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Thought this was funny, so will put it here. Actually a true story that happened to me Thursday. Guy walks into our gun shop and starts milling around. I ask him if I can help him with anything or show him a gun and he's just looking. OK, fine no problem, let me know if you need anything. He then says he likes to support his local gun shops, and I thank him and think to myself that's cool. His very next breath he asks if we'd price match a gun he saw on the internet... You just can't make this kind of stuff up...  Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | ||
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Well, did you?  "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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If you added on the cost of shipping and insurance, and the dealer transfer fee he'd have to pay to receive one bought on the internet, you might have been able to swing it? My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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Irony? Anyone?  Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Slim, sorry, could not resist the temptation. Or Sure I'll meet that price and even add a hundred fifty to it. Ain't that a bargain? "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Actually I think AC has the right answer. Lets figure your total cost, and see how close I can come for you. Here's a true story of two local gun stores. Store one would order you in anything for $30.00 over his cost. On average, he sells 30 guns a day. He's been going strong for over 20 years now. The second story insisted on selling everything at full MSRP. He is now out of business. | |||
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A.S. First, I highly doubt store one sells 30 guns a day. Every day? All year round? Bullshit. Not buying it. How do you know? Did said shop owner tell you this? Or does it just look busy when you're in there so you assume he's making money hand over fist? Store two was a damn fool and that was a self full filling prophecy. Second, are you assuming that because we don't sell guns for what the internet gunbroker warriors sell for that we are full MSRP? You would be wrong in that assumption. Third, do you know WHY businesses put price tags on things? I DON'T mean just gunstores. I mean retail businesses. Do you just assume that those are "suggestions"? "Guidelines"? When you go to the grocery store, do you go up to the manager and say, "I know this gallon of milk is marked 2.50, but would you take 1.95? Do you do that with EVERY PURCHASE you make in EVERY store? When you go out to eat, do you look at the prices in the menu, then ask the waitress if they'll take less? If not, why not? And last, this IS the humor section?? I just found it funny that someone would make a statement that they want to support a local gunshop, and then expect that same local gunshop to sell a gun for what someone online is selling one for out of the back of their car, with no brick and mortar store with employees and all related business expenses to pay for. If you don't see the ironic humor in that, it's ok, but I guess I expected at least SOME people to see the humor. If you guys DON'T think this is funny, maybe it doesn't belong here, and I should pull it? ? Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Slim, I frequent 3-4 of those sites and have yet to find what I would call a bargain. Most of the descent rifles I have come across, to me, were a bit pricey, so I mainly just window shop. Chances are when you find a bargain; there is probably a hole in it somewhere that was not noticed until the buyer got it in his hand. I have seen that twice with internet purchases. So, I personally would rather visit a local shop as shop via the internet for rifles or handguns. Yes, I do see the humor in what happened with the conversation leading up to the meet the price question. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Slim,no don't pull it. I admire your sense of humor.Most folks would just be justafidably insulted.When one goes to Wal-Mart + buys a rifle + has a problem + goes back to the store for service,it does'nt exist.We all HAVE to make a profit.As to your comments on the price tag business,that has been a pet peeve of mine for years.In 1970 when I was in Killeen I took a part time job just off post from Hood at a pawn shop.That was always the standard question "what's the least you'll take for that?" I developed the standard answer "you don't go in the grocery store + ask what's the least they'll take for a can of beans,so where is the difference?" | |||
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Then you would be wrong my friend, because he does. Perhaps part of what you are missing, is this gunstore is not in North Dakota. It's in a Metro area with 5 times the population of your entire state. Market size is an important component of demand. When you have a large market, take care of your customers, and a reputation for low prices, 30 guns a day is easy. I don't recall suggesting that you sold guns at full MSRP If I think a store has prices that are too high, will I turn around and walk out, YES. Sometimes when entering a new restraunt I will ask to see a menu before I'm seated. If the prices are too high, I will turn around and walk out. Will I negotiate with virtually anyone who has the power to negotiate, the more expensive the item, the larger the potential savings, the larger the potential marginal benefit for negotiating, the more likely I am to negoiate. What I saw as ironic humor was that you didn't see the internet as a disruptive technology that you would cause you to adjust your business model. Recently while shopping for a new gun for my son, I found the best internet price, called around a bit, and one of the local stores was not only able to meet it, they were able to BEAT IT, and they THREW IN TWO EXTRA MAGS ta boot!! Sure Slim, I understand fixed costs, and variable costs. These are sunk costs. Weather the customer buys from you or not, these costs stay the same (unless the incremental business causes an overtime expense. I also understand marginal revenue, and that you gained no marginal revenue for that potential sale. As for the "internet guys, selling out of the back of their cars", that IS, bullshit. Most of the sellers are brick and mortar gunshops, no differnt then yours. What is different, is they decided to use this new disruptive technology to their advantage. | |||
