A courier company has apologised after a shotgun, legally purchased online, was left leaning against the buyer's front door.

The shotgun had been dispatched with a "signature only" sticker label, which is standard procedure when guns are couriered to people who have bought them online.

But no one was home and the courier left it out in the open.

The Rotorua man who bought the shotgun was so concerned that he contacted Checkpoint.

"I ordered a gun online and this whole time I've been wondering 'how the hell it works with the sending', and yeah, they just ended up leaving it on my front doorstep," he said.

"Lucky it was the right house."

The retailers who sold the gun to the buyer.

Scott Stonex from retailer Reloaders, who sold the gun, said under no circumstances should this have happened and he was "not happy about it at all".

"We couriered it via PBT - they are a signature-only courier company - which is viewable on the picture in the ticket I've shown you," Mr Stonex said.

"Also we put on a bright hot pink sticker on additionally on every firearm parcel that we send out that says 'please obtain signature'.

"We in good faith send something out ... with all appropriate documentation and ... the PBT ticket says quite clearly signature required. We can't do anything more than that."

PBT Couriers general manager Brett Chatfield said Courier drivers did not know when they were delivering guns.

However, he agreed that this should not have occurred because regardless it was a signature-required parcel.

"In this particular case, as you would expect in most brown and white parcels ... there's nothing that actually identifies what is inside the item and it's also not a requirement," Mr Chatfield said.

"[The employee's] business is getting a signature because it's a signature required service of that particular item.

"Outside of courier process, there is obviously process in governance around shipping and carrying firearms, so firearms are always expected to be a signature-required service," Mr Chatfield said.

He said the employee responsible for the incident had been identified and would undergo an investigation process.

