The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Mattnall wrote:

Sim G wrote:Is it not time, ..., that such as the GTA not negotiate a standard amongst their members ..?

So you want to force a business to charge what you want, a 'standard fee'?
Just so you can have the convenience of using the shop you want, to receive the items you want at a price you want to pay.

You can do that by asking the charges first, then if you don't like them move on. The dealer will either keep charging the fees and lose your custom or lower his fees and enjoy your company as you occasionally you buy a cheap gun, possibly partly subsidised by the dealer.

A RFD owner will charge what they want for what they provide, if the customer doesn't like it then the customer can go somewhere else. There is not a monopoly in this business, far from it, and a standard fee doesn't take in to account the different overheads every business has.

Firstly, this "service" is what was foisted upon us by the 97 Amendment. My first semi-auto, full rifle came direct to me, through the post, from the private seller. There was not the requirement for one or even two RFDs.

And I made it quite clear that there is not the expectation an RFD conduct this part of the business for free. Far from it. But has been seen by some of the replies to this thread there is a huge disparity in what is being charged around the country. Other RFDs have answered and set their stall out for all to see. And again, that is the point. A fee, fee range or even fee cap, allows that transparency. And this question has come about because of my recent experience. £60 to fill in an FAC and post a rifle...

You might think that fair someone else might think it's not. Again, it's also been pointed out here that the fees, at both ends, are actually a barrier to business and some people do in fact walk away purely because of the charges. As opposed to me "having all that convenience" does the opposite make good business sense...? And this instance, I had no choice to walk away. And this well established business knew I was at his mercy...

I think a lot of the questions in this thread can be applied to all sorts of situations.

JS569, what you are describing is typical of working for yourself or a smaller company.

An example, today we serviced our big CNC machine, changed the oil which is a rather big reservoir underneath the machine, Ovenpaa was on hands and knees emptying it. Then refilled with a mixture of oil and water, it holds about 70 litres. This is not as easy as it sounds because the oil and water has to be mixed before it is poured in.
Everything on the machine was looked at and cleaned, screws checked and tightened, the bin emptied which is a huge metal container that is taken out the front.

That took half a day, who pays for that? On the other hand if I want to do something on a specific day then I answer to no one.

I think the charging bit is down to the individual as it simply would not work to have a standard charge nationally. A gun shop in London is not like a gun shop in Louth.

Not that long ago I compared noted with someone down south, we were discussing the gun storage fee...there is not way we would get any business if we charged the same as down south.

Pippin89 wrote:

Sim G wrote:But all along these fees have to be considered when buying a gun. A little bargain is sometimes not that good a bargain.

You're not wrong there. I bought a £100 bargain at Holts Auction last year. By the time I got it home with the auction fees, Holts shipping fees and my receiving RFD fees it more or less doubled the sales price. Luckily it was still cheap for what it was.

Whenever i bid on something with holts i always factor in an extra £70 or so to cover FAC postage, shipping and RFD fees now. Thankfully they usually hold 2 valuations days a year nearby which generally happen a month after their sealed bid auctions and are always happy to bring items with them for collection free of charge. This has thankfully saved me a few hundred quid over the last few years.

poll007 wrote:

Pippin89 wrote:

Sim G wrote:But all along these fees have to be considered when buying a gun. A little bargain is sometimes not that good a bargain.

You're not wrong there. I bought a £100 bargain at Holts Auction last year. By the time I got it home with the auction fees, Holts shipping fees and my receiving RFD fees it more or less doubled the sales price. Luckily it was still cheap for what it was.

Whenever i bid on something with holts i always factor in an extra £70 or so to cover FAC postage, shipping and RFD fees now. Thankfully they usually hold 2 valuations days a year nearby which generally happen a month after their sealed bid auctions and are always happy to bring items with them for collection free of charge. This has thankfully saved me a few hundred quid over the last few years.

Good tip, I will keep an eye out for their valuation days.

Hello
Human nature I`m afraid some people will always take advantage, just another nail in the shooting coffin.
and RFDs wonder why sales are down, I personally will only deal face to face for a variety of reasons, the above being only one of them.

Christel wrote:I think a lot of the questions in this thread can be applied to all sorts of situations.

JS569, what you are describing is typical of working for yourself or a smaller company.

An example, today we serviced our big CNC machine, changed the oil which is a rather big reservoir underneath the machine, Ovenpaa was on hands and knees emptying it. Then refilled with a mixture of oil and water, it holds about 70 litres. This is not as easy as it sounds because the oil and water has to be mixed before it is poured in.
Everything on the machine was looked at and cleaned, screws checked and tightened, the bin emptied which is a huge metal container that is taken out the front.

That took half a day, who pays for that? On the other hand if I want to do something on a specific day then I answer to no one.

I think the charging bit is down to the individual as it simply would not work to have a standard charge nationally. A gun shop in London is not like a gun shop in Louth.

Not that long ago I compared noted with someone down south, we were discussing the gun storage fee...there is no way we would get any business if we charged the same as down south.

I agree, essentially there's no right or wrong way. As others have said, if you're happy with the charge then you can pay it. If not you can go else where. I know of one supplier in our game that charges £400 to supply a service that takes 10 mins to resolve and is best practice. We do it for free as part of our package! There's no way our clients would pay that figure either!!

I recently did a RFD to RFD and I got charged the " standard " £25 by both RFD's.
Quite fair in my view.

It certainly is a difficult one with everyone viewing their time and costs differently. Sending wise, £60 does seem rather high. If you compare to other on line retailers etc, if you saw their postage rates was that, would you buy from them? Hell I see £10 postage fees I start shopping around. Yes there is the postage cost, that needs covering and that's fine, then packaging materials.

I feel some of this is coming from dealers that don't want to do a particular service so try to price people away from it. But this is a service that is needed.

I'm trying to find a cheap semi auto 22 that is tube fed, I can find them circa £150 but then by the time of transfers I'm looking more at £200-250 and that's not what I want to pay to test an idea.

Buying guns from here costs are generally rolled into the price and so thru that I don't think I've ever paid RFD fees. And thru my generalaly good relationship with my locals I have never paid to receive

This is all news to me. I have never paid any FRD fees. If I am ever asked for such, I will pay it. It will be the last time that I use that dealer.
Fred

The last two rifles I bought, the selling RFDs did not add on a fee, on top of the selling price, to post the rifle. My receiving RFD is a member of a club I am in and he did not charge a fee to receive the rifles.
Regards
Peter.