I'd press him for the details of why he wants to charge you $55 for shipping. I bought a rifle recently from a dealer in New York through Gunbroker, and the shipping was $25 to my dealer in Iowa City, Iowa. Now, it was a CF rifle, so I had to pay my dealers transfer fee, which was $30, so the total cost to get the gun from the selling dealer to my hands was $55, but that includes the fee to do the paperwork and background checks on my end. A ML should not require the NICS check or any involvement from an FFL dealer, unless the state law requires it. If Michigan law requires outbound ML's to be shipped from an FFL dealer, I wouldn't think that the fee would be that much since there isn't anything the the shipping dealer has to do other than put call UPS for pickup or put it in the US Mail. It's the receiving dealer that does any required paperwork and background checks.

I'd ask him to itemize the costs for the $55 he wants to charge you before I paid him.

Mike