Purchasing a Handgun

I have tried 4 times to buy from my local GSs. Each time they were either $100
or more, but most important to me was they all misrepresented the condition
of the revolver/pistol. The last GS tried to sell me a Glock 19 gen 4 as nib and even a blind person could see that it was used. I owned a small business and am the first to try and support my local businesses.
I'm not an expert by any means, but the one thing I cannot let pass are liars.
In all the transactions that I've had with Buds, every gun came in pristine and quite less money wise even with the FFL and background checks.
Different strokes for different folks.
 
i buy from the local gun shops.

over the course of a gun's life, you will spend far more on ammo than on the initial cost of the gun. if i don't support the local gun shop, they go bye-bye and then i'm stuck.

my only exception to this is ordering a unique gun from Wilson Combat. guns that are not stocked by dealers, and only available directly from Wilson.
 
I prefer to buy locally. I can be dissuaded if the price difference was substantial, but it usually isn't. What I will not do is use the LGS inventory to find and handle a gun I want, then buy it online for a small savings. I regard that is an unfair practice; maintaining inventory has a cost, and I personally don't expect to use it without paying a fair price for it.
 
I'm with Targa and Armedleo.
Local prices are over inflated here in CO.
My last 4 guns came from grabagun.com . Good price and service.
 
I prefer to buy from a local gun shop. Id rather support a local business and I find that the price isnt all that different from buying online.
 
I prefer to buy from a local gun shop. Id rather support a local business and I find that the price isnt all that different from buying online.
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Whenever possible I buy local on everything. $400 at LGS or $375 at online store with $25 s&h and then transfer fee of $0-$80. Your NICS fee is there no matter what. If your LGS is very high then ask them to match the price or at least see what they are willing to do. I am lucky. My LGS is usually the lowest price around as long as its an item he can get. Often times the LGS has higher prices marked to reflect the percentage they have to pay for CC processing (3-4%). Offer cash and get better deals. Big box stores like Gnader Mountain and BPS wont discount in my experience.
 
If you are considering buying new I would suggest this:

http://www.galleryofguns.com/

You can see pricing of dealers in your area, the gun ships directly to them usually a few days. I've used them several times and I'm happy
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I have used Gallery of Guns when I couldn't find the exact gun I wanted locally. You are still buying through your local LGS and Davidson's simply supplies the gun to the participating dealer and makes the sale for them. Each participating dealer determines the price and I have not found 2 with the same price. You choose the gun you want and click on the dealer locator based on the distance from you that you choose. It gives you an out the door price at each dealer (they each choose the mark-up that is usually a percentage). You pay Gallery of Guns a deposit after you choose the dealer and they ship it to the dealer (call them to alert them that it is coming). It will arrive in just a few days, you pay the balance and pick up the gun. It has worked very smoothly for me. You need to check all of the nearby dealer prices as they will all vary greatly.
 
Well, as an example, I took a look at prices on a new M&P 9mm Shield today in 9mm. Unfortunately, the only gun sellers left in my home town are big box stores (if you call Rural King a big box store). Rural King didn't have any. Both Academy Sports and Gander Mountain had the pistol at the same price, although in the case of Gander Mountain it was a "sale" price.

That price was $75 higher than where I can get the pistol from anout-of-state internet seller I have used in the past and trust. Shipping from this retailer is free. I will pay a $20 fee to my FFL for the transfer, but I would have paid $28 in sales tax if I bought locally.

So in this case, I will save over $80 by buying on-line, but I will have to wait about a week to get the pistol. This has been my typical experience in the past. I can usually find a pistol on-line for up to $100 less than I can get it locally, shipping, FFL fee, and taxes included.

Forget gun shows in my area. They are terrible. Sellers there are often asking for more than the MSRP for new guns, and I have repeatedly seen used guns with an asking price $100 more than what I can get them for NIB on-line.
 
My local FFL is pretty fair priced and often has good deals on used guns. I have bought 4 firearms from him and he knows me by name.

He gave me 30 dollars off my last gun I bought. He also offered to give me a fixed magazine for my SKS for free.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
 
I prefer hands on, in person transactions, locally. I always check the LGS 1st. It's closest to me. They rarely have what I'm looking for, including ammo. Big box and discount stores are the next closest. I bought my pistol at Rural King. I did my own research though and didn't need to rely on the knowledge of the store clerk.
 
