Jealous Local Gun Shops MOD PLS LOCK

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MrTrolleyguy said:
The owners of the local gun shops in my area have been giving me a hard time receiving guns for registration. They sure are not cooperating with me. It is like pulling teeth. I will skip describing their little games.

Last year I bought 26 guns and 80% were shipped in to me. I think these guys get pissed off b/c the internet is kicking there butt. One shop owner has taken in over a dozen guns for me. If those were sales across his counter it would certainly be over a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars in his pocket. Jealous! I bought a single revolver and a .22 conversion barrel from him. I would have bought guns from in if he had anything I wanted. He pushes plastic guns.

I heard that a few shops in the Philadelphia area are not doing transfers. I will never enter their establishment. If they only want a large chunk of my money (50% markup per gun) rather than $40 or $50 for a transfer, then they will not get a d*** dime. :mad:

Is anyone else experiencing similar resistance?

Trolley
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Trolley - what part of Philly are you in? I am in Abington and have a very reasonable guy I use in Willow Grove. He is right next to the Walmart and Sam's Club.
 
zzzippper said:
I don't understand why you don't understand why they act that way.

Buy from my competitor and ask me to help you do it? Good day sir, I said good day!
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Well zzzippper, If they had THE GOODS, meaning the firearms I am looking, for at the market price they get my business. However they realized that they make much more profit from the sale of new guns, especially plastic guns as compared to used guns. So they stopped taking in as many used guns.

Now lets talk about 22 ammo. One dealer gets his shipments and hardly a box sees the shelves. Instead he is selling it online for inflated prices, makes his money and keeps his reputation. He does it from the second floor of the shop, will not even bring it down to the store. If he sells in the shop for the price he gets online people would complain like h***.

Yes. What do you say about this guy? Worm!
 
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My range, at which I'm a member, does transfers for me. They don't mind.

They've also recently begun selling a few specific makes and models. They have sister ranges in Atlanta, and can work pricing deals. If they have something I want, they would work with me on price (as a member).
 
It's 15 minutes for $20-$30 bucks (my area) which works out to $80-$120 bucks of revenue per hour.

A customer comes in, says "I'll give you $25 bucks to fill out this form for me"….hmm let me think….. um, YES.

Seems like free money left on the table by those FFL shops not willing to make a transfer.

Plus, you need some ammo for that new gun? Need a new pair of shooting glasses?

Revenue with no risk or cost up front, and increased foot traffic in the store. It's a no brainer.
 
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Philadelphia Patriot said:
For me, I find the prices of firearms at gun shops in the city of Philadelphia to be extremely high compared to other gun shops right outside Philadelphia. Usually I'll visit the gun shops in the suburbs for the better prices, but sometimes I don't feel like making the drive out there so I just order online and pay the high transfer fee. Even with the high transfer fee, it's still a lot cheaper than some of these gun shops in Philly.
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We are frequenting the very same shops with the same high prices.

Today a range buddy (we go to Del Val) had ordered a small 9mm here in NE Philadelphia for $750.00.

Another shop is a 35 minute drive away, Jamison PA, the same gun is $650.00. Meanwhile Mr NE (not DVSC) gun shop owner had not even put the order in yet so Harry canceled it. Now we will be driving North tomorrow afternoon.

Yo Philadelphia Patriot we got room for another guy! Hook yea up with some reloads too. :D:D:D

Trolley
 
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Philadelphia Patriot said:
Businesses are entitled to charge whatever they want and offer services to whoever they want.


That being said, if nobody wants to buy your extremely over-priced firearms or pay your ridiculous transfer fees then you're not going to stay in business very long. Also if your customer service is horribe (e.g. complaining to customers for buying guns online), then your customers are going to go somewhere else where they are treated better.
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So buy from our competitors and NONE of us will transfer (to us) your ****.

Or maybe we'll charge $500 for a local transfer. We're not jealous, just support local businesses.

And I am not a gun dealer. I just support my neighbor.
 
MrTrolleyguy said:
We are frequenting the very same shops with the same high prices.

Today a range buddy (we go to Del Val) had ordered a small 9mm here in NE Philadelphia for $750.00 A 50 minute drive away, above Quakertown, the same gun is $650.00 Mr NE (not DVSC) gun shop had not even put the order in yet so Harry canceled it. Now we will be driving North tomorrow afternoon.

Yo Philadelphia Patriot we got room for another guy! Hook yea up with some reloads too. :D:D:D

Trolley
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I'm doing Gettysburg this weekend with my girlfriend, but if I wasn't then I'd go. I'm 5 minutes from Del Val.
 
zzzippper said:
So buy from our competitors and NONE of us will transfer (to us) your ****.

Or maybe we'll charge $500 for a local transfer. We're not jealous, just support local businesses.

