Walmart vs LGS

[kjf48197]

I do not favor wal-mart either but they do have cheap ammo and the one by my house has no self scan. What a concept hiring the people in the neighborhood to work their store, And as stated before I get the best price.

 

[thekuhnburger]

Here is a pretty good summary, in my opinion. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvscMJNM5U&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

 

[IndyColtsFaithful]

you do realize that is capitalism in action...dont you?

I work hard for my money, ill spend it where it does the most good. Wherever that may be. Not sure what service i need other than the product i wish to purchase. If i have a problem or issue,Im contacted the manufacturer instead of a store to act as middle man. welcome to the internet age. The best service available is self service

Currently it is Capitalism; however, I'm talking in the future when they gain the whole market share. There will be no more Capitalism.

 

[IndyColtsFaithful]

Riddle me this, colts fan. Has wal mart not improved consumers lives by offering products at cheaper prices? To you, it is worth it to wait the extra month and save up. So great! Support who you want to support! To someone else living paycheck to paycheck, scraping the bottom of the barrel to buy a firearm, they might not care as much about the knowledge of the staff or the crappy service (yes, it's terrible). For throwing out terms like equilibrium price, you seem to be forgetting about other basic aspects of economics... If Walmart were to put all the LGS out of business and start raising prices, at a point, people would decide to take their business online. Or better yet, an entrepreneur would see the opportunity to beat them in price and make a profit.
Side note: my last firearm was bought at a LGS. I'm not partial to wally world, just trying to show both sides of the argument.

I do not believe it is in any way improving consumers lives. The whole cycle of our basic economy is not being fulfilled. It offers low-paying, non-benefit jobs. In fact the majority of the people who work at WalMart end up turning around and putting most of their paycheck back into WalMart. How are we as a society of consumers gaining from that? I'm not forgetting anything. I'm talking WalMart putting out the LGS and/or online. An entrepreneur would have no way of starting up a LGS out of the blue and competing with WalMart.. no way possible.

 

[Horse]

I do not believe it is in any way improving consumers lives. The whole cycle of our basic economy is not being fulfilled. It offers low-paying, non-benefit jobs. In fact the majority of the people who work at WalMart end up turning around and putting most of their paycheck back into WalMart. How are we as a society of consumers gaining from that? I'm not forgetting anything. I'm talking WalMart putting out the LGS and/or online. An entrepreneur would have no way of starting up a LGS out of the blue and competing with WalMart.. no way possible.

Walmart is actually a very good employer. They employ literally tens of thousands of people and allow anyone walking through the door to rise up to positions all the way up the ladder. Not many companies offer that possibility now days.

I also have a very low paying non-benefit job. It's called being a small business owner. I have taken $0 salary since starting my company and have no insurance etc. There are millions out there like me.

Currently it is Capitalism; however, I'm talking in the future when they gain the whole market share. There will be no more Capitalism.

They cannot do this by Federal law. It is called a monopoly.
But what you are not addressing here is that for the past many years walmart share and profitability have been plummeting. Some of their competitors like Target have been picking their pockets for years and have caught them.


I also used to work at a company that was a major supplier to a minor walmart department. believe it or not they were one of our best vendors to deal with. MUCH better to deal with than home depot etc.

In short - you speak a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of facts.

 

[Mackey]

I buy all my range ammp from Walmart, due to the price. I can buy 50rds for my .45 from my LGS for $23+ or Walmart $17.50, no brainer. If my Walmart carried a handgun I wanted for $100 less than my LGS, Walmart will get my business.

This is just the way it is, who offers more bang for my buck? Several LGS I have been to are rapists anyway. The day that some LGS realize they are not a monopoly, I will start buying from them. Quit marking up your guns so high!! In the meantime, I will pay you my FFL transfer fee for guns I buy online for a REAL price.

Sell 1 gun a week for $150 profit, or 10 a week for $50 profit each?

My thoughts exactly. LGS are not a charity that I need to support. I surely wish them well, but they're going to be challenged to work harder for our business.

Lookit: Walmart is not going to be able to stock everything that we need (want). So the LGS are going to have to be creative in what they stock and how they get us to stop in.

