Firearm sales declining?

[arakboss]

At the shop yesterday we bought four more firearms and sold zero. That math is not sustainable for the long run. Boss seems to think sales have slowed because of the Summer season and sales will pick back up in the Fall. Hopefully the economy holds up until then.

We went to Red Robin yesterday for burgers and the place was packed. We had to wait 15 mins to get seated. Drive thru lines in town have seen no shortage of cars either. People are still spending for meals out.

 

[Bobbygun]

At the shop yesterday we bought four more firearms and sold zero. That math is not sustainable for the long run. Boss seems to think sales have slowed because of the Summer season and sales will pick back up in the Fall. Hopefully the economy holds up until then.

We went to Red Robin yesterday for burgers and the place was packed. We had to wait 15 mins to get seated. Drive thru lines in town have seen no shortage of cars either. People are still spending for meals out.

Folks are still spending on golf as well. Green fees are up and yet there are more people out on the courses than there have been over past few years.

Ammo isn't as hard to come by now, so maybe more people are out actually shooting instead of just buying guns.

 

[CLT65]

We went to Red Robin yesterday for burgers and the place was packed. We had to wait 15 mins to get seated. Drive thru lines in town have seen no shortage of cars either. People are still spending for meals out.

I've noticed the same thing, and it blows me away. You see lines around the block for an $8 coffee. It's amazing how people throw money around.

People talk about inflation, and how we're lied to; inflation is actually so much higher over the last few decades, blah, blah, blah. And yet people have so much more stuff now, than I ever remember. Yes, houses are insanely expensive, but when I was young I remember seeing RVs on the road, and they were almost always driven by retirees. Now I see younger people driving big, fancy toy haulers with all the toys. I see trailers flying down the road in the summer, loaded with nice boats, quads, rails, bikes, all kinds of expensive toys. People have more money and toys now than ever before.

We've stopped, almost completely. You won't see us in a restaurant for a while, or a coffee stand, or a car lot. I'm spending all my spare time pinching pennies and fixing 20 year old cars. No more guns for me, at all. No more ammo or reloading components, at least for a while. Instead of just talking about it, we're going to start living it. We've got to dig out of this hole somehow. I think a simpler life just might be better.

As much as we pinch pennies and don't have the nice toys like a lot of folks, we still have nicer stuff than I remember my folks having when I was a kid. Maybe Fritz was right- too much consumin' going on out there...

 

[arakboss]

I've noticed the same thing, and it blows me away. You see lines around the block for an $8 coffee. It's amazing how people throw money around.

People talk about inflation, and how we're lied to; inflation is actually so much higher over the last few decades, blah, blah, blah. And yet people have so much more stuff now, than I ever remember. Yes, houses are insanely expensive, but when I was young I remember seeing RVs on the road, and they were almost always driven by retirees. Now I see younger people driving big, fancy toy haulers with all the toys. I see trailers flying down the road in the summer, loaded with nice boats, quads, rails, bikes, all kinds of expensive toys. People have more money and toys now than ever before.

We've stopped, almost completely. You won't see us in a restaurant for a while, or a coffee stand, or a car lot. I'm spending all my spare time pinching pennies and fixing 20 year old cars. No more guns for me, at all. No more ammo or reloading components, at least for a while. Instead of just talking about it, we're going to start living it. We've got to dig out of this hole somehow. I think a simpler life just might be better.

As much as we pinch pennies and don't have the nice toys like a lot of folks, we still have nicer stuff than I remember my folks having when I was a kid. Maybe Fritz was right- too much consumin' going on out there...

I feel the same way. Even today's "poor" people have lots of amenities that many middle class people didn't have when I was growing up.

 

[ktgee]

At the shop yesterday we bought four more firearms and sold zero. That math is not sustainable for the long run. Boss seems to think sales have slowed because of the Summer season and sales will pick back up in the Fall. Hopefully the economy holds up until then.

We went to Red Robin yesterday for burgers and the place was packed. We had to wait 15 mins to get seated. Drive thru lines in town have seen no shortage of cars either. People are still spending fo

I've noticed the same thing, and it blows me away. You see lines around the block for an $8 coffee. It's amazing how people throw money around.

