How do you decide what to charge?

[Adam Helmer]

GOB,

I ran a shop in Beaumont in the late 1960s while I was in college and my FFL cost me $1.00 per year as I recall. I had to get a business license from the city and a sales tax ID number from the state. I forgot to submit the sales tax one quarter and a week later a fellow was at my front door to get the form, sales tax money and levied a $5.00 fine as a late charge.

It got to be too much to run a shop and be a full-time college student attending school year-round. People showed up at all hours with a gun for me to "look at" and fix or to appraise a gun to determine if it was a "good buy."

As for the price to charge, that puts you "In the business" and you may be opening a big problem area you do not need. Accepting a donation may CYA, and mebbe not. I still appraise guns and do some repairs. My appraisal fee is $50.00 flat fee or $50.00 per hour, whichever is more. I provide written documentation and copy pages out of the book of gun values to support the appraisals. For repairs, I accept a donation and mostly just replace parts or clean guns. I do not stone triggers, work on safties or stuff that is dangerous to myself liability wise.

Hope this helps.

Adam