Done with my LGS

[skiflydive]

First I have to say that I'm a total b eye tch about buying local. I love to support the people who have the cojones to invest in bricks and mortar to service their community. Within reason. I went to my LGS a couple months ago to gander at .380's, particularly to see if they had any Kahr P380's. They advertise themselves as a Kahr dealer and they're listed on the Kahr site as one but I've NEVER seen a new Kahr of any flavor in there. At any rate, they had a used P380 for $589... "Firm" they said. Couldn't give me any history and really didn't seem to care if they could or not. That seemed pretty high to me.

Today was the last straw though. They had some Blazer brass 9mm. a case plus a couple of boxes of 50 for $29.99. That's right $29.99. During the ammo shortage which I guess is still going on, I bought 5 boxes of the same from Natchez for $16.99 plus $10.00 UPS. Today I checked and Natchez has it in stock for $16.99.

I don't mind paying a little more for a local store and I understand the whole concept of "If you want it bad enough you'll buy it" but for goodness sake, if you're going to screw me at least be gentle.

[codegeek]

I bought 200 rounds of Magtech at my LGS today for 15.00 per box . I am with you. I believe in supporting my LGS, but I also want the biggest bang for my buck.

Sent from my GT-P6210 using Tapatalk 4

[knkali]

yep he is a gouger. Let em go. I recently went into my Ammo Depot and saw 9.mm Luger for $.42/rnd. I walked out and will not return. The ammo prices have softened a little. Time for them to re calibrate. Like you, I will $ a little more to support local business but they are ridiculous.

[JoeyG]

Gander Mountain is generally over-priced and I bought Blazer there for $16.99 for 50. So, yes, your LGS is way over-priced on the ammo., IMHO.

[chrish]

In my area, the LGSs are a mixed bag. Guns are mostly decent/good deals. Ammo average to stupid expensive. I have always been a brick and mortar guy, particularly electronics. Seems local gadget dealers are able to sell stuff at reasonable prices and many electronics manufacturers have implemented more limitations on pricing below MSRP (Sony, Samsung, etc)...so not much difference buying online, big box, or local mom-n-pop. But guns still seem to be like in the old days of electronics, MUCH better online deals. And places like Gander are just DUMB, but they've reeled me in from time to time when something shows up I've been ogling and I get an itchy trigger finger (pun intended).

But at some point you have to say 'sorry guys'. I'll pay a reasonable mark up over internet prices to have a place to shop and lay hands on any given firearm that I might want. But in the last few years, my gun choices have been more obscure stuff that doesn't typically get stocked and I end up on gunbroker. None of my LGSs seem overly interested in special ordering anything.

So I guess I've gotten to the point of buying what I want, when I want it. If that happens to be locally, great...if not, you snooze you lose with me.

[mr surveyor]

I have a good friend that owns/runs a local shop, so I do get to hear some of the reasons for what most folks would consider outrageous prices. He sells quite a few handguns, and in the last year many of those have been to first time gun owners. It does him very little good to sell a 60 year old woman her first handgun, and have absolutely no ammunition to supply her to get started...... not much of a full service store in that case. Also, a whole lot of folks (at least locally around here) are taking their first concealed carry class, which requires a box or so of ammunition, so in his opinion, those are the folks he's most interested in trying to supply.. For quite some time, he was lucky to score a couple of cases of 9mm and/or .380 a month. In order to make sure he had ammo to sell with new guns, he had to price it high enough to the "ammo only buyers" in order to keep enough on hand for the newbies (if I'm not mistaken, they got their starter ammo at "cost" when they purchased a new handgun).

Some things may just be different here.


JD

[CJB]

The problem is, for every informed customer, like the OP, there are oodles of uniformed customers, willing to pay the price.

This is the same reason the Harley Wide Glide sold for $24,995 in 2004, when its MSRP was only 14,995. Some ******* bought it. And on top of that, they charged him extra for the chrome that was standard from the factory.... so he paid close to $30,000 for a $15,000 bike. I got it in 2010 for $6000 in like new condition.

