How many of you are sick of your local gun shops?

I'm thinking about buying the "Mom & Pop" gun shop you guys are complaining about. Many of your comments have been heard and implanted in my memory.

Currently we sell our guns at a mere 10% mark-up. We literally survive on accessories but mostly depend on Archery. There is no way our local Wal-mart can compete with our archery technicians. Not only do they know their stuff but they are willing to assist customers 6 days a week when something goes wrong with their bow or new arrows are needed. If they buy arrows from us we also fletch & cut them for free.
Wal-mart can’t compete there.

We have had to cut a lot of corners with the business including reducing prices to compete with bigger stores. It has not been easy to compete with Walmart, but we are not closing our doors. Our customers continue to return due to friendly and expert assistance that you can’t find behind the counter at Wally World.

Support your local Gun Shops!
Jessica Wellman, Assistant Manager
Floyd’s Gun & Archery Sales


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The Armed Citizen
 
I like at least two of my local shops. Prices are reasonable. Maybe 10% above net? And if I shop the specials, I can sometimes match the net.

To me, the service I get is well worth the 10% premium. Two examples:

I bought two used guns that I didn't like. Separate occasions. In both cases, they took 'em back and applied credit toward new purchases eagerly. I wound up with guns I really like in both cases. Would've been a lot more trouble if I had bought from private individuals or off the 'net.

When I bought my first centerfire rifle and scope, they spent about an hour helping me mount the scope just the way I wanted it, while preserving the option to use my iron sights. A tricky installation. They tried several options before it was right. It would have taken me hours over the course of days, and lots of returns and repurchases, if I tried to do that on my own.

So yes, I'll continue to enjoy my local shop.
 
I might give a local shop $10 bucks over show price but not $50 to $75.

Also, some of the local shops are not more knoweledgeable than some idiot.

I know two good shops in the area and the rest are thieves. Also, at shows, some local shops and some from nearby cities do the shows.

As far as Wal-Mart - that's capitalism folks.
They are successful.

There was a thread about this a year or so ago that argued we want guns in the megastores so people can see them and not just in little backwater strip malls.
 
There`s only one gun shop left in town and they`ve got nothing there. The closest one which is decent is about 17 miles away in another city. The gunsmith is friendly enough, knowledgable and does good work. Somethings are better purchased direct from a shop than via mailorder/internet. For instance, Butler Creek scope covers may be rated for a certain scope, but often times may be loose. Better to spend the extra money for a tight fitting scope cover which won`t fall off in the field. Buying holsters is another example. Looks great in catalogs, but you`ve got to try it to see if it will really work for you.
 
I buy accessories, cleaning supplies, etc., and sometimes 12 gauge game loads from my local stores, but not guns usually. I live in a small city, two hours from civilization in any direction, and there are only 2 shops in town, so they charge what they want.

Example: Glock 30 - $629 + 8% sales tax + $15 paperwork fee = almost $700

Glock 30 from Auction Arms: $525 + $15 shipping + $25 paperwork fee at local "kitchen table" FFL = $565. No contest.
 
I have a hard time beating the local gun shop on the net once I factor in shipping. Nobody is so much cheaper than him on ammo, for instance, that I can afford to eat the shipping and come out ahead. As for guns, it'll have to be pretty special for me to plunk down that much money sight unseen again. No, the net cannot replace stores. Cut into their market, yes, but not replace them.
 
I'm not rich by any means, but I don't mind ponying up an extra $20 to keep a local shop in business. I also visit once in a while to buy ammo, cleaning supplies and paper targets. Some things can't be bought locally and for that I found an honest and reliable FFL. He charges $20 to handle transactions.

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"Get yourself a Pistolet Makarova and lose that pricey western gadget."
 
At least we have various options now to buy guns and ammo.
Remember 25 years ago, gun shows were rare, the Internet didn't exist and gun shops charged outrageous prices.
I remember seeing a 629 in a Tucson gun shop in the early '80s for $1,600 - because it was "rare."
 
It seems that once gun shops get beyond a certain size they are no longer a source of reasonably priced equipment.

