selling a rifle online

Bullio

I have a .204 Ruger with case and scope that I want to get rid of, and am considering doing so online if I can't get a decent offer for it locally (I'm in the non-NYC part of NY, so I don't think this will actually pose a problem). The problem is that I have no experience doing so and thus have no idea what goes into such a sale or even where to conduct it. Is there anything like an ebay equivalent for guns? What would I have to do with it to ship it, or can I even do so for a private sale? Also, it's a civilian issue AR-15. Is there anything special I'd have to do to sell and ship a semi-auto assault rifle? Thanks in advance.

DarkPrimus

Here's ebay's policy page on selling firearms and other weapons. Basically you can't sell firearms on ebay, though you can sell certain accessories for them.

Darkewolfe

Unless you are a licensed dealer, it is my understanding that you can't.

John Matrix

Gunbroker.com ?

amateurhour

Your best bet is going to be using either craigslist or a local gun shop. You can have them broker it for you for a small fee and most of them are pretty legit.

I'd avoid any kind of online shipping/selling of firearms. It's a pain in the ass

edit to include John's link:

It was my understanding you had to be a licensed seller to sell on that site, but I could be wrong.

Darkewolfe

You have to be a licensed seller to directly sell a gun, period. I think gunbroker will sell the gun for you, which is basically just paying them to be the middle man. It'll be a lot less hassle if you can find a local buyer and just use a local gunstore to transfer the firearm.

L Ron Howard

I'm not the most knowledgeable of these things, but isn't this what gun swaps and gun meets and the like are for?

Stasis

Yes, you can sell your rifle on Gunbroker.com without a license.

It is illegal for you to ship a rifle directly to another person, but you can ship it to a holder of an FFL (federal firearms license) - that is, a gun store.

As long as the purchaser either has an FFL or pays a gun store to do the transfer (tons of people do this every day), you can sell your gun online and be perfectly legal.

Acebgd12

You could try this, the craigslist equivalent, although it doesn't seem too active in New York. There's also this.

You could try going to a gun show as well, although again, I doubt you have them as often as we have them in Kentucky.

I've PM'ed you.

Suicide Slyde

An FFL is only required if you are selling across state lines, otherwise you have to follow New York State laws and they seem pretty to easy to comply by. A private sale doesn't have very many restrictions other than age and criminal history. To protect yourself you can sell the rifle online but insist on face to face cash based transactions only and with a written receipt.
If you don't mind too much of a hassle, selling online across state lines is also a possibility. Your limitations are sending through either USPS or UPS. FedEx is a possibility but their policies make it extremely difficult and DHL doesn't allow it at all. You also have to ship to the aforementioned FFL holder. It does make it a little safer since the FFL has to verify the purchaser, however the buyer can write you a bum check. This is unlikely though because an FFL holder generally doesn't want to lose his or her license over check fraud. Also, the ATF provides a FFL checker that can verify the license instantly.
The best thing you can do though is check the laws and check them again. I've sold a rifle across state lines and it's not that difficult just some extra steps are required.

Thomamelas

John Matrix wrote: »

Gunbroker.com ?

Sell on Gunbroker, if the buyer is out of state arrange transfer to their FFL.