People talk about inflation, and how we're lied to; inflation is actually so much higher over the last few decades, blah, blah, blah. And yet people have so much more stuff now, than I ever remember. Yes, houses are insanely expensive, but when I was young I remember seeing RVs on the road, and they were almost always driven by retirees. Now I see younger people driving big, fancy toy haulers with all the toys. I see trailers flying down the road in the summer, loaded with nice boats, quads, rails, bikes, all kinds of expensive toys. People have more money and toys now than ever before.

We've stopped, almost completely. You won't see us in a restaurant for a while, or a coffee stand, or a car lot. I'm spending all my spare time pinching pennies and fixing 20 year old cars. No more guns for me, at all. No more ammo or reloading components, at least for a while. Instead of just talking about it, we're going to start living it. We've got to dig out of this hole somehow. I think a simpler life just might be better.

As much as we pinch pennies and don't have the nice toys like a lot of folks, we still have nicer stuff than I remember my folks having when I was a kid. Maybe Fritz was right- too much consumin' going on out there...

That is one reason people are so in debt. Eating out is a must for many people. Coffee and eating out often every month can easily cost hundreds.
Example, A friend spends an average of 350 to 400.00 per month just for coffee, beverages, and lunch during work days. And dinner for family of 4, once a week averages per month 200.00. Total about 5 to 600. That's enough to make monthly payments for example: on student aid loans that Biden wants to cancel.

 

[Catfishmoon]

I've noticed the same thing, and it blows me away. You see lines around the block for an $8 coffee. It's amazing how people throw money around.

People talk about inflation, and how we're lied to; inflation is actually so much higher over the last few decades, blah, blah, blah. And yet people have so much more stuff now, than I ever remember. Yes, houses are insanely expensive, but when I was young I remember seeing RVs on the road, and they were almost always driven by retirees. Now I see younger people driving big, fancy toy haulers with all the toys. I see trailers flying down the road in the summer, loaded with nice boats, quads, rails, bikes, all kinds of expensive toys. People have more money and toys now than ever before.

We've stopped, almost completely. You won't see us in a restaurant for a while, or a coffee stand, or a car lot. I'm spending all my spare time pinching pennies and fixing 20 year old cars. No more guns for me, at all. No more ammo or reloading components, at least for a while. Instead of just talking about it, we're going to start living it. We've got to dig out of this hole somehow. I think a simpler life just might be better.

As much as we pinch pennies and don't have the nice toys like a lot of folks, we still have nicer stuff than I remember my folks having when I was a kid. Maybe Fritz was right- too much consumin' going on out there...

You make good points and I agree that I see the average person displaying more material wealth than when I was younger. As mentioned by others, I also attribute it to the easy availability of credit and those people willing to live in debt. I see so many newer pickup trucks on the road, often towing a boat or trailer, most are owned by bank. Nothing wrong if that is what someone wants to do. I also own trucks, boats and campers, but they are a little older and paid for with cash. The only debt I am willing to accrue is for real estate.
It is common to see someone living in an apartment while financing a $40,000 + vehicle.

 

[Jay Walk]

That is one reason people are so in debt. Eating out is a must for many people. Coffee and eating out often every month can easily cost hundreds.
Example, A friend spends an average of 350 to 400.00 per month just for coffee, beverages, and lunch during work days. And dinner for family of 4, once a week averages per month 200.00. Total about 5 to 600. That's enough to make monthly payments for example: on student aid loans that Biden wants to cancel.

Four people are not eating out for fifty bucks, are you in 1996?

 

[CLT65]

Depends on where you eat.

Eating out is a good example. Maybe my parents were just cheap or something like that, but I don't remember eating out more than a couple times a year, when I was a kid in the '80s. It was a very big deal to eat out, usually at "King's Table" buffet. Maybe other people did it all the time, I don't know.

I feel like a "poor" when my coworkers start talking about eating out, dropping a couple hundred bucks on dinner, then leaving a 25% tip, because anything less is pathetic. On the rare occasion that my wife and I eat out, we spend less on dinner than they spend on a tip. If the restaurant industry had to depend on me to get by, they'd go out of business pretty quick.

