I have a place where I can do a transfer for $25. Can also purchase new guns at a $25 over cost. Have to wait a few days for delivery because everything has to be ordered but he has no overhead. I won't go to a regular gun shop and pay $100 to $200 markup. If they want my business thy can lower their price.

quote:

have a simple solution. ALL FFL holders join together and refuse to do transfers. REFUSE. I liken it to Wal-Mart destroying main street. We dropped our pants and let them fuck us. Guns are a consumer durable. Making $30 on a Shield is bullshit.

Welcome to the Democrat party.

It’s no skin off my neck doing transfers. Hell, I’ll do them all day for $25 a pop. That’s more than the margin on *lots* of guns anyway. I don’t have to order it, pay shipping or mess with sales tax. Class III stuff and accessories are where my occasional profit comes from. Just my take.

I live in the middle of nowhere. If my shopping were limited to what was in stock, I'd never see anything more expensive than a Glock.

Yep, I have to agree with all of the posters in this thread. This is the market doing what the market should be doing. And I would imagine, those who complain about what the market is, are likely the same folks that gladly sold $3,000 Smith and Wesson M&P ARs, $100 PMAGS, and the like when business was really, really good.

Then when you factor the "Hey, I really want to look at a SIG" "No, you don't what you really want is a Taurus Edge. The SEALs are using these bad boys as a deep concealment SHTFTEOTWAWKI/SEAL/DELTA/DEVGRU pistol" mentality, yeah, I really have trouble having any sympathy.

New guns was never a place where brick and mortar shops made their money to begin with. Someone that complains about making $30 or $45 on a transfer versus what you'd make mark up is probably also someone that was charging way too much, and likely not understanding why they weren't selling too many guns.

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ALL FFL holders join together and refuse to do transfers. REFUSE.

^^ Right on, Egregore....except I can do a transfer in 10min!

A shop I know of exists for the sole purpose of transfers. They have filler inventory but their money is made by charging $25 per transfer averaging 25 or so a day 6 days week. Sure seems like an easy way to make money to me, even with a storefront with overhead.

Another thing that helps is the guy doesn’t shit on people for their trades. The other shop in town hammers people with extremely low offers and if someone is stupid enough to sell that low, the gun will be in the case at close to brand new pricing.

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Welcome to the Democrat party.

Complaining about making 2% on a consumer durable doesn't make you a democrat.

One would argue that demanding a consumer durable that cost less than a weeks wages at minimum wage may have caused the end product to be a steaming pile of dog shit.

We asked for it with pricing. Reap the benefits of craptastic finish and MIM internals.

quote:

Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth:

quote:

Welcome to the Democrat party.

Complaining about making 2% on a consumer durable doesn't make you a democrat.

One would argue that demanding a consumer durable that cost less than a weeks wages at minimum wage may have caused the end product to be a steaming pile of dog shit.

We asked for it with pricing. Reap the benefits of craptastic finish and MIM internals.

Isn’t $35 about 5% on a $700 gun? And if I’m doing transfers I have no carrying costs.

Just not sure your history and rant on the state of the goods has any connection to the anger for FFL transfers? Which is it; not enough people buying $6K guns, all guns now suck, or you can’t/won’t sell sub-$1K guns or do just transfers?

Happy 4th!

quote:

Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth:
I've been in the gun industry since 98. Cut my teeth selling Ljudic and Parazzi. Graduated to Smith 5, 4 , 3 screws, Colt SAAs, and Lugers. Sold shotguns that cost 60 grand, and I spent all of my ample commissions on wine, women, and song.

Having said all of that, I'm trying to prove that I'm not some weirdo in their Mom's basement.

The gun industry is HARD. Manufacturers deliver half baked product that breaks on consumers. Dealers make a living on 10%. Counter jockey's are hired to fill a spot and take an order because they can't be paid what they deserve on shit margins.

I have a simple solution. ALL FFL holders join together and refuse to do transfers. REFUSE. I liken it to Wal-Mart destroying main street. We dropped our pants and let them fuck us. Guns are a consumer durable. Making $30 on a Shield is bullshit.

Rant Off

it sounds like you are blaming the informed consumer, when in reality for every buyer who wants to pay 10% over, its your industry that is undercutting itself. How many dealers are on gunbroker because they cannot sell an item in their store or want to inflate their volumes. When you blame the consumer for your woes - you are not going to be in business long.

