The FFL is also taking some risk when he does this for you...
Very true on what you have said. I also see it as pure profit for a dealer. The more they can do a week the better his or hers bank account will be. The dealer is not purchasing anything, all they are doing for the most part is receiving, logging in and then making a phone call and logging out.
Transfers are $25 in my neck of the woods.
The FFL is also taking some risk when he does this for you. Often he is receiving a firearm from someone he does not know, and selling it to someone he does not know. If there is a problem on either end, (even after the fact) he is answerable to the BATF. This liablity does not go away. You may have to answer for a transfer you made 10 years ago. Even if there is NO wrong doing on his part, he has to submit to ANY request made by the BATF, up to and including closing his business during the investigation. He has to eat any finacial loss that occurs during the investigation. Add the license fees, liability insurance, and record keeping, $30.00 is chump change. I turned away people who I just didn't trust who wanted to make transfers on firearms that I just didn't feel right about, even if they could have slipped through the NICS system. No one is getting rich making transfers.
Sorry I'm calling bs on this!If it was only a phone call, the dealers would only charge a couple bucks or do it for free.
There is a lot more to it than a simple phone call.
Also, just the phone call(s) part can take quite a bit of time away from other business!