Caffeine Shopping (UK)

[Will-CS]

Hi all,

My name is Will and I set up a new Airsoft & Gaming shop. This is more of a hobby for me which will hopefully be an extra form of income soon.

I more recently lost my hospitality business due to the effects of covid. 

My aim for the airsoft side is to try and offer items that are a bit harder to come by. Currently been selling to friends who I go airsofting with. I sell everything apart from guns. I currently do not have a license to sell RIFs but maybe in the future if sales go well!

Currently official supplier of Enola Gaye products & Nuprol. 

Although I am UK based I am happy to ship outside the UK.

If you are looking for something in particular please do get in contact with me and ill do my best to source the item. You can contact me here on the forums or via the chat on the website. I will get back to you asap.

A lot of my stuff comes directly from China and the manufacture. So some shipping times can be as much as 30 days or more. But some items have come within a week. 

All EG & Nuprol products are all UK based. I will do my best to beat prices as well. 

https://caffeineshopping.co.uk/collections/airsoft

 

[Shamal]

Hi @Will-CS

Yeah covid has done for a lot of businesses but best wishes for your new venture and maybe I might become a customer one day. 

Good luck?

Regards 

 

[Rogerborg]

I currently do not have a license to sell RIFs

Genuine "wut?".  Do you mean some sort of loicence to import them?  Given the shitshow of trying to do individual imports at the moment, is there some commercial track for getting RIFs past the fun sponges at Border Farce?

 

[Cr0-Magnon]

Also as feedback, you may want to re-evaluate that bulk deal on Nuprol 3.0. You're going to struggle to find someone willing to invest £390 as a lump sum on gas. Especially as it works out £15.60 per a can and the individual price is £12 - £15.

 

[wicksy101]

I can understand going for a profit if you hold stock and its quick delivery but 80% is quite a markup for dropshipping and china delivery times

View attachment 86968

 

[Will-CS]

Genuine "wut?".  Do you mean some sort of loicence to import them?  Given the shitshow of trying to do individual imports at the moment, is there some commercial track for getting RIFs past the fun sponges at Border Farce?

You need a license and other paperwork to sell airsoft weapons in the UK.

Also as feedback, you may want to re-evaluate that bulk deal on Nuprol 3.0. You're going to struggle to find someone willing to invest £390 as a lump sum on gas. Especially as it works out £15.60 per a can and the individual price is £12 - £15.

Some products right now im not selling as singles. Hence the bulk. Right now most of my sales come from customers asking for something specific. Not always something I have listed. But with time I will expand.

I can understand going for a profit if you hold stock and its quick delivery but 80% is quite a markup for dropshipping and china delivery times

View attachment 86968

Some of it does come from a UK warehouse. Some directly from China. I see a lot of other airsoft sites out of stock of some of these items. This was I can keep them 'available' to potential customers all the time. Price I list includes shipping and import tax where applicable. So the mark up is no where near 80%. A lot of the photos are shared between products as they ultimately come from the same factory. Some people also do not like using Ali Express. But its all down to personal opinion. I wont always be the cheapest, but hope to have some different products that no one else is selling. 

I actually have this exact scope and just sold one to a friend. We both love it and goes well with our setups.

 

[Rogerborg]

You need a license and other paperwork to sell airsoft weapons in the UK.

Do you have any more details on that?

You'd of course need / "need" a VCRA Section 37 defence for each sale on a case-by-case basis, as do private sellers.  Keeping a record of the sale would help you adduce that defence.

But the definition of "firearms dealer" in Firearms Act 1968 S57 (4) only applies to firearms, shot guns and air weapons.

Airsoft guns are not firearms, nor air weapons, for the purpose of that Act (or else we'd be screwed in Scotland).

Chapter 15 in the guidance doesn't go any further than S57 (4), and FA Section 40 only requires keeping records for firearms.  Neither S40 not S57 (4) mention imitations.

It might be a sound idea to get yourself registered anyway in case you ever get asked why you have a bedroom or lockup full of replicas.  However, I'm not sure why you'd need to be registered, and I can't see any obligation to keep any records or do paperwork beyond the S37 defence.

 

[Will-CS]

Do you have any more details on that?

You'd of course need / "need" a VCRA Section 37 defence for each sale on a case-by-case basis, as do private sellers.  Keeping a record of the sale would help you adduce that defence.

But the definition of "firearms dealer" in Firearms Act 1968 S57 (4) only applies to firearms, shot guns and air weapons.

Airsoft guns are not firearms, nor air weapons, for the purpose of that Act (or else we'd be screwed in Scotland).

Chapter 15 in the guidance doesn't go any further than S57 (4), and FA Section 40 only requires keeping records for firearms.  Neither S40 not S57 (4) mention imitations.

It might be a sound idea to get yourself registered anyway in case you ever get asked why you have a bedroom or lockup full of replicas.  However, I'm not sure why you'd need to be registered, and I can't see any obligation to keep any records or keep any paperwork beyond the S37 defence.

