @wildcat33 brought it up in like post 2/3/4 above. I think he may be right, since "I think" the firearm can only be transferred from the FFL to someone, not someone to someone. When I did one on Friday, the person was thinking out loud how to do person to person, and I thought he said he had to transfer it to the FFL books, and then off the books to the new owner.

I'll just ask before we get rolling what the process is if it fails before we start.

May be a case of “depends who you ask”. My last two sales were PP at local shops. In both cases I get payment upfront and leave as if the deal is done. In one case the shop was clear that I would need a transfer to get gun back if deal went sour. In second I didn’t ask (rokslide member). If I had doubts about the buyer I would simply state the terms of the deal: if buyer doesn’t pass BGC the cost to get gun back to seller comes out of refund.
 
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