Dear Gun Show Vendors....

[Sgt Nambu]

Problem is............they DON'T get the message........the ammo is still priced high 4 months later at the next show.

Well, that is true, Flinch. I guess I meant that they get it enough for me because I'm not buying anything anyway! I should have phrased it, it pizzes them off! I almost always buy firearms from our membership here. Else, Keith's.

 

[mjbskwim]

Hmmm it is just a matter of time before sales tax and serial number become part of every transaction.
Maybe they won?

Actually the FFL is supposed to charge a 'use' tax on the transfer fee and the VALUE of the firearm

They get the message!

And they don't care

Use them like a petting zoo. Pay the entry fee, go play with and press your greasy mug against ever single gun you have on your bucket list and put them back on the rack the same time your shopping on your phone for the same thing at hundreds less or call your local B&M shop to order.

I guess this is the real reason I go to the shows. The one huge guy brings about 300 new guns,and does have decent prices,to the shows to fondle.
Never know when you will see and old relic that you have never seen before

 

[Just Jim]

Well now, I set up a table now and then or help my friends so I guess this I'd about me.

So let's look at it from the sellers side, first tables cost $45 to $65 for 2 or three day show. Add in cost of fuel, table cover bottom, table cover top, decent folding chair, glass case to keep people from beating your gun to death, food and drink and a receipt book. Bore light and tools plus price tags and writing sticks.

Once you are there you must buy zip ties to secure guns and deal with the show promoters rules. You lay out your stuff knowing that 7 to of ten people will pick it up and set it down with never the least intention of buying. They just handle your stuff all day. It doesn't matter if you put up a sign on your nice rife that says "do not handle without permission" because people still pick up your rifles and bang them around.

Then you have the kids without parent control, usually about 20 per show that just have to rub their hands on every thing on the table while dad is no where near to control them. Teenagers that can't afford guns that just think it's cool to pick up your gun and point it then hand it to his friend to handle it some more.

So if someone who actually has some money and isn't there to kick tires, no matter what the price he wants more off. If you have two of the same gun he will wear em both out to compare then move on to another table. The shows are full of lookers that feel they have to handle to look. Then it becomes how much will you give trade in. They have five boxes of shells they want you to pay retail prices so you can haul them around and nobody buys them.

So you make the deal and the next half hour to an hour you are on the phone to the state and unable to do any business. You use your credit card for the fee then make out a receipt for the gun to go out plus put on another zip tie.

Add to this the hauling in and out of enough stuff to fill a table along with the thieves that steal from you. Plus anyone that comes through thinks you should sell so low they get a great deal and you shouldn't make any money.

Honestly as a sometimes seller I can live without dealing with the public. Most are rude and self centered and want to tell you all they know or all they have done. I understand this cause most of them aren't allowed to talk at home. I am at the age that I should be selling all my really good stuff but why take it to a show, most haven't got any money to spend or so they say.

Edited to add, nothing like having a real nice O3 and the guy pulls open the bolt only to drop the bolt and bang your guns in the process.

 

[jluck]

Well now, I set up a table now and then or help my friends so I guess this I'd about me.

So let's look at it from the sellers side, first tables cost $45 to $65 for 2 or three day show. Add in cost of fuel, table cover bottom, table cover top, decent folding chair, glass case to keep people from beating your gun to death, food and drink and a receipt book. Bore light and tools plus price tags and writing sticks.

Once you are there you must buy zip ties to secure guns and deal with the show promoters rules. You lay out your stuff knowing that 7 to of ten people will pick it up and set it down with never the least intention of buying. They just handle your stuff all day. It doesn't matter if you put up a sign on your nice rife that says "do not handle without permission" because people still pick up your rifles and bang them around.

Then you have the kids without parent control, usually about 20 per show that just have to rub their hands on every thing on the table while dad is no where near to control them. Teenagers that can't afford guns that just think it's cool to pick up your gun and point it then hand it to his friend to handle it some more.

So if someone who actually has some money and isn't there to kick tires, no matter what the price he wants more off. If you have two of the same gun he will wear em both out to compare then move on to another table. The shows are full of lookers that feel they have to handle to look. Then it becomes how much will you give trade in. They have five boxes of shells they want you to pay retail prices so you can haul them around and nobody buys them.

So you make the deal and the next half hour to an hour you are on the phone to the state and unable to do any business. You use your credit card for the fee then make out a receipt for the gun to go out plus put on another zip tie.

Add to this the hauling in and out of enough stuff to fill a table along with the thieves that steal from you. Plus anyone that comes through thinks you should sell so low they get a great deal and you shouldn't make any money.