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That's a 150 guns a week,600 a month? That would require a lot of inventory! Not saying it can't be done,but that is high. I too live in a 1.5 million city and I'll bet the two shops in town don't sell that many together.There's no way dealer can have the right gun in stock everytime to cover everyone's "wants".There has to be a lot of ordering going on. But to the OP,after 40 years of retail,I can tell you that YES,customers lie. Some intend to,others don't know they are...My LGS prices his inventory in the middle, and will only discount when it's time to move.They offer good service and have a lot of expericed people at the counter.I have no problem with profts,everyone who went into business deserves it. What I don't care for is the "cheap bastard" that only wants cheap,because he's want's something he can't afford....LMAO I pray for mud on my boots the day I die... Go see the nights of Africa..... | |||
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I'd take that bet. If you live in NC as your location suggests, then to have a metropolitan area of 1.5 million you have to live in or near Charlotte. Here are some statistics I massaged to get an idea of gun sales in the US. Gun sales last year approximately 15,000,000 in US. Assuming a US pop of 330,000,000, I am suggesting that about 1/2 of them are relatively minor buyers of guns, since such areas as NYC, Chicago, etc discourage gun ownership and make purchasing and owning difficult. Using round numbers, that leaves about 10,000,000 guns for about 150,000,000 population or about .067 guns per person last year. Given a metropolitan area of 1.5 million that would indicate that citizens of the Charlotte area bought somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100,000 guns last year. That would be roughly (as all the numbers are) 2000 guns per week. Even if you cut that in half because of the size of the metro area, likely less hunters, shooters, etc. then that would still leave 1000 guns per week. As an aside, anyone who doesn't negotiate prices when possible is wasting his money. Antelope Sniper summed it up pretty well in his above post. The higher the price, the more I tend to negotiate. Based on some of the above posts, I'm CERTAIN that you walk in and pay the asking price for a car, used or new. Yeah, right. As another aside, I see the irony in the OP, but I can also see that the OP apparently didn't go out of his way to sell the guy a gun. He would probably have been an easy sale with a bit of negotiation based on what was posted. ALL successful gun shop owners that I've ever been around and that is PLENTY of them would rather makes $20 or whatever on a sale (assuming it is not some hot, in demand item that will certainly sell for top dollars shortly, and at the same time, likely create a regular customer who buys ammo,supplies, etc from them both for that gun and in the future) than let a buyer walk out the door if the potential buyer is at all reasonable. The same successful gun shop owners understand that volume profit is better than high priced losses, meaning that if you sell 20 guns, making $25/gun and your overhead is $250, then you are making a profit, compared to selling 2 guns at $100/gun gross profit. The attitude that "our prices are our prices, don't like them, go elsewhere" will almost certainly create a vacant storefront in relatively short order. The grocery store analogy is false for several reasons, among them that there are usually many grocery stores around, the business is very competitive and has very low margins overall. It would amaze most people to know what a small percentage of sales are profits in most grocery stores. People don't negotiate with grocery stores and many other retail establishments because they negotiate with their feet AND negotiating for a 10 cent discount on a $1 can of beans with someone who likely doesn't have the authority to negotiate is a complete waste of time EVEN assuming you could get the dime discount. If xyz story has beans or whatever that are significantly higher than abc's store, then they will go to abc for their future purchases. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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You are correct sir!! He keeps very little inventory. 80-90% of his business is ordering for guys like myself who know what we want. I've purchases a lot of guns from him, I don't think he ever had one in inventory. If you want to handle a whole bunch a guns, you need to go somewhere else. When it's time to order, you go see Tom. He'll have it for you in 2-3 days (and usually) at the lowest price in the state. Right now with the oobie rush on, things are a little hectic down there. He has a 4-5 week wait list for the Smith M&P sport. Everyone batch he gets leaves the store the day it arrives. It's not the standard business model, but it works well for him. When it comes to Retail .404, compared to you, I"m kind of new, I only have 20 years of experience. In my industry the three cardinal rules are: 1. Know you customer. 2. Customers Lie. 3. Always be builing the business. Like you, I have no problem with profits, but I do business deserves profits just for being in business. Profits are earned, not deserved. Many business losses are deserved (see example 2 above), but not all of them, but that's why it's called risk. Of course there are many ways to add value to earn those profits, excellent service is one of them. The middle market (middle price and middle service) can actually be one of the toughest parts of the market to compete. In a large portion of the retail industries, the bulk of the business is either at the extreme low end (low price no service) or the high end (high price, high service) But I'm sure you know your local market, and there is a reason it works for your clientele. Keep up the good fight. | |||