 

[Hueco]

That is one reason people are so in debt. Eating out is a must for many people. Coffee and eating out often every month can easily cost hundreds.
Example, A friend spends an average of 350 to 400.00 per month just for coffee, beverages, and lunch during work days. And dinner for family of 4, once a week averages per month 200.00. Total about 5 to 600. That's enough to make monthly payments for example: on student aid loans that Biden wants to cancel.

Yea, it's all eating out. That's definitely what's keeping people poor.

I love being told financial realities by people who got theirs when a single income could buy a house, two cars, and fund a vacation here and there.

The Cult of Ramsey dictates that no more than 25% of one's income should be on shelter. Meanwhile, reality is for most people that number is 45-50%.

The median rental price in 1985 was ~ $432. My rent today adjusted backwards is $920. Go grab your pay stubs from the 80's - how would $900 rent have affected you?

But yea…keep on thinking it's $8 coffees ruining shiz.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Getting coffee out is expensive...
If it is $8 a day...and you get coffee 5 days a week ...that is $40.
$40 can get you a box of ammo.....and maybe some change back..

Is that weekly coffee buying ruining the economy....probably not.
However...it could ruin your shooting budget.
Andy

 

[MikeGMU108]

1969 minimum wage was $1.75 now in Washington it is $15.74. The folks that really get hurt by this inflation are on fixed income. You can bet they are not going out to eat. Or buying guns.

 

[Bobbygun]

The median rental price in 1985 was ~ $432. My rent today adjusted backwards is $920. Go grab your pay stubs from the 80's - how would $900 rent have affected you?

I wouldn't have fared well. I was only making $1,000 per month in 1985. But then my rent for a two-bedroom duplex was only $250.

Are those figures from Virginia? My son lives in two-bedroom apartment in Springfield, OR and his rent today is "only" $1,080, and he makes about $4,800 per month, so his ratio of rent to income is actually a little lower than mine was back in 1985. (He has the same education level as me - Bachelor's Degree.) I don't have the numbers to adjust $920 in 1985 dollars to today, but you must be paying a heckuva lot more than my son for rent.

 

[Certaindeaf]

That is one reason people are so in debt. Eating out is a must for many people. Coffee and eating out often every month can easily cost hundreds.
Example, A friend spends an average of 350 to 400.00 per month just for coffee, beverages, and lunch during work days. And dinner for family of 4, once a week averages per month 200.00. Total about 5 to 600. That's enough to make monthly payments for example: on student aid loans that Biden wants to cancel.

This is why the "in" crowd is now drinking krambucha out of a gourd with a steel straw.. you make it by soaking dirty socks in a toilet and voila, profit!. and at only $6 a cup, you do the math.






Lulz

 

[Certaindeaf]

I wouldn't have fared well. I was only making $1,000 per month in 1985. But then my rent for a two-bedroom duplex was only $250.

Are those figures from Virginia? My son lives in two-bedroom apartment in Springfield, OR and his rent today is "only" $1,080, and he makes about $4,800 per month, so his ratio of rent to income is actually a little lower than mine was back in 1985. (He has the same education level as me - Bachelor's Degree.) I don't have the numbers to adjust $920 in 1985 dollars to today, but you must be paying a heckuva lot more than my son for rent.

I think in Portland it's like $1500/mo 1br.

 

[CLT65]

I love being told financial realities by people who got theirs when a single income could buy a house, two cars, and fund a vacation here and there.

Could a single blue-collar income ever afford a house, two nice cars, and vacations? That's a sincere question, because I don't remember the average person having a lot of nice stuff back then, like people have today. I remember people struggling to make ends meet back then like they do now, but without all the toys. As I recall the average home was a bit more modest then too.

The cost of homes has gotten absurd though. If we hadn't bought ours ten years ago, there's no way we could afford it now. I honestly don't understand how people do. We've been talking about moving to a different part of the country for various reasons, one of them being so maybe some day in the future our kids could afford to own homes of their own.

We get by on my single income but it is tight. We drive old cars and don't take vacations. It would be a lot easier if we didn't spend 10k per year on medical bills, and if my wife was able to work at all.

