Powder alert

hounddawg said:
Yesterday evening Natchez was selling 8 pound jugs of IMR 4831 for $210 while Bruno's price for 10 pounds in one pound bottles is $500. $25 a pound vs $50 a pound. So much for those who are claiming that the vendors are simply passing on the cost they are paying. Midway USA and Everglades Ammo are also have stupid high prices compared to other dealers such as MidSouth and Powder valley
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I said it.

I also said there are gougers out there. Could it be their cost was higher than their competitors' cost? If so, was it because they weren't able to get the same amount? What was the FINAL cost for the customer?

Some may price their powder cheaper, only to stick it to the customer on inflated shipping/hazmat fees. Granted, you named 2 big companies with huge differences in pricing. And, you're right. That's not looking like they're restraining their profit margins. However, there are companies out there that don't gouge.
 
Brunos shipping +Hazmat to my town would be $84, Natchez = $34 Guess which company will never get my business when things settle out?
 
Brunos shipping +Hazmat to my town would be $84, Natchez = $34 Guess which company will never get my business when things settle out?
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I was thinking the same thing , I must have bought something from Brunos in the past because I get there new letter but I have no intensions on buying anything from them any time soon .
 
I think they are taking an intentional risk. This morning PV had reasonable prices, but only a fraction of their powder catalog available. Bruno's had its sky-high prices, but also had stock on most powders they catalog. This means Bruno's is selling a lot less volume in order to be able to supply a large selection. The high prices limit the hoarders and gunbroker resellers by cutting too much into their margin. Fewer sales also reduce the workload on a business that is already backed up to the point it can't answer phones or honor order changes.

This is economics 101. Gouging is a remedy for hoarding that has the advantage of being self-regulating. To try to prevent hoarding without gouging, PV is having to monitor customer ordering activity, put order limits in place, and cross-check shipping addresses for duplications under different names by those trying to get around the limits. Basically, they have to jump through a lot of extra hoops to make it happen and give themselves a greater workload by doing so. Bruno's, already overwhelmed by backorders, has decided it would rather sell less than pay people to jump through the extra hoops.

I believe Bruno is also a smaller volume powder seller than PV is in normal times. They may not order powder in enough volume to get wholesale prices as low as PV gets, and that would mean their prices are higher than PV even in normal times.

My recommendation is not to take it personally. PV's strategy is different from Bruno's. PV may believe it is buying future customer loyalty and finding that worth the cost of the extra work and hoop-jumping. Bruno may be gambling having some things available at any cost will bring them new customers who stay after things return to normal. They also may be genuinely unable to afford the personnel time needed for extra hoop jumping. Unless you walk a mile in their shoes...
 
Just my personal theory but I think it is simply greed.

Occam's Razor :

"The simplest explanation for some phenomenon is more likely to be accurate than more complicated explanations." "If you have two equally likely solutions to a problem, choose the simplest." "The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
 
The most amazing part of all this to me is where the stuff is actually going; I've heard from an industry source that military needs only account for about 1/4 of their production demand. That means for over a year the American public has been insatiably buying up and stockpiling ammo and reloading components. Who are they preparing to fight WW3 with?
 
During the last shortage the industry showed that unless you are in a year when the government is building stockpiles (the military was adding 4 billion rounds at that time), their agencies and departments are only about 10%-15% of the loaded ammunition market. Private shooters buy about 15 billion rounds a year, or about 50 rounds for every man, woman, and child. It's an astonishingly large market.
 
stagpanther said:
The most amazing part of all this to me is where the stuff is actually going; I've heard from an industry source that military needs only account for about 1/4 of their production demand. That means for over a year the American public has been insatiably buying up and stockpiling ammo and reloading components. Who are they preparing to fight WW3 with?
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WW3 is not likely, but I appreciate your fervor. I would say that they are preparing for war with the US Government, also not likely.

Personally, I normally only buy enough to get what I need done. The last year or so though I have been buying more than I need. I do not clean places out, but I have stockpiled enough components for several years worth of shooting if I slow down a little. With the exception of large rifle primers. They have been non existent in north central PA for over a year.
 
I haven't really increased my buying (something I now regret), but I shoot a lot since I get a kick out of home-hobbiest rifle-building. I still have tens of thousands of primers, but I'll run out in a year or two if the situation doesn't improve.
 
The military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines & Coast Guard) has its own ammunition production plant, do they not (i.e., Lake City).
 
stopped by a LGS today that I do not normally frequent. They had about 20 one pounders of Hornady Super Performance @ 40 each and probably 6 or 8 K of assorted primers and by assorted I mean assorted. Some looked like the packaging was 10 years old or more. Prices ranged from $14 per hundred for BR4's to 19 per hundred for CCI 41's. I got the feeling the owner is buying off customers or estate sales. Possibly taking primers in on trade on guns. I did not ask, buy or offer to sell any
 
Bruno's sent me an email saying they had some powders on "sale" lol . So I went over and checked it out . sure enough they had CFE-pistol on sale ( yeah ) at $350 for 10# cases . Hmm that's actually $80 cheaper then they were selling it so I guess that's a sale . I thought about it but when I did a mock check out they want $85 shipping ( includes hazmat ) That bumped it back up to $435 . I'll pass I just can't bring my self to spend that much money on one powder , PISTOL powder no less :rolleyes: FWIW they have 10# of Accurate #5 for $450 :eek: + $85 shipping :eek::eek:
 
I got the feeling the owner is buying off customers or estate sales.
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LGS near where I live resells used stuff all the time; and passes it off as new and sometimes sells at or above MSRP. I guess people do this because they have a captive market and they know they can.
 
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