PT Barnum at work... there's a sucker born every minute. OTOH, you, and I, and us, dont need to be anyone's sucker. We can shop and not buy. When a shop is gouging the hell out of the price, I love to go in and look, money in pocket, feel up their wares, try to haggle.... and then inform them that its cheaper at (some online place), if they'd care to match the price. They never do. But... at least I've felt up their wares.

You don't need to be anyone's sucker.... you can play the game the smart way, get the advantage of buying local - touch and feel, but with the price of open merchanidising online. Give them the opportunity to make you happy. If they do, be sure to follow through and buy. But they seldom do.

[skiflydive]

I have a good friend that owns/runs a local shop, so I do get to hear some of the reasons for what most folks would consider outrageous prices. He sells quite a few handguns, and in the last year many of those have been to first time gun owners. It does him very little good to sell a 60 year old woman her first handgun, and have absolutely no ammunition to supply her to get started...... not much of a full service store in that case. Also, a whole lot of folks (at least locally around here) are taking their first concealed carry class, which requires a box or so of ammunition, so in his opinion, those are the folks he's most interested in trying to supply.. For quite some time, he was lucky to score a couple of cases of 9mm and/or .380 a month. In order to make sure he had ammo to sell with new guns, he had to price it high enough to the "ammo only buyers" in order to keep enough on hand for the newbies (if I'm not mistaken, they got their starter ammo at "cost" when they purchased a new handgun).

Some things may just be different here.


JD

If that's the case, why not reserve the ammo for those folks in back instead of putting it on the shelf at 2-3 times the regular price and pi$$ing off regular customers who resolve not to darken your door again?

[Longitude Zero]

Some of the price increase we have seen since the last incident is legitimate as ALL ammo prices reset upwards every January 1. Beyond that normal and expected increase I say go elsewhere.

Prices will NEVER return to pre-Newtown.

[muggsy]

Your LGS doesn't have the buying power of a Big Box store. Put the LGS out of business and see where the big box store prices go. And when the next mass shooting occurs and the corporate leadership decides to get out of the gun business, because of public pressure, then where will you go. Will the big box store repair your firearm if and when it malfunctions? There's a lot more to think about than price alone.

There used to be a Mom & Pop hardware store on every corner. They had what you needed, or could get it. They could tell you how to repair things. Now we have a single big box store that doesn't have what you need, can't get it and doesn't care if you fix it or not. I hear that's called progress. I think that you decision deserves another thought.

[skiflydive]

Agree Muggsy...but I'm NOT paying $30 a box for 9mm. $20 I might go for but not $30

[muggsy]

I wouldn't pay $30 for a box of 9MM, but I wouldn't write off my LGS either. Now Cheaper than Dirt, that's another story.

[mr surveyor]

My buddy only gets a tiny amount of ammunition from distributors, and what little of the "popular caliber" ammo he gets is sold at his cost to the new gun purchasers (and those taking the chl class). If he has to charge 30 bucks a box to cover his cost, that's what it is. Small shops have as much trouble finding ammunition to put on their shelves as the rest of us, and they have almost no profit margin to work with.

[berettabone]

I would love to support my local LGS, but one of them was closed down by the feds, and reopened...........you have to pay a fee and join their club to purchase anything, this was part of the deal they struck with the feds to be able to reopen...........another one just deals in bug firearms, 9mm, and .45. they disregard certain other calibers as useless, because they don't like them..................the other complained about the private dealers at the local gun shows and gave the feds all of their names..............they have all been harassed ever since..........so, I don't have too much choice. I will not purchase from big box stores, and refuse to pay anywhere from 100 to 300 dollars more for a firearm, that I can get elsewhere for less.

[jocko]

mylocal

Agree Muggsy...but I'm NOT paying $30 a box for 9mm. $20 I might go for but not $30

wal mart sells wwb100 pak for $24,pretty darn good price and I get 10%discount ouff of that even, Just sayin gander Mt sellsthe same sh!t for over $30 a box course u do get the famous GM fingert swab, which some have sad is well worth the extra bucks. Just sayin