Honestly as a sometimes seller I can live without dealing with the public. Most are rude and self centered and want to tell you all they know or all they have done. I understand this cause most of them aren't allowed to talk at home. I am at the age that I should be selling all my really good stuff but why take it to a show, most haven't got any money to spend or so they say.

Edited to add, nothing like having a real nice O3 and the guy pulls open the bolt only to drop the bolt and bang your guns in the process.

Good points Jim but none of them make a gun worth more than it is.

 

[etrain16]

Well now, I set up a table now and then or help my friends so I guess this I'd about me.

So let's look at it from the sellers side, first tables cost $45 to $65 for 2 or three day show. Add in cost of fuel, table cover bottom, table cover top, decent folding chair, glass case to keep people from beating your gun to death, food and drink and a receipt book. Bore light and tools plus price tags and writing sticks.

Once you are there you must buy zip ties to secure guns and deal with the show promoters rules. You lay out your stuff knowing that 7 to of ten people will pick it up and set it down with never the least intention of buying. They just handle your stuff all day. It doesn't matter if you put up a sign on your nice rife that says "do not handle without permission" because people still pick up your rifles and bang them around.

Then you have the kids without parent control, usually about 20 per show that just have to rub their hands on every thing on the table while dad is no where near to control them. Teenagers that can't afford guns that just think it's cool to pick up your gun and point it then hand it to his friend to handle it some more.

So if someone who actually has some money and isn't there to kick tires, no matter what the price he wants more off. If you have two of the same gun he will wear em both out to compare then move on to another table. The shows are full of lookers that feel they have to handle to look. Then it becomes how much will you give trade in. They have five boxes of shells they want you to pay retail prices so you can haul them around and nobody buys them.

So you make the deal and the next half hour to an hour you are on the phone to the state and unable to do any business. You use your credit card for the fee then make out a receipt for the gun to go out plus put on another zip tie.

Add to this the hauling in and out of enough stuff to fill a table along with the thieves that steal from you. Plus anyone that comes through thinks you should sell so low they get a great deal and you shouldn't make any money.

Honestly as a sometimes seller I can live without dealing with the public. Most are rude and self centered and want to tell you all they know or all they have done. I understand this cause most of them aren't allowed to talk at home. I am at the age that I should be selling all my really good stuff but why take it to a show, most haven't got any money to spend or so they say.

Edited to add, nothing like having a real nice O3 and the guy pulls open the bolt only to drop the bolt and bang your guns in the process.

Honestly, it doesn't even sound like it's worth all the hassle. But aside from that, everyone who sells guns for profit incurs costs. Consider the little shop, they have overhead costs for labor, rent, heat, electricity and maintenance. They also have insurance costs. And, like the show, they get a lot of folks that come in and just handle stuff without ever buying anything. Yet their prices tend to be at least a little better than retail, sometimes much better. Of course you may argue they can develop a customer base and have more volume, but either way, if they marked their prices above retail, then told each customer how much it cost them to be in business, I would bet they'd be out of business fairly soon.

I've got nothing against folks that want to try and make a few bucks selling things, but knowing someone else spent a lot of time and money to get a table set up doesn't give me incentive to spend more on the gun than I could pay somewhere else. And that's why I avoid the shows.

 

[NoFlinch]

................................

jluck & etrain16...............

Exactly!!!............

 

[Just Jim]

Good points Jim but none of them make a gun worth more than it is.

Prices and value is all relative. The net has run the prices of guns up a bunch and guys see guns selling on the net so ask net prices at the shows. I see guns priced way out of reason here, rusty guns that show little care and they want as much as a new AR cost. I went to a LGS and he had bought a whole collection of really nice Colts, told me he wouldn't sell them in the shop as he got much better prices on the net. Never went back to his store.

Point is a man puts effort into collecting nice stuff and goes to all the shows. When he wants to sell nobody wants to pay what it's worth today cause " I used to buy those for half that price". The price is just how much the seller values the item. If people don't want to pay the price then the seller either keeps the gun or finds another place to sell like the net.

Net seller says "firm" and that's the price except shipping and dealer fees and background checks and driving to meet strangers. Price is all relative.

I set up a table and I am not going to do it without a profit. If my guns don't sell I am ok with it as I bought them for my shooting fun. Sometime figure out what dealing with the public for two or three days is worth and what's it worth for a 100 guys to pick up and bang your guns with no real intention to buy

 

[Just Jim]

Honestly, it doesn't even sound like it's worth all the hassle. But aside from that, everyone who sells guns for profit incurs costs. Consider the little shop, they have overhead costs for labor, rent, heat, electricity and maintenance. They also have insurance costs. And, like the show, they get a lot of folks that come in and just handle stuff without ever buying anything. Yet their prices tend to be at least a little better than retail, sometimes much better. Of course you may argue they can develop a customer base and have more volume, but either way, if they marked their prices above retail, then told each customer how much it cost them to be in business, I would bet they'd be out of business fairly soon.

