2A Sales-No Longer Accepting Our Transfers in Jessup

[Traveler]

First of all, I love Internet drama, so this thread is like a delicious cupcake for me.

Second, as someone else here put it, IPs snubbing other IPs isn't cool.

Third, I understand a no-transfer policy when you can get the new gun yourself in a speedy fashion. But, to be blunt, I would be a teensy bit surprised if most IPs could reliably pull this off for anything but bolt guns and maybe some 1911s.

Fourth, we are facing a potential AWB in MD. I get that some dealers are now a little concerned for their long-term well-being, and may be adopting policies to maximize current profits. But I also think they should be taking one for the team and being a little more flexible about transfers.

Fifth, I love Internet drama. Wait, that was (1). Where's my cupcake?

The cupcake is a lie. Customer service is always king, now more than ever.

 

[damifinowfish]

I don't know why any gun shop would do a transfer without a big fee. Receive a firearm, verify serial #, securely store the firearm for 30+ days, and process the paperwork. It seems like a lot of work with little return.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Let me add that Maryland gun dealers that do transfers also need to pay for the space it takes to store the firearm for what is now taking 4 to 5 times longer for the paper work to clear.

Plus all the unseen fees that they need to pay, insurance on your gun, building security fees ie alarm contracts, and expensive security upgrades to the building.

We all see these rock bottom prices on the internet but we forget to add into the price of the cost to do business in Maryland. Maryland over taxes to the point that we are leaving. I have friends that work for a small firearms company that just found out the the owner is moving the whole operation to S.C. by the end of the year.

Yes I buy off the internet but when I need help with a product I'll go to the local place and pay more for the customer service end of the product.

If you buy a gun off the internet and you have a problem who is going to help you?

If you buy a gun from Mom & Pop and have a problem you can take it into their store and odds are they can solve it for you.

Spend your money where you want

just my .02

 

[capman98]

I understand not wanting to transfer in somthing that you have sitting on the shelf for a reasonable price. That said, If you don't have one in stock to sell, why not do the transfer?? This seems like the rational business owner mindset to me. If you ar ecompetivily priced to a degree, and have the item in stock, why wouldn't someone buy from you?? Seems like it was just handeled worng to me. Like everyone else, I would like to hear the other side.

 

[Half-cocked]

First of all, I love Internet drama, so this thread is like a delicious cupcake for me.
...
Fifth, I love Internet drama. Wait, that was (1). Where's my cupcake?

I can't give you a cupcake, but I can give you a dramatic re-enactment of the battle set to music.

 

[jvegas]

JVEGAS... how much do you charge for transfers... and is the address in your signature the correct location.

Don't want to hijack this thread. Check out my IP section or PM me, please.

 

[Gundahar]

What a dick move. I had a bad experience there and was bashed hard for posting about it. Went back a year later and left unimpressed. Maybe they "don't serve my kind" at their place or something, but after reading this I feel very well confirmed that my impression was correct.

It should tell you something that I eat lunch at Santa Lucias but prefer to shop at Engage and Constitutional Firearms.


Gundahar

 

[willandtestament]

I can confirm this as a previous customer of theirs but this has been going on longer than the current environment. I had a bad experience there but got flamed here for stating as such and my posts removed and I got a cool warning from the admins not to talk about bad experiences with IP's. Good luck with those guys.

But since then I have spent 5 digits plus on other IP's though and not one of them trashed other shops or their customers for that matter!

 

[occbrian]

Two things.

1. Didn't realize that Joe Bob was operating out of my home state. You've got my business!

2. jvegas is awesome. Answers my emails promptly. Submitted his FFL info to Larue for me ASAP so I could get into queue. Waited for me til 6pm on a Friday night at his shop when my flight was delayed... just for a long gun transfer. Highly recommend.