If you are willing to go to tiny gun stores that may not be the best organized or be full of several hundred guns, but their prices are resonable and the service is good.

My last purchase was from a guy who has a store, but it isn't open to the public yet (he's making money through personal contacts to get the storefront open), and his price was waaaaay better than anywhere else including the 'Net and gunshows.
 
What's all this worry about losing business to WalMart??? Last I check they sold Remington 700 ADL's in 30/06, 10/22's and 870 express models. For the gun shop owners it's real simple-DON'T SELL ENTRY LEVEL MODELS!!! WalMart and others will never be able to give you a Tikka, Sako or Mannlicher off of the rack, but they will always win the price war selling plain vanilla guns,ammo and accessories. Gun shops will always be in business precisely because Wal-Mart can't afford to stock the variety of the store down on the corner. Internet suppliers will always need an FFL to ship to.
The other thing gun shop owners need to do is to get better suppliers. We all shop on the net and find bargains on ammo by the case-load and accesories. If owners who make their living finding things cheaply and selling them at a profit can't find better deals from suppliers than we can, they shouldn't be in business.
Pricing is another issue. If Walmart is next door to your gunshop, why sell generic remington ammo for $3 more per box?? If you do sell it, use it as a loss leader and make your money selling what WalMart never stocks-boxes of Weatherby ammo, or Federal Premium.
Sorry for the rant. I hate to see gun shops go out of business, and I know it's tough with the emerging internet competition, but it just seems to me that so many of them fail due to poor management.
 
Store with no range, just a store, could easily run 300.00 per day expenses. That is not allowing for any income for the owner.

Store that sells maby three thousand dollars per day of assorted merchandise has to pay full dealer price for the merchandise. Store cost for items varies with amount purchased from a given distributor. If the quantities are great enough, then store can buy direct from manufacturer.

Example, normally I pay around 12.00/thousand for primers. Four years ago I brokered a deal for twenty million primers to a single customer. Got em for under 4.00 per thou.

Ma n Pa storefront operation can't compete with the major players who buy by the container load. The dude with a bank of phones and puter in an office with a three thousand foot warehouse for receiving and shipping can probably beat WallyWorld bottom line once he gets his gross sales big enough.

I enjoy supporting the local vendors who treat me well. Though I am as cheap as they come, I hate to see the locals go under

Sam...have a great deal on once fired primers.
 
Lavan, you are forgetting that we don't live in a purely free market economy (if we did, what you predict would come true). However, you cannot underestimate the power of the retail lobbyists upon the legislatures. For example, it is ALREADY illegal in 49 of 50 states for cars to be sold any other way than from a retail dealership, internet or no internet. This is nothing but pure 100% unadulterated featherbedding by car dealers. There is simply no rationl basis for consumer protection. This is the car dealers' lobby trading money (campaign contribs) for money (featherbedding law). The other retailers will wise up and protect themselves before they go down the tube - the legislatures will be sympathetic to more of these types of laws, because they will protect in-state retailers against the out-of-state web "direct retailers". So, your analysis forgets the power and influence of LAW.

To the original question: Yes, I am sick of my local gun store, but not for the same reason. Actually, I am quite happy to pay a higher price IF (that's a big IF) I can get better service, selection, etc. But it so happens that the service at my local gun shops STINKS, selection sucks big-time compared to the net, and the elitist attitude they display really ticks me off (not letting mere peasants even HANDLE the LEO-only pistols). As a result, I will be ecstatic if and when the particular retailer I'm describing is out of business.
 
For me, the only game in town is looking less and less appealing. Their prices are high, their service is shoddy, I get strange looks cuz I'm Asian, and they act as if they don't need my business (which they don't but that doesn't mean they have to go out of their way to show it). I feel alone enough living in a largely anti-state without a gunshop dumping on me too. So I've started to rely almost solely on online stores which have given me great prices, service (returns, no problem- got a question, just ask), and just a little respect- I feel like I can talk with them, no problem. Basically, I'd gladly support my local gunshop if they'd stop acting like jerks.
 
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