I've got nothing against folks that want to try and make a few bucks selling things, but knowing someone else spent a lot of time and money to get a table set up doesn't give me incentive to spend more on the gun than I could pay somewhere else. And that's why I avoid the shows.

I just bought a couple of guns from a guy I knew from work, he priced the guns off Arms list prices. The net is what has run the prices up cause somewhere in the USA somebody will pay the price.

I cut it down to just doing a table to support my gun club, I really don't care if I do sell anything as I don't live off what little profit there is to be made. Gunshows are a social event with some learning involved. I can learn as much at the gun club and talk to people who are really into guns.

 

[Member 5605]

As money dries up in the economy like it has, people tend to be less impulsive on buying. We shop, research, shop some more and then wait for free shipping. Lol.

When times were good in this nation it was ok to drop a few dollars more to get it "now" because you had surplus.

Now that chicken has risen 300%, milk is more expensive than gasoline, people are losing homes due to lack of work etc.... We spend wisely and that doesn't mean at a pay to park, pay to enter show where the sellers display what they have, not what they want to sell.

$.02

 

[Just Jim]

As money dries up in the economy like it has, people tend to be less impulsive on buying. We shop, research, shop some more and then wait for free shipping. Lol.

When times were good in this nation it was ok to drop a few dollars more to get it "now" because you had surplus.

Now that chicken has risen 300%, milk is more expensive than gasoline, people are losing homes due to lack of work etc.... We spend wisely and that doesn't mean at a pay to park, pay to enter show where the sellers display what they have, not what they want to sell.

$.02

No doubt guns are deflating in price, new ARs for $440 tells the story. Deal is the guys that bring guns and ammo into the shows still think they have a $1400 AR. Guys that bring guns in want more than retail. They want retail for their old ammo that I can buy new at Bimart for the same price.

Stuff that will hold its price is collectibles, stuff that gains in value is the rare and desirable. The rest will go as the market does.

One of the things I hear often is how overpriced a gun is and 20 years ago they were half that. It's like you shouldn't make a profit on it cause you didn't pay today's price for it. I ask them what they bought their house for 20 years ago and would they sell it for the same price.

 

[jluck]

Jim, I think we're on different wavelengths on this one. I refer to the overpriced everyday that you can get anywhere stuff. Not good old solid firearms from days past. I do think that's the only validity and lure to the modern day gun show. Those values are relative and subjective not like a brand new glock that's 200 more on a dealers table than what I could get it sent to my local gun shop.

I also agree with you on firearms for sale here. AR'S and lately AR pistols are humorously overpriced. Alas we can't say a word about it and have to sit back and watch a fellow man pay more than could get the same thing new....


Edit: now I think we're saying the same thing.... didn't get to read last post before posting. Dang smartphone. ..

 

[mjbskwim]

Let me put it this way.....

Good points Jim but none of them make a gun worth more than it is.

JJ,you can have all the excuses and write down as much as you want on here,but even if it was all true,then don't do the gun shows.
Simple
Te internet DOES NOT raise the price of guns
TOTAL BS. and probably the opposite is true.The weberneter guys raise their prices to match what the VENDOR AT THE SHOWS HAVE.
So you don't care if you sell the guns you bring to the show? Why bring them and jack the prices up?
Make everyone at the show raise their prices.
Not going to sell without making a profit? Buy into the guns better (buy low sell high?)
Don't like people touching the guns? Watch the table better,yell at the under age kids for touching the guns
BTW,how much profit did you make ...after paying for gas to get there,the table rent,zip ties,tags,terrible food and banged up guns.....when you had your guns priced too high to interest any buddy to buy them?
I'm guessing goose eggs?

 

[tashworth1]

i used to go for good deals, then for specific things, then entertainment. now not at all due to the prices, however reading this thread it looks like to me you are supposed to hagel on some prices. just my 2 cents worth even if something is just 5 to 10 % more i will move on and not "make an offer" if there is 5 to 10 % of people like myself at the shows i will let the vendors do the math of the lost sales.

 

[mjbskwim]

Haggle?
Get the prices within reason and I will

 

[Norm0931]

Let me put it this way.....

JJ,you can have all the excuses and write down as much as you want on here,but even if it was all true,then don't do the gun shows.
Simple
Te internet DOES NOT raise the price of guns
TOTAL BS. and probably the opposite is true.The weberneter guys raise their prices to match what the VENDOR AT THE SHOWS HAVE.
So you don't care if you sell the guns you bring to the show? Why bring them and jack the prices up?
Make everyone at the show raise their prices.
Not going to sell without making a profit? Buy into the guns better (buy low sell high?)
Don't like people touching the guns? Watch the table better,yell at the under age kids for touching the guns
BTW,how much profit did you make ...after paying for gas to get there,the table rent,zip ties,tags,terrible food and banged up guns.....when you had your guns priced too high to interest any buddy to buy them?
I'm guessing goose eggs?

