[Michiana]

Mike, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my concerns. I think you should have mentioned that on several occasions in private IM’s I told you I would seriously consider becoming an advertising member when I see even enforcement of these new rules. People only have to go to the Group Buy forum to see what I am talking about. Group buys are great for the members but a person doing this at a profit needs to be in business like Karl and myself.

You like to imply that I am getting rich on $20 transfers but in reality if you factor everything into each transfer I probably make a little over minimum wage doing them. Thirty percent comes right off the top for taxes; then I have insurance, security service, fees and licenses, supplies, wait time, paperwork, etc. and that $20 in now down to around eight bucks.

I do provide a service for my customers as they don’t have to drive twenty to fifty miles to have a transfer done. The majority of my customers are within a ten mile radius of my place of business; many live within a couple miles. I do not compete with the store front businesses as I am limited to the volume of business I am willing to take on and the limitation of product I can get from my suppliers due to not being a store front gun shop. I do this for the love of guns, keeping busy in my retirement and meeting some nice people and making some spend money in the process, period. Anyone thinking you can get rich doing what I do is more than welcome to go out and get their licenses and set up their own business. The next time I need to wait home all afternoon for a gun to show up I will call that person and gladly pay them half my net transfer fee to sit in for me.

I am being completely honest when I say I get 90% of my transfer business from GunBroker.com. Every person who comes in for their transfer gets a sales pitch from me to join INGO if they are not already members. With many clients unfamiliar with INGO I take the time to show them the site on my computer. Many have never heard of this web site and I’ve probably gotten INGO over fifty new members. Doing so cuts my own throat as now these people can go on the classified forum to buy firearms and do not need a FFL. Many of these people who have become INGO members have also become business or personal friends and INGO is a good way to keep in touch. I was an INGO supporting member well BEFORE I got my FFL and will continue to support this site as much as possible.

If you want people like Karl and I to pay our “fair share” all you have to do as far as I am concerned is stop the few people on here who are doing volume sales on INGO without having a legal business or being a advertiser like you want me to be. If I decide to pay $360 a year I am sure I can start selling more guns and pay the additional cost but I cannot pay for it through the few transfers I get from INGO. I can’t sell new firearms or firearm parts if I have to compete with people with zero overhead and getting a pass from you. Like you say let’s be fair. Contrary to what your friend in Ft Wayne implied in an earlier post I am not an idiot nor do I suck at business; quite the contrary I have had a very successful career managing much larger businesses than his and can calculate for myself if advertising on INGO is a good business decision for me.

What I have observed since joining INGO in May of last year is how much Karl has done for the membership and he has a right to be frustrated right now. I am disappointed how little support I see for Karl coming from the rank and file members on here. Some people have short memories. When they have to pay more than they pay now or drive all the way to Ft Wayne to do a transfer perhaps they will understand what they have lost.

Dick

Originally Posted by Fenway

Thank you very much Michiana for gracing our pages and allowing us to transfer guns through you for $20. Since INGO is such a small part of your business I'm surprised you are so upset that you can no longer post whatever you want for sale on here.

If you don't think $1 a day or about 1 tansfer and 1/2 per month is worth it to you to reach thousands of Hoosier Gun Owners I'm sorry about that. Our advertising rates are incredibly reasonable given the amount of traffic this site receives. If you think I'm "all about the money" like another FFL on here for asking people who use this site to make money to up think again. I have spent hundreds of hours turning INGO into what it is and for a long time I lost money running this site and giving us all a place to hang out. INGO has grown to be so big I need to run it like a business to keep it going just like you run your FFL. You have made it clear $1 / day is not worth it to you. Fine, please move on.

Best of luck to you on GunBroker!

Fenway