Hold estate firearms under your own licence. We handle the estate.
Firearmdesk is looking for licensed dealers to act as custody partners. You receive, store and release firearms from deceased estates under your dealer's licence; Firearmdesk handles the executor, the authority, the paperwork, the invoicing and the evidence record.
The application takes about five minutes. The first contact after it is a call.
The regulated custody work, under your licence.
Firearmdesk is not a licensed dealer. Each firearm is in your custody, recorded in your own safe-custody register, from receipt to release.
Receive
Receive the estate's firearms from the executor, or from a permitted transporter, into your own safe-custody register under your licence.
Record
Record the receipt on the platform at handover: identifiers checked against the pre-advice, photographs, an asset tag, accessories, condition and any discrepancy.
Store
Store each firearm in your approved safe or strongroom. Its internal location is kept in your register and in a restricted platform field that is never shown to the firm or the family.
Release
Release only on a dual-controlled instruction: a signed executor instruction, a completed checklist, a second person's approval and identity confirmed at retrieval.
Sell
Where the executor instructs a sale, sell through your own channel and settle the proceeds, less the commission, directly to the estate or the attorney's trust account.
Keep your registers
Your statutory registers remain yours to keep. The platform record sits alongside them as the evidence for the estate file.
Paid by Firearmdesk, not by the estate.
Amounts exclude VAT. You invoice Firearmdesk for your share; you never invoice the executor or the family. The estate's own charges are set out on the fee schedule.
| Item | Partner's share | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Custody intake | R200 of each R395 intake fee | Per firearm received into your custody. |
| Storage | R110 per firearm per month | Paid by Firearmdesk within 15 days of the monthly statement, whether or not the estate has paid its invoice. |
| Sale commission | 10 of the 15 commission points | 7.5 points each where Firearmdesk's own channel finds the buyer. |
Worked examples
Stored seven months, then sold for R8,500
| Intake | R200 |
| Storage, 7 × R110 | R770 |
| Commission, 10% of R8,500 | R850 |
| You earn | R1,820 |
Your channel finds the buyer.
Stored five months, then transferred to the heir
| Intake | R200 |
| Storage, 5 × R110 | R550 |
| You earn | R750 |
No sale, so no commission. The heir collects from you once the licence is issued.
40 firearms in custody
| Storage, 40 × R110 | R4,400 |
| Every month | R4,400 |
Storage alone, before any intake or commission.
Illustrations of the published split, excluding VAT; they are not a forecast of how many firearms a partner will receive. Where Firearmdesk's own channel finds the buyer, the commission is shared 7.5 points each, so the first example earns R1,607.50. The final terms are set out in the partner agreement, signed before your site is activated.
Two regions first, then three more.
No partner is signed yet. We are looking for two partners in each region to start, so that no executor depends on a single counter. Applications from other provinces are welcome and kept on file.
Gauteng and the Western Cape
Calls and site visits with the first applicants in these two provinces.
KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Eastern Cape
Once the first two regions are running.
Before a partner is activated.
- A current dealer's licence for each premisesRecorded with its expiry date. A site with a lapsed credential is not allocated new work.
- SANS 953 storageSafe or strongroom storage that meets SANS 953 at each partner site.
- Your own safe-custody registerKept at the licensed premises, with each estate firearm entered on receipt and on release.
- Named, competent staffThe people authorised to receive firearms and to use the field receipt flow, named in advance.
- Goods-in-trust insuranceCover for firearms in your custody, with the certificate recorded as a site credential.
- A device with a camera at the counterFor the platform receipt: photographs, identifiers and condition recorded at handover.
- A business bank accountFor Firearmdesk's payments to you, confirmed during onboarding.
- The partner agreement and POPIA operator termsSigned before activation, because you will handle personal information for Firearmdesk.
- A sandbox matterOne test matter completed end to end on the platform before your site goes live.
Everything outside the safe.
- Refers mattersEstate matters in your service area, referred to Firearmdesk by attorneys and fiduciaries.
- Handles the executorContact with the executor and the family, from the first call to the signed instruction.
- Verifies authorityLetters of executorship and identity evidence checked before a firearm moves.