I have to say the internet makes it rough on small single location gun shops to make a profit. Most of the time we make 10% on a firearm, which is not even remotely close to actually being profitable. And you are still beat by either mega shops that have huge online presence and no real storefront, just a warehouse or the kitchen table FFL that has virtually zero overhead. My biggest pet peeve is people that come to fondle guns in person, pick your brain, ask you a ton of questions, then buy it from the dealer that has horrible service but every gun on earth on hand or on the internet. Gun owners screw over small shops IMO.

 

[Just Jim]

Let me put it this way.....

JJ,you can have all the excuses and write down as much as you want on here,but even if it was all true,then don't do the gun shows.
Simple
Te internet DOES NOT raise the price of guns
TOTAL BS. and probably the opposite is true.The weberneter guys raise their prices to match what the VENDOR AT THE SHOWS HAVE.
So you don't care if you sell the guns you bring to the show? Why bring them and jack the prices up?
Make everyone at the show raise their prices.
Not going to sell without making a profit? Buy into the guns better (buy low sell high?)
Don't like people touching the guns? Watch the table better,yell at the under age kids for touching the guns
BTW,how much profit did you make ...after paying for gas to get there,the table rent,zip ties,tags,terrible food and banged up guns.....when you had your guns priced too high to interest any buddy to buy them?
I'm guessing goose eggs?

You confuse facts for excuses, nobody sets up a table to not make a profit. Plus you are wrong about the net, I will give you two dealers that make more money selling quality guns on the net than they do selling to locals. I don't yell at kids, I yell at their parents.

As for how much did I make at the last show, I knew guns were not selling so I took a table full of old military Web gear. Never took any guns but made more money selling low end stuff than all the guys around me selling guns.

I won't do a gun table again until there is some money out there, most guys are paycheck to paycheck now and can't afford a decent gun. Your strategy to buy low and sell high is what every small business in the USA tries to do, most fail. Plus if I try to buy low then the sellers curse the dealers as a bunch of thieves.

There is no real money to be made at the gunshows until the economy comes back.

 

[NoFlinch]

.............most guys are paycheck to paycheck now and can't afford a decent gun.

Then you have the folks like me that bring $700 to last weeks show to be certain that they have enough to buy or make a deposit on a gun...............

...and end up leaving with $700 and a bad (worse) taste for Gun Show Vendors

 

[Just Jim]

Then you have the folks like me that bring $700 to last weeks show to be certain that they have enough to buy or make a deposit on a gun...............

...and end up leaving with $700 and a bad (worse) taste for Gun Show Vendors

I spent $900 today on two guns that will never get to the gunshow. I didn't pay for a table or buy gas to Portland, or pay parking. I didn't even have to worry about measles. Guy doesn't have to buy or sell at a show, things will get worse before they will get better. Three trillion has left the economy from Obama care and he wants a 4 trillion budget. The pain has just begun.

Edited to add, that's $900 that didn't get into the hands of a man who paid his way into the show to sell his guns

 

[tashworth1]

I have to say the internet makes it rough on small single location gun shops to make a profit. Most of the time we make 10% on a firearm, which is not even remotely close to actually being profitable. And you are still beat by either mega shops that have huge online presence and no real storefront, just a warehouse or the kitchen table FFL that has virtually zero overhead. My biggest pet peeve is people that come to fondle guns in person, pick your brain, ask you a ton of questions, then buy it from the dealer that has horrible service but every gun on earth on hand or on the internet. Gun owners screw over small shops IMO.

This is not fact,however I have suspension that you only make 10 % selling firearms. As a successful buss. owner it is common knowledge that any buss. needs about 35% gross profit just to stay open, then you have to make a profit to grow the buss. Also when in stock I can buy A particular pistol in 22 lr for $160.00 and @ the show the least expensive is $195.00. please read and do the math

 

[oli700]

I have to say the internet makes it rough on small single location gun shops to make a profit. Most of the time we make 10% on a firearm, which is not even remotely close to actually being profitable. And you are still beat by either mega shops that have huge online presence and no real storefront, just a warehouse or the kitchen table FFL that has virtually zero overhead. My biggest pet peeve is people that come to fondle guns in person, pick your brain, ask you a ton of questions, then buy it from the dealer that has horrible service but every gun on earth on hand or on the internet. Gun owners screw over small shops IMO.

Vicious circle...money hard to come by, goods price goes up faster than wage, people want bang for buck....same thing happened to Detroit

whats awesome about this thread is that everyone is right...rare