Gun Pricing ??

A

alauf

Inactive
Wondering what anyone can tell me about how the hell some retailers (one online retailer based in Texas, in particular) can sell guns so cheap? I can only assume they are either a wholesaler selling slightly over what they get them for to the general public, or they completely do not care that they are selling at a loss.

I have started up a gun store and have been running it for about a year now and it seems I can't compete with some of these online guys, and I'm talking not even close. I know what a handful of very reputable wholesalers sell the guns at and some places are selling them quite a bit under that price.

Just curious, because it is starting to drive me crazy. Can't even come close to competing.

Thanks
 
Because they sold pmags for $80 (or was it more than that?) during a pre-election scare several years ago.
 
Power in volume

You can't start to compete with companies that buy hundreds of guns at a whack. The company in TX if it's who I think it is has deep pockets and buys out discontinued models for instance.

So how does the little guy compete with that?

Bottom line, you can't compete ON PRICE.

Price, quality, service. Pick any two. No one can do all three.
 
It's a buying in large quanity thing.

My aunt and uncle had a country store and they bought a lot of their stuff from a chain grocery store because they could buy it at the store for less than the wholesale delivery truck.

Years ago, my father-in-law had a TV shop where he repaired TVs and sold new ones. I bought our first TV at his cost (in 1968) but I found out I paid more for it than I could have bought if for retail at a larger store.
 
Had a good friend that worked for Federal selling Ammo . I road with him at times . One gun shop we stopped at the owner was an hard nose . He told my buddy I will buy at the same price Wal-Mart pays My pal said ok and went out to the car . A little later came back in with the proper list . He said to the owner ok if you buy two rail cars of shotguns shells I can give you 25% off . We do take checks .
 
Good customer service costs money.
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I don't know what good customer service is, I just know customer service. I've only had an issue with one used gun I bought and I was refunded fully. One other time I went to my lgs and had them order me a .22 that I wanted and it took 3 weeks for it to come in. Had I bought it online, I would have had it within a week and for a lower price.

After that, I never order anything through my local FFL dealer. It's not worth the hassle and I'd rather pay my local dealer the transfer fee than end up paying more in sales tax to my horrible state.

So there's no such thing as good customer service, because all of it should be good. For those that aren't, they don't get my business.
 
Good customer service costs money.
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Good customer service takes time. If you are paying someone to do it, then it costs money.

Time does not always equal money. If it did, prison inmates would be filthy rich.
 
I'm a small business owner. Very small. Sole proprietor. Sole everything. If it's done, it's done by me.

"You can have it cheap. You can have it done well with quality materials. You can have it now. Pick two."

I can beat the big guys in my trade on labor price, and still make money because I only pay me. They beat me on material costs because they buy in volume..... but material in my business is generally a small part of the bill..... where I beat them is quality and service: I've got 10 times the experience as their techs in the field, and I care about the customer's satisfaction, because I don't get paid the same regardless: the customer is going to be happy or I don't get paid. My weak link is the "now" part .....or even "soon"..... folks have to wait up to 6 months to me. My reputation, forged over the last 20 years, is such that they will wait.

You can't beat them on price. You must beat them on the other two things..... and folks won't wait for you if your product is the same as the big guys, so you need to develop personal services that they can not offer. It may take some time to develop a reputation for those services ..... that's the trick: surviving until you have that.

Best of luck.
 
Ricklin wrote:

So how does the little guy compete with that?

Bottom line, you can't compete ON PRICE.

Price, quality, service. Pick any two. No one can do all three.
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alauf,

Ricklin is right to a point regarding firearms.

My LGS keeps a good supply of shooting accessories plus ammo, lead shot, primers and powders. They also will sell guns for you for a 12% commission.
They don't keep any inventory of bullets, cases/hulls or wads, But the owner keeps reloading manuals at the counter and knows enough about reloading to recommend & help his customers find the right components to order on-line.
 
alauf -

There is no way in hell that your little gun store can compete with the big boxes in terms of price. You don't have that kind of buying power. The only way you can come close is if you join some kind of purchase co-op. Don't know if there are any for that industry.

Your shop can elevate itself with customer service, knowledge, and personal relationships.
 
Alauf I suggest you do what my local guy does, he has no problem with anyone ordering from the Grab place, he makes most of his revenue charging $20 for transfer, keep your inventory low to keep overhead down.
 
I had a kitchen table FFL way back when you could easily enough and thought about carrying inventory - Browning rep told me $25K initial order AND I had to take some of their 'dogs" to get the good-selling stuff. I passed.
 
Haha, the struggle is real. Case in point, my gun bro sends me a txt at 11:30pm Monday night that he ordered the new Emenpee 2.0 from Grabagun. THAT PISTOL arrived at our FFL today. Today!

Our dealer is fantastic. Inbound/outbound, seamless and stress free. Hardly keeps any guns in his small shop, typically just used ones that he takes in. But those NEVER last as he lists them on the shop's Facebook page and there are literally gone in a day.

He'll order anything you ask for and they do custom work on guns. He makes money dealing ammo and empty GI ammo cans at gun shows.

He knows his business and attempting to compete with Bud's or Grabagun sure isn't it. Everyone local that asks me, he is where I send them.
 
I'm sure it's a quantity thing. For example, many moons ago my Parents owned a bar. They could get great deals per case when buying beer in 50 case lots. If they bought 100 cases, they got 10 more for free. Profit on those 10 free cases was sure great.
 
Decades ago I was a store manager of a big box store. We carried long guns. The buyers for our company would commit to buying several thousands of the assembly line at once for the FY. The guns would go to the regional warehouse from the manufacturer than be distributed to individual stores.
When I had my FFL the only deals I got from distributors (Like SOG) was when I ordered a larger quantity so I did not have to pay any shipping to increase my profit. BTW on firearms I was lucky to get 10% on firearms alone and it took a lot of paperwork time. Made around 39% on accessories. Take off overhead I was lucky to gross 25% for the year.
Now days I support my gun addiction by buying on line and transfers from a local pawn broker who only charges $10. No tax to pay ion my state either.
 
Gun shops are socially uncomfortable for me. Most have a blow-hard behind the counter and a few more flanking the counter sneering at your sub .45 caliber items for purchase.
All but one gun shop that I've ever been is the same.
Now I grew up on a struggling cotton farm, fought and won fistfights with some tough hombres. I served 15 years in the army and have been in combat. I can hold my own with the Alpha Male types.
I just don't like gun store types.
I would pay MORE to shop online.

If a gun shop can do something about the atmosphere, that would help them out tremendously.

I mean no disrespect to the OP; I also have no reason to believe that his/her shop is anything but pleasant.
I only intend to illustrate one reason that some people stay out of them. I know other people that that feel the same as me.

As far as prices go, the volume purchaser gets the best deal.

I managed a high volume truck shop for a while. We were the biggest parts purchaser in town. Our cost was 50% lower than anyone else in town. It was negotiated that way in advance.
 
I'm sure it's a quantity thing. For example, many moons ago my Parents owned a bar. They could get great deals per case when buying beer in 50 case lots. If they bought 100 cases, they got 10 more for free. Profit on those 10 free cases was sure great.
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It is ONLY if they turned it over fast enough. Inventory carrying costs are one thing that KILLS the small business owner who does not understand its ramifications. (I worked in Supply Chain for a loooooong time and also owned a small business.)
 
If a gun shop can do something about the atmosphere, that would help them out tremendously.

The shop for which this forum is named is a typical looking kind of gun shop, yet minus the attitude. From 1987 to the present, they've always been helpful and pleasant. I notice when I'm there, there's a fair number of women customers.
 
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