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A.S., When I was a gun manager for Sportsman's Warehouse back in Phoenix, we probably did more gun sales in a day than most local gun stores did in a week. More in a week than they did in a month... ...you get the idea I'm sure... And we didn't come close to selling 30 guns a day, every day of the week. May have hit that on a good Saturday most of the time, sure, but sure as hell not every day of the week. Fall hunting season was always busy, and it would usually carry over through Christmas. But year round, no way. And at the time, the metropolitan area of Phoenix was over 3 million people, probably closer to 5 by now. At the time SW probably had the cheapest prices in town, save the much-trashed WalMart. But unless you wanted a standard 10/22 or 870 express type gun, they didn't really have it. SW did implode on itself, but it had nothing to do with prices, and everything to do with corporate leadership opening up new lines of credit to pay for each store they opened up. Eventually you have to pay your credit off, and SW never did. Finally creditor after creditor shut them off, and then vendors stopped sending inventory. The "owner" of the company was more interested in opening up empty stores than building a sustainable business. His goal, which he openly spoke of was to get the company to 100 stores, and then sell off and walk away. He almost made it, but the credit machine he ran the company on broke down too soon. Fast forward to today, and I believe we have the lowest prices in our town for just about everything in the store. Maybe not every single solitary item, but probably pretty close. If a local competitor has a sale on a specific item, they may beat us by a few dollars. We DO price match the local stores when that happens, but it is rarely needed. We do NOT price match internet sales when no brick and mortar store is the seller. Yes there ARE brick and mortar stores using the internet. Thanks for the news flash. The item in question, shown to me by the customer in question, was from a gun broker seller with no store front. There are far MORE guns sold on gunbroker by non store front sellers than ones with actual store fronts open for business. I'm not speaking about numbers of ADS, but numbers of SELLERS. Some stores hire people to do nothing but put up adds all day in Gbroker, and they're almost like spammers. A few stores must have 100 or more guns up at any one time, fine. But the higher percentage of sellers, are either work from home dealers, or private sellers. Gun broker has "saved" the small time, work from home gun dealers, and that is fine also. On the one side, they have almost no overhead costs associated with running a business from their home. On the other side, they usually can't buy guns at as low a wholesale price as a store like ours can, and they can't get "rated" or "allocated" guns most of the time. So my one and only question left to you, which you didn't answer before is: How do you KNOW they sell that many? Do you work there? Do you have close enough ties to the owners of said store that they would tell you the truth? Is that a REAL number, or just pulled from your ass? Just curious really (well not about the ass part)... 30 guns a day, 210 guns a week, 840 guns a month, 10K guns a year... As .404 said, that is a LOT of inventory to move. And that's just the guns that are sold, not the ones sitting on the rack not being purchased? Or are all these special ordered direct for the customers? The logistics alone would require half dozen people (easy) just to run the inventory in the back door and get it out to the floor. Double that if it's all special ordered, because special orders are a huge investment in your time. And those people would be straight overhead. Then you'd need a sales staff to "sell" that many guns. If the store is open 10 hours a day even, that's 3 sales an hour. That doesn't include time spent selecting and mounting scopes, selecting ammo, helping find holsters, answering questions, showing guns to tire kickers, helping someone get set up reloading, etc. The paperwork alone for a sale once a customer says "I'll take it", usually averages 15 to 20 min per transaction. How many people work there? And he pays for all of this with $30 a gun? How do you KNOW it's $30 a gun? And you KNOW all this for sure? Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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One thing I have learned over the years is that everything is negotiable and that includes any products sold by Walmart. Slowpoke, Let me know where your store is in ND so I can take steps to avoid it. No sense in messing around in a store that can not price match. | |||