I ran a record store. Internet put me out of business. Napster and the like, even law abiding citizens started stealing music online. Record stores started going under (my business catered to DJ’s, not joe consumer). I sold mine when vinyl sales start going into the tank. I sold it and started using my degree for another industry.

This is life. Adapt or die.

the only downside to transfers is waiting on the delivery

by that I mean as a shop owner, part time shop, we are not always there when fedex/ups/usps delivers, and have the occasional gun show up with not much to say who it belongs too,,

usually not a big deal, I can usually get it diverted to a pick up location unless it is from buds or cdnn (they will not allow you to change delivery location, even to a hub or pickup location)

then I just wait it out and pick it up at the hub or location after the 3 attempts,,


did a transfer yesterday for a regular customer,
while I was processing his paperwork he bought a couple boxes of ammo from me,
win win

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

Isn’t $35 about 5% on a $700 gun? And if I’m doing transfers I have no carrying costs.

Yes, at that point you are making $35 for 15 minutes of work (plus a small portion of the cost of the FFL / storage / building location, spread out over the number of transfers per a fixed time period). But if you are doing regular transfers, it's a very small amount.

They're looking a gift horse in the mouth. Because they gain zero business by refusing transfers.

A story of 3 gun shops in my area and why I go to the one I do. This was a couple of years ago, back when sub2000s were unobtainium and MSRP was somewhere in the mid 400 range.

Shop 1- The few times I've been there I was ignored unless I was purchasing something and then I was obviously wasting their time with my money. Sub2000 if they had it was right at MSRP and you really didn't want that. What you wanted was the tactical 12ga double barrel instead for just $100 higher than the kel-tec. This shop recently changed owners and actually ran radio spots stating "New Ownership with a New Attitude". Yes, their previous reputation was that well known. Oh and Surplus G3 mags run $20.00 each. No thanks.

Shop number 2- Not as bad as shop #1, but you could tell they didn't really need your business. Want to know how I know? Sub-2000 was $509. That's 9 bucks more TODAY's MSRP. Everything else was high. MSRP or above. No thanks.

Shop number 3- Started just a few years ago. Small shop. All customers are treated like they are valued. Pricing was reasonable. No sub-2000s but they took my name and gave me a call when they got some in. $359.00+tax and background check. Free targets with purchase if you want them. They thank you for your business. They have expanded their shop to more than twice their original size. Their prices have crept up slightly, but they now have a large staff, mostly veterans, and their demeanor has stayed the same. Transfers are $25.00 all day long and that includes background check. If you have multiple items it's $25.00 for the first one and $10 bucks each additional. "Hey man? Do you need some targets?" Scuttlebutt was that shops 1 and 2 were threatening to sue store number 3 because his prices were so low. You know...lower than theirs. Wanna know how low his prices are? He stays about the same ballpark as Bud's. I recently paid $559.00+tax and background check for a gen5 G19. But hey, he treats you like a person and appreciates your business, whether you transfer something in or buy from him.

You either want my money or you don't. I've transferred in as many firearms as I've purchased there and the dude appreciates it. That's why I go there. Oh..and free targets.

Only 10% on new guns.

But 15-20% on ammo and accessories.

And 10-95% on used guns.

Has any gun store ever kept the lights on, on new guns?

Man, I will probably put you into FULL cardiac arrest to know that my LGS doesn't charge me anything to do transfers.

That will surely drive you to be a clocktower sniper.

Guns are low margin items. Good business owners find ways to increase margins. Like selling ammo and accessories. Or doing competitive, low cost transfers. A lot of them. My FFL had to hire a person JUST for transfers. Every time I'm in there, you will find 4-6 guys filling out 4473's. That's 30-40 transfers every. Single. Day. For 5 minutes of paperwork, the profit potential is there. Adapt or die.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Man, I will probably put you into FULL cardiac arrest to know that my LGS doesn't charge me anything to do transfers.

That will surely drive you to be a clocktower sniper.

Haha. If your FFL carries ammo and accessories - I bet they are good at upselling the customers they are doing transfers for. That is where the margins are.

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Originally posted by dry-fly:
^^ Right on, Egregore....except I can do a transfer in 10min!

Thirty minutes probably was on the high side. But I figured in the time for you to log the gun(s) in.