Bud's Gun Shop VIP peeve!

LGS prices aren't that bad when you consider the help they give you with the handugn or long gun you by from them
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Everyone doesn't value that the same. I don't value it very much at all.

Service is a hard thing to value. I'm schizophrenic about it myself. Some things I'll pay for service. Some I laugh and walk away.

I can go to the quickie oil change place for $30. Or I can buy a gallon jug of Valvoline and a Fram filter for $20. If I go to the quickie shop I don't have to get dirty, don't have to crawl under the car and don't have to dispose of the used oil. Yet I still change my own oil. I do my own Diffs and Transfer cases too!

If I get a craving for barbeque I can crank up the pit and turn out a pretty good brisket or rack of ribs. But I go to the hole in the wall place up the road 10 times for every one time I do pulled pork or other BBQ at home.

Every time I pay for whiskey in a bar I can't stop myself from mentally calculating how 3 drinks is gonna cost me what a bottle would cost if I just drank at home. But it doesn't really stop me.

To me, TFL and the web in general have made the LGS almost pointless. I still like them for consignment guns, services and transfers. But that's about it.
 
I don't see the problem.
If you buy & sell a lot of guns each year, I can see where the VIP option might be appealing.
If you only buy a couple per year, is 72 hrs that big of a deal?
Seems like such a small thing to get all bent out of shape about. It's like getting annoyed at the airline for boarding first class passengers first.
 
Free enterprise

Hi, all.
I'll always support my LGS, IF, they're prepared to make me an all-around square deal. most of the time, however, I've found that the locals are simply unwilling to compete with most of the online dealers. So, I've made most of my firearm purchases online, including my last handgun that came from Bud's. I got great service and a heckuvadeal on a Kahr from them. I am not geog close to Bud's and will continus to shop there as long as I'm treated fairly. All in all, I have no complaints, and am NOT a VIP, there or anywhere else.

I've found that repeat business buys me some favors and consideration at my favorite internet dealers that I've not been offered here at home. Smith & Wesson likes me no matter where I buy their stuff.

Stay safe and don't leave home without it.
 
I'll be the first to chime in with... "I don't buy expensive guns". I keep very close tabs on quite a number of cheaper guns that I'm interested in buying, and the prices on weapons in the $200-$400 range have gone up about 10%-15% since Christmas.

For example, CDT had Keltec PF9's in several colors for $210+10shipping through early Jan... now they are out.

Two weeks ago, Buds had a pop-up sale for $229 shipped. I snagged one... the sale lasted about 48hrs and now they are sold out.

The amount of sold-out .22 guns is unbelievable by checking the major retailers as well.

OTH, I did manage to buy several varieties of 9mm FMJ stuff at Academy for $10.99 box today... but they were sold out of almost all 9mm Self-Defense ammo. Federal Guard Dog was the only thing left.

I've bought 4 guns from Buds in the past 6 months and have had good experiences every time.
 
I think the OP's point is, you go to a merchant, they have a product you want at a good price but then they tell you that you can't have it unless you pay $25.00 first. Don't know about the OP but I'll pay $40 more elsewhere before I pay club fees. I just don't believe in them.

I'm not bent out of shape. Buds can do whatever they want. I just move along.
 
Heh, my favorite LGS is also online. I get free shipping and transfer on anything I order and pick up at the store. I get awesome service. And if they don't have what I want, it's a $30 transfer fee. In my state I have to pay tax on any gun shipped to an FFL, so the LGS can usually beat Bud's even if I were a VIP (and a tax scofflaw, so to speak).

I do get where you're coming from. There is a similar situation in my area with grocery stores. All of them now have membership cards, which get you a small discount, but are apparently used to track your shopping habits. My shopping habits are none of their business, and I don't like having to have the card with me just to get a small discount. It seems to me (no data to back this up, though) that most folks just went along with it and got the card because it was the easier path. Now that all of the local stores use them, I just shop at my favorite store. I've politely mentioned to management that I don't like it. Apparently the benefit to the store outweighs the complaints of the few. To me, it's worth the small additional cost not to have the card. That's just business. It's not the end of the world, but sometimes it does still irritate me a little when it comes up. At the end of the day, I've got bigger fish to fry.
 
I joined their VIP club because I do buy a fair amount of guns. But it has proven to not be worth the 20 bucks. They dont ship as fast as they say and the three days has rairly made any difference. I will not reup next time.
 
I think Bud's has made a mistake with this move. I wrote them with an idea that never got beyond their "scholar" that answers emails for them. If they want to sell the VIP status to customers who want an immediate opportunity to access greater services and discounts, that's fine by me. I do feel that the smarter move for Bud's would be to allow customers to earn this same VIP privilege by accumulating a certain volume of purchase credits. In other words, why not reward good customers by demonstrating their appreciation in this way? The answer I received back was so inane...I was informed, "We can't just give it away." Whoever is in charge of marketing over at Bud's needs to think a little more two-dimensionally. I wonder how much customer loyalty they have lost by turning off their frequent buyers. I've found the prices over at Grab-a-Gun to be better anyway. They just can't seem to keep much inventory on hand.
 
didn't matter when I bought.

