Is buying online proving a better path than buying locally?

Only thing i use a shop for is to hold something im thinking abouy buying, then find it cheaper online
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I don't like doing that, because I feel that's one instance where the LGS is legitimately adding value to the transaction (that, along with the fact that I can walk out with it that same day), and I don't mind paying a reasonable premium for that added value. But if I already know what I want, I'm not going to pay an extra 10% that I don't have to, just to have the clerk take a box off of a shelf and hand it to me.
 
Out of the 5 firearms that I purchased in 2011, only one was purchased online (gunbroker). No one locally carried the particular rifle that I wanted & bought from gunbroker.

I like to support local economy, & have the luxury of at least 3 excellent gun shops within 45 minutes of my home. (I'm sure there are others that are just as nice to do business with) They appreciate my business and have always treated me like I was the most important customer they've ever had, and I appreciate that.
 
So far all of my experiences with purchasing from online retails have been positive. I try to split my purchases up between my local shop and online retailers, but if I see a huge savings then I buy online. On my last purchase I saved almost $160.00 just by purchasing online and shipping it to my local FFL.

On a separate purchase last month I paid almost $120.00 more locally because of higher pricing and taxes at my local shop just so to support them as well. I use their rage very frequently and buy small amounts of Ammo from them so I try to support them as much as I can without breaking the bank. If you do not support local business it will go away eventually.

I have also sold and traded some firearms using gunbroker.com and other sites very successfully. In my area you are lucky if you get 40% of current market value on a trade-in or sell if you are trying to sell or trade a firearm locally to a shop. Online I have gotten around 90% of market value every time. That is a huge difference.

I hope that helped. :)
 
Only thing i use a shop for is to hold something im thinking abouy buying, then find it cheaper online
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Do that enough and there won't be anywhere you can go and "hold something in your hands."
 
On the other hand there definately are dangers.

I've seen HK PSPs advertised as P7M8s - and advertised as NIB and even from the not-so-great picture I could tell it had been refinished, or painted is more like it.

A friend from another forum bought a Marlin Camp Carbine - advertised as hardly used <200 rounds, like new condition and the buffer was shattered.

I guess you could shatter the recoil buffer on one of those things with less than 200 rounds if you were firing +P+ but I doubt you could do it and not notice it. The owner had to have known the buffer was broken...

That isn't exactly a horror story, my friend bought a new tougher after-market buffer for it. I'm sure there are some reall horror stories out there.

I just parted with $600+ bucks for barrels for my Glocks from MDW guns, completely online. I do a little bit of checking but nothing is for certain.
 
actually the last 5 guns i gave bought have been from a big box store, Sportsman’s Wharehouse.

I am a little suprised at their prices. I always “heard“ that big box stores had outrageous prices on guns, but SW has better prices than local ffl or online after transfer fee. Recently i have gotten:

ruger mkiii stainless $469
kel tec p11 $249
colt 1911 .22lr $369
taurus judge pd $379
taurus tcp $199
 
There's plenty of LGS's around here so my online gun purchase's have been limited. Before I reloaded, ordering bulk ammo was different. Although a friend of mine that owns a gun store would/will place my ammo order with his as long as its the brand he's ordering.

I can usually find what I'm looking for locally as reasonable, or more reasonable then online. Especially after paying shipping, transfer fees etc. Too, I get to physically inspect what I'm buying.

I will add that the few purchase's I have made online, thankfully, have went well.
 
75% of the firearms I have purchased have been used from online sources and haven't had a single issue yet.
Most LGS / pawn shops here have a poor selection of used firearms and most are way overpriced as well.

For those who haven't run across it yet and would rather not ship/transfer etc... Armslist.com ......... is the craigslist of firearms. Free to post and buy and you can search locally or far away.
 
I've had great success locating high end firearms (Wilson Combat, Cooper Fire Arms), that my LGS would never carry, on Gunbroker! All the deals have been flawless... weapons shipped to my LGS, payment made by CC. Great source of firearms at great prices.
 
Not in my experience. When buying a gun online to save money be sure and know your state laws. Here in Washington State if you order a gun online from an out of state dealer the local ffl you are using now has to charge you sales tax based on your whole order meaning purchase price you paid plus shipping you paid. Then by the time you pay that and the ffl transfer fee you may as well have bought one localy and paid the same amount. FFl transfer fees around here have shot through the roof and the average is around $50 but some are charging even more. So while it's fun to shop on gunbroker, etc. it's no longer cheaper for me to do so.
 
