Interested in becoming a web-based FFL dealer?
Some business types are more complicated than others, and many firearms website owners cannot easily figure out how to get started when trying to find a payment gateway and credit card processing system that works with their industry.
But why? Because they are considered a prohibited category by the out of the box payment processing their website builder uses. One of the high-risk industries we often offer advice to is FFL to FFL on-line firearm sales. This is one industry where you must be diligent and attentive to the laws and credit card processing rules that govern firearm sales and distribution. An online Federal Firearm Licensee store can certainly be a profitable way to do business but there is also a degree of risk involved. Not only are there laws to know and abide by, but you also must do your best to stay knowledgeable and safe in today’s e-commerce industry when it comes to payment gateways, chargebacks, data security and credit card processing rules.
Ready to get started accepting payments? Contact us now to learn more
Looking for more info? Please keep reading below
Newcomers to selling firearms or ammunition start here
First, if online FFL to FFL sales is something you are interested in getting involved in, take a look here at the AFT’s official site. There is a lot of information regarding firearm sales and regulations there. It’s important to know everything you can when in a delicate and highly regulated industry and get sound legal advice to make sure you don’t risk your business and revenue. (We have some great recommendations based on customer feedback if you are looking for an e-commerce attorney, contact us anytime). If you need more info on getting started as an online FFL dealer here is an excellent article from Garrison Everest that has some very interesting information for new web-based FFL dealers. For example, according to the article, 29% of potential buyers polled in a survey reported having bought firearms online – and another 58% are considering it. Another interesting statistic is the ever-growing percentage of sales e-commerce represents each year. The article gives good advice on how to get started and how to fulfill orders for a profitable FFL dealer web-store
We have also written a pretty comprehensive article called online firearms sales 101; please check it out.
Make sure your FFL site and your payment processing is FFL friendly
Take the time to determine the best way to sell online. What software should you use? There are a lot of options in this arena right now, one of the most important pieces is to realize that the “out of the box” processing that the web design templates use are almost never FFL friendly. This does not mean you cannot use these site builders. We often recommend Shopify for example, not only because we are an affiliate (we are), but because it looks great, and works even better. But, there is one important thing you need to know, Shopify offers out of the box processing that is not FFL friendly, so in order to sell firearms online using Shopify you need to plug in a high-risk payment gateway like ePN or NMI or get an Authorize.Net FFL friendly processing combo that is tailored to your business. Not only are these crucial for FFL sales they are also more secure than your average gateway, meaning you will be more protected from fraud while gaining access to payment processing. This gives a bit more incentive than simply providing a service other industries enjoy at a lower cost. Feel free to contact us anytime using the form above, we make recommendations and offer advice on this all the time, the process is pretty painless, and integration with Shopify is very easy. We offer this with no pressure or obligation to sign up for our services. We tend to gain clients by building relationships and helping e-commerce retailers become more successful, so we are happy to help anyone trying to break into the “high-risk” e-commerce industry.
Improve your FFL sales
The work isn’t all over, though, having an online store and having a profitable online store are two different things, we want to give you the best chance for the latter, so please read this “6 secrets” article, also from Garrison Everest which can help you attract some more potential buyers. The article reports that 81% of all firearm purchases begin with a web search, that tells us that if you have an FFL web-store you want to rank high on the search engine’s results page (SERP). Filling your website with not only inventory, but useful content for potential buyers is a great way to start. Another encouraging piece of info is that even after the election, firearm sales are still high making it a profitable industry for those who go through the research and effort to become successful.
Stay on top of your industry with these tips, and feel free to contact us with any FFL friendly payment gateway, e-commerce, or online fraud related questions.