 

[Deucemizer]

I don't think WalMart will ever do away with local gun stores, seems like there are plenty of dedicated gun enthusiasts that will go out of their way to avoid buying the base-model wares I see at WalMart. I personally prefer somthing with a little more character than the plain barrels and synthetic stocks thats on most of their stuff. Plus WalMart will never buy, trade or barter with your old stuff, I think thats what keeps local gun stores going.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I think some of you fail to understand one simple concept. Your LGS would be out of buisness if they sold their firearms cheaper than say Walmart. They have more overhead, which has been already discussed. Walmart buys in bulk, which saves the company money. Just think how many rounds they buy at one time. Now compare that to your LGS, there is no comparison. I'm in my LGS on a weekly bases. I know that he is not making a killing by any means. Even when he is busy.

 

[thumperdogg]

I think some of you fail to understand one simple concept. Your LGS would be out of buisness if they sold their firearms cheaper than say Walmart. They have more overhead, which has been already discussed. Walmart buys in bulk, which saves the company money. Just think how many rounds they buy at one time. Now compare that to your LGS, there is no comparison. I'm in my LGS on a weekly bases. I know that he is not making a killing by any means. Even when he is busy.

But this shouldn't translate into me paying $100 or more in a purchase from the LGS to feed their family, I have my own to feed. LOL

Some people treat spending their money at a LGS like an act of patriotism. I am not here to bash you. If you want to buy from your LGS, by all means please proceed. Just don't complain when I buy elsewhere cheaper and get mad at me because I don't "buy local". Also, don't get mad when I "lowball" you for your item in the classifieds. You paid the extra cost for it and I'm not going to on the used end. A lot of the time you can tell who purchased from their LGS because they are selling a used gun for more than a new one online.

Last, but not least, if you want to be technical...

It doesn't matter where you buy the gun from. If you want to complain about walmart off-shoring jobs and concerned with our economy, ONLY BUY GUNS THAT ARE BUILT AND MANUFACTURED IN THE USA!!

Buying guns that are made in another country is just like not "buying local". This means no to all the Glock lovers out there!!

I am not bashing the person I am quoting, I apologize if you think I am attacking you, I don't mean to be. If you want to buy locally, BUY AMERICAN. If you are buying a Glock from your LGS, you just sent your money overseas anyway, so what are you complaining about?

BTW, I do not stick to the buying American guns myself, just making a point.

 

[TheFireArmorer]

I'm gonna agree with the majority in this post. The simple fact is most of us have to budget our money and when it comes down to it, sometimes you do just have to be a little self-centered.

I've never bought a gun from wal-mart, but only because i've never seen one there that i liked. But for cheap plinking rounds, it's a godsend.

How can anyone see WM 9mm fmj at $10 to $14 and LGS 9mm fmj at $14 to $"WTF?!?!" and still buy the LGS ammo? To me and most people I know it's just not feasible.

If I buy four 50 round boxes at wally world im going to be saving anywhere from $10 to $20. That's another box of ammo! If you only shoot a box every month or so... no big deal. But, if you do some serious shooting you'd be out hundreds or thousands of dollars each year!

If you can afford to by from stores other than wal-mart, by all means, do it. Your choice. I on the other hand just can't do it, neither can a lot of people.

So until I walk into my LGS and see ammo at a price i can afford, Wal-mart has got my business... even though customer service seriously sucks lol.

 

[Horse]

I still don't have a LGS since moving to IN, so I can't comment on customer service, but with my old LGS I often had better at Walmart.

Except for Gallensons in downtown SLC, and I would drive 35mins to get there because I liked them so much.

 

[joshualee49]

I am sure that a LGS can buy ammo and sell for the same price as Walmart and STILL make a profit, maybe not as much of a profit, but still a profit.

If this were the scenario, I would buy ALL of my ammo from my LGS. I am sure everyone I know would. This would = a large increase in ammo sales for the LGS and in turn = more profit. I have had a lot of experience in retail sales as a small business. I used to mark my stuff up high and make a larger profit per item. It didn't take me long to realize that doesn't work. I cut my profit in half and sold 5 times as much product. This earned me way more money than greed did.

