Here Come The Scalpers

CTD prices, like the Taurus warranty times are hardly news. is there anyone here who does not already know this? maybe there should be a sticky for the members who still find this shocking somehow.
 
There's a convenience store a couple miles down the road from my house. Town is 10 miles away. Virtually everything in the store costs more than it does in town. I get that, I'm paying slightly more for the convenience of not having to go all the way to town and back. But while they may turn a $3.50 item at the grocery store into a $5 item at their store and sell it, they don't try to turn it into a $25 item.
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How about the fact that it also costs that retailer more for those goods to be brought to him? I stopped one time at a gas station in Big Sur to use the bathroom; I noticed their very high gas prices compared to areas some miles away. His cost for the gas was as high as those other places were selling because he bought smaller amounts and it was expensive to deliver that smaller load...........
 
His cost for the gas was as high as those other places were selling because he bought smaller amounts and it was expensive to deliver that smaller load
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In a word NO. That's not how gasoline delivery works in Kali. I happen to work super close to a major refinery. Just up the street is a station selling their gas (as in right next door); they also have some of the highest prices in the area for the brand.

The terminal might be 1/2 a mile up the road but the TRANSPORTATION Supplier happens to be many miles away. You pay freight for the truck to go to and from the barn and every stop in between.

Big Sur is a stop on the way to and from the barn. A set of doubles carries 8K - 11.6K gallons depending on the rig. The question becomes 'where is the barn' for the brand?

This has much to do about current costs. The middle man gets his cut and the end supplier passes this on. Some end suppliers like CTD went from reasonable to do business with to the multi warehouse shell game to the stick it to everyone when the SHTF.

Before things turned ugly one coworker joined our ranks and got ammo and started practising. As I told several coworkers when things started to get ugly: If you buy a gun in XXX caliber / gauge don't worry if you can't get ammo; I'll part with enough for you to handle your business. One bought and got his ammo too....but thanked me for the offer. One is looking into transferring his stuff in from out of state. He has reserved his option on a preagreed set price (pre panic). One is worried that he missed the boat and can't even buy anything.
 
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One thing about gasoline that makes it different from most other things sold at retail, most gas stations do not own the gas they sell. A few do (or used to), but most don't. The distributor owns the gas and sets the price. The gas station gets a percentage for selling it, and the use of its tanks & pumps.

Ammo, and most other goods don't get sold that way, the seller is also the owner and therefore controls their prices.
 
The main reasons I don't do business with Cheaper than Dirt (CTD) are because their prices are high and their customer service is low. I don't know if the stories are true but some people said they had their orders cancelled so CTD could relist the merchandice at a higher price. I don't know if situations like that are illegal but definitely are unethical.
 
And when they could have gotten the needed item at the regular price, but now can't due to the seller jacking the price up to profit from the emergency, it creates a serious case of resentment against the seller.
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Bingo. And that resentment can last a long time. Obviously CDT is not greatly appreciated here. So,vote with your buck. CTD may hold some ammo,but YOU hold the money.

Dicks alienated many of us.I won't walk through their door.

Do those who are bellyaching have any better solution than taking your business elsewhere? Are you asking for "We are the Government and we are here to help?" Do you want Government price controls on ammo?

Or should Win,Fed,Hornady,Rem,demand and enforce all retailers to sell at MSRP ??

Did we bellyache when WalMart was selling Win White box 45 ACP and 9mm hardball cheap enough I was too lazy to sit down at my loading bench?

DANG IT. Those dirt bags are selling ammo TOO CHEAP!! Boooo Hisss! I'll never shop there again!!

What is it you are asking for???? Be very careful,you might get it. Freedom is tough to deal with sometimes.
 
While I don't do business with CTD, the reason for my post was just to highlight how crazy prices are getting, not to be critical of free enterprise. I don't need any ammo or reloading supplies and can wait till things are back to normal, if ever.
A few weeks ago I was in a big retailer's gun department and saw the clerk come out of the back and surreptitiously give two boxes of ammo to a customer, who hurried off to the check out. I asked the clerk, What are you keeping back there? He either didn't hear me or ignored me.
I'm surprised every size of cleaning jag is sold out except big 45 and 50 rifle jags.
I do wish I had bought a few more FAL mags when they were $10 a piece, just a few months ago.
 
