Discussion ie: price gouging in classified forums

[The Heretic]

Yes, I think I mentioned this before, but I have some rifles that are rare, and go for $3-4K now, about 4-5X what I paid for them. I will never sell them, but if I did it would be for the current going price, not what I paid for them. I did not buy them as an investment, but I am not going to let them go cheap either.

 

[Helocat]

Yes, I think I mentioned this before, but I have some rifles that are rare, and go for $3-4K now, about 4-5X what I paid for them. I will never sell them, but if I did it would be for the current going price, not what I paid for them. I did not buy them as an investment, but I am not going to let them go cheap either.

Exactly. Why would someone sell ammo now for less than the going rate? The going rate is what people will pay.

Funny I just had an employee ask me if I have any 9mm I can sell him. I told him I will look at my stock tonight. Honestly, I am just going to give him 4 boxes. He is a good EE and working hard even with our hours reduced due to the crappy economy. He gets free ammo in my book.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Its simply buyer beware. People should do their research on items and know the current market value. If the value of an item has gone up locally and nationally.. then the value should rise OR its the sellers choice to keep it the same and move it at a more appealing price.

Its the sellers choice.

If folks want to hop on and sell their items for far more than the actual worth.. that is their choice too. When an item is way over priced it simply doesn't move. It'll just sit there and get lower offers or trade offers. So its the sellers loss at that point.

As for panic sellers profiting off of peoples desperation.. meh.. its still a persons choice to buy at 1.5 the msrp. Mags, ammo..etc. if someone wants it and is willing to pay the extra cost of ammo/mags.. that is their choice. And more so of they DIDNT keep a pulse on the ammo/mag market value and are buying simply because they desire said item.

As for over priced, common firearms.. Ill simply laugh at the price and move on. Its not for anyone to assume or demand just what an item should or shouldn't sell for. That isn't a free market. Its their choice.

Where I draw the line is the tire kickers and low ballers that come along with the price gougers. The ones that want your time: pics, details.. the ones that compare prices.. spending countless messages haggling.. Trying to belittle an item for sale or negotiate it down to a laughable price.. not a tangible price.. a laughable one. One where the seller would actually lose significant money.
THOSE are the ones that bother me.

 

[AMT]

Where I draw the line is the tire kickers and low ballers that come along with the price gougers. The ones that want your time: pics, details.. the ones that compare prices.. spending countless messages haggling.. Trying to belittle an item for sale or negotiate it down to a laughable price.. not a tangible price.. a laughable one. One where the seller would actually lose significant money.

THOSE are the ones that bother me.

This is the one that gets me too.

If you have it, and are selling it, it is a piece of garbage.

But if I have that exact same item, and am selling it, it is worth its weight in gold.....

 

[Pete F]

There is a big difference between a scalper/gouger and a seller. The scalper buys up all the stock and then sells for exorbadent prices. The seller sells his stock at market prices.

Ever tried to buy sold out concert tickets? Now it seems that is the only way that you are getting tickets to popular concerts. They buy tons of tickets under various names and then sell at 5x to10x the original price. A noose is too good for people like that IMHO.

 

[joken]

I haven't heard anyone here complaining about guns selling at bargain basement prices.

 

[The Heretic]

From now on, when I see someone selling something I know can be bought online for much less (e.g., ammo) - i.e., price gouging, I am going to post the best price link I can find online into 'Great Deals', so that people can see they shouldn't pay the gouger's price - they can buy it for much less and have it delivered to their doorstep.

This is the age of the internet - anyone who pays a lot more for something than they can easily buy it online only has themselves to blame.

 

[Goosebrown]

The other thing about ads that have outrageous prices, is that they indicate the real market price and thus are a good measure of scarcity if the transaction is consummated. It makes good data points.

If you think it's too high, you must not buy.

 

[Goosebrown]

There is a big difference between a scalper/gouger and a seller. The scalper buys up all the stock and then sells for exorbadent prices. The seller sells his stock at market prices.

Ever tried to buy sold out concert tickets? Now it seems that is the only way that you are getting tickets to popular concerts. They buy tons of tickets under various names and then sell at 5x to10x the original price. A noose is too good for people like that IMHO.

I totally disagree. This IS the market.

You could have got out and stood in line or whatever but you didn't do you pay a convenience fee of 400%. That's good business and it allows those that REALLY want to go, a chance that they otherwise would not have to go.

 

[Mikej]

You could have got out and stood in line or whatever but you didn't do you pay a convenience fee of 400%.

Maybe we have jobs the would preclude us from standing in line all day/night long??....Don't live in our parents basements?? Have responsibilities to homes and families that make it impossible to sit on the phone/stand in line all day buying up game and concert tickets? We would be decent human beings, not the dirt-bag gouger/scalpers. Yep. Just ignore them.

 

[Mikej]

From now on, when I see someone selling something I know can be bought online for much less (e.g., ammo) - i.e., price gouging, I am going to post the best price link I can find online into 'Great Deals', so that people can see they shouldn't pay the gouger's price - they can buy it for much less and have it delivered to their doorstep.

This is the age of the internet - anyone who pays a lot more for something than they can easily buy it online only has themselves to blame.

I discussed this briefly with a couple newbie members yesterday at a meet up to sell some outrageously priced components... Nope, just a hair over cost and still a great deal. You know, buy in bulk/pass on the savings. Anyway, I don't think we should crap on the ads. For one, it's against the rules, and two, it's not only one who would ad crap. It ends up being a free for all. That's just ugly. And it is possible that the would be gouger maybe doesn't realize he's seen as a gouger by some? Nah, I just kinda smile to myself and ignore them. If it's really GOOD, maybe give a laughing emoji. I figure members that buy stuff at gouge prices either want the items that bad, or will soon learn to ignore the ads too.

