so  i get a box in for an online retailer.

its a transfer for someone

anyways, guy comes in, does the usual paperwork nics check etc

comes back as a delay

Now the  customerfor some reason picked my place and its "too far" for him. (about 20mins max)

anyways. He wants me to possible ship this out to another ffl thats closer to him.

At this point the transfer date (3days) is still a few days away

my question is. The fee i charge, im still going to charge for the process.

But if he doesnt actually take possession and the 4473 doesnt get the signature on the 2nd part (on return) when a nics check is delayed.

what would be the best way to handle this?

just consider this like a void and ship it out to whatever ffl he wants me to ship it to (verify of course)

Personally the guy i think is an idiot for wanting to ship it out for a 20min drive. more money and possibly another delay lol

I would not ship to another FFL until I heard back from the NICS.  How do you handled your stuff if you don't hear back in 3 days?  Do you proceed with the transfer or hold until you have a call from them?  Right now the gun is on your books, for me that is where it would stay until I get a proceed or deny.  I won't even run a check unless they pay up front, as I have no influence on the outcome of the BG check so they still pay the fee, especially for someone I don't know.  Guys I know and friends, I will invoice them for the fee, but never on a guy I don't know.

There are a lot of delays on this weekend every year,  The volume of guns being sold on BF and this weekend is large.

Most likely, they had a lot of 4473's being run and they did not get their response from the system in a timely manner so they threw a delay on it.

But I know things were busy, when I stopped at a LGS Yesterday to pick up a small part that I needed and could not wait for and the shop was shoulder to shoulder with customers.

He picked you, he should stick with you until you hear something back.

Collect your transfer fee and shipping charge. Cancel the 4473 and ship it. Tell the customer he'll have to do another NICS at the other dealer and pay their fee. Let the other dealer know if the check is eventually denied.

More than likely he'll come back to you to pick it up.

well first of all gun wont go anywhere until nics resolution.

while the nics check was taking its more than uhaul 2 nano seconds, i did ask him if he was delayed before and he said year, 1 year ago which was his last nics check (not with me)

once the 3 days expires, i usually transfer to the person DEPENDING on certain criteria (kinda like a instinct or gut feeling, if he said some weird shit during transfer then no)

people who get delayed i can get a feel if they are up to some shadiness (especially in my area) but this guy is on the up and up. Hes a legit business owner, family guy, not some dumbass drug addict or possible straw purchaser.

My main concern is. Once the nics resolution is up (3 days) am i allowed per regs to reship this out to another ffl?

or should i just idk bs him in some way to just finish it with me to forego this hassle

you know i never thought of accepting my fee upfront. But for stupid situations like this it makes sense. Also for ones where you dont know know if it will be approved or not.

I rather just have him come back and finish it with me, i dont really feel like shipping this crap and taking some sort of liability for doing so (gets lost/stolen who knows)

Yes.

never seen on the nics for a cancel wouldnt matter after 3 days anyways. ON the 4473, i assume just putting void would work?

He is gaming you. He made the decision to have your recieve it. Now he needs to pay you for the time you've already wasted.  Another piece of advise from hard knocks.  Do not let any transfer take place without a definite answer from NICs. That is also the lesson to be learned from this. I personally think he wants to move the firearm to another dealer so he can get someone else to do the straw purchase. In the future tell the customer what your requirements are for the transfer. Payment up front, no forwarding to another dealer, real NICs result.  That last one is very important.

He means don't transfer until FBI NICS changes the status to "Proceed" (which may never occur).
If the initial NICS response was "delayed" the dealer is not prohibited by the Brady law from transferring the firearm after three business days, beginning the next business day. FBI NICS will tell you the exact day you can transfer. Transferring after that "three day delay" isn't the same as a "proceed".

If you have a policy to only transfer with a Proceed, you need to make that clear to your transfer customers before they have guns shipped to you.

Always collect your fees up front, before they fill out the 4473.  You get paid no matter what the resolution is.

We usually collect after, but figure we have their item too. If they want it they are going to pay. If they want it returned or shipped to another FFL, it won't happen until they pay.

That's a larger chunk than the $25 being billed.

This

So you "wait" for your money?

I preferred to be paid up front, no waiting no haggling, no chasing money.   If extra services are requested then those were paid for up front as well.  I've done my job so I should be paid.  I had a couple of denials that refused to pay so I changed my policy.

Got it

I was just kinda confused because of the wording he used. My policy for my business is not a set in stone policy, I dont know if ill get knocked for this, But i have more of a feeler approach on a delays.