Your NICS fee is there
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Fee, really, where do they do that? Just curious, never been charged a fee for a NICS phone call. Weather it be a kitchen table dealer, sMall LGS, large local sporting goods store, or one of the big national chainns.

To the OP question, most of my guns that aren't C&R eligible have come from local shops, or the big guys. Sometimes I have the big guys order something in if they don't have it in stock. I have ordered from Bud's Gun's and transferred through a small kitchen table dealer. But only because nobody else had the limited run gun I wanted. The guns bought from the big guys, BPS, Cabela's, and Gander Mountain were bargain priced not only because they were on sale, but also because I used a couple hundred dollars or more in rewards points from their credit cards, and/or gift cards.
 
I really like the owner of my LGS. If he has something I want, it probably costs "too much", but he will take a firearm that I don't want anymore in trade, so that works out.

A few times I have even gotten good prices from him.

I am a notorious bargain-hunter, though, and most of my purchases are online at prices so low that he congratulates me for them.

But he still likes seeing me come through the door. If it's an online purchase that was shipped to him, that means he gets $20 for chatting with me for a few minutes while he fills out some paperwork. That is very easy money. :)
 
I often buy online because the days of service or valuable advice from the lgs are over for me. I really try to avoid that interaction. I'm tired of saying X or Y is a good brand when I know that I'm being pushed that way to sell a higher margin product.

So, I buy online after research at the local indoor range.

I have offered to buy from the lgs, but when the lid to me about $50+ transfer fees being the going rate or tell me they cannot get under $650 on a CZ75, I know where to go.

I still have bought at an lgs.

Still, the lgs will never be able to compete with Grabagun on a $244 shield...

All that said, I would never recommend a first gun be bought online. Find a lgs with a gunsmith and trainer. Take the penalty as a fee for service. You need it, trust me. Ask questions, balance with answers on here.
 
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How do you prefer to buy handguns? Is the lower price worth buying online, or is being able to actually hold the firearm you will buy and walk out with it that day the better option?
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Re: price....

In the long haul, the initial price you pay for a decent gun pales in comparison to the enormous amount of money it takes to feed it.

My recommendation is to buy from the local store & have them also go over the basics of reloading with you.

Then, try to put together some sort of package deal.
I've learned in life that there's plenty of ways to negotiate a lower price via some sort of package deal.

The other thing to consider here also is - both of the guns you want as small.
Good for carry, bad for honing any sort of skills related to accuracy.
 
For the most part, I buy from two local shops, both with good pricing. Cabelas is always $30 to $75 more expensive. One of the shops is a 'Cop' shop, dealing with most of the Louisville Metro LEO's. He's a great guy, very knowledgable, and does right by his transactions. (Wolf Supply, in Louisville KY)

The other is a Mom & Pop sporting goods store in Carollton, KY; Glaubers Sports. They're good, honest people and give a fair valuation on trade-ins.

I've dealt with internet (GB) vendors but, unless the gun is new, you've really got to know what you're looking at, and study the pics for condition. I've been stuck on 'condition' only once in 6-8 buys, but I have to admit, each time I've bought, I held my breath til the gun arrived. I deal FFL to FFL, and pay by US Postal Service money order, making any fraudulent transaction a Federal offense.

HTH's Rod
 
Fee, really, where do they do that? Just curious, never been charged a fee for a NICS phone call. Weather it be a kitchen table dealer, sMall LGS, large local sporting goods store, or one of the big national chainns.
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I actually had a vendor at a gun show try to pull that stunt on me. The lady was ringing me up on a rifle I wanted and told me their fee to run my background was $10. I told her they could keep the rifle because I wasn't paying a service charge to them to run my background.
 
My cutoff point is around $30. If I can save that much after ordering online, paying shipping and the $20 FFL fee I'm happy to buy online. Although I typically try to buy lightly used through private sale. Not only do you save some money from a "new" price, there's also no sales tax, shipping or FFL fees.
 
Don't assume the guns will be cheaper online. My last three handgun purchases were equal or cheaper at my local gun shop than online when considering shipping, transfer fees and taxes. Always ask the shop owner for his best price - don't go by what's on the tag.

Even if the price was higher at my gun shop I still would have paid it just to support local business, and to develop a local relationship.

TomVA
 
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