FAQs for U.S. Exporters

EasyExport is a processing service that enables U.S. sellers of firearms, optics, parts and accessories to safely, securely and reliably comply with export and import regulations when they ship these items to purchasers outside the United States. With EasyExport, U.S. sellers will no longer need to turn down requests by parties outside the United States to buy their products. EasyExport takes care of compliance with export and import regulations so sellers can direct their energy where they want to direct it – making customers happy – without worrying that they will get into trouble exporting firearm products.

EasyExport processes e-commerce sales by U.S. exporters to firearm dealers, governmental customers, individuals and other lawful customers outside the United States. The EasyExport server communicates with the seller’s website through an API and scans orders from international customers for export and import requirements before they check out. After checkout, EasyExport staff reviews import permits, obtains export licenses when required and clears orders for shipment when all regulatory requirements are satisfied. EasyExport also provides shipping documents required for international shipments and keeps all required records for you. Unlimited help desk services are available to all EasyExport customers.

Screening and approving international purchasers is a very important part of the protection EasyExport provides you. We ask purchasers to create EasyExport Purchaser Accounts so we can screen and approve them. Our screening includes a five-point check based on information provided by purchasers when they create their accounts. Account approval ordinarily occurs in less than 24 hours.

Purchaser Accounts are free. It takes purchasers about 15 minutes to provide the information we request. If we have any questions, we send a follow-up email to the purchaser promptly.

After creating an account, approved purchasers can use a single login to shop at any EasyExport exporter’s online store.

International purchasers will create free Purchaser Accounts to gain convenient, online access to a large selection of U.S.-made firearm products that aren’t available to them today. EasyExport will bring many new U.S. suppliers into the online export market and will make their products readily available to lawful purchasers outside the U.S. for the first time.

How much you pay for EasyExport depends on how much you sell to international purchasers. Subscriptions are based on the value of product shipped. There is also an order processing charge.

There is a one-time charge for each product you offer to international customers, to cover the cost of coding each product for export and import purposes. There also are charges for preparing export licenses, when required, and for seeking official export classifications when necessary.

You can cancel EasyExport anytime you want. A long-term commitment is not required.

EasyExport will support sales by its customers to purchasers in 82 countries.

Exporters equipped with EasyExport can ship EAR99 items, optical scopes and certain minor firearm accessories directly to individuals in 82 countries. They also can ship firearm components to individuals in 14 of those countries. 

EasyExport exporters can ship all of their products to dealers, distributors, other authorized businesses and government agencies in all 82 countries in EasyExport’s service territory. Automatic firearms, sound suppressors, and other products controlled by the International Traffic in Arms regulations are excluded, as well as ammunition and ammunition equipment.

United States Postal Service will deliver most products other than complete firearms to all the initial EasyExport countries except the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand. Shipments of complete firearms, large shipments and shipments to the countries not served by USPS will be sent commercially via freight forwarder. The official policy of the private courier services – FedEx, UPS and DHL – is that they will not carry most firearm products.

EasyExport tells you the shipping options that are available for each line item in an order. We also provide training and detailed information on shipping options, restrictions and rates for all countries in the EasyExport service territory. The Help Desk can assist with specific questions. Ensuring that exporters can deliver products reliably to their international customers is a core part of the EasyExport service.

EasyExport is already being thoroughly tested in actual operation by two exporters, with several more in line. Until everything is running smoothly for them, we won’t get started with you.

The team that created EasyExport combines rare expertise in U.S. exports of firearm products with deep experience building data processing systems and managing young companies. Without this combination of talents, EasyExport would not be possible.

The reason to talk to us now is to secure a start date in 2020. EasyExport is an exciting new technology that promises to break the “export barrier” — the impenetrable wall of compliance risk and complexity that has prevented most U.S. sellers of firearm products from accepting international orders online.

A preliminary version of EasyExport is already in use by two companies and we are looking for other suitable companies to work with this version. They can starting shipping to 82 countries right now. We will bring new customers on board on a first come, first served basis so please consider scheduling a call with us to determine whether EasyExport may be the right solution for you.

With EasyExport, your company doesn’t need to know anything about U.S. export regulations or import regulations in other countries. It’s EasyExport’s job to make export and import compliance happen, so there is almost no learning curve for you. EasyExport implementation includes training during which we explain to you how EasyExport works, what your responsibilities are and why it is necessary to comply with the work instructions we provide to you. If you follow our instructions and contact the Help Desk with questions, you will have the knowledge you need.

With EasyExport, you will be able to sell your products to any lawful international purchaser with an approved EasyExport Purchaser Account as long as their orders are entered online. EasyExport will make it much easier than it is today for lawful firearm dealers in other countries to obtain the U.S. products their customers want to buy. Government agencies looking to buy off-the-shelf products from U.S. exporters will appreciate a much simpler and greatly streamlined process for buying what they need.

When a shopping cart contains a product that requires an export license, EasyExport enables your online store to advise the shopper before checkout that a license is required. EasyExport obtains the license for you after your customer completes the order. Your EasyExport interface lets you know when the export license has been issued and entered into our system.

According to U.S. Commerce Department statistics, exports of handguns, non-military rifles, shotguns, parts, optics and accessories from the United States just to the 14 countries to which EasyExport processes shipments to individuals totaled $930 million during the three-year period from 2016 through 2018.

Prospective EasyExport customers have told us that they hope international sales will become 10-20% of their total annual sales.

During our trial period, we can implement EasyExport in less than a week.

After EasyExport’s general release, we expect that the normal time from signing a contract to commencement of shipping internationally will be 60 – 90 days. Due to expected customer backlog at the beginning of commercial operation, the start-up period is likely to be longer for a period of time.

Links to the websites of all EasyExport exporters will be available to international purchasers. Approved EasyExport purchasers will find you.

Our international marketing partners can help you design marketing campaigns directed at the countries in the service territory, including those in which English is not the primary language. They also can help you optimize your website for searches in foreign languages.

EasyExport service includes thorough training and detailed work instructions, as well as unlimited access to our Help Desk, but mistakes will happen from time to time. When that occurs, you will let us know and we will take the lead in addressing the problem on your behalf. This is included in your subscription. You won’t get in trouble for mistakes that are brought to our attention promptly.

EasyExport exporters rely on EasyExport to know when an export license is required and to obtain the export license for you. Those are our responsibilities.

For sales to purchasers in the 14 countries to which EasyExport supports sales to individuals, EasyExport identifies items that require an import permit during its analysis of the shopping cart and tells the purchaser which import permit is required. EasyExport provides purchasers with detailed information and links to help them obtain the correct import permits in their countries.

For sales to the other 68 countries, exporters rely on purchasers (dealers, distributors and government agencies) to identify import permit requirements themselves and to provide a copy of any required import permit prior to shipment.

For sales to all countries, it is the purchaser’s responsibility, not the exporter’s, to obtain required import permits upload them to EasyExport before the items requiring import permits are cleared for shipment. EasyExport staff translates, reviews and approves every import permit before authorizing shipment.

EasyExport does not provide any of those services. We process export transactions and approve purchasers for our customers. We do not engage in other business activities.