Price Gouging? Lets help each other!

[Faulkner]

Through all this recent guns and ammo price instabilty I've not been gouged one single time. I'm using the no-purchase option.

 

[Hack]

I've got enough .22LR to last a long time, having put 10K rounds on the shelf a couple of years ago. At a price of $220 per 5K case (CCI BLazer and Federal). I'll wait until prices return to normal, probably this fall, before I buy any more. At the most, I shoot 100 rounds during my quarterly range sessions. It would take me over ten years to shoot what I've got. But I don't plan on selling any of it. Same for the 3K of 5.56/.223 that are on the shelf. The price of which has gotten as crazy as .22LR.

What my personal gripe is, the price of regular hunting ammo, has gone up. 30-06? I picked up a couple boxes of Remington Core-Lokt 165gr, and it was almost $30 per. When I got it home I stored it on top of several boxes that were priced from $7-$15. Priced go up, but dang, 100% plus?

Luckily not everyone out there is jumping on the high prices. Georgia Arms has filled two 500 round orders for .40 S&W for me. At their normal pricing.

 

[gunlovingirl]

As long as there are buyers willing to pay the gougers' overly inflated prices, we'll see empty shelves. It happened in '08, it's happening now, and it will happen again. Too many otherwise sane and sensible people have turned into "can't find it, gotta have it" addicts, and are willing to pay the ridiculous prices that the gougers are asking. Yes, I call them gougers. You can call them "opportunists" or "enterprising individuals" if it makes you feel better. Too many Joe Blows, who otherwise wouldn't even be in the sporting goods section of their local WalMart, are now there every day, buying up everything they can get their hands on, just so they can resell it for multiples of what they paid for it to people who have a need for it but can't get it, because Joe Blow bought all of it. I know a lot of people see nothing wrong with that. The Joe Blows are just trying to make a profit, recouping what they have into it (many times over), this is America, don't like the price don't buy it, etc etc. But I see it as taking advantage of people, screwing people, and yes, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. But if it weren't for the Joe Blow gougers, no one would have to. There'd be ammo on the shelves. Maybe not as much as there used to be, because there's still a greater demand, thanks to Obama. But take away the gougers, and maybe, just maybe, I could walk into Dick's or the lgs and pick up a box or two of 9mm. And the only way to take away the gougers, is to stop buying from them. Save the money you're going to pay the gouger for that box of ammo, and in a few months, take that money you saved and buy 5 boxes from your lgs.

 

[imjin138]

Yesterday I paid 29.00 for a box of remington 9mm HP it is about what I used to pay for it. I bought 357 for 25 a box of 50. I did see a boxf 25 for 28 dollars. I gave a couple of boxes of 380 to my buddy for his wife's gun so she could practice. I haven't bought much lately because I didn't need any. I have magazines and spare ammo I have seen gougers selling at shows and privately and if I recall the last time this happened afterwards the gougers ended up with the shaft.

 

[blujax01]

Misty I respect your opinion but I disagree.

If Joe Blow Gouger didn't stand in line to buy it he would be replaced by

Joe Blow Hoarder

or

Joe Blow Prepper.


Joe Blow Whiner will always have an excuse.

 

[gunlovingirl]

Misty I respect your opinion but I disagree.

If Joe Blow Gouger didn't stand in line to buy it he would be replaced by

Joe Blow Hoarder

or

Joe Blow Prepper.


Joe Blow Whiner will always have an excuse.

The hoarders and preppers were buying before this panic set in, and you could still find ammo on the shelf. Sorry if you think I'm whining. I'm not. I just don't have any particular fondness for people who take advantage of other people, no matter what the circumstances are.

 

[blujax01]

The hoarders and preppers were buying before this panic set in, and you could still find ammo on the shelf. Sorry if you think I'm whining. I'm not. I just don't have any particular fondness for people who take advantage of other people, no matter what the circumstances are.