I find for me that it is on a case by case basis. Sometimes I find it cheaper or the same price to go with the lgs. I recently purchased the RRA predator pursuit from my lgs. It was priced about $25 dollar more than the best price online. Once you add ffl fees, and shipping. It is not really that cheap. On the plus side from my lgs, since the rifle was the display model I got a great bargain. The owner gave 100 rds of ball ammo, a set of warne rings, and mounted and zeroed my scope free of charge. It helps if they know you are a frequent customer.
 
I have a lot of guns. This year I have bought 6 guns so far off Gun Broker, I have in the past bought new from Buds Guns. My FFL only charges me $10.00 for the transfer fee. There is no tax. Really save bucks.
In my area there us a Gander Mt and 3 gun stores that really don't carry anything worth mentioning.
Forgot we have an ACE hardware too.
 
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It USED to be an option for me...but my state (Washington) now collects sales tax on EVERY FIREARM THAT COMES INTO THE STATE. If you have to take delivery through an FFL, you get to pay state tax on it.

Grrrrr......:mad:

And, get this...there's more. This applies to guns purchased and transferred from out of State through an FFL.

If you buy a USED gun, you pay tax.
If you buy a NEW gun, you pay tax.
if you have a gun SENT AS A GIFT, the FFL must, by State law, determine the fair market value for it--and then charge you the State tax!!

As a result, a lot of FFL's in this State will no longer do transfers because of the paperwork involved.
 
I think if I ran a shop, I'd have a computer kiosk set up with shortcuts to Bud's, CDNN, Gunbroker, etc.

$25 to transfer anything that I didn't have in stock and $50 for anything that I did. Seems like everyone would win on that deal. I wouldn't think that as stiff as competition is these days there would be much more than $50 markup on anything other than super high end stuff.
 
Depends.

If the price difference is significant, say $50 or so (total- shipping, transfer fee, gas, taxes), I'll order online. Otherwise, I'd rather support my LGS.

And.... my LGS is frequently right in the running, pricewise & sometimes cheaper. For example, I just bought a Gen4 G26. Bud's wants $549 (3% "cash discount") with free (slow) shipping. I have a good FFL who does transfers for $20 (per sheet, not gun). So, minimum $569, if I paid via e-check & waited 3 wks for the check to clear & the gun to ship. $585.47, all in I'd used a credit card. LGS wanted $550, so with our 6.75% sales tax, $587.13, OTD.

I'd have spent more than the $1.66 difference, just in gas, driving to my FFL.

Guess I'm lucky to have a good LGS, with a HUGE selection, great staff, decent prices & even carries reloading components.
 
I support my LGS whenever possible even if it costs a bit more. Sometimes they surprise me with lower prices that online dealers.

I've used Gunbroker.com about 5 times for used guns that I couldn't find locally.
 
I take the best online price I can find. Add shipping, FFL fees and then about 5%. If the local shop can beat that price I get it locally, otherwise I order it and have them FFL it. I'm willing to pay a slight premium to maintain a relationship with the local guy. I do the same thing with the local wine store. But if the difference is more than 5% they're out of luck. In most cases they've been able to just come in under the wire.
 
I think if I ran a shop, I'd have a computer kiosk set up with shortcuts to Bud's, CDNN, Gunbroker, etc.

$25 to transfer anything that I didn't have in stock and $50 for anything that I did. Seems like everyone would win on that deal. I wouldn't think that as stiff as competition is these days there would be much more than $50 markup on anything other than super high end stuff.
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My thoughts exactly. In one of the recent pistol magazines, there was a story about the effect of the internet on local gun shops. One of the shop owners quoted in the article refused to do transfers on new guns, and was downright belligerent about it, saying something to the effect of "It costs me $150k a year to keep my shop open - why should I do transfers so people can buy online instead?"

My immediate reaction was that if he's going to be such a whiny punk about it, he's going to find that not only will he lose retail sales to the internet, he's also going to miss out on the money to be made doing transfers. It also made me wonder how high his markups are that he'd rather tell his customers to buzz off rather than do a transfer for them.
 
I agree Scott. You've definitely got to adjust with the times. Heck, you can price a gun from a smartphone while standing in front of the display case if you want. There's always going to be a used market, which I imagine has a wider profit margin considering the trades I've been offered by local shops. I would think that setting up business doing the transfers would be a decent money maker with very little overhead.
 
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