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ffemt300 wrote:

OldCannon wrote:

ffemt300 wrote:I went to a show a few weeks ago at the GRB in Houston and found the prices high and dealers unwilling to negotiate. I like to negotiate. Dave Ramsey says never pay full price when you have cash in hand!

Dave Ramsey clearly isn't a gun dealer. Some gun dealers don't like to bother with haggling. They set the price -- you like or you don't. Again, this is a VERY low margin business with new guns. Dealers have some room to haggle on used guns, but most "small time" dealers have very little (mostly no) room to negotiate on new gun prices. Honestly, for most pistols, I make more money doing a transfer than I do selling a gun (and I don't have to mess with quarterly and annual tax issues with transfers)

I see your point. Why exactly is the profit margin so small?

It's the nature of the gun business. Small dealers and retailers can't get significant volume discounts. This is especially true with handguns and more common rifles and shooting gear.

As an example, I don't sell Glocks. I love Glocks, but I'm trying to compete against volume dealers that sell BELOW what my cost per Glock would be _before_ shipping from a wholesaler -- they destroy me and they do it all from Gunbroker.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter. I knew about this going into the biz, and I knew I can't compete (I compete in other ways), but imagine you're a gun dealer trying to operate at a gun show: 1) You're packed in a place competing with other dealers that work with the same wholesalers as you so almost everybody's price is +/-$10, 2) you're playing by "the rules" when it comes to manufacturer's MAP pricing, meaning you can't advertise lower prices, 3) You're dealing with a crowd that is FAR more savvy on pricing than even 5 years ago -- people see a price on your gun, whip out their iPhone, and see they can get something for $20 less online and NO taxes, so they want to haggle you down by $70 to compensate AND get the instant gratifcation, putting your sale in the "loss" bracket to the tune of about $50.

Tell me again why I would want to work a gun show?

(Hint: It is possible to sell stuff and make a reasonable profit at a gun show, but the only people that make the real killing at the ones selling $0.25 worth of warm, flavored peanuts to people at $4.99 a bag )

ffemt300 wrote:I went to a show a few weeks ago at the GRB in Houston and found the prices high and dealers unwilling to negotiate. I like to negotiate. Dave Ramsey says never pay full price when you have cash in hand!

Dave Ramsey clearly isn't a gun dealer. Some gun dealers don't like to bother with haggling. They set the price -- you like or you don't. Again, this is a VERY low margin business with new guns. Dealers have some room to haggle on used guns, but most "small time" dealers have very little (mostly no) room to negotiate on new gun prices. Honestly, for most pistols, I make more money doing a transfer than I do selling a gun (and I don't have to mess with quarterly and annual tax issues with transfers)

fickman wrote:plus, most vendors will upcharge you a % for running a credit or debit card

Selling new guns yields an EXTREMELY small margin of profit for most dealers. When you add the price competition and then the fees the credit card companies take from you, you will _lose_ money if you take credit cards.

Ironically, most merchant accounts make you agree to not explicitly pass the upcharge to customers, so _technically_ you have to advertise one price and then say what a "Cash Discount" price is.