quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

Mom and pop gun shop 1) $899.99
Big Box gun shop (Green Top) 2) Regular Price $739.00 On sale for $599.99
Bigger Box gun shop (BPS) 3) $699.99
Buds Gun Shop 4) $499.00 Cash/$513.97 Retail

Mom & Pop shop is buying their firearms through a distributor and trying to retain the same margin as what they paid for.
Bud's is purchasing direct from the manufacturer for at-once sales.

Both big box stores are also buying direct however, their purchasing power allows them a discount based on volume and they're likely placing pre-season orders, which allows both sides to plan and forecast...and get a discount.

Bud's does stock some stuff, but often has new guns listed online that are actually at the distributors, as in never left the dist's inventory,
Bud's pays the Dist once the order is paid for , then the Dist ships to the dealer for the customer,

Bud's surely pays a fee for the shipping hand handling out of the Dist, but also does not have to have any capital tied up in inventory either

Bass/Cabela's etc have deals with both Manufacturers and Distributor's ,
as in some guns are bought from say Savage, factory direct, and others go thru Sport South/Lipseys, etc,

depending on the deal/contract they have with each parent company (of the firearm in question)

and yes, preplan is necessary,
Big Box guys are looking for or have already contracted summer deals now, and likely are placing orders for black Friday merchandise if they have not already,

when you are planning/writing ads for multiple locations you have to operate that way,



lots of apples and oranges conversations here too,

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

Mom and pop gun shop 1) $899.99
Big Box gun shop (Green Top) 2) Regular Price $739.00 On sale for $599.99
Bigger Box gun shop (BPS) 3) $699.99
Buds Gun Shop 4) $499.00 Cash/$513.97 Retail

Mom & Pop shop is buying their firearms through a distributor and trying to retain the same margin as what they paid for.
Bud's is purchasing direct from the manufacturer for at-once sales.

Both big box stores are also buying direct however, their purchasing power allows them a discount based on volume and they're likely placing pre-season orders, which allows both sides to plan and forecast...and get a discount.

Bud's does stock some stuff, but often has new guns listed online that are actually at the distributors, as in never left the dist's inventory,
Bud's pays the Dist once the order is paid for , then the Dist ships to the dealer for the customer,

Bud's surely pays a fee for the shipping hand handling out of the Dist, but also does not have to have any capital tied up in inventory either

Bass/Cabela's etc have deals with both Manufacturers and Distributor's ,
as in some guns are bought from say Savage, factory direct, and others go thru Sport South/Lipseys, etc,

depending on the deal/contract they have with each parent company (of the firearm in question)

and yes, preplan is necessary,
Big Box guys are looking for or have already contracted summer deals now, and likely are placing orders for black Friday merchandise if they have not already,

when you are planning/writing ads for multiple locations you have to operate that way,



lots of apples and oranges conversations here too,

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

That's just it, mom and pops need to get with the program and work on getting themselves better deals from their distributors or directly from the manufacturer. It seems that the OP's buddy has thought of this and that's exactly what is going on. Guys like him are winning because of the amount of product they are moving. Moving 300 units @ +$20 is better than moving 10 @ +$100 or 2 @ + $400... Sure, there may be more paperwork involved because you are doing more 4473's but that isn't a bad thing if you are making $6000 vs $800-$1000!

As for the used guns margins: it's ridiculous. I really believe that's where local gun shops go wrong. They have used guns with no history listed for $30-$50 less than new and sometimes the exact same price. I'm not gonna give business to people that try to take advantage of others like that. Sometimes I feel like I am dealing with Rick Harrison on Pawn Stars with regards to used guns. Just for shits and giggles, take a NIB Glock 19 to a LGS and ask how much they'll give you for it. $150-$200 tops (because their distributor only charges $300 brand new), then they'll turn around and list it for $600-$650. Watched it happen to my cousin at Clark Brothers in Warrenton, VA.

Dealers need to understand that being able to get things cheaper somewhere else works both ways. Sometimes it's better to just eat a little up front to gain a little bit of good faith and offer more for a trade, especially if the person trading is looking to buy what you have in stock (even though it's probably overpriced).

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:

quote:

And then there is Walmart, the biggest retail FFL in the US.

That is hard to believe. Many in Washington and Oregon don't even sell guns and the few that do only have a limited number of not so desirable long guns. I've never seen a Walmart that even sold pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

Mom and pop gun shop 1) $899.99
Big Box gun shop (Green Top) 2) Regular Price $739.00 On sale for $599.99
Bigger Box gun shop (BPS) 3) $699.99
Buds Gun Shop 4) $499.00 Cash/$513.97 Retail

Mom & Pop shop is buying their firearms through a distributor and trying to retain the same margin as what they paid for.
Bud's is purchasing direct from the manufacturer for at-once sales.

Both big box stores are also buying direct however, their purchasing power allows them a discount based on volume and they're likely placing pre-season orders, which allows both sides to plan and forecast...and get a discount.

Bud's does stock some stuff, but often has new guns listed online that are actually at the distributors, as in never left the dist's inventory,
Bud's pays the Dist once the order is paid for , then the Dist ships to the dealer for the customer,

Bud's surely pays a fee for the shipping hand handling out of the Dist, but also does not have to have any capital tied up in inventory either

Bass/Cabela's etc have deals with both Manufacturers and Distributor's ,
as in some guns are bought from say Savage, factory direct, and others go thru Sport South/Lipseys, etc,

depending on the deal/contract they have with each parent company (of the firearm in question)

and yes, preplan is necessary,
Big Box guys are looking for or have already contracted summer deals now, and likely are placing orders for black Friday merchandise if they have not already,

when you are planning/writing ads for multiple locations you have to operate that way,



lots of apples and oranges conversations here too,

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

That's just it, mom and pops need to get with the program and work on getting themselves better deals from their distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

quote:

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

quote:

Originally posted by saigonsmuggler:
Since Tanner's and Bud's have been brought up in this thread alot, which one is better and more trustworthy?

