I have been wondering what is going on at Midway for some time and a recent post concerning a problem another member is having with a coupon code issue is just one example. Not wanting to distract from the issue in his thread I decided to post this for another example of what seems to be an odd business model they have adopted. You might ask how their $67.99 per box of 50 rounds of Remington FMJ 357 Sig ammo is selling this week. Their Winchester and Federal 125 FMJ are both priced over $60.00 per box as well. They are of course free to set any price for their merchandise they care to, but it is rather blatant profiteering. I guess someone there must think some of their customers have bumped their heads.

OK, finished raving now and am off to look at the cat pictures. Again.

Maybe they jacked the prices up trying to make up for the loss of customers due to the recent WLP debacle. Lol.

Yes Sir I can see where that should have occasioned a hit to the bottom line. I am not sure whether I somehow missed that thread or if in my old timer's memory, I managed to forget it. Could have been one of those times I was just looking at the cat, dogs, and bourbon threads. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

I actually have wondered how they stay in business. It is not unusual for me to be able to walk into the LGS ( not a big box or giant bass pro or similar) and find the exact product even considering sales tax, significantly less expensive than prices they advertise before shipping and so on.

Sounds like they are adopting the cheaper than dirt business model!

Last November, ammo wholesalers told the retailers the price of ammo was going up across the board, but lesser sold calibers likely more than more common ones. I'd wait a couple of months and see how other stores prices are affected. Often, "oddball" calibers remain on LGS shelves for months or longer, and they may have been purchased from the wholesaler at a lower price.

quote:

They are of course free to set any price for their merchandise they care to, but it is rather blatant profiteering.

Profiteering eh?
Terrible ain't it?

“Profiteering” is such an ugly word. I’m not sure use of the term in the OP is warranted.

prof·​i·​teer·​ing ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ
: the act or activity of making an unreasonable profit on the sale of essential goods especially during times of emergency.

https://www.merriam-webster.co...tionary/profiteering

Well, I know this is certainly a classic example of buyer beware as far as doing business with Midway and Lord knows I am just an old redneck country boy and have from time to time used an improper and/or incorrect word to describe something. However, on reconsideration I believe I will stick with my original thought.

Let's see what is going on in that old head of mine.

The definition of profiteering as used seems to me to hinge on one's personal interpretation as to whether or not the three subjective conditions listed in the definition exist.
Is ammunition an essential item?
Yes, I think I, as well as one or two others, might find that to be the case.
Unreasonable profit.
Now this is the stickler. I have NO way to know what Midway's cost was nor their overhead cost. A quick perusal of an ammo search engine this morning showed several 50 round boxes the same as or equivalent to those listed in the original post as selling for thirty-ish dollars or less. This morning, I actually bought three boxes of the EXACT same Remington ammo as that offered by Midway at $ 67.99 per box for $ 17.99 with ten-dollar and forty-nine cent shipping for a total cost of $64.46 including tax and shipping. So, I bought three boxes of the same ammo with tax and shipping for $3.53 less than one box from Midway . I must presume that this dealer was making some profit which he found acceptable. Based on this price Midway was obviously looking at up to a potential of up to 50.00 per box income from each sale which would have given them up to a potential 150.00 income on the total sale had I purchased them there. Would their actions in doing so be criminal? NO. Are they entitled to make a profit? YES.
Times of Emergency
Now I think this one really requires an individual assessment of prevailing conditions with the potential to create a personal " TIME OF EMERGENCY" as the definition doesn't seem to require the legal declaration of one nor the immediate existence of one by using the qualifier "especially during times of emergency' .

While the United States exists legally in an almost constant state of federally declared National Emergency, I would presume current unaddressed issues might have more potentially immediate impact to the average citizen.

So, let's see what my personal assessment of potential times of emergency existing are.

Chaotic and possibly criminal conditions arising after severe bad weather.

The ongoing unchecked invasion of the United States by potentially criminal, known criminal, terrorist or foreign intelligence operatives, assets, or threats via ALL borders.

Inability of law enforcement at all levels to do their job effectively due to budget/political/ judicial hamstringing thus giving the ordinary law-abiding citizen a greater chance to be impacted by immediate criminal behavior of all types.

So, with those three alone I believe I am good with this meeting my personal definition of times of emergency.

OK, so unreasonable profit, essential goods, time of emergency, with the standard for all being subjective rather than objective......

After consultation with my cat, and our subjective assessment of the available information concerning pricing and existing conditions, I believe I am ok with my original post.

We get your rant, much of it hyperbole but we understand the premise, accurate or not.

Here's another possibility. Midway is a pretty large distributer and sell a lot of different ammunition and I would imagine they have a rather quick turnover of stock. So the prices we are seeing could be reflective of the prices we will be seeing in the near future from those smaller distributers.

In checking the price per round of other brands of ammo offered by Midway, the $1.65 per round for the Remington 357 ammo seems to be in the average ppr range with the other brands. And Midway does offer free shipping every other week or so, so there's that.

I would choose to describe it as more like Midway was a victim of a current round of price increases. Maybe a buyer didn't wait for a better price. They could occasionally be cheaper, but mostly market price driven just to have things in stock. Any one of us would simply pass on a price which was outrageous. I don't buy NY strip when it's over $12 a pound locally, but I've seen that price.

quote:

This morning, I actually bought three boxes of the EXACT same Remington ammo as that offered by Midway at $ 67.99 per box for $ 17.99 with ten-dollar and forty-nine cent shipping for a total cost of $64.46 including tax and shipping

Congratulations on the good deal.

Thanks, Arfmel. I am pretty much in just maintenance mode now just topping off the cache and replacing what I shoot.