- Does the paperworkThe inventory, notices and the documents each step needs.
- Invoices the estateAll estate and heir invoicing and collection of fees. You are paid by Firearmdesk.
- Keeps the evidence recordReceipts, photographs, instructions and the audit trail, filed as the closure pack for the estate.
Six steps from application to activation.
The timings are what we aim for, not promises; the last step depends on the courts, not on you or us.
| Step | What happens | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Application | The form on this page. Business, contact, licence and storage details; no licence or identity numbers. | About five minutes. |
| 2. A call | We talk through the partner terms, your storage, the areas you serve and any questions. | We aim to call within two business days of your application. |
| 3. Site visit and credential check | We see the storage and record your dealer's licence, storage approval and insurance, with expiry dates, as site credentials. | Arranged with you after the call, Gauteng and the Western Cape first. |
| 4. Partner agreement and POPIA operator terms | Sent for your review, and your own adviser’s if you wish, before anything is signed. | At your pace. Nothing is signed on the call. |
| 5. Training and one sandbox matter | A session for the staff you name, then one test matter completed end to end on the platform. | After signature, at a time that suits your counter. |
| 6. Activation | Your site is opened for allocation and matters start to arrive. | Only once counsel confirms that the court order is operative. That depends on the appeal process and has no date yet; onboarding can be finished before then so custody starts on the day. |
Two things we ask of every partner.
- Accept or decline an assignment within one business day, with a reason if you decline, so the executor is not left waiting.
- Do not move a firearm on a discrepancy hold. Anything that does not match the pre-advice stays where it is until the exception is resolved on the platform.
How custody is controlled
Dual-controlled release, restricted storage locations, an append-only audit trail and nothing sensitive by email. The controls are described in full on the security page.
What dealers ask first.
Who owns the client?
Firearmdesk owns the referral and the relationship with the executor and the referring firm. You hold the firearm under your licence. You never invoice the family, the executor or the estate for anything on a platform matter: every charge goes through the Firearmdesk statement, and you invoice Firearmdesk for your share.
What if the estate does not pay?
You are paid regardless. Firearmdesk pays your storage share within 15 days of the monthly statement whether or not the estate has paid its invoice; collecting from the estate is our risk, not yours. Payment status never holds up a lawful release either.
Is the partnership exclusive?
No. You stay free to run your own business, including your own estate work. Instead of exclusivity, the agreement carries a 24-month non-solicitation: you agree not to approach the attorney and fiduciary firms referred to you through the platform to take their estate work around it.
Why do I receive the firearm directly from the estate?
Because a dealer may not store another dealer's firearms. The Supreme Court of Appeal held so in Outdoor Investment Holdings v Minister of Police [2023] ZASCA 72. Each firearm therefore comes to you from the estate, through the executor or a transporter acting on the executor's consent, into your own safe-custody register. If a firearm ever has to move to another custody site, it is released back to the estate and received afresh; it never passes dealer to dealer.
Who keeps the SAPS registers?
You do. Your statutory registers stay your responsibility under your licence. The platform mirrors each receipt and release as the evidence for the estate file; it does not replace your registers or submit anything to SAPS on your behalf.
What insurance do I need?
Cover for firearms in your custody with a goods-in-trust extension, because the firearms belong to estates, not to you. The certificate is recorded as a required site credential with its expiry date, and a site receives no new allocations while a required credential has lapsed. The partner agreement sets out the detail.
How do the firearms reach me?
The executor delivers them to you, or a permitted transporter collects them under the executor's section 21 consent. Firearmdesk staff never carry firearms. If you hold a firearm transporter's permit, say so on the form; collection by partners is added once counsel confirms the route.
Can I apply before my licence is issued or renewed?
Yes. Tell us on the form that the licence is applied for. A site is activated only with a current dealer's licence on record, and a site whose licence lapses stops receiving new allocations until the renewal is recorded; firearms already in your custody are unaffected.
Apply to become a custody partner.
About five minutes. Nothing here commits you to anything; it tells us enough to make the first call useful.
Signing first partners in Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Dealer custody starts once counsel confirms the order is operative.