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

Whoa! You seem to be confusing the gun business with Apple.

It has already been determined that nobody needs to make more than 5%, and if they do they're raping people.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:

quote:

Originally posted by saigonsmuggler:
Since Tanner's and Bud's have been brought up in this thread alot, which one is better and more trustworthy?

Tanners

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:

Mom and pop gun shop 1) $899.99
Big Box gun shop (Green Top) 2) Regular Price $739.00 On sale for $599.99
Bigger Box gun shop (BPS) 3) $699.99
Buds Gun Shop 4) $499.00 Cash/$513.97 Retail

Mom & Pop shop is buying their firearms through a distributor and trying to retain the same margin as what they paid for.
Bud's is purchasing direct from the manufacturer for at-once sales.

Both big box stores are also buying direct however, their purchasing power allows them a discount based on volume and they're likely placing pre-season orders, which allows both sides to plan and forecast...and get a discount.

Bud's does stock some stuff, but often has new guns listed online that are actually at the distributors, as in never left the dist's inventory,
Bud's pays the Dist once the order is paid for , then the Dist ships to the dealer for the customer,

Bud's surely pays a fee for the shipping hand handling out of the Dist, but also does not have to have any capital tied up in inventory either

Bass/Cabela's etc have deals with both Manufacturers and Distributor's ,
as in some guns are bought from say Savage, factory direct, and others go thru Sport South/Lipseys, etc,

depending on the deal/contract they have with each parent company (of the firearm in question)

and yes, preplan is necessary,
Big Box guys are looking for or have already contracted summer deals now, and likely are placing orders for black Friday merchandise if they have not already,

when you are planning/writing ads for multiple locations you have to operate that way,



lots of apples and oranges conversations here too,

the margin is in used guns, the volume is in new guns (typically 25% + used, 10% on a good day new) for bigger stores,



the real money is made on the other stuff,
cleaning gear, clothing (sometimes 60% +) ammo, accessories etc etc, all of which means you have to lay out the $$$ to have it in stock, then hope your customer base will buy it all,

harder for smaller mom and pop shop to do as well

That's just it, mom and pops need to get with the program and work on getting themselves better deals from their distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

Small independents can leverage manufacturers for better pricing by forming buying groups. In general, as a group they guarantee to the manufactures that they'll purchase $ X-amount per season, and/or order XYZ-styles in exchange for pricing that's competitive to what they offer the big national dealers. In my business, the top outdoor stores in the country belong to the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance; members get same or, better pre-season discounts as the big guys, in exchange they pay their bills on-time. In order to be a member, they have to carry no debt on inventory, thus every manufacture is lined up to get their business. Not sure if the firearms industry has such organizations, if not, some like minded LGS's should band together and form such.

quote:

So, I'll repeat, I have absolutely NO PROBLEM buying online for the best price I can find. I couldn't care less if every local gun shop goes under. I couldn't care less if all my local FFLs stopped doing transfers. I literally have more firearms than I or my great grandchildren will EVER need, so it's highly doubtful I'll be "fucked".

quote:

Originally posted by Belgian Blue:
I've done business with Tanner's and I highly recommend them. Great service and quick shipping. They were among the first to get the PS90s and FS2000s when they were first hitting the market.

As far as local stores go, around here in OKC metro area most sell for close to full retail. While I have purchased locally because one of the major dealers had in stock what I was looking for I can say that I've never really gotten what I'd consider a great deal in the past 10-15 years from local dealers. The exception being the ability to get two LE Glocks per year.

The vast majority of my buying has been online from great folks like Tanners and others. I see no problem with the consumer seeking the best possible price they can get on a given product. The idea that online sales killing quality is laughable. I bought three P7s, a P9s and a P210-6 from online sources. I'd challenge anyone to call those 'crap'.

Years ago, I was looking for a FS2000. (I'm and FN fanatic) Anyway, I called a local store who I've literally given tens of thousands of dollars worth of business to. I asked if they had an FS2000 in stock and what they were asking for it.

Their response "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it."

Despite being a regular customer, that's how they acted. I was literally willing to buy with cash in hand and asking the price was merely a formality. That's how I became introduced to Tanner's. I have absolutely no problem buying all future firearms online at the best price I can find and paying a $10 transfer fee. (Oh, my Lord)

Another local dealer scoffed at me paying for a purchase with a personal check. They even gave me a lecture about how it would be a felony if my check bounced on a firearm purchase.

I asked if they could look up my purchase history at the store. They were shocked at how many high end firearms I had purchased. They had no problem with my check after that, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

So, I'll repeat, I have absolutely NO PROBLEM buying online for the best price I can find. I couldn't care less if every local gun shop goes under. I couldn't care less if all my local FFLs stopped doing transfers. I literally have more firearms than I or my great grandchildren will EVER need, so it's highly doubtful I'll be "fucked". BTW, that's not the kind of language I would typically expect from a Reverend. Then again, I guess anyone can call themselves a 'Reverend' these days. Like 'Reverend' Jesse Jackson and 'Reverend' Jim Jones.

Then again, what do I know. I contracted pneumonia a couple years back and I suffer from recurring bronchitis, so I guess that technically makes me a "one lunger".