4 weeks ago after a 2 day search I found my Mark III Hunter 6 7/8'' fluted barrel at Bud's. Over $100.00 cheaper than anywhere else I could find. Was not listed VIP, I had bought from Bud's before. I had the Ruger the morning of the 2nd day. It was on VIP status AFTER my purchase.:D
 
I've never done business with Buds and never will. A three percent credit card charge, vip membership fee is really nothing more than increased cost in a backhanded way.

I've also heard far too many complaints about them to ignore. In many cases they want you to sign in for "Buds price" only to find that they are higher than elsewhere.

A good friend purchased a gun from them. He was repeatedly emailed and asked to submit a review. He did so only to find that Buds had rewritten it. They called it "editing" and said they reserved that right. The only editing however was to remove two negative comments. You have to wonder how many ratings are edited. Which is deceptive and makes reviews worthless.

And finally I buy six to ten firearms a year. And have never failed to pay less than Bud's.

End of rant. Your experience and opinion may vary.
 
I rather support the local guy. Buds has a S&W I want for $60 less than my LGS, + a transfer I am looking at $45 different, I do not care. I want to support the local guy. Whats $45 in the long run when this gun will out last me? Whats that two boxes of ammo? come on.. I can say I supported the local guy and helped him stay in business over some giant company.

(example walmart vs small store)
 
I've never done business with Buds and never will. A three percent credit card charge,
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That is not THEIR extra cost - it is the cost to them from the credit card company. Every time you use a credit card, someone is getting dinged for 3% - so if you pay cash at a store or restaurant or whatever, you are paying 3% more because they have to cover the credit card fees for those of us who use them
 
Don't you folks have a local gun shop that will give it's regular customers a heads up when a gun of interest comes in?
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I usually tell my LGS when the new stuff has been announced.

That is not THEIR extra cost - it is the cost to them from the credit card company. Every time you use a credit card, someone is getting dinged for 3%
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I bet Bud's isn't charged anywhere near 3% for CCs. I work at a fairly small retail shop and our CC fee is about 1 1/2%, so, I can't believe they are getting charged more than us with their volume of business.
 
I bet Bud's isn't charged anywhere near 3% for CCs. I work at a fairly small retail shop and our CC fee is about 1 1/2%, so, I can't believe they are getting charged more than us with their volume of business.
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I owned a small retail shop for a while - we only took MC and Visa because they were ONLY 2.5%, AMEX wanted 4.5, and Discover 3.5%. Standrad fees I have seen and know from talking to others in the business is an average of 3%. Even if they are getting it for a half or 1 point less, there is still paperwork, equipment rental, etc. involved in dealing with credit cards
 
We can all shop where we want. That in mind you may be missing the point about folks who charge service fees for credit cards, I understood the point to be that there are other places that accept credit cards and do not charge anything extra. No one thinks credit card companies offer their sevice for free. I like to pay with credit cards because if there are problems you may have some recourse, Cash comes with no such guarantees. To each his own.
 
Joe_Pike said:
I bet Bud's isn't charged anywhere near 3% for CCs. I work at a fairly small retail shop and our CC fee is about 1 1/2%, so, I can't believe they are getting charged more than us with their volume of business.
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That's not the entire pricing structure.

The Visa/MC interchange fees (the fees absolutely positively EVERYONE pays) are around 1.5%, though it's impossible to give an exact number as there are literally dozens of different structures. The fee from the processor is added on to that fee AND there's virtually always a fee per transaction.

I own two businesses and use two different processors at this moment. Total fees run about 2.7%. It's pretty hard to get any lower than that.

NOBODY is paying 1.5% total fees.
 
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Attempting to justify passing on CC fee's seems a bit pointless. Everyone pays them. Everyone takes them into account when they set pricing. Buds add's them afterwards in an effort to make a price appear lower. At which point they can justify it by blaming someone else.

I recently (about a week ago) purchased from grabagun. Paid $5.99 shipping, received great service, including a tracking number so I could see when it hit my FFL and paid a little over $20.00 less than Bud's.

For me at least that is what matters. And no dodgy practices. No asking an opinion then altering it. No back handed practices.

Just an opinion. Mine.
 
Attempting to justify passing on CC fee's seems a bit pointless. Everyone pays them. Everyone takes them into account when they set pricing.
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Actually, most gun dealers, especially on-line, post their lowest "cash" price and add the 3% credit card fee - no different than the gas stations who do the same
 
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