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A.S. I hope you and yours are OK and safely out of harms way with all those fires you guys are having down there! We may snipe back and forth at each other now and again, but damn, that is a genuine tragedy what is happening in your state! we are all one big (slightly disfunctional) family, after all. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Slim, I was one of his earliest customers over 20 years ago. Back then he would order you anything for $20.00 a gun. We've had very detailed conversations about his business. I've seen his bound book. Not the individual records of course, but the thickness of his his months. That and the constand flow of guns out the door comport with his claims. Yes, he outsold our local Sportsmans (which is now out of business), in terms of firearms. This is easy to determine by the most basic form of market research, i.e. Go in at random times and count the people filling out the forms or waiting for backgrounds. Walk into a sportsman or a Basspro, and occasionally you will see someone actually doing some paperwork. At Tom's, it's a steady stream of forms and background checks. For many years, it was just him, but now he has two other guys that work with him. He's tapped into some valuble market segments that help keep that number elevated. Everything I see comports with the facts as reported. Keep in mind, his specialty is special order. Since he has have very few guns on the shelf, so he doesn't get the lookie lou's that a Sportsman, or a BassPro shop will get. If he gets in someone who's new to guns, he will actually tell them to someplace with a large inventory so they can figure out what they like. As you suggested, he cannot make money on this customer segment, so he's better off sending them to someone loke you, who can. Helping new people figure out what will work for them is your specialty, not his. There are a couple of elements you miss regarding the cost of a special order. Since virtually everything is already sold when it comes in, the showroom of a Sportsmans, or a Basspro. In addition, he doesn't have the same longterm inventory interest expense. Having worked for Sportsmans, I believe you are well aquanted with those risks. The other thing to keep in mind it that special orders are not your thing. It's not where you've chosen to specialize, and your customers are not the type that come in with the part number, and don't need to pick up and handle something before they order, because they already know what they want. As for mounting scopes, pickout out holsters ect, that's not his business model. Powder, primers, bullets, nope, he doesn't sell any of that stuff. He actually sells more CASES of ammo, then boxes of ammo. How do I know $30.00 a gun? Because I do my research, and what he says, matches my research. I've purchased a lot of guns from him. I've hear him talk with the distributors, I've seen the prices on his computer screen, and when a couple friends and I went in on a purchase to reach a price break, he passed it on to us. You gave a very good rendition of what happened at Sportsmans. Unfortinatly there are many Business owner, who are not "Businessmen". The Safari man running your company made one of the classic errors, mistaking revenue and marketshare for profits. Even it he had made it to 100 stores, I'm not sure he could of sold it. The company was so leverage up that a leveraged-buy-out would of been impossible. That means any buyout would have been based on equity and assumption of debt, and I'm not sure anyone in the industry would of been big enough and foolish enough to take that deal. Oh well, I did very well at their going out of business sale. These differences are part of the reason it such a good time to be a part of our passtime. Modern CNC tooling has increased quality, while competition has kept prices mostly in check. There is an amazing number of sub $600.00 guns that will shot inch groups all day long, and even do it with factory ammo. With the number of different premium bullets, there's more winning combinations for the hunter to take to the field then ever before. | |||
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Thanks for asking Slim. My wife and I were in Colorado Springs when the fire started. The moment I saw the location of the smoke plume's I knew it was going to be a very bad day. Fortuntly we were on the other side of town, and just visiting. Two friends of friends have lost their houses, and we have other friends that were evacuated. But everyone is healthy, and for that we are thankful. Actually I'm enjoying the conversation. It's not often we get a genuine intelligent business debate. It's just ironic that it's in the Humor section. | |||
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Amazing!! | |||
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Amazing in several ways. What amazes me most is the number of guys I have seen running small shops who automatically believe they can't price match with the internet. We have those price-matchers come in the local store all the time. We show them our cost on the computer screen, add $30 profit to it, and sales tax, and give them an out-the-door price. And we always tell them..."if it doesn't work right, you don't have to send it to the factory for warranty repair. If it is something small, we'll have our gunsmith do it. If it is a defect of any importance and difficulty, WE will send it to the factory for warranty repair for you". Then we take their on-line "bargain" price, add shipping, insurance, and dealer transfer costs to it and let them compare the two. And we tell them "If your on-line purchase has any kind of functional problem, you can bring it here for repair, but we'll have to charge you the going bench rate of $60 per hour plus parts cost for the repairs of guns not bought here, with a one-hour minimum. Other than that, you'll be on your own if it doesn't satisfy you." Sometimes they walk out and come back within a week to ask "Can you still get me such-and-such gun for the price you told me last week?" Most of the time they just ask "How quick can you get it here? Some few of course are just tire-kickers, or decide to trust to luck. But we convert a lot of those "can you match?" inquiries into sales. --------------------------------- My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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AC, you sound like a guy who would get my business.....of wait...you ARE like the guy who gets my business!!  | |||
