A little Politics, a little free market economy

[MickeyBlueEyes]

I was in a friend's LGS, and he was talking about many of the other stores getting ready to shutter, because Trump is so Pro 2nd amendment. When the last guy was in office, he said that the former POtuS was the best gun salesman he ever had while being a store.

Are we supporting our local gun stores like we should?

Yes, I haven't posted for a long time.
No, I'm not a government spy.

I am a guy that cares about his fellow citizens enough to get laws changed.
I got the exemption removed for the Corrections Officers on the parking lot laws back in 2017. I just found that more action and less couch potatoing was in order.

 

[femurphy77]

Couchrage is a lot easier than actually standing up and being counted.

 

[HoughMade]

As much as I like guns and buying guns, I'm not interested in buying guns and ammo for the sake of supporting businesses.

Buy what makes sense to you based upon rational thought and not panic and hopefully those businesses with a sustainable business model will make due without our informal subsidies.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

There are also ways to incentivize business during periods like this. Dropping prices to get people in the door. Half the battle of a business is getting them inside. After that, us gun owners don’t like to turn away from a sweet deal on a gun. Blaming customers isn’t productive though. We’ve been buying plenty of guns, we just go where the deals are or our local business that we’ve built a friendship with.

 

[churchmouse]

-O was a great salesmen due t the dark cloud of confiscation looming when he and holder were ****ing things up.
When Trump won the pressure was released and the audible sigh swept over the nation. So many people bought guns due to the threats on the 2-A and for no other reasons. That pressure and drive is gone. It is now down to the true believers. The solid shooters.

I support the LGS as I have never and will never buy a firearm on line. I will not trip over a $5 bill to save a quarter. Take that as you will and justify your spending as you may. No sweat to me until there are no more stores left to shop in. And we are seeing this right now.

Yes I use on line purchasing for items I can not find in stock locally.

 

[russc2542]

Lets not forget that these aren't perishable goods we're talking about either. Not only is there no panic buying, many potential buyers are already stacked several deep in guns bought during the panic. No panic and market saturation.

 

[churchmouse]

Lets not forget that these aren't perishable goods we're talking about either. Not only is there no panic buying, many potential buyers are already stacked several deep in guns bought during the panic. No panic and market saturation.

Add into the equation the many who bought in speculation of turning a dollar. The carpet baggers that move among us. I love seeing them attempt to pass along the pieces they are now saddled with. Again, market saturation.

 

[Leadeye]

I visit gun stores all the time, but rarely encounter the older firearms that interest me. I don't blame the stores, customers like myself are a minority and they have to sell to the larger group to stay in business.

 

[Chewie]

-O was a great salesmen due t the dark cloud of confiscation looming when he and holder were ****ing things up.
When Trump won the pressure was released and the audible sigh swept over the nation. So many people bought guns due to the threats on the 2-A and for no other reasons. That pressure and drive is gone. It is now down to the true believers. The solid shooters.

I support the LGS as I have never and will never buy a firearm on line. I will not trip over a $5 bill to save a quarter. Take that as you will and justify your spending as you may. No sweat to me until there are no more stores left to shop in. And we are seeing this right now.

Yes I use on line purchasing for items I can not find in stock locally.

100% agree! I support lgs as much as I can with my purchases, a couple of $$ on small stuff means nothing. As for the big$$ items my money goes to the lgs, not online. I dropped up to $100 more at a shop rather than buy online. I want brick and mortar around for a reason. And yes $100 is a h*** of a lot to me!

 

[Mongo59]

I have a symbiotic relationship with my LGS owner. I am addicted to his guns, he is addicted to my cash. Nuff said...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I visit gun stores all the time, but rarely encounter the older firearms that interest me. I don't blame the stores, customers like myself are a minority and they have to sell to the larger group to stay in business.

That's my situation too. Want my business? Stock the old stuff. Otherwise it's online or gunshows for me.

 

[printcraft]

No, I'm not a government spy. .......

 

[churchmouse]

Hilarious.

 

[Kutnupe14]

As much as I like guns and buying guns, I'm not interested in buying guns and ammo for the sake of supporting businesses.

Buy what makes sense to you based upon rational thought and not panic and hopefully those businesses with a sustainable business model will make due without our informal subsidies.

I'm kinda in the same boat, and I didn't used to be that way.... but traveling to Post/Washington is a bit of a trek from Carmel. And I've never actually set foot in Bare Arms. I'm kinda content with Point Blank.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I kind of look at it this way. If I buy a gun online and pay the transfer fee (20 bucks for approximately 5 minutes of work), I'm still helping the LGS. Most small LGS's have a margin of around 10% or so. A transfer fee of 20 bucks for a $180 firearm is 100% profit, minus the 5 minutes of labor. They make more money off the transfer than they would if they had sold me the firearm directly for what I got it for online.

 

[russc2542]

That's my situation too. Want my business? Stock the old stuff. Otherwise it's online or gunshows for me.

same here. It's not a functional business model because the people that have them would have to sell them cheap enough that the store can make enough profit at what we'd pay for them. The current owners won't sell at those prices and we won't buy at the prices required for a middle-man markup. Can't blame the businesses.

I do have some newer items that I've bought in stores but that was also before I discovered armslist or the classifieds here. Hard justify MSRP+tax when you can get it for 20% off cause someone else put a few rounds down the pipe.

 

[HoughMade]

I kind of look at it this way. If I buy a gun online and pay the transfer fee (20 bucks for approximately 5 minutes of work), I'm still helping the LGS. Most small LGS's have a margin of around 10% or so. A transfer fee of 20 bucks for a $180 firearm is 100% profit, minus the 5 minutes of labor. They make more money off the transfer than they would if they had sold me the firearm directly for what I got it for online.

I agree with you. If we did the math, we may find that transfers are the highest margin operation in many gun shops.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

same here. It's not a functional business model because the people that have them would have to sell them cheap enough that the store can make enough profit at what we'd pay for them. The current owners won't sell at those prices and we won't buy at the prices required for a middle-man markup. Can't blame the businesses.

I do have some newer items that I've bought in stores but that was also before I discovered armslist or the classifieds here. Hard justify MSRP+tax when you can get it for 20% off cause someone else put a few rounds down the pipe.

I love Indiucky's shop (Falls City Firearms - Clarksville). He has the kinds of guns I'm interested in. I just wish he were closer. Or maybe I don't... I'd probably be a lot poorer money-wise, but richer to have a cool place to hang out in for good conversation and a wealth of knowledge on all manners of subjects.

 

[NKBJ]

I visit gun stores all the time, but rarely encounter the older firearms that interest me. I don't blame the stores, customers like myself are a minority and they have to sell to the larger group to stay in business.

You know man, like what's the world coming to?
The guns today are just so... plastic.

 

[ditcherman]

Interestingly enough I went into my LGS yesterday for no other reason than I felt like I should, and ended up having a very interesting conversation concerning the current market softness and his future as he approaches thinking about retirement. He seemed to be very pessimistic about the market picking up, and that probably has to do with his firm belief (hope I'm not overstating that) that Trump is unbeatable in the next election. I told him he would have a more positive business outlook if he considered the likelihood of a gun grabber getting in office. I don't think he bought it.
He did make the statement that when a new face walks in they almost always buy something or come back and buy something, which I found to be cause for optimism. He had no idea that you could get an AR for $300 from PSA, unless he was bluffing me.
My last purchase I found a week later at rural king for about $200 less ($1200 pistol) and just had to shrug it off and feel good about supporting one of my guys.