How to sell FFL products online in 2022
As high-risk payment processing experts, we help business owners and entrepreneurs across various industries accept payments online for the first time — or to better and more reliably process payments going forward. If you’re among the many who are considering setting up an online firearms e-commerce site, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve helped firearms business owners sell their products online and safely and reliably accept payments for years. If you have questions about setting up the right merchant account and payment gateway for your business, follow us on Medium or check out the different sites we link to below.
We hope to cover some crucial questions you may have if you’re a new entrepreneur thinking about entering the firearms market. After all, it’s a mature industry, but there are misconceptions about how it works. Ideally, you’ll be better prepared after reading this, but we recommend that you reach out to experts should you have any questions.
Is the firearms market saturated?
If you’re in the planning stages of your entrepreneurial journey and you’re considering launching a firearms e-commerce site, you’ve probably asked yourself this very question. However, in our experience, the last few years have not seen a drop off in demand for firearms. In fact, the FFL industry remains strong in the US, with near record-breaking sales in both 2020 and 2021.
Even though there are many established brands and businesses in the FFL market, people’s shopping habits are changing — especially in light of the pandemic. As a result, people have become much more familiar and comfortable with online shopping than ever before. This change makes for fertile ground for new and exciting entrepreneurs to enter any market — even the firearms market. However, there are quite a few elements to keep in mind before diving into the sale of firearms, ammunition, and assorted products. So let’s dive into the first thing that needs to be covered. Licenses.
You need a Federal Firearms License
Right off the bat, you must acquire a Federal Firearms License. This is the only way you can start to safely and legally sell firearms commercially in the United States. It’s also the only way you can sell across state lines.
Not only is it the first step in setting up your firearms business, but it’s also a crucial ingredient in acquiring a merchant account. In addition, any merchant service provider will require a Federal Firearms License before offering you the means to accept payments online. In other words, you’ll need to get your FFL before you can proceed in launching your new entrepreneurial venture.
Selling firearms online means FFL to FFL
There is this interesting misconception about firearms e-commerce sales. People unfamiliar with the process often assume you can purchase a firearm online and have it shipped to your home within days — similar to an Amazon purchase. However, it’s important to note that any online firearm purchase results in an FFL to FFL shipping process.
This means that all products purchased from your new firearms site are shipped to a local FFL store close to the customer. Your customer will then go to their local FFL store, where they’ll undergo a background check to pick up your product.
How to accept payments for firearms online
Once you’ve become familiar with the practical matters of legally selling and shipping FFL products, the next step in the process is being able to accept payments safely and reliably.
If we were only to tell you one thing about processing credit card payments for firearms and other FFL products, it is this: you’re selling a “high-risk” product, and you’re a “high-risk” merchant.
What this means in the processing world is that you belong to a category of businesses that sell and deal with products that need special consideration for any number of reasons. Either you experience higher than “normal” chargeback rates, your products are subject to tighter regulations and legislations, your products are age-restricted, or any number of other considerations. As an FFL business owner, your business is both age-restricted and tightly regulated.
The consequence of being a “high-risk” business is that there are fewer merchant service providers that are able to offer you their services. The good news is that there are indeed specialist providers that can help you. It only means that you need to specifically find and use a high-risk merchant account and a high-risk payment gateway. Once this is in place, your payment processing is in good hands.
We often recommend either NMI or Authorize.Net for FFL to FFL e-commerce. Both provide excellent gateways that cater to the Second Amendment market. However, it’s crucial that you specifically request a high-risk account, as they also provide standard accounts. Getting off on the wrong foot can cause a number of unnecessary issues.
Which platforms and site builders you can use
The good news is that there are plenty of site builders and website platforms out there today that are compatible with high-risk businesses. You simply need to use third-party integrations and use separate gateways. This is because most platforms and site builders cater to the masses, and your processing needs are much more specialized. However, here is a list of platforms, site builders, and shopping carts you can use with the right setup:
However, something to consider is that even when everything is done correctly, you might come across chargebacks. Chargebacks are a natural challenge all businesses come across to some degree or other. Therefore, having a chargeback mitigation system in place is always recommended.
Have any questions?
Now that we’ve covered the basics (setting up your firearms business for commercial sales, practical shipping practices, how to accept payments, tools available to set up your website), you’re well set up to find more specific answers, and you begin your entrepreneurial journey.
You can always follow us here on Medium, or feel free to visit any of the links we’ve included in this article to sites where we provide expert, in-depth insights on FFL e-commerce and high-risk payment processing.
Are you interested in more articles that explore high-risk payments, shopping carts, and platforms? Follow us here on Medium.
