Price gouging

[Ironworker]

I needed Blue dot badly,nobody has any ,accept a store that's well known for price gouging. I paid $59 bucks for a 1lb today. But ya figure if Powder valley had some(They don't) I'd have to pay Hazmat and shipping plus wait a week. I had to do what I had to do.

 

[Sevens]

You voted "YES!"

You did what you had to do, and because you had to, you told them with your wallet that you support their prices.

This is not, at all, price gouging.

 

[AlHunt]

I needed Blue dot badly,nobody has any ,accept a store that's well known for price gouging. I paid $59 bucks for a 1lb today. But ya figure if Powder valley had some(They don't) I'd have to pay Hazmat and shipping plus wait a week. I had to do what I had to do.

I haven't seen BD anywhere in recent memory.

I used to avoid fast burning powders but right when the madness started I laid in Tightgroup and AA2 in 4 and 5 pound containers. I just use extra caution when charging cases and a little goes a long, long ways.

I see slower powders locally at around 40 bucks and buy one occasionally just to have it.

 

[Univibe]

Free market not price gouging.

Us Prophets were stocking up when Powder Valley did free shipping, when gun shows sold bricks of primers cheap, when Target Sports USA had free shipping on cases of 22LR. Now we're sitting on piles of this stuff, going to the range every week like there's no panic out there.

 

[robrossk]

High prices maybe. Gouging no way. Does it seem fair and right - no. Is it the free market - yes!

 

[gmiller0737]

One of our local Gun Stores has quite a bit of Powder @ $69.95 each & since our Muzzleloader Season is approaching Blackhorn 209 is $129.99 Per Can (10 ounces I think) So you didn't do that badly


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[Funflyer]

I'm thankful that we have a few local stores here that aren't "ripping off", AKA gouging, their customers. Over the last few months I've found several of my favorite powders and the highest price I've paid was $38 a pound. Most were $32-$34.

 

[mikld]

Don't know why some are defending gougers with "free market" type replies. Any time vendors take advantage of extreme circumstances (panic buying, product shortages) and charge 3x-4x the standard prices, they are gouging.

 

[Narragansett]

I am sorry, and i am not trying to be critical, but I would never pay that for a pound of powder.

I remember when an 8 pound keg of green dot was 75.00.

Just me I guess, but i will go without before I let somebody gouge me

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I am sorry, and i am not trying to be critical, but I would never pay that for a pound of powder.

I remember when an 8 pound keg of green dot was 75.00.

Just me I guess, but i will go without before I let somebody gouge me

I bought WW748 in 8# cans for 59.99 and primers at 6.99 a thousand and Winchester 55gr FMJ/BT at 8.99 a thousand in 1984 I stocked up, but I have had to pay higher prices since Then!

Have you seen what restaurants are charging for a glass of tea now? It is the times! And they are a changing!

Ivan

 

[k22fan]

The store clerk who was about a decade older and wiser than me warned me I'd be smart to stock up. To do that at a lower per pound price I bought a 4 pound can of Herco. Also just because they had lingered on the shelf at their older price I bought a few pounds of AL-5 for $2.50 a pound. Most powder was $3.50 a pound. My purchase seemed like a lot of powder to a teenager reloading 9 mm Luger on a single stage press. The store clerk was right. Within a few months most powders jumped to $4.50 a pound.

By the way, that was not last week.

I do miss AL-5. I learned to love the stuff and kept buying pre-owned cans at gun shows into the 1990s.

 

[smoothshooter]

Don't know why some are defending gougers with "free market" type replies. Any time vendors take advantage of extreme circumstances (panic buying, product shortages) and charge 3x-4x the standard prices, they are gouging.

They do it because they know the " reloading component flippers " will mark it up just as much or nearly as much and pocket the profit.
The store owners have to pay wages, rent, mortgage or lease payments, utilities, insurance, and comply with a myriad of federal and state regulations, and risk jail time if they violate some of the regulations. The flippers have no overhead and no liability. They are just out for a quick buck.
Also, when dealers can't replace sold inventory in a timely manner, they lose sales. A reduced inventory means that each sale has to pay a higher percentage of the net profit required to keep the store open.
I suppose the dealers could sell at the old prices, but then they would be out of business and/or bankrupt and unemployed in short order. Would that be a better outcome?
The flippers are the ones we should direct our ire towards.

I am with the dealers on this one.