And I am not a gun dealer. I just support my neighbor.
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If they decided they wanted to charge $500 for a local transfer, then I'd get my FFL and charge $25. Then I'd laugh my way to the bank when everybody stops using the businesses who charge $500.

Also I have a right to make a profit and charge whatever I wanted to, but I'm not going to take full advantage of people's 2nd Amendment rights and make it impossible for people of lower social economic statuses to be able to defend themselves.
 
Re: Prices at LGS's / costs of transfers. With respect, the Op referenced a LGS compared to on-line sources. The examples of the M&P Shield and the transfer cost are without foundation in reality. Local markets are dynamic. Further it is easy to suggest what a store owner should or should not do. Such suggestions are unconvincing as the person making that suggestion has no skin in the game. The owner of the store does. If someone making a suggestion about sales, etc. makes a mistake, it cost them nothing. If the store owner makes a mistake, it cost them money.
 
My Advise:
Get a C&R FFL. Since I primarily collect older guns this takes care of a big percentage of my interstate purchase and transfers requirements.
My biggest gripe with 01 FFLs are those that won't accept or transfer guns to C&R license holders. I am pretty sure this is just a case of resentment as we are looked at as individuals cutting into their revenue.
Jim
 
I just look on GB for FFL transfers. I can always find an FFL holder - usually not gun shop owners, who will do the transfers for $20.00.

Jeff
 
Philadelphia Patriot said:
They could lower their prices just a little bit.

Examples:

A M&P Shield 9 costs the gun store owner $300
Option 1: Sell 1 gun (today) @ $400, profit = $100
Option 2: Sell 3 guns (today) @ $350, profit = $150

A transfer costs the gun shop owner $10
Option 1: Do 3 transfers (today) @ $50, profit = $120
Option 2: Do 8 transfers (today) @ $30, profit = $160



I don't know about you guys, but if Gun Shop A and Gun Shop B are the same distance from my house, but Gun Shop A has lower priced firearms, then I am going to Gun Shop A.
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What you are calling "profit" is not. It is operating margin. Out of that comes shipping, heat, light, rent, wages, insurance, water and sewer, advertising, and charitable donations to the local school, girl scouts, fire and rescue, and dog rescue, not to mention payments to the bank for his business loan, checking fees, credit card fees. Then he gets to pay property taxes and income taxes on any profit the business may turn. If he takes home $10 on a $400 sale, he is doing very well. There is a reason lots of small stores fail. If gunshop A undersells everybody, he probably won't be there long enough to worry about. Old saying in retail: "I know I was selling below cost, but I thought volume would carry me".

Margins on new guns run in the 10% to 20% range, from what little google fu I have. Margin on a gun in the $400 range would be $40 to $80. Kind of slim. Actual money is made on consumables-targets, cleaning supplies, cases, ammo (damn gougers), the things you go to Wally World to get because they are cheaper.

For all the fun involved, like dealing with horse trading gun owners, mall ninjas, crusty old experts, rank amateurs, bankers, ATF, people who drop the guns, dry fire with out asking, greasy fingered kids, our lucky store owner gets to work 60 to 80 hours per week while trying to balance books that don't show any profit at all while being second guessed by people who have never tried to run a business.
 
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Reading some of these posts really makes me appreciate my LGS. I have transferred a number of guns through him and he charges me $ 20. He also knows I check with him first before I buy anything on line or from another individual and he also knows he gets all my reloading sales, which can sometimes be higher than a gun purchase, primers and powder ain't cheap and I never argue price with him. It's a two way street, I'm fair with him and he's fair with me.
 
Perhaps you should look for a gunsmith that does not run a retail store as well. He will still have an FFL and can do transfers. Since he doesn't have a display counter or retail gun sales he will not see it as competition.
 
The FFL that I use charges $10 per transfer. My local gun shop charges $50. Let me lay out the business case and say that I hypothetically buy a gun a month via Gunbroker.

My FFL who charges for filing a piece of paper and making a phone call:
$10 x 12 transfers/year = $120

My LGS who seems to think that if I didn't find a pre-war Outdoorsman online, then I would buy a Glock from them:
$50 x 0 transfer/year = $0
 
I have a good relationship with my LGS. I basically buy stuff they don't carry (historical stuff). However, if they get something that they know I might like, I'll get a phone call and, sometimes, first chance at it. Some examples are a 1943 1911A, bring back from Iwo Jima; a 1918 GI issue 1911, a 1917 New Service GI issue. In exchange, I have told them a couple of times when I felt their prices were too high, a gun was mis-marked or, Heaven forbid, they were too low on a price! A couple of times, I have let them display a gun I bought on-line before I picked it up (Marked "Not for Sale"), to draw people in (a 1901, engraved Bisley, unique engraving, Mexican/Indian history, nickeled, carved ivory with rubies)
 
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