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I don't think that is unreasonable at all. In fact, I have used these numbers at my local gun shop. I found a gun I wanted on the internet and told the owner of the gun shop I intended to purchase said gun and he could transfer it to me for his normal fee of $25. Or, he could sell me gun for that price and I would pay him $50, or what I would of paid in shipping and transfer fee. He obliged and I purchased the gun from him directly. I'm sure he made more money doing it that way. | |||
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I had a FFL for years my brother had a FFL for years. My best freind still does. I still see the whole sales prices Be truthfull on priceing do you best to match and one well sell guns. I see a lot of dealers who think their customers have no idea of their cost and that they know it all. When I walk into a shop and see full retail priceing I know I'll not be buying there. I have had more then one owner tell me if you don't like it. (the price) go some place else I do. If a store no matter what type guns, hardeware, farm supply, building supply or other wants my money. They better be freindly and have competitive priceing. Or I'll be spending my money at one that does both. | |||
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Exactly. It never hurts to ask. The worst he can do is say no. BTW, if the cost of a house, car, or home renovation are all negotiable, why shouldn't the cost of a gun be? | |||
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IMO, if a gun shop owner has a "take it or leave it" attitude, he really isn't a gun dealer, he's a clerk. If he merely figures the wholesale, adds his profit and puts a final figure on a tag and takes it, the retail part of his operation could be handled by anyone. Which might be a good idea to sublet the retail portion of the operation out to someone whilst he learned a trade or skill that he could fall back on when his shop went busted. I've actually had owners approach me and tell me "you understand those tags are the suggested price". Aim for the exit hole | |||
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+1  xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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If he depends on just the sale of guns for his profit, that comment might be very applicable. But it may be worth while to consider that selling a gun to someone is kind of like selling a skirt to a woman. The skirt is the "attractant". The profit items are the accessories...the belt, handbag, bracelet, shoes, costume jewelry, lip gloss, and so on. You can't sell the accessories if you can't lure them in through the door. So you price the skirts so as to get them into the shop. And you don't have to add just $30 to every gun. Stuff you are stocking regularly (because it turns over regularly) has a different markup...so does the hard to get stuff, and so on. But if you can make $30 on a gun you don't have to stock, and make a likely repeat customer at the same time, why not? Especially if, like at the local shop, the person ordering has to pay an advance deposit. That way you get them in where the money-making items are sold, at least twice (once on the ordering day and again on the pickup day), and both times you know they are going to have their wallets out and are going to be handing you money. What better time to increase the size of the sale and the profit? --------------------------- My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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This is a very funny thread. NRA Patron Life Member Benefactor Level | |||
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I think so too. It started off a little funny, but has become a LOT funnier as it goes. Lot's of "experts" chiming in now... Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Why in the world would I want to pay more for something that i could get elsewhere cheaper? I buy most stuff over the net as it saves me money.You gotta remember that internet gun sales is a business just like the guy who has a store front.I dont see the difference when it comes to supporting a local guy over someone I dont know just to help him survive.Im not intrested in his living lifestyle ,but mine.Most store front dealers are over priced,asking MSRP and cater to first time impulse gun owners who dont have a clue where to go to find it cheaper.I couldnt tell you the last time I bought a gun from any local gunshop.Not spending a hundred dollars more than I should.Makes no sense to me. | |||
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Fear based selling? Chances of a new gun failing are pretty slim. More snake oil | |||
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And I support you and bless you, in your rights and beliefs to do exactly that. Good for you. But you probably wouldn't walk into a gun shop and declare that you like to buy locally and "support my local shops" then, right? It was the irony of it that was the original intent. Do you see that? Now we get regaled with examples of how business should be run, most probably (not all) from folks that have never run a business of their own, or worked a day of retail even. As if driving a car makes you an expert on how to build them. "I hunt and shoot, therefore I can tell you how to run your business successfully." The business has been up and running for over 100 years. I think they (we) have a pretty good handle on how to run it. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Slim, the guy who asked you to price match, did you manage to make any money off him?? | |||