 

[phx223]

I doubt anyone has upgraded their security system since the MSP wait increased, but I am sure that some of the more popular FFL's are tripping over regulated firearms in their storerooms. That said do I get a discount for ordering in a lower vice a whole rifle? Nope, it a set 40-100 fee depending on location. If a shop refuses all transfers thats one thing (either by pricing themselves out of the market or by shutting down their transfers all together) but by singling out shops, especailly ones that supply the very things MD wants to ban, is kind bonkers.

That said, it is their business, and if they feel that this is best for them then so be it. If it were me, and my existance depended on a product that was going to be banned from new sales, I'd quickly get as many of those items into the store by anymeans possiable and establish myself as a place to get work and upgrades done on those items (the average AR owner spends between 400-500 on upgrades to their rifles, and everyone always say the money is in the upgrades and not the rifles anyways).

 

[peace]

I have a great deal of respect for both IPs mentioned in the first post. Hopefully there will be a public statement to address by the other IP in the same public and professional manner such that JoeBob made theirs.

 

[Huckleberry]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Let me add that Maryland gun dealers that do transfers also need to pay for the space it takes to store the firearm for what is now taking 4 to 5 times longer for the paper work to clear.

Plus all the unseen fees that they need to pay, insurance on your gun, building security fees ie alarm contracts, and expensive security upgrades to the building.

We all see these rock bottom prices on the internet but we forget to add into the price of the cost to do business in Maryland. Maryland over taxes to the point that we are leaving. I have friends that work for a small firearms company that just found out the the owner is moving the whole operation to S.C. by the end of the year.

Yes I buy off the internet but when I need help with a product I'll go to the local place and pay more for the customer service end of the product.

If you buy a gun off the internet and you have a problem who is going to help you?

If you buy a gun from Mom & Pop and have a problem you can take it into their store and odds are they can solve it for you.

Spend your money where you want

just my .02

Big +1

Plus, the Store front dealers that work with you if the MSP gives you a "Hold" or worse, "Disapproved".

Or the Dealer that makes it so easy to fill out your NFA paperwork and trusts so you can get that Silencer or SBR upper with less hassle.

Or a Maryland Dealer that closed up his business and went to join the Pro-Gun Rallies in Annapolis.

Or that local dealer that supported MDS before it was cool or good advertising by contributing prizes for some of our previous shoots

A local dealer that supports not just the NRA and MDS but MSI and the AGC

5 will get you 10 that the majority of people dog piling 2A have never been in the shop or dealt with Mark.

 

[johnnyb2]

I can't see how JOEBOB's sales would offer any competition to 2A's. I mean, regarding transfer's, HOW MANY LOWERS or guns do they (2A) have to sell that JOEBOB's has taken sales away. It just seems kinda petty but then again....I have not had any dealings with 2A BUT, I have had SEVERAL VERY PLEASANT and WELL NEEDED dealings with JOEBOB's...

JOEBOB...I think I would laugh if I were you, and not take it any other way....I guess given the small space you operate from you should be complemented on, especially GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY to offer MDshooters specials on items not found or hard to get any where. I am very gratefull for the BCG as I had kept missing them, some by just minutes, on notifications from other websites. How many shops have advertised on here ONLY for Mdshooters...a few maybe...and we should give anyone who goes out of there way for us our business...I know I do. I respect and appreciate loyalty...

 

[OH IT'S KINO]

Big +1

Plus, the Store front dealers that work with you if the MSP gives you a "Hold" or worse, "Disapproved".

Or the Dealer that makes it so easy to fill out your NFA paperwork and trusts so you can get that Silencer or SBR upper with less hassle.

Or a Maryland Dealer that closed up his business and went to join the Pro-Gun Rallies in Annapolis.

Or that local dealer that supported MDS before it was cool or good advertising by contributing prizes for some of our previous shoots

A local dealer that supports not just the NRA and MDS but MSI and the AGC

5 will get you 10 that the majority of people dog piling 2A have never been in the shop or dealt with Mark.