 

[Johnnu2]

Personally, I'm not angry with anyone. I simply cast my vote by not buying anything that is marked-up like primers, ammo etc etc. No biggie, just DON'T BUY.

Today a friend came by to pick up some .22LR ammo for a lady who lives alone in an isolated area with no protection except an old AR-7. Her local LGS wanted $25 for a box of (50) .22LR ammo.... We gave her what she will need to feel somewhat safe out there.... FREE obvioulsy. Now that LGS pisses me off.

J.

 

[Narragansett]

I bought WW748 in 8# cans for 59.99 and primers at 6.99 a thousand and Winchester 55gr FMJ/BT at 8.99 a thousand in 1984 I stocked up, but I have had to pay higher prices since Then!

Have you seen what restaurants are charging for a glass of tea now? It is the times! And they are a changing!

Ivan

Wonder if the price of a baloney sandwich is up at G&R?

I forget what 209 primers were but I used to buy 50K at a time. Good for a bit over 2 years trapshooting

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Wonder if the price of a baloney sandwich is up at G&R?

I forget what 209 primers were but I used to buy 50K at a time. Good for a bit over 2 years trapshooting

The last two stops at G&R Tavern (A year ago Labor Day and MLK Day this year,) the wife and I thought the prices were still "Normal", same goes for the 8 inch tall cream pies!

I try to keep a reserve of 10K of W209 primers. Someone was miffed that I was concerned when down to 4K! The just don't under stand that a 1000 shot shell, is just a fun weekend for one person! I'm sitting on 11K right now and loading season is upon me. I need to load about 4K in 28 gauge and 3K of 410

Ivan

 

[smoothshooter]

Personally, I'm not angry with anyone. I simply cast my vote by not buying anything that is marked-up like primers, ammo etc etc. No biggie, just DON'T BUY.

Today a friend came by to pick up some .22LR ammo for a lady who lives alone in an isolated area with no protection except an old AR-7. Her local LGS wanted $25 for a box of (50) .22LR ammo.... We gave her what she will need to feel somewhat safe out there.... FREE obvioulsy. Now that LGS pisses me off.

J.

You are playing an integral part in the free market by refusing to buy at prices that are too high for your needs; as is the dealer who charges a higher price that others WILL pay. But at least he has the product available. His competitors that sold out at lower prices are of no help to someone who needs ammo TODAY because that dealer doesn't have any. And when the low price dealers get a shipment in, it is sold out in just a few hours, if not minutes. With the ammo flippers buying most of it up ( while people like you and I are at work and can't take off to race to the ammo dealer's to get some before it's gone ) and doing their own markup. So now we are back to zero inventory for the dealer trying to be generous, and some inventory at the dealer that charges the maximum that the market will bear.
As I asked in a previous post-which is the better outcome?

 

[Sevens]

I agree with the ire directed at flippers, but I'll wedge in two comments.

First is that they also are playing with a free market, and free men are free to do as they choose. It's not a far leap from these guys buying primers to any/all of us snatching a great gun and selling it off later for more than we paid.

My other point?! Primer and powder flippers have NO INCENTIVE to throw money at these things if there aren't folks buying from them. Guy who started this thread is precisely and exactly the reason that opportunists buy and flip powder and primers (and ammo, and magazines, and guns, and concert tickets and anything else that "gotta have it!" guys will pay 3x and be disgusted over…) and YET still pay.

If nobody paid, there would be no incentive for them.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Retailers aren't paying more than about $25/lb for powder. The problem is they can't get any and if they do they have to sell it for a ridiculous price like $59/lb. to stay in business.

This is happening to many retailers, not just your LGS.

 

[dougb1946]

Don't know why some are defending gougers with "free market" type replies. Any time vendors take advantage of extreme circumstances (panic buying, product shortages) and charge 3x-4x the standard prices, they are gouging.

Unless you have access to their books and know their cost and expense figures, it is hard to call any price "gouging". Businesses exist to make a profit for their owner, not to provide low priced merchandise at a loss.

 

[k22fan]

Now we know who to buddy up to!

[...] I used to buy 50K [209 primers] at a time. Good for a bit over 2 years trapshooting

[...] I try to keep a reserve of 10K of W209 primers. [...] I'm sitting on 11K right now [...]

Trap shooters have the mistaken notion that the huge containers of fast pistol powder they buy are for shotgun shells. When they move on to other things those containers hit the pre-owned powder market. Their Red Dot goes a long way in target pistol loads.