Don't Waste Your Money! Tips and tricks for buying Guns, Ammo, and shooting supplies
Every once in a while I’ll have someone tweet or DM me asking what pistol they should buy. I’ll usually not only give them the general answer “Glock 19 or Smith and Wesson M&P” but I’ll provide them a link to a retailer or even a manufacturer’s SKU number.
Why?
Because in an effort to target as many customers and needs as possible, manufacturers will sell dozens of variations of the same gun. This is just a small sample of all the configurations you can buy an M&P in….
There’s way, way more. And these are just the ones in 9mm
Because of all of these different configurations and variations on the same model of gun, I strongly recommend people find exactly what they want online, and ship it to the gun store of their choice. Typically this not only gives you exactly what you’re looking for, but it saves you money.
That process looks something like the following:
Find the specific gun on an online Retailer
Pay that Online Retailer the cost of the gun, sales tax, and the shipping fee
The Online Retailer ships the gun to the Gun Store (FFL License holder) that you tell them to, either by picking it out from a database on the Retailer’s website, or manually typing the address in.
NOTE: The Gun Store has to be in the same state as your primary residence, ie. matches what’s on your Drivers License or State ID!
The Online Retailer ships the gun to the Gun Store
The Gun Store contacts you (usually over phone) when the gun arrives and they’re ready to transfer it to you
You go to the Gun Store, have them get your gun, and then they run the typical background check they would run if you bought a gun off their shelf
You pay a nominal fee for having them do the transaction, usually called the Transfer Fee (I’ve seen it anywhere from $25 to $60, but typically it’s $30 to $40. Luckily it’s tax-free)
You take your gun and head home
So in all, the total cost you is Gun + Taxes + Shipping + Transfer Fee. This usually (not always) will be the most affordable way of buying a gun
MAJOR EXCEPTION: The largest “Big Box” Gun Stores (think of outfits like Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Rural King, Academy, etc) act as both Online Retailer and Gun Store, and often run sales on their websites. Very Often, if you buy a gun from their website, they will ship the gun to their location for free and waive the transfer fee. So if Bass Pro has a deal on Glocks and you have a Bass Pro near you in the state that you live in, you can order a Glock from them and only pay the Sale Price + Tax. I took advantage of this All The Time when I used to live near a Bass Pro in Florida, but sadly there aren’t much of the way of big box gun stores near me in the Chicago area of Illinois.
I hope this has been informative. Have a good weekend!