Ammo Scalpers - We have met the enemy and he is us

[pioneer461]

To quote the old Pogo comic strip character; "We have met the enemy..." ​

A brand new Bimart store opened in town earlier this month, so on my first visit on opening day, I headed straight to Sporting Goods. There on the shelves, open for all to see, were several 50 round boxes of CCI Velocitor .22 lr ammo. It was a glorious sight to behold, so I bought a couple of boxes, the clerk telling me he had a whole bunch in the back room. On a subsequent visit, I picked up another two. One can't have too much .22 ammo these days.

I checked again a couple of days ago. All gone and on back order. It seems a week or so ago, a crew of several folks showed up at the gun counter and each bought as much as the store would sell to them (2 boxes per customer). The ring-leader of this group bragged they make the rounds of sporting goods stores, buying all of the .22 they can lay their hands on, in order to sell it at gun shows for twice what they pay for it. We knew this was going on, but this jerk was openly bragging about ripping off fellow gun owners.

People wonder where all the .22 is going? This is the answer, not some imagined government conspiracy. Gun owners preying on fellow gun owners, drying up the supply in order to make a few bucks. This kind of stuff is going to continue until other gun owners refuse to buy from the scalpers at gun shows. Their behavior is not illegal, but is certainly profiteering and thus considered unethical.

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[uscsoldier]

How are you sure the people buying it were gun owners? While I'm 100% sure it happens there are plenty of other people out there who do such things.

 

[MountainBear]

I don't mean to be cruel, but did you just figure this was going on? This has been hashed over on this forum again and again in several threads. It usually devolves into an economics argument as to whether gouging can exist in a free market economy.

As to whether or not they were gun people, even if this group wasn't, there have been several instances of small shop owners and gun show people doing this for the last several years. In that instance, you are correct, our worst enemy as gun owners is and probably always will be other gun owners.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Nothing new, sad to say. Gun show scalpers, bite me, don't need or patronize you!

 

[70cyclone]

unfortunately too many people feed the trolls and buy it at the shows for way more than its worth.

 

[etrain16]

I have a very well trained 'no' muscle that keeps me from paying ridiculous prices for stuff like this. And for that reason, I tend to avoid gun shows. If I don't find it at a decent price, I don't buy it.

 

[UserNameInUse]

I just figure this is one of the new jobs Obama said he was going to create.

 

[MountainBear]

unfortunately too many people feed the trolls and buy it at the shows for way more than its worth.

And we have a winner! Without demand, supply dries up. So, it's not just the scalpers that are our worst enemy, but those who buy from them. And the OP's comment stands, the enemy is us.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

a guy at the rickreall show was selling federal automatch and was asking $45 per brick... I physically saw him at keizer bimart the day before buying it for $19 per brick. i offered him $25 and let him know i saw him buying it. he said NOPE $45 because you cant find the stuff. i left, walked around and found some at zombie tacticals table and bought a brick of automatch for $25.

screw that guy. sucks when you buy a new 22 and cant even find rounds for it.

 

[etrain16]

As a believer in free market capitalism, I do believe these folks have a right to do what they do. Even if it's slimy, disgusting and harmful to the shooting sports. But until gun owners stop buying from them altogether, they will continue to do what they do.

I honestly don't know who is buying from these folks. Probably not what I would consider 'regular' gun folks, more likely folks that shoot once in a while, find out they can't buy ammo at the store and may not even know they're paying scalper prices.

In a free market economy, the buyer really controls the market. Just too many folks that don't have enough will power to say no to these prices. I don't hold out much hope that that will change any time soon.

As for me, I'll continue to buy at 6-7 cents a round by being patient and shopping around.

 

[MountainBear]

The problem is, we have had an influx of new shooters since the panic of Obama I. And rightfully, many bought .22's as a good starter gun. Many more became re-interested in the old .22 that dad or grandpa left them and they had stuck in a closet. Sadly, I suspect, it is these people driving the demand. Those who just don't know any better.

 

[Iceman04503]

I was at Cabelas in Tualatin on Sunday and the shelves was full of .22 ammo. They still have a limit on how much you can buy. But the prices isn't gouged like the 2x the prices.

 

[Mistman]

Yeah, I'm a little sceptical any savvy shopper will pay double off the shelf price unless just desperate. Any web search will reveal many sources of .22 ammo under 10 cents a round. Lately I've seen it as low as 6.5 cents a round in bulk. It's on the shelves at the sporting goods stores most of the time. At the last Sportsman show in P-town 325 rnd box's of Federal automatch were $17 each no limit on the last day. Bi-mart had pallets of them. A friend bought 20 boxes and wholesaled them off to friends, at his cost. I bought 5. Last week Dicks had plenty at 10 cents a round, which I won't pay these days. Hillsboro Bi-mart had CCI 100 rnd for $7.50 a few weeks back. It's not that hard to find .22 at a decent price these days.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Thats why Ive all but given up on shooting .22 or buying it. Sure, if Bimart has some Ill snag it, but there is no way Im paying $40-$60 for a 500rnd brick anytime soon. Not worth it.

I do know most of it probably falls to the folks like me that see it and are like, oh cool .22! Then Id dare to say only 1/4 are the scalpers.

 

[Koda]

I don't know what the big deal is, this is not the same situation as during the ammo crunch nobody is drying up the supply. Right now you can easily buy 22lr for as little as .07c/rd. If some guy is reselling this under the current market conditions, its entirely the buyers fault.

 

[ThemGunsThough]

Sigh... I remember the good old days just 4 years ago when 525 round bricks were $17. I stocked up back then and still have plenty. I remember when the KSG first came out, someone bought them out at multiple gun stores during their introductory prices and sold them for twice the price. But yeah, it takes two to tango.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Its a two way street, If the guys are re selling it for profit, then the suckers buying it deserve to get hosed! Those to lazy to wait or to shop around can pay twice the going price! I have no problem finding it for a decent price, and can buy as much as I wish with no limits! I limit my self to just one brick so others have a shot at it, I have plenty all ready, but something tells me I should keep buying a little here and a little there!

 

[mjbskwim]

Two stories
Derric LeBue buys Blazers for $15 a brick. Sells them at a Port Angeles show for .........wait for it
$45 a brick!
The vendor sells every brick for $55 a brick!

I gotta ask,who is the bad guy here?
Seems to me it's the DF who bought it for $55 a brick
I got some knives on my table at a gun show. Guy wants to trade some 22lr for the knives. (They are $60 ea)
I said ,sure,3 bricks for a knife

'Well I was bidding on a brick on GB. The guy who won(how is paying more than anyone else would winning) paid $100 for the brick buy the time it was shipped...'
I told him the guy was an idiot and I wasn't going to ever pay that much
Then another guy traded me some mags for them

 

[MountainBear]

Its a two way street, If the guys are re selling it for profit, then the suckers buying it deserve to get hosed! Those to lazy to wait or to shop around can pay twice the going price! I have no problem finding it for a decent price, and can buy as much as I wish with no limits! I limit my self to just one brick so others have a shot at it, I have plenty all ready, but something tells me I should keep buying a little here and a little there!

If it was just people too lazy, I wouldn't be annoyed. But sadly, I think people who are uninformed or new to the sport are being taken advantage. And that's a bit off putting. But again, it's a double edged sword, as the demand sets the supply and price. Sometime reality (in this case economics 101) is harsh.

 

[mjbskwim]

The only thing that can be done is for a good guy(s) to buy the supply and sell them for cost plus tax at the shows
Are YOU game? If not don't complain