Has anyone tried this?
Is the market flooded with gun sellers as it is?
How much does a FFL license cost annually?
Is getting a FFL license filled with red tape and exceptions or is it mostly a straight forward thing to do?
How much do wholesale guns cost and how much do people pay for them?
Is this a low risk venture or a high risk venture?
Are there places other than auctionarms to sell them to people?
What kinds of guns have the highest demand?
I don’t think the BATF will let you operate as an FFL without a storefront and regular business hours. In the past several years the BATF has forced “kitchen table” FFLs out of business. In any event the only “internet” sales you can do are to ship guns to other dealers. An FFL holder may only sell to a customer who is a state resident who is physically present.
So-called internet sales houses such as gunbroker.com just connect buyers and sellers. The process is usually for the buyer to arrange with a local dealer to recieve the weapon and virtually all charge a fee of $20-40. The seller has to get a signed copy of the dealer’s FFL in order for a common carrier to accept a firearm for shipment. Often a dealer won’t send a copy to a non-FFL because of potential fraud so it may have to go to a shipping dealer. Once the recieving FFL gets the gun he will add it to his inventory and transfer it to the buyer on a form 4473 as is done with any other firearm sale.
Even with kitchen table dealers out of the picture profit margins are razor thin for various reasons, mainly supply and demand. Pick up a copy of Shotgun News if you want to get some idea of wholesale prices and compare them to retail prices in gun stores.
Yes, I was a “kitchen table” dealer over ten years ago. BATF did indeed force us out of business. It wasn’t much of a business though; mostly sales to our friends once in a while. It wasn’t worth the hassle of getting a storefront or keeping inventory, so we just quit. We never were in it to make money, really, and I don’t recall making much of a profit on anything.
I would be willing to bet you that your local Zoning Ordinance doesn’t permit gun sales as a home occupation. I’d start there.