I am not saying they should change their business plans, if it works for you run with it, but if it doesn't, adaptation is key to survival.

I don't disagree with you there. I'm sure there is a pretty substantial markup in ammo at the LGS. We could be wrong - I'm sure WM buys ammo by the 10s of thousands and gets substantially cheaper direct-from-mfr pricing than Billy Bob's Buckmark Bonanza Booth.

I worked for WM for nearly 5 years in a distribution center. I managed a crew of nearly 100. For all the management training they put me through I can tell you that the key to their business is marginal profit across a huge volume of sales. Even if they make 50 cents per box of ammo sold they would still come out on top. It's the true power of buying cheap and selling cheap. Of course, when your company measures it's quarterly earnings in tens of billions, you have a lot more flexibility as a price negotiator with manufacturers.

 

[Sailor]

Walmart is not the problem. It is the symptom of rampant consumerism.

 

[donballz]

 

[nucone]

Living in the heart of Walmart country, I don't see any evidence that they are anywhere close to putting LGS out of business and I doubt they are even trying. I have yet to witness anyone purchase a firearm at Walmart although admittedly I don't hang around there to watch (I have no desire to show up in the people of Walmart book). I see plenty of firearms being sold at the LGS I frequent though. There are two LGS in my area that are very competitive at pricing firearms and one carries a lot of stock. It is seldom that I can find a better price on line or even at Walmart.

It has been over 2 years since I purchased any ammo at Walmart but they do have decent prices on handgun ammo and usually beat the LGS price there. They don't seem competitive with the LGS on rifle ammo. As an example I can purchase .223 for $6 to 7 per box of 20 at several LGS but, Walmart charges $39.97 for a box of 100 (almost $8 per 20). The only firearms related purchases I have made at Walmart during the past 2 years have been commodity purchases: a bottle of Hoppes 9 and some clay targets that they put on closeout for $4.97 a box.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

There are some places, cough Gander Mountain cough, that really mark their **** up. There is a shop it in town that has high prices on their guns, compared to others. My LGS's treats me very well. Both Bite the Bullet, and Peddler firearms. Way better than Walmart. Profit on ammo and is minimal at best. I know for a fact, that my LGS has had to raise his price on 100 round packs of Federal AE223 just this year alone. Just so he can make a dismal profit on it. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but to me, customer service is just as important to me as price. I'm smart enough to know when I'm being had. Customer service in larger chain stores sucks 99% of the time.

 

[88E30M50]

I agree with those that think Walmart has little chance of killing the bulk of LGSs. The same dynamic that drove Huffey bicycle manufacturing off shore may not work for Walmart in terms of firearms. There are few restrictions on importing many things, but there are quite a few on firearms. I don't know if we'll see Colt moving production to China to keep their Walmart contract. Even if a manufacturer tried to do that, and somehow got the approval from the government, the product would have to be a watered down consumer grade rifle to be importable.

I still avoid Walmart if at all possible though. The fact that a lot of Americans live paycheck to paycheck is largely due to Walmart's business practice of driving manufacturing offshore. There are lots of folks in the US that are working jobs that are far below their capabilities because companies like Walmart are slowly killing the American industrial base.

 

[Horse]

The fact that a lot of Americans live paycheck to paycheck is largely due to Walmart's business practice of driving manufacturing offshore. There are lots of folks in the US that are working jobs that are far below their capabilities because companies like Walmart are slowly killing the American industrial base.

The FACT is that they live paycheck to paycheck because they spend more than they earn, or more than they should.

How in the world is Walmart or any other private institution responsible for what they spend?!!


Last time I checked the only entity capable of directly taking money out of my account was the Government.

(this is in general - not directly to 88E30M50)
I hate getting into political debates - but I hate this more.
How about a little personal responsability in America? If you don't earn "enough," change the equation. Either spend less or get more. Its not rocket science.

Nothing is forever unless you let it be.

 

[Sailor]

It's McDonald's fault that our country is fat too.

 

[Horse]

Exactly!


(lest it be thought differently- I'm up to my eyeballs in debt and it was MY decision to get this way)