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Of course I saw that! I would support my local shop IF they would match a price I saw elsewhere,even on the internet.I think this guy would prefer to buy locally if possible but wasnt going to hand over to you extra money just to keep your doors open.Thats what makes no sense to me and probably the majority of the people on the planet who has any savy about them at all.Im quite sure you shop for the best prices on what you need and dont throw your money away either.Most business owners feel just like you do that customers should be loyal.Its is always a buyers market,not a sellers market.Nothing get produced without a need first.The customer keeps businesses open and making profit..dont forget that.In that context be fair in pricing and give good customer service and a business can succed.Dont need to own a business or have ever worked retail to know that! And just because you own a business doent mean you know how to run one either. | |||
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 You sir, have a great sense of humor! Someday I gotta figure out how to buy you a beer. I think he was in Monday evening buying a different rifle. He had been asking about a Mossberg rifle originally, but bought a Ruger american on Monday. Not my cup of tea personally, but they have their place in the market, and for some buyers, it's a good "fit" for their needs/wants/budget. And he paid what was on the price tag and seemed ok in doing so. I'd say we didn't "lose" him? I know for a fact we didn't make $30 PROFIT on that rifle. We did make our MARGIN on it. But there is a difference between PROFITS and MARGINS. For you guys bantering about $30 PROFIT being a good deal on a gun... I would be happy to sell you a gun for $30 PROFIT, but I seriously doubt you will like the price! PROFIT is what comes at the end, after all expenses are paid. MARGINS are the difference between what we PAY for the merchandise and what we SELL the merchandise. Our MARGINS are very tight, especially on guns. Tighter than just about anything else in the store. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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barnabus, Should I quote my own post 3 times as well?  Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Is that all the response you could come up with? Wow!Slowpoke...You kinda come accross as one who who thinks a customer and people outta feel sorry for you for being in business for yourself and somehow its our duty to keep your doors open and making you money so you can live.Sorry pal,,if its if too hot for you, get out of the kitchen or quit whinning for crying out loud. Stop acting like a victim of your circumstances. You have a idea of a margin you need to have to make a profit and the customer has a margin too ..its called car payments,electricity,mortage,groceries,tution ect... At the the end of the day it still comes down to who is gonna have expendable income ......You or Him. | |||
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barnabus, You read far, far too much evil intent into everything you read here. I am not crying or need your sympathy for any reason. You make me laugh out loud. I'm merely trying to get you to realize that a merchant does not put that "$30" in their pocket and take it home at the end of the day. That "$30" goes to BUSINESS expenses, just like ones you've named. I really don't think you understand how business works at all. So I was trying to illustrate it a bit for you. I could care less for your "sympathies". You sound bitter. We don't sell groceries, or pharmaceuticals, or blood plasma, or anything else that people have to have to survive. No one walks through our doors in a desperate state or condition pleading with us for merciful help. We sell toys. We sell "fun". And, we sell a lot of it. We are busy. Most of the time. The reason for that is fair prices and outstanding customer service. I doubt you believe that, but it is cold hard fact. You can either choose to believe me or keep living in the conspiracy that we are "out to get you". Our business model is NOT like A.S.'s friends, you want a scope or bullets or reloading or want to see xyz gun, we DON'T tell you to go somewhere else. You have a question or need a scope mounted on your rifle, we do it, we don't tell you to get lost. If something you bought from us has an issue, we make it right by what the CUSTOMER wants us to do. Either fix/repair, exchange, replace or refund. I spend time with people every day that don't buy anything from me at the time. They want to get into reloading, or they need advice on a gun or scope. Or they're reloading and having trouble with xyz gun/load/tool. I spend that time with them to provide good service, whether they buy anything from me or not. If I give good service and help them with their problem, they are likely to be back. So it may take me 20 or 30 minutes to find the part number or the phone number they need to get grandad's old shotshell press up and running, but they're grateful to us for the service and come back to buy components or maybe that new shotgun later on. Or they can't get their gun sighted in after they mounted their own scope at home, so I look it over, remount it if needed and re boresight it. And no, we don't charge them for that, unless they need different mounts/rings to make it work, then they have to buy those pieces. We deliberately price our merchandise (including guns) to be as tight a margin as possible. We don't sit there conjuring up the highest price we think we can "get away with". We display those