For licensed dealers

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.

Email support@firearmdesk.co.za with the subject "Custody partner".

Where this stands: dealer custody is enabled on the platform only once counsel confirms that the High Court order of 15 September 2026 is operative. Firearmdesk is signing its first custody partners in Gauteng and the Western Cape now, so that custody can start when it is enabled. Legal basis and updates.
What a custody partner does

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 collection, 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.

What a partner earns

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.

What a custody partner earns
ItemPartner's shareTerms
Custody intakeR200 of each R395 intake feePer firearm received into your custody.
StorageR110 per firearm per monthPaid by Firearmdesk within 15 days of the monthly statement, whether or not the estate has paid its invoice.
Sale commission10 of the 15 commission points7.5 points each where Firearmdesk's own channel finds the buyer.

The final terms are set out in the partner agreement, signed before your site is activated.

What is required

Before a partner is activated.

  • A current dealer's licence and site credentialsRecorded with expiry dates. 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.
  • Named, competent staffThe people authorised to receive firearms and to use the field receipt flow, named in advance.
  • InsuranceCover for firearms in your custody, with a goods-in-trust extension.
  • POPIA operator termsSigned with the partner agreement, 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.
What Firearmdesk does

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.
Commitments

Two things we ask of every partner.

  1. Accept or decline an assignment within one business day, with a reason if you decline, so the executor is not left waiting.
  2. 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.

Become a custody partner

Email us with the subject "Custody partner", your dealer name, the province and town of each site, and a contact person. We will reply to discuss the terms and the next steps.

support@firearmdesk.co.za

Signing first partners in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Dealer custody starts once counsel confirms the order is operative.