Is it wrong to take advantage of these suckers on Gunbroker/Armslist?

Is it wrong to take advantage of the panic buying?

  • I don't know.

    Votes: 6 5.3%

  • It's wrong because you are taking advantage of their emotional reactions to the political climate.

    Votes: 11 9.6%

  • It is not wrong because they are not being forced to buy anything.

    Votes: 97 85.1%
  • Total voters
    114
i have one part left to complete my build, i have been working on it a long time, all i need is a bcg and i am on a limited budget so i have been saving up to buy a part at a time, now i go to buy a part that normally is like 125-150 and i cant because they are 350 dollars now. i think the part hoarding and price rapeage is wrong when you are preventing the little guy who just wants one rifle from having that.
 
Hang on a while. Your part will come back down. It is a sellers market for now. I see no problem with sellers letting things ride on the auctions. It is a luxury item. No one is making people bid on them. More power to them. It's not baby forumula after a hurricane. One tactic might be to put up another overpriced item out for trade for your bcg. For example if you have extra pmags, they are like gold bars right now, put three or four up for trade in the usual places. I bet you get some bites.
 
Our market system is based on supply and demand. The watchword is "Let the Buyer Beware".

Having said that, there were certain gas stations that inflated their prices after Sandy hit. I don't care if they sell gas now at $.20/ gallon less then other stations in the area I will not buy from them. There is one station in the area that is the only one with a generator. A little over a year ago, after a major storm knocked power out for days, they were the only station selling fuel in about a 10-15 mile radius. They had lines that reminded me of the 70's. They did not raise their price. I'll assume they made a lot of money but they easily could have made much more.

I make a point of buying my gas from them when I'm in that area (often) even though they are always $.05-$.10/ gallon more. I am happy to pay the extra $.50-$2.00 to support a neighbor who not only doesn't take advantage of his customers but supports them.

Here at home I speak with my neighbors and urge them to remember the local stations that jacked up their prices and to remember those that did not. I urge you here to remember the local and online dealers who didn't "take advantage" of their customers and those who did.
 
Personally, I think it's wrong and wouldn't do it.

However, I also believe you can ask any price you want. It's a free market after all.
 
They can do what they want but I won't frequent there. There was a local power equipment store that did the same thing with generators ( doubled the price)right before a hurricane, I will never purchase anything there again. It's his right to sell at any price and its my right to buy elsewhere ..IMO it's unethical.
 
From a pure economical standpoint, "price gouging" is beneficial to society. If Home Depot has 100 generators and sells them for $100, people will buy more generators than they need leaving many families without generators. If they jack up the price to $1000, only people who really need them will get them. Less families will buy more than they need which will allow more families to have generators. This is an extreme example, but it works. You can use this analogy to any good or service you want.

Marking up guns when supply and demand dictates is good for business and society.
 
I'm fine with people doing this. If people are willing to give a higher price for it then why not make a little money. I don't have any AR parts but if someone offered me a few hundred more than I gave for my p229 because they are afraid of guns with high cap mags becoming illegal I would sell in a heartbeat.
 
A gas station raising the price of fuel after a storm because they are the only station in the area with a generator and taking advantage of people who have to have fuel for work, travel, etc. has nothing to do with the high price of AR15s and AR15 magazines. A poor comparison IMHO.
 
Why? Product in high demand after a catastrophic event, yet people are willing to pay more for the product. You are not deceiving them, you are merely recognizing that you have limited reserves with not idea what the future holds in terms of replenishing them.

For gas, when will the power come back on and I get the next shipment? Can I keep the doors open charging normal price without any reserves?

For ARs, will there be a ban? Will my business lose a major selling product in a few months? If there is no ban when will the back orders come through? Can my shop survive on the normal prices if my reserves have run dry?

Everyone forgets that when people raise prices, that there is a cost to the supplier. If there isn't then then it is because they are deceiving you.


The people who say that companies "gouge" us and we are "victims of big business" are the same people who want welfare and to ban out 2A RKBA. To take one piece of the pie and pretend to not like the other is dishonest, or not understanding the root problem of the morality in question.
 
A 30 round pmag is not an essential item and the prices people are paying this week are nationwide and not localized. The persons buying them are speculating that the prices they paid will not be short-term if a ban is put in place. Some are speculating that the prices will actually increase.

What is happening is "free market" not "price gouging". Unlike a Socialist Market where prices are set by government regulation, A free market is where the price of an item or service is determined by supply and demand with little to no government control. The oposite of a socialist market. This be it beany babies, furbys, pink power rangers, or Pmags. They are not essential items, but all had demands that exceded the supply. Our free market simply adjusted with more production and price increases after the market clearing.

The example of the gas station price gouging does not apply to free market as it was short-term and localized related to a natural disaster.
When it involves essentials such as food, fuel, shelter, medicine and equipment needed to preserve life, limb and property it is not only considered price gouging, it is illegal.

A mother may have thought the pink power ranger their daughter was demanding for christmas was an essential item a few years ago, but it was no more an essential item than a 30 round pmag is right now.
 
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I have given this more thought over the last few days and have decided those taking advantage of the situation are profiting off of the fears and misery of others. While much of the world works this way it is disappointing way for the world to work.
 
I am sorely tempted to make a large profit on my AR's and mags right now during the feeding frenzy but I don't want to sell my stuff only to be the last one without a chair when the music stops.
 
Is it wrong to sell an item at a price mutualy agreeable to both buyer and seller?

Yes, if it makes someone else feel bad.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. Let's all more to Russia, so we can feel good about sharing everything equally. No, wait, Obama is fixing that for us.
 
I voted It's not wrong...

There is a a sucker born every minute. I'm sure a lot of these folks buying every 30 capacity mag they can get their hands on already have dozens. I wonder how many I really need for my Windham Weaponry SRC and my S&W 15-22. I current have 3 metal Windham Weaponry 30 rd mags, as well as 1 WW 10 rd metal mag and 2 30 rd polymerr Magpul pmags that I paid $14.95 apiece. There is an auction ending in about 1.5 hours on Ebay for 3 Magpul pmags that has been bid up to $192.50, a whopping $64.17 apiece, it will probably go higher. They will also pay $7.00 for shipping! I have 4-25 round mags for my S&W 15-22.
How durable are these mags? They must be capable of lasting for tens of thousands of rounds each. In my mind I have enough to last me for a very long time, probably the rest of my life as I am 58 years old. I do have 2 more 15-22 mags and 1 pmag on order, didn't pay over normal retail!
 
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