My point was just wondering if the Good Old Days were really that much better?

 

[Aero Denezol]

It's not useful to compare what people used to afford in America's halcyon days vs. today, because it is comparing two dissimilar items. This is like saying Norm Van Brocklin would never have made it in today's NFL.

Before Elizabeth Warren became radicalized she co-wrote an excellent book called The Dual Income Trap. Dual incomes are the original cause of inflationary pressure. Today if you are not married or otherwise cohabitating, you are not going to afford anything on low wages. Supply and demand economics.

There is another important factor, which is the cost of technology. This is a cost that is built into everything from automobiles to streaming services. Your grandparents did not have a cell phone bill or have to pay for wifi. None of that existed in the analog universe.

Lastly, you should not be working a minimum wage job in your 40s or even your 30s unless you have a disability. These jobs are supposed to be done by high school kids. Hopefully you can acquire training and better your prospects. If you don't have a head for books, learn a trade or pickup a skill. Be willing to go where opportunity is. If you want to live somewhere trendy, you will not be able to afford it alone.

I've had a lot of employees come and go over the years. Some have parlayed this job into better jobs. I encourage this and I am proud of them. Many have bought homes. But unfortunately many continue to make very bad decisions. Immaturity and poor decision making are part of the affordability equation.

 

[raftman]

As far as the the economy affecting gun sales vs. eating at restaurants or getting coffee, it's an apples and oranges comparison and not much can be inferred from full restaurants/coffee shops and empty gun stores.

In general guns cost at least a few hundred dollars all at once (at least the ones worth having), whereas spending $8/day on coffee is something you don't really "feel" even though that would add up to nearly $3000/year. Eating at restaurants is more expensive than coffee but you're generally still not dropping anywhere near $500 at a time.

Plus spending on restaurants can be justified because food is a constant need, you ate last night, you're still gonna need to eat again today, not so with guns… you bought one yesterday it's not going anywhere, you don't necessarily "need" to get another one today.

 

[MikeGMU108]

As far as the the economy affecting gun sales vs. eating at restaurants or getting coffee, it's an apples and oranges comparison and not much can be inferred from full restaurants/coffee shops and empty gun stores.

In general guns cost at least a few hundred dollars all at once (at least the ones worth having), whereas spending $8/day on coffee is something you don't really "feel" even though that would add up to nearly $3000/year. Eating at restaurants is more expensive than coffee but you're generally still not dropping anywhere near $500 at a time.

Plus spending on restaurants can be justified because food is a constant need, you ate last night, you're still gonna need to eat again today, not so with guns… you bought one yesterday it's not going anywhere, you don't necessarily "need" to get another one today.

, you don't necessarily "need" to get another one today. WHAT!!! this is blasphemy!!

 

[Bobbygun]

The cost of homes has gotten absurd though. If we hadn't bought ours ten years ago, there's no way we could afford it now. I honestly don't understand how people do. We've been talking about moving to a different part of the country for various reasons, one of them being so maybe some day in the future our kids could afford to own homes of their own.

My 25 year-old son gripes about this constantly. He is very discouraged by home prices. His plan now is to inherit my house. I no longer let him handle my food, nor do I take him shooting.

 

[Camelfilter]

As far as the the economy affecting gun sales vs. eating at restaurants or getting coffee, it's an apples and oranges comparison and not much can be inferred from full restaurants/coffee shops and empty gun stores.

In general guns cost at least a few hundred dollars all at once (at least the ones worth having), whereas spending $8/day on coffee is something you don't really "feel" even though that would add up to nearly $3000/year. Eating at restaurants is more expensive than coffee but you're generally still not dropping anywhere near $500 at a time.

Plus spending on restaurants can be justified because food is a constant need, you ate last night, you're still gonna need to eat again today, not so with guns… you bought one yesterday it's not going anywhere, you don't necessarily "need" to get another one today.

Folks who do the coffee & eat out at work thing frequently likely don't realize the time wasted either.

Vs not only saving money by bringing coffee & sack lunches, but saving time. Time better spent. Along with saving $ better utilized.

Better coffee & meals too, for much much less...