prices on our items confidently. A personal pet peeve of mine is to go anywhere and see prices not clearly marked. That makes me instantly suspicious of the business, regardless of what that business is. We have generations of repeat customers. I constantly get customers bringing their kids in to buy a first gun tell me their own parents brought them in for their first gun too. If you're worried about making a mortgage payment, or car payment, or electricity, groceries, etc, the things you "must" have, (as you elude to) then maybe you shouldn't be looking at that new gun at all. Maybe you should try to live more within your means? I see that sometimes too and it makes me shake my head. A young couple, the guy looking at the really expensive gun, whole time wife is saying we can't afford, car needs repairs, truck needs tires, and this kid is looking at a $1500 pistol or rifle. Or they try to put it on a credit card and the card doesn't go through. I would rather see them look at something they can afford, even if it's used, then to put themselves in financial straights. So I would try to show them something else. If you came in and told me what type of gun you were looking for, and was honest with me about your budget, I could probably show you several in your budgeted range and let you decide. As was eluded to earlier (forget by who) some folks want that Weatherby or Kreighoff and simply can't afford it. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Thank-you Slim, I'd greatly appreciate that!  If I'm ever up your direction, or you are down mine, we will have to exchange information and get together for that cold one. Well, if everything you said about your business was true, I figured that at some point you had to make some money off the guy. You are not in Denver, you are in Bismark. Here, I have 3 storys within 30 minutes that will order in for cost+ $30. With over a dozen chain stores and all the independents, this market is as closs to perfect competition as a consumer could want. Bismark is a little different. You are going to have what, a half dozen independents plus one or two big dogs? If you are already the low price provider, what is Mr. Price Matcher going to do? "Well Slim, I need you to come down $30.00 on this gun to match the internet price." "Well Price Matcher, we already have the lowest price in town, and with our level of service, I think it's a fair price." "Well, ahhh....ahhh....I'll fix you. I'll drive my pick-up to Minneapolis. It's only 700 miles roundtip, but I'll save that $30.00 when they match the internet price for me!! Yea, yea....that's what I'll do!!!!" If you are the lowest price within 350 miles, not much sense in starting a price war with yourself. | |||
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A.S. I don't know why, but I was under the impression that you were in Texas? It was only after several posts that I noticed you're in CO. That's why it took me so long to ask about the fires. Guess it's my dementia acting up again? I was stationed at Lowry AFB in the early 80's for a year and a half while I went through tech school. I loved it there. That first Thanksgiving weekend we had a blizzard come through and shut down the base and entire town. Quite a shock for a kid from Phoenix that only got to play in the snow in Flagstaff, AZ. I hear that's all gone now. I worked in a 10 story building with a huge sat dish antenna sitting next to it. Kind of in the center of the base. I assume that's all gone now too? Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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Lowrey been closed for almost 20 years now. It's now the home of a several colleges, a high school, and lots of new appartments. They still have a couple of hangers full of planes for the Air Museum. All the Golf Balls are now located at Buckley in Aurora. Lowrey's It's changed alot since you were here. It been a while since I've been in Texas. Last time was for some training at GoodFellow AFB near San Angelo. We didn't get any snow while I was there, but we did get some rain from a Hurricane. Today the entire area is covered in smoke. This is from a new fire near Laramie Wyoming that's already burned 7k acres, and 4 building. The evacuation zone approached the town, and the cause is now being investigated by FBI and ATF. This certainly is a difficult hot summer. Hopefully we will get plenty of rain and snow, and get it early so we can get these fires under control. | |||
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What? You posted a thread whinning and expected everyone to agree with you or see it as you did.only problem is most of the posters don't agree or see the irony as you call it. Now your back peddling.I'm not bitter at all but your not gonna piss down folks backs and convince them its raining.i was not talking about myself sir when speaking of those that have mortages and such as my home is paid for and so is the land and cars i drive.the majority of guns i own are custom such as stolle pandas setup for benchrest.you speak out of your rear end sir and assume too much about people.no conspiracy theroy just calling BS when I see it! | |||
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Came here for a joke. Saw the irony. Then got annoyed at all the "bidness experts." Congratulations to the business for operating for over 100 years. That says it all right there. Some customers do, to varying degrees, unfortunately see a business transaction as a competition. Some have posted above. There is a technical term for these customers - a$$holes. In some cases it is the best business decision (and actually a whole lot of fun) to carefully write down the name, address and phone number of the competition and direct them there forthwith. | |||
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