Geoff, You probably bought it from an FFL. They can do it easily; we no longer can. I sold a bunch a few years ago, but it has completely changed since.

Shiggs, I admit I have only casually looked into them. The market’s not that great right now (I checked out consignment as an alternative, and the dealer said he’d do it but there wasn’t the typical election-year demand; I’m sure it’s even worse now that Kuntala is out of the picture), plus shippers charge us much more than wholesalers already without throwing in a middleman’s fee. What are their rates like?

As an auto repair shop, we will sometimes agree to install Customer supplied parts, but there will be no warranty and no guarantee of fitness for that application. We had a guy supply a used engine that proved to be defective, and he ended up paying us twice for the install. I don’t know whether he got any satisfaction from the salvage yard (which is one that we don’t deal with, and I warned him about that prior). We once got a defective used engine from a salvage yard, that proved to have really low oil pressure while still on the lift. The salvage yard gave us another similar engine, and paid us to change it the second time. You pay your nickel and take your chance.

I check with the local FFL who does transfers for me now, and if he can get what I am looking for with reasonable effort, then I order from him. If it’s an oddball thing, he’ll suggest GB, Mosin Crate, etc. and he’ll do the transfer. So far he’s been very fair about it. The FFL who used to do transfers for me was also helpful, but he got shut down by AFT a couple years ago for paperwork jot and tittle errors.

You can go somewhere like Buds guns for a search. Copy the UPC code for the item you’re interested in. Go to gun dot deals, and enter the UPC code. It will generate a list of retailers, along with prices.

Find a mom and pop, sometimes working out of their house. The ones around here charge $20.

Not true, I recently bought one and it arrived at my local FFL in short order.

The sellers know how to make it happen…

^^^^^ This right here. ^^^^^

Finding a FFL to do the transfer without racking up a bill more than the savings (or cost) of the firearm purchased is an endeavor in itself.
Costs locally where I live can run from $20 to $100+ depending on item & FFL being used. That’s just for the 4473. Others also charge more $$$ to then do the NICS check.

Try shipmygun.com

Not so small. $75 FFL fee for my Mini 14. $90 for my Ruger 10/22. Two different FFLS.