For example, how is the customer demeanor from the day i received notice he was waiting on a firearm to be delivered to me.
how is he during the whole paperwork and then background nics check process. Assuming it doesn't give a Proceed within seconds for most, Then i get a pretty good idea a delay is coming. Especially if its a really long wait. Customer in question was over 25mins running on the check. Longest one ive had. Prior to that i think max was like 7-10mins
Its the whole get a feel for your customer whats your gut feeling thing. I like to do repeat business with my customers even if they get a delay every now and then or even the first time for a new customer.

So my personal policy on "NO response from NICS after 3 business days" is based on majority of that. If i got some customer blowing me up and being ridiculous calling every day asking if his gun is there (has happened) or if tries to intercept at ups on a missed delivery or even tries to snag the ups guy while hes walking to my door ( all of which has occurred) Just like how ATF tells you to watch out for signs of straw purchases. So i get a gut feeling on my customers with everything. That way when a delay does even up being "open" and not a proceed i dont have a problem actually transferring the firearm. Now if the guy like today who got a delay(nice guy overall) but says to me after i explain its a delay that he "possibly" knows why or has a light bulb moment that he got arrested for a DV but tells me it was dropped completely and hes had a delay before for the "possibly same thing" then that kind of person i more than likely wont transfer on an "open"

I guess its all about perception. I am in a pretty poverty stricken neighborhood but ever since the closure of BP, i been focusing on transfers mainly and some used guns and things. So my clientele has a changed a little bit to better crowd who rather pay 50% less than their local FFL, Especially since a lot of them work or pass thru where iam located for their daily grind (im like 6-7 blocks from downtown and major freeway connections)

On these delays, its pretty infrequent now, and with the different clientele etc i dont have to worry about shady ass customers anymore which i was getting for a hot minute. Maybe because im located a block away from a shitty strip club. Not high class at all, as well as like 3 pawnshops within 3 blocks.  But when i do get these Delays, i definitely make it clear to the customers that its NOT an actual proceed but at my discretion im releasing the firearm. I let them know that after you walk out of here, that its possible The ATF or FBI or whatever LEO they send can and will come to your house, place of business or wherever to seize that weapon from you if they later deem it a complete Deny. Most almost All that got the delay have no idea about the "open" after 3 days, So i never tell them anyways or mention it. I leave it up to them to figure it out.

I had one guy who did get concerned about that and decided to not take the firearm and i ended up making a deal with him to dispose of it (sold)

Today, i tried to take the payment for the Transfer with the Delay that occurred today (guy with the dv that got squared away) and he wasn't happy about it and of course after being delayed as well. I ended up changing my mind and letting him know that on his return that he would have to pay prior to me moving on anything.

I dont recall any large shops or even smaller shops...pawn shops or whatever collecting the fee first and then processing the transfer paperwork/NICS. I haven't heard anyone tell me anything like that or experienced it myself prior to becoming an FFL. So im not sure if i will continue the process. But i do like it regarding the delays and denials so i still get paid. But like someone mentioned above i still have their firearm, so i can still get paid  either way. Another reason i dont know if it will work is because i dont want the customer assuming/thinking that they have to pay it a 2nd time if they got delayed and have to come back upon a proceed or if i decide to release on an "open"

Those that are charging first and processing after, are you charging a fee again on the return? Only reason i ask, is because you justify the pay first because you want to get paid for the work you are performing and have no idea if they will be NICS Cleared. Today same guy asked me if the FFL Transfer fee we charged was pure profit or not. I happened to change the subject and let him know that he got a "Delay" lmao.

The wait is usually 5 minutes after they walk in the door and we collect after we are done. On the rare delays, we collect after. Transaction is complete, and as stated their transfer item is worth way more than the $25 transfer fee.

However, if the delay is a sale for an in stock item and not a transfer, we collect at time of delay. If the customer doesn't want to do so, we void the 4473 and put the gun back out for sale.

Just because you have their firearm when they get delayed or denied does not mean you are the owner.  You are only the custodian pending approval.  Your local or state abandon property laws will determine when you can dispose of the item, could be a lengthy wait time.

When the customer walks in the door you should ask for their DL, LTC or CCW (if applicable) and the transfer fee.  
Show them their firearm and while they inspect their item you are verifying their credentials.  
Once they are satisfied with the item (no damage) you hand them the 4473 and proceed with B/G check.
NO matter what the disposition is (proceed, delay or denial) you have gotten paid for your time.  If there's a delay or denial then you can process it accordingly per your SOP.

It's not "abandoned property", and comparable to a mechanics lien on a vehicle that he has repaired.
In the last eleven years, I've had about a dozen denials. Of those, all but two were overturned on appeal. Bud's paid for return shipping within a day.
That means I didn't get paid a transfer fee on a whopping two transfers in eleven years. Two out of 22,000+.
I'm not going to lose sleep on that.