 

[308]

Good times or bad times, I always do a web search for the item being sold to get an idea of the original or current selling price, then decide if the seller is being fair.

But some n00b selling his MAK90 or unfired SKS for $1100....yeah, permanent block.

 

[Warheathen1]

Maybe we have jobs the would preclude us from standing in line all day/night long??....Don't live in our parents basements?? Have responsibilities to homes and families that make it impossible to sit on the phone/stand in line all day buying up game and concert tickets? We would be decent human beings, not the dirt-bag gouger/scalpers. Yep. Just ignore them.

That's not an accurate analogy though in relation to ammo though. People forget that we are ALL shooters here. So the reality is, I'm working 2 jobs right now to make ends meet and RIGHT NOW don't have much time to shoot, so IF I decide to let some of my ammo/mags go, I'm gonna charge exactly what it would cost me to replace it, which 9 times out of 10, is gonna be the going rate online.

It isn't gouging. The market is going up. And in my opinion, is gonna stay up for awhile. Right after all this covid crap blows over, we are in hurricane season, prices tend to go up during the season for a multitude of reasons. Then after that it's election time, ammo ALWAYS goes up during the election season. I think we have been spoiled with low prices for a few years, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an uptick in price for a long while. In addition, if an item is out of stock, you can't really accurately use that last sale price, because the stock is gone. And that price will change when it comes back in, whenever that might be.

So again, it isn't gouging if someone is charging market value. It's still cheaper to buy and save on shipping that waiting in line, hoping you grab some when it's available online, then pay out the butthole for shipping. People are charging what it will cost them to REPLACE their own stockpile, should they need to in the future.

The people whining and complaining about having to pay $0.48+/round or whatever are the same people that didn't stock up when it was cheap. Why would a seller sell their stockpile for $0.28-0.30/round when it's gonna cost them more than that to replace? It doesn't matter if we bought ammo for $0.30/round a month ago. A lot of BS has happened in the last month and the market reflects that. And availability is only going to get worse.

My suggestion to people that find themselves in a position with limited ammo and they want/need more, they need to buy it up now before the prices get worse.

 

[Warheathen1]

Price gouging is doing what Cheaper than Dirt is doing. Charging $898 for 1000 rounds of 5.56 because they know a lot of people won't do their research, when the market is clearly somewhere between $0.40-0.56/round.

 

[jbett98]

Now that makes sense! Thank you.

Once you sign up on Gun Broker, click on "Advanced" it's right next to the search bar and then scroll down and select "Sort By' and then select "Going, Going, Gone".
Enter in your query for past finished sales.

 

[slimmer13]

I haven't even noticed the latest ammo sh*t show. I guess that means I did it right.

 

[Warheathen1]

I haven't even noticed the latest ammo sh*t show. I guess that means I did it right.

Yeah it's not concerning at all if you keep a healthy stock. I mean, aside from if we hit a multi-year period where ammo is high, because...EVENTUALLY I'll need more. Lol.

 

[Warheathen1]

I look at ammo as currency though. SHTF, ammo will be able to be traded much easier for what you need than paper money would be, especially if the economy literally goes to bubblegum

 

[Mikej]

That's not an accurate analogy though in relation to ammo though. People forget that we are ALL shooters here. So the reality is, I'm working 2 jobs right now to make ends meet and RIGHT NOW don't have much time to shoot, so IF I decide to let some of my ammo/mags go, I'm gonna charge exactly what it would cost me to replace it, which 9 times out of 10, is gonna be the going rate online.

No, not really accurate to the ammo "gouging" thing. But still, someone spending hours scooping up tickets, or ammo, for that matter, just to sell it at twice/three times the price when it's gone from the shelves is a dirt-bag. You deciding to let go of ammo you've acquired over a period of time at the going price from online retailers is not gouging. I'm still going to chuckle if you high priced ammo sits there at "Cheaper than Dirt" prices, but hey, currently cheaper than dirt isn't as bad as they were last time, they musta' learned something? If you sell it, fine. If you don't, no sweat. When word came out here at NWFA that 9mm was gone, it was a day later that 9mm started showing up at $25.00/50. that is gouging IMO. And that is what caused the warnings for "Thread Crapping" to appear. i just sit back and smile either way. Good luck with ALL your sales!

ME = .....

 

[The Heretic]

I discussed this briefly with a couple newbie members yesterday at a meet up to sell some outrageously priced components... Nope, just a hair over cost and still a great deal. You know, buy in bulk/pass on the savings. Anyway, I don't think we should crap on the ads. For one, it's against the rules, and two, it's not only one who would ad crap. It ends up being a free for all. That's just ugly. And it is possible that the would be gouger maybe doesn't realize he's seen as a gouger by some? Nah, I just kinda smile to myself and ignore them. If it's really GOOD, maybe give a laughing emoji. I figure members that buy stuff at gouge prices either want the items that bad, or will soon learn to ignore the ads too.

I didn't post in the ad - not one word. I am not crapping on it. I make no reference to the ad where the gouging is going on. I simply point out that there is a great deal online on the same ammo they are charging 35% more for and that they can get it delivered to their home instead of driving 30 minutes to meet someone and then 30 minutes back home. That is not a 'hair over cost'. If I could do make a profit like that every day I wouldn't need a job.

But I tell you what - if enough people will commit to buying ammo from me for a 35% markup, I will order it online in a group buy.