 

[Longhammer]

Big +1

Plus, the Store front dealers that work with you if the MSP gives you a "Hold" or worse, "Disapproved".

Or the Dealer that makes it so easy to fill out your NFA paperwork and trusts so you can get that Silencer or SBR upper with less hassle.

Or a Maryland Dealer that closed up his business and went to join the Pro-Gun Rallies in Annapolis.

Or that local dealer that supported MDS before it was cool or good advertising by contributing prizes for some of our previous shoots

A local dealer that supports not just the NRA and MDS but MSI and the AGCo

5 will get you 10 that the majority of people dog piling 2A have never been in the shop or dealt with Mark.

I had one deal with 2A and that was enough

 

[OH IT'S KINO]

I had one deal with 2A and that was enough

I've had several and plan for many, many more.

I'm not saying anything negative about JoeBob's, but there's two sides to every story and people are jumping on this wagon quickly while only hearing one.

 

[smdub]

Considering the multi month nightmare transferrs have become it is probably far more trouble than the $25 they would get for completing someone else's sale. There probably is not enough in it anymore making your own sales anymore especially for items you have sitting on the shelf you are hoping to actually profit from.

1) Its not $25. 2A charges $60 for a regulated item ($40 for non regaulated.) The MSP fee is $10(?) so they're profit is $50 for doing the paperwork and holding the item for a month. If thats not enough (and Im not saying it is) they should just raise the transfer price to what they do deem as acceptable profit.

2) Have you been in 2A recently? What stock "sitting on the shelf"? In these slim times the local stores can't get stock. I've asked a couple about getting a specific pistol and they all said they probably can't. Many of them told me my best chance is to just buy it new on the web somewhere and pay the xfer fee.

 

[Huckleberry]

I had one deal with 2A and that was enough

Same could be said for any dealer or IP in Maryland.

I knew guys that swore by Valley Guns and some others that hated the place with a passion after getting raped there.

 

[OH IT'S KINO]

1) Its not $25. 2A charges $60 for a regulated item ($40 for non regaulated.) The MSP fee is $10(?) so they're profit is $50 for doing the paperwork and holding the item for a month. If thats not enough they should just raise the transfer price to what they do deem as acceptable profit.

That's not profit. Profit is the remainder after MSP, labor that it takes to do the paperwork on the item, insurance that it takes to cover the item, space that it takes up in the shop, storage, and countless other things. The profit margin shrinks quickly.

 

[Bootknife]

Joebob Has always Done Right By Me and Curry Thomas in Jax Fl. or Engage Armament in Rockville Md. are Good to me as Well.I have purchased Things from 2a at considerable costs ....i am somewhat disturbed at that Play on 2A's part.May have to reconsider my Spending Habits.

 

[erwos]

I don't know why any gun shop would do a transfer without a big fee. Receive a firearm, verify serial #, securely store the firearm for 30+ days, and process the paperwork. It seems like a lot of work with little return.

The question of how much 2A is charging for a transfer is totally irrelevant. No one's arguing 2A should do it for free. They're free to charge whatever the market will bear.

Yes, your experience is different when you buy from an Internet store or a local retailer. Duh. Not all of us want or need hand-holding on every gun we ever buy. People don't want to pay for services they don't want or need.

But... the costs to the transferring FFL are the same whether it's transferred in from JBO or a mom-and-pop. In fact, it's probably less costly to handle JBO given the not-so-amazing competency of the average mom-and-pop gun shop. So, unless JBO is somehow a real PITA to deal with on firearms transfers, which would be surprising to me, I'm not really buying into this line of reasoning.

I'm not damning 2A here; I'm sure they're a fine shop. But every business makes mistakes, and I rather suspect this policy might be a mistake. Interested in their side of the story, though. (I won't be impressed if it's "well, we gotta make money, so we'll do whatever", though.)

I will say that I'm surprised more IPs haven't lashed out at JBO thus far, though. They are a very strong competitor, and they're out of state.