Funny how consumers want to blame the vendors for the lack of preparation on the part of the consumers. If you wanted to have access to a bunch of ammo at pre panic prices, then you should have bought a bunch of ammo when their wasn't a panic. Or, maybe you should have started buying ammo when you realized things were going south SEVERAL MONTHS AGO!

Besides, this is a presidential election year. Panics are common for the last several elections. NOBODY should be surprised by this. You had 4 years since the last election to get ready...and what did you do?

As for CTD, again, NOT A SURPRISE. We have had posts here for more than a decade as to the type of business that CTD conducts.
 
Every time there is a run on ammo, (and there have been several), the same thing happens. People b!tch and moan about Cheaper Than Dirt. "Robbers!"... "Boycott them!"... "They should be run out of business!"

It's all B.S. Nothing more. It's called capitalism people. It's what our country was built on. They have the right to charge what they want... And you have the right not to pay it, if you choose not to. Think about it. You can only be "scalped" if you are FORCED to buy. Food, water, fuel, and batteries during a hurricane. And even then, you should have the foresight to stock up on these things if you live in hurricane country.

Ammunition is no different. Americans go into panic mode if a feather so much as falls on their heads. These people always seem to have the money, and will pay through the nose for it in a crisis... But these same individuals purchase nothing when it's cheap and plentiful. Because most can't be bothered. So why should we be concerned about them, when they're not concerned about themselves? It makes zero sense.
 
My question will be about quality control as capacity in production is added. Someone around here had an interesting link to an article about the limited elasticity of production of low margin goods like toilet paper and rimfire ammunition, noting that these facilities need to be run essentially around the clock to be profitable, so they don't have the option of simply ramping up production on the existing equipment.

Will new facilities benefit from technological updates that allow production of a more consistent product? Or will any manufacturing improvements be skewed toward pace of production so that we look back on pre-March 2020 items as a high water mark for quality?
 
Most every aspect of ammo production is automated. So higher production doesn't automatically equate to loose quality control. If good Q.C. standards are in place, production numbers should not have an adverse effect on quality.
 
To agree with Bill...

If a manufacturer has a stable process making quality product,

Flogging the help or trying to exceed the capacity of the process by tampering with it will result in quality problems...Which include sorting,scrap,rework,unhappy customers,recalls,and even law suits.

Hopefully,the manfacturers know that.

Increasing capacity (the right way) includes involving your suppliers,distribution,facilities(Sq ft,utilities,assy lines,) Hiring,training,etc.

They can't justify all that for politics and panic peaks.

If we shooters can stabilize our demand,the industry will stabilize a supply to meet that demand. Thats how they make money.

Shooters do not commit to buying excess production at regular prices during slowtimes. Excess inventory is a problem. So stock up during the doldrums.
 
HiBC said:
Shooters do not commit to buying excess production at regular prices during slowtimes. Excess inventory is a problem. So stock up during the doldrums.
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Been trying to preach this logic for many years. Very few listen. I've given up, and just laugh the "I told you so" when all the forum crying ensues.
 
TXAZ: That is very possible.

But if/when he is re-elected, as long as cities don't see a repeat (this time, a temper tantrum) of last spring's urban riots, people might calm down a bit and prices could drop.

Road Clam: Quite true, the general public isn't capable of using personal initiative when Between gun/ammo panics.

They never expect Another 'unexpected' event to happen.
 
I was at a gun show yesterday and saw, a zip lock baggie of 9mm for $35. Boxes of Brown Bear 9mm for $35 - $40. Other boxes or partial boxes of budget 9 similarly priced. One guy had two cases of Federal, most recent box graphics, for $45 a box, only one box was missing (sold). Mostly revolvers for handguns, lots of 223 and 6.5 Creedmore bolt action rifles. Prices for everything seemed high. My wife commented that no one seemed to be buying. My grandson says there's a funny video about how 9mm will be sold in future, with two guys clandestinely meeting to buy a "dime bag" of 9 mill.
Again, not faulting free enterprise, just commenting on the state of the market. I'm getting a table at a show in October and will have at least $150 on a 150 round range pack of Magtech 9.
 
You order ammo online with a large distributor.

But that same night the distributor decides that they won't "honour" your purchase, unless you agree to pay a much higher price.:mad:

People claimed just after Obama was elected, or possibly after the Newtown horror, that CTD did This with some people's ammo orders.

At least that's how I remember it.
Did CTD actually---"allegedly"--- hold some peoples' orders "hostage" in this manner?
 
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