Ecommerce · Payments
FFL payment processing for your gun store website
To take cards for guns and ammo online, an FFL needs a merchant account that allows firearm sales, connected to the website through a payment gateway. Many mainstream processors don’t allow firearm sales. Coriolis works with GOAT Payments and Payroc, and installs and tests the payment gateway as part of setup, on Basic Setup ($500) or Retail Setup ($2,500). The merchant account stays in your store’s legal name, and its fees are yours.
Why gun stores get turned down
Many mainstream processors and store payment add-ons list firearms and ammunition as prohibited. Across the card industry, firearms are generally treated as a high-risk category.
What dealers use instead is a merchant account underwritten for firearms by a bank or processor that accepts FFLs. It connects to your store through a payment gateway. The gateway moves the card data. The merchant account is the part that gets approved for your business.
What Coriolis sets up
Coriolis works with GOAT Payments and Payroc. We can provide the gateway, help you set it up, and set up other payment options during setup. Gateway installation is part of setup, on Basic Setup ($500) and Retail Setup ($2,500).
Already have a gateway approved for firearms? You can bring your own, and Coriolis puts it on checkout.
Once your merchant account is approved, Coriolis enables the gateway, runs a small live authorization and voids it. Then you place a test order for a non-firearm product with a real card. The second test, with a firearm in the cart, comes only after ship-to-FFL is on.
Checkout runs one card plugin, because two gateways side by side drop orders.
What you can take
Cards, through your merchant account and the gateway on your checkout. Payments aren’t limited to cards: Coriolis can set up other payment options during setup. Tell us what you want to take when we talk.
What stays yours
The merchant account is in your store’s legal name, and its fees are yours.
Make sure the account is approved for what you sell (firearms, ammunition or both), and get that approval in writing before you launch.
How payments fit FFL checkout
The gateway charges the card. It doesn’t check a 4473, run a background check or pick the receiving dealer. Those are checkout and transfer steps.
FFL Checkout adds the dealer selector, and Coriolis includes it on Militia ($269 a month) and above.
A gun bought online from out of state ships to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s home state. This is not legal advice.
Online-only FFLs
Sell only online? You get the same setup. Coriolis builds WooCommerce on your domain and installs the payment gateway at setup. Militia ($269 a month) adds 21 distributor catalogs for dropshipping, and firearm orders ship to a receiving FFL.
FFL website planswhat an FFL website costsselling guns online with WooCommerceFFL Checkout
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Questions we get
- What is FFL payment processing?
- It’s how a gun store takes payments online: a merchant account that allows firearm sales, connected to your website through a payment gateway. The gateway moves the card data. The merchant account is the part that gets approved for your business.
- Why do payment processors turn down gun stores?
- Many mainstream processors and store payment add-ons list firearms and ammunition as prohibited, and the card industry generally treats firearms as high-risk. Dealers use a merchant account underwritten for firearms by a bank or processor that accepts FFLs.
- What does Coriolis set up for payments?
- Coriolis works with GOAT Payments and Payroc, so we can provide the gateway, help you set it up, or put your own firearms-approved gateway on checkout. Installation is part of setup, on Basic Setup ($500) or Retail Setup ($2,500). We enable it, run a small live authorization and void it. Then you test a non-firearm order, and a firearm order once ship-to-FFL is on.
- Who owns the merchant account, and who pays the fees?
- You do. The merchant account is in your store’s legal name, and its fees are yours.
- What payments can my store take?
- Cards, through your merchant account and the gateway on your checkout. It isn’t cards-only: Coriolis can set up other payment options during setup. Tell us what you want to take.
- Can Coriolis get my store approved?
- No one can promise approval, because the processor decides. Make sure the account is approved for what you sell (firearms, ammunition or both), and get that approval in writing before you launch.
- Does the payment step handle the 4473 or the transfer?
- No. The gateway charges the card. It doesn’t check a 4473, run a background check or pick the receiving dealer. FFL Checkout handles dealer selection on Militia and above. This is not legal advice.
Tell us how you take payments today
Tell us what you sell and how you take payments now. No contract, and you can cancel any time. Paul answers.