Not you, Misty. I know you're not a whiner. I'm talking about those who would order ammo for cheap last year but cannot today. They now either have to go stand in line like the rest of us, or pay the going rate on the Internet like the rest of us. Are the so-called gougers taking advantage? Factor their up front cost including gas and their time going from store to store day after day. Considering the hours they put in, they're not making a lot of money. Leave it on the shelf? For whom exactly? For someone else who wants it more than I do? If I have some ammunition and want more, at what point does someone else step in and say "you have enough. Leave that for me?" yet the ones complaining the loudest would not be standing in line. They will not be satisfied until they can Internet order ammunition for 2012 prices, at will.

Let's be honest. It's primarily 22 plinkers we're talking about. The biggest users are Zombie Killers praying and spraying thousands of rounds a week as a hobby. Their cheap diversion just got a little more expensive.

Let me ask you this: if I pick up brass at the range and sell it for let's say, $40 a thousand, am I gouging? It cost me absolutely nothing but I would be making an infinite profit. Lots of folks doing just that. I see dozens of classifieds but not one complaint about them. Why? Although the principal is the exact same - cost to the seller versus price to the buyer - since the product is being sold for less than the competition, there are no complaints.

If this is to truly be a moral discussion, then the brass sellers should be damned as highly and condemned to the same fate as the ammo sellers.

 

[Stryker9580]

It is what is out there right now and I sure don't know when or if all the panic will subside. But I do know this...I'm taking notes right now of all the sellers that are price gouging and they'll never get my business again. In the long run they probably won't care if it's just a few folks but hopefully a lot of people will feel the same way and let these %^%$# know how they feel.
Thanks, I feel better now, lol.

 

[blujax01]

Stryker, at what point do you consider it gouging? Do you compare prices today to prices in November of 2012? Or price ammunition dealers used charge when they had any ammunition to sell?

Not kidding or being a smart-aleck, what is your criteria? All I have heard so far is "when they pay too little and charge me too much."

In my drinking days I regularly paid 4x or 5x what beer costs to the dealer (or 10x if there was a brass pole involved) and never hear a peep about that.

 

[durango]

I've been shopping for ammo at big box stores rather than LGS in my area because the LGS are charging $5-$10 for a box of 100 .22 rounds - they have lots but that is insane. Walmart and Bass Pro's prices are still extremely reasonable, you just have to get there at the right time. A box of 550 .22 at Walmart is ~$23. I want to support my LGS's but there is no way I'm going to give them my money if they're blatantly profiteering. I love capitalism but I also love not spending money needlessly. When the panic subsides, I'll see if the LGSs decide to become competitive. Until then -- it's their loss.

 

[SW_shooter]

For some people's comments I wish I had a "dis-like" button.

New definitions I have learned from this forum:

hoarders = too bad if you don't like it

non-hoarders = whiners (according to some) [not everyone has the means ($$) to stockpile ammo]

Personally, I don't like seeing people ask ridiculous prices and I really don't like seeing people pay ridiculous prices. But I can't stop someone from paying what they do any more than I can stop someone from asking high prices. All I can do is not give my money to any of you "capitalists" until your prices fall back to where I am comfortable with them. If you're not OK with that, then maybe you are a gouger!

Disclaimer: this commentary is not directed at any one person or group of people being of any certain frame of mind or applicable practice of commerce.

Let's all play nice!

 

[Cdog]

Since when did .22 ammo become something that many of you have to have, a necessity of life?

Since when were any of you forced to pay a ridiculous price?

The term gouging has been redefined to mean anyone's price that you don't like on the stuff you want cheap.

If people were hoarding or gouging food, clean water, or other necessities of life you'd have a sustainable argument, but they ain't and you don't.

 

[labworm]

The biggest problem I see in all this nonsense, is the amount of money gun owners are willing to pay out for items.

A S&W Walther PPK .32 ACP, I purchased mine last year NIB for $399.00
Walther PPK 32 ACP New : Semi Auto Pistols at GunBroker.com

Many that are not our friends are drooling at the moment, and some of us are playing into their hands.

Beware of the future when you enter your LGS.

 

[mkk41]

My favorite LGS often buys out collections , and when they get NOS factory ammo , even fairly new and in current packaging , they still put it on the bargain shelf at about half price. Partial boxes are an even better deal. I've bought lots of this pre-owned ammo and even primers from them over the years.

