Gun Shop Etiquette

[ScouT6a]

You state you are a small business owner. How would you react to the same offer?

The majority of my products are handmade, one-of-a-kind items. Flintlock rifles, engraved powder horns, blacksmith items, etcetera. I set my price based off of a few things. Materials cost, time to make and what I would pay for the item, if I didn't have the ability to make it. For repeat customers, I always offer some discount.
My other product, farm fresh eggs, get priced according to the current market price.

 

[sescbo]

We have a local gun store where I live & they are notorious for "over pricing" all things, especially 22's. A brick of Thunderbolts were $60 & a bucket of Golden Bullets were $170 when I stopped by there a couple weeks ago. Those prices are actually lower than last year. I usually go in there once a year & look at the prices, shake my head & then head for the door.

 

[MohawkSlim]

I'm on both sides of this issue (as a consumer and an employee at a LGS) and I voted "bring it to their attention."

Small LGS are almost always flexible on some items, rigid on others and it depends on what the owner wants to do as far as price goes. Some guys like to make every single penny they can on every single item. Some guys like to do volume sales and make pennies. Some just want the stuff out of their stores. Others want to sit on it forever. "I have ALLLL the .22!"

As other posters have noted it's quite possible the owner purchased that ammo/powder at an inflated price. It's also quite possible they have it set in their mind that someday in the near future ammo will be that expensive again and since it doesn't eat anything and their money is already invested in it, it can sit on that shelf for 50 years and they'll get a good return on it then. By asking, you can determine how likely you are to get it at a price you're comfortable with.

Most shop owners don't look at ammo and components as a volatile commodity traded daily on the market like we as consumers do! They tend to see it as a long term investment because even if their store closes down or the world ends overnight, they're still sitting on that pile of $$$$.

The harder pill to swallow is we're going to have to suck it up as consumers and realize .22LR is not as cheap as it used to be. Can we find it cheap sometimes? Sure. But it's not like the good old days when it was just a few pennies per round. And it's not just gougers and hoarders causing this either. Shooting is becoming extremely popular and new shooters are often shooting the .22LR round. We're going to have to pay a bit more than we used to.

 

[PLM2001]

I would agree with asking if they can do better on the price. I don't ever go to a LGS for just ammo. If I am there I am also looking to buy a gun. If I just want ammo I go to Wal-Mart. They have very good prices.

 

[LarryC]

Well, I do like to support local shops of all types. That said, if a price is too high (more than I can justify in gas and time) I will make an offer. I usually buy in bulk and my son and I have more ammo on hand than almost all gun shops! If the old statement comes out "I've got more than that in it" I just say OK and leave. Normally I buy at Gun Shows or online ~ as I said I like to buy in bulk.

Normally the small shop is not set up to sell bulk ammo (1K or more) at a sale price, so I can't justify purchasing ammo there. However, due to the Hazardous shipping costs, Powder and Primers are sometimes priced in line with online purchases and even with gun show sellers. I don't mind paying a $5 ~ $10 premium for a 10K carton of primers or $2 or $3 for a pound of powder. However at this time (between my son and I) currently have about 30K of Primers and about 70 lb of various powders so I usually don't purchase unless it is a pretty good deal.

Son and I have been buying and stocking ammo and reloading supplies for many years, when it is "cheap" we tend to purchase large lots. At this time we don't have a "Local" (in our small city) Gun Shop. Nearest is in Lafayette. We do attend every Gun show near us (within 30 - 40 mi.) so do purchase most things there unless there is a great deal on cases of ammo online.

 

[sgreen3]

If they as a business owner are not doing the market research to know what a competitive price would be to set a certain product at, then its most defiantly not my place to tell them that. So I keep on walking, cause most often then not if you say something they will get defensive and it will be an unpleasant situation. Then they may have something later on that your wanting, so why take a chance on making things awkward when you may want to make a purchase from them.

 

[Markus]

I seldom buy ammo at a LGS or Big Box retailer. Not saying never, but not very often. I have found the best deals online.

 

[bigbore]

I say it is none of your business how they price it, but that doesn't mean you cant make an offer or ask if they price match. I will shop at local shops if there is a small markup. I look at it as a browsing fee to look at the guns. If it is a super high markup I will not buy it there.