So to sell (Retail) airsoft weapons in the UK you need a UKARA license. UKARA also say it helps to have a RFD license. They also require you to have certain business insurance relating to airsoft to protect staff and customers with public liability.
For me a small new site this is a lot of paperwork and money. I might be wrong about the above but that's how I understand it.

Hopefully will venture into this one day! 

 

[Cannonfodder]

So to sell (Retail) airsoft weapons in the UK you need a UKARA license.

Where did you hear that? UKARA are a retailers association, not a governing body. The closest thing to a licence is the site membership us players use to buy new pews

Edit. As a retailer you would need to join UKARA to access their database, however it's not a legal requirement for selling rifs

 

[Rogerborg]

Ah, I see where we're going.  Yes, if you ever do get into the RIF selling business, you'll doubtless want to get access to the UKARA database by jumping through the eleventy-nine hoops at http://www.ukara.org.uk/#retailer

It seems somewhat circular as you have to show that you're in the business before you can get in the business, as a UKARA member.

It's not a "licence" though, it's really just getting access to their database - which itself just records site membership - in order to adduce a defence.  Other defences are available, although UKARA is the most popular and well known way of checking site membership.

I can't see where they mention being a registered firearms dealer, and something that leaps out from the guidance is that your local force should reject the RFD application if "the chief officer of police is not satisfied that the applicant will engage in business as dealers in firearms to a substantial extent or as an essential part of other trades, businesses or profession."

All just speculation on my part, mind. Like most of our firearms / replica legislation it's as clear as mud what the intention is regarding airsoft sales, and I imagine it'll come down to the local force whether they want you registered or not.

I actually only raised the issue to speculate on whether the BBgunz4U style blue-and-orange tat-dealers are actually RFDs.  If so, the bar must be set quite low.

 

[Cannonfodder]

IIRC the whole RFD thing was done by some shops as the status of high powered sniper rifles wasn't 100% clear. 

Or maybe they just wanted to sell air guns too

 

[Will-CS]

Ah, I see where we're going.  Yes, if you ever do get into the RIF selling business, you'll doubtless want to get access to the UKARA database by jumping through the eleventy-nine hoops at http://www.ukara.org.uk/#retailer

It seems somewhat circular as you have to show that you're in the business before you can get in the business, as a UKARA member.

It's not a "licence" though, it's really just getting access to their database - which itself just records site membership - in order to adduce a defence.  Other defences are available, although UKARA is the most popular and well known way of checking site membership.

I can't see where they mention being a registered firearms dealer, and something that leaps out from the guidance is that your local force should reject the RFD application if "the chief officer of police is not satisfied that the applicant will engage in business as dealers in firearms to a substantial extent or as an essential part of other trades, businesses or profession."

All just speculation on my part, mind. Like most of our firearms / replica legislation it's as clear as mud what the intention is regarding airsoft sales, and I imagine it'll come down to the local force whether they want you registered or not.

I actually only raised the issue to speculate on whether the BBgunz4U style blue-and-orange tat-dealers are actually RFDs.  If so, the bar must be set quite low.

So if you go to download the pdf application form it asks for it on there. Its not really clear if they 100% want a RFD License or if it just helps. 
Then the issue of insurance. Just expenses I can't afford right now

 

[wicksy101]

Some people also do not like using Ali Express. 

So now they buy on your website that just auto buys from ali express instead ?

Fair play. Good luck.

 

[Rogerborg]

IIRC the whole RFD thing was done by some shops as the status of high powered sniper rifles wasn't 100% clear. 

Indeed, I spotted a Silverback SRS retailer that had the option to put in a spring that would take it over 2.5J, i.e. an air rifle, not an airsoft gun.

Perversely, that means that they should be treating it as a "firearm" sale, but not (per arguments made on here, which I don't actually agree with) as a realistic imitation firearm requiring any defence.  See also (e.g.) MP5K CO2 airguns which look identical to either the real steel, or to the airsoft versions.

The best we can say is that almost none of this seems to be enforced, and I've not found any relevant case law on https://www.bailii.org/

So now they buy on your website that just auto buys from ali express instead

Speaking purely for myself, I'd rather trust Ali Express in the event of a snafu than some rando reseller based in the UK.

If you are going to act as a re-seller, the real value you're adding is as a local point of liability when things go wrong.

 

[wicksy101]

Indeed, I spotted a Silverback SRS retailer that had the option to put in a spring that would take it over 2.5J, i.e. an air rifle, not an airsoft gun.

Perversely, that means that they should be treating it as a "firearm" sale, but not (per arguments made on here, which I don't actually agree with) as a realistic imitation firearm requiring any defence.  See also (e.g.) MP5K CO2 airguns which look identical to either the real steel, or to the airsoft versions.

The best we can say is that almost none of this seems to be enforced, and I've not found any relevant case law on https://www.bailii.org/

Speaking purely for myself, I'd rather trust Ali Express in the event of a snafu than some rando reseller based in the UK.

If you are going to act as a re-seller, the real value you're adding is as a local point of liability when things go wrong.

This. If you can get a UK distributor, dropshipping is fine. Otherwise you're just asking for people moaning about delivery and issues when it takes a month to resolve issues