Every other shop would sell it from behind the counter with the new stuff at current(gouged) prices.

 

[Hillbilly77]

Well, so much for the OP's original point that fellow shooters should be helping each other.

This thread is descending into another gouger/hoarder/whiner scrap.

 

[mc5aw]

Back in 2007, there was a similar mark-up strategy on Shelby Mustangs. Supply was low, demand was high, therefore dealers were marking the Shelbys up from window stickers of $45K to "current demand" prices of $75K. Guess what? People were buying them. I ended up with a $32K GT convertible which was fine.

Back at the peak of the panic in January, I put a pre-Ilion Bushmaster M4 on the consignment rack at the LGS. As a goof, I tagged it at $2,500; (Two years before, I paid $1K, which was MSRP). It sold for $2,500 inside of a week, and the buyer had nary a flinch. I didn't coerce the buyer, and the extra funds went toward my mortgage. Conversely, I have another limited production M4 (NIB) for sale that has drawn no interest at $1,800, and that rifle is twice the firearm of the other. Supply and demand, as well as the emotions of market conditions, control prices asked, and prices realized.

Anyone who wants $100+/- for a box of .22s can be my guest. If they get the asking price, good for them. If not, no problem.

 

[Stryker9580]

Blujax01, yes I guess you could say that I consider the Nov,2012 prices "typical". Never had any problem picking up 22lr for 6-8 cents per round. I care less what others pay for ammo, it's their money and they can spend it on anything they want. I just know that I don't intend to pay it.
There's one law you can't alter...the law of supply and demand. Free market, black market, it doesn't matter. Until supply exceeds demand we're in for more of this. Regards.

 

[Nicksterdemus]

Fear mongering has different effects on folks. Some feel the uncontrollable urge to buy as if their life was in immediate danger. Others see it as a windfall preying on those fears. I'm in the this is BS & I'm just going to watch from the sidelines for the duration. I rarely shoot though if in wally-world will buy a box or two of some calibre or every calibre that I have something to load it into if I'm so of mind.

It's been about four years since I've been to a gun show. I'm afraid of cardiac arrest from the latest prices.

 

[Beejabbers]

"The hoarders and preppers were buying before this panic set in, and you could still find ammo on the shelf. Sorry if you think I'm whining. I'm not. I just don't have any particular fondness for people who take advantage of other people, no matter what the circumstances are."
__________________
Misty☺

After the last shortage, I became a "hoarder or prepper" or whatever one calls a person with lots and lots of ammo. Now, I consider myself part of the solution. I can spend my time at the range shooting instead of trying to find ammo. The ammunition that I am NOT buying is available to those that need it. Also, the $70 box of 9mm can rot on the shelf as far as I am concerned. The seller has the right to offer at any price, I have the right to say buzz off.

 

[redlevel]

I had a kid at work offer to sell me his .22LR ammo. He mentioned that he was going to sell his .22 rifles and all his ammo.
I asked what he had for ammo and how much he wanted for it. Turned out he had 2 partial boxes from a couple years ago, approx. 700 loose rounds of Winchester & Federal. He had all of about $40 into it when he purchased it. I asked him what he wanted for it and he said "$60" without batting an eye.
I told him he was out of his mind and there was no way I would pay that kind of money for a couple half-boxes of ammo.
I offered him $45 for all of it and told him "That refunds your original purchase price, and several hundered rounds are missing. That's a nice profit for you, but $45 is my limit."

Turns out the kid is a "take advantage" type and figures he can sell it for way more than that.
I agreed with him that he probably could, and that it was his and he could do what he wanted, but I wasn't willing to pay centerfire prices for rimfire ammo. I'll quit shooting .22 altogether first.

I wish him the best of luck in his venture to screw the next guy - it ain't gonna be me.

Why were you trying to take advantage of a young shooter? He offered you what is probably a fair price in today's market. You countered with an offer that is probably about half of what he could get, again on today's market, yet you accuse him of trying to take advantage of you?

What he has in the ammo is totally irrelevant. What the ammo is worth today is the only thing that matters.