Portland gun show

[Just Jim]

Interesting how slow a show it was with very few people there. Didn't help that there was a show there two weeks before. Most interesting part was a Cabelas rep came through the show and looked at our prices then offered to buy all the title one used guns for 35% of the tag price. Of course we refused then the Cabelas guy went to all the other tables selling used guns with the same offer.

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[Caveman Jim]

Could have been worse if Rick Harrison, his old man, Big Boss & Chumle strolled in and insulted y'all first & then tried to beat you up with horrible lowball offers...

 

[Just Jim]

Could have been worse if Rick Harrison, his old man, Big Boss & Chumle strolled in and insulted y'all first & then tried to beat you up with horrible lowball offers...

I don't believe they buy modern guns but would have relieved the boredom if they would have come through. Very few people there for the show.

 

[mikeybuck]

I stopped going just because the price to park and door fee.
Want more people to show up, get that changed.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Yeah, people kinda maxed out their CC for the holidays. Hard for some to justify another purchase of anything.

Call in some dancing girls to liven up the joint...

 

[bolus]

That was surprisingly slow for a show after an election that will likely lead to more gun restrictions.

 

[Just Jim]

I stopped going just because the price to park and door fee.
Want more people to show up, get that changed.

Nothing the dealers can do about gate fees, they already pay $60 a table plus parking fees for both days. People quit attending then the shows will go away.

 

[Just Jim]

Yeah, people kinda maxed out their CC for the holidays. Hard for some to justify another purchase of anything.

Call in some dancing girls to liven up the joint...

Portland has some real interesting people come through the shows

 

[Caveman Jim]

I'll bet. There are some freaky lookin fools in Olympia too.
Here's to you staying awake and positive this weekend!!!

 

[Just Jim]

I'll bet. There are some freaky lookin fools in Olympia too.
Here's to you staying awake and positive this weekend!!!

5 of us get together for the show and it's always entertaining with friends but boring without business. Bad thing is when you get bored there tends to be more pranks pulled on each other One of the guys brought a machine operated by a remote that when you pressed the button a loud noise of breaking wind would sound. I used that effectively to some folks embarrassment.

 

[Trailboss]

I went to the show on Saturday, mostly just looked, then drove to Sportsman's Warehouse and paid about 1/3 less than show prices for what I needed.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Ah, the bored and under worked syndrome, been there. Tends to make minds get moving in overdrive doesn't it?

 

[AMT]

I went to the show on Saturday, mostly just looked, then drove to Sportsman's Warehouse and paid about 1/3 less than show prices for what I needed.

This may be why the shows are attracting smaller and smaller crowds - not because of Christmas right around the corner.

Mostly the same people with the same over priced stuff every show. Be more realistic with prices, make sales, go home with $$$ in pocket, and not bring the items home with you.

I used to go to them regularly hoping I'd find something different. I keep disappointing myself and wasting $$$ to park and walk in the door.....

Peace and good luck in 2015!!!

 

[308]

I almost took my wife since she's never been and is now into firearms, but I didn't want to have her suffer all of the overpriced BS from vendors who apparently think their average customer is dumb as a stump.

How much for that extremely well used 20rnd USGI AR mag...ya know, the only one on your table over there underneath all the Fudd slings? Oh that, hmm...you can have it for $25

 

[Member 5605]

Doesn't do anyone any good taking home something that they brought.

If their mentality was "let's move product and get new product in with the new cash flow" things would be different.

Hell I go to a gun shop locally where they have to re tag everything AFTER the show. Then claim they have marked stuff down already.

If they sold everything cost + xyz% and came back with an empty trailer wouldn't that spur and encourage people to get there?

I've often times discussed with the wife how fun it would be to run a gunshop. Call it "Cost Plus Guns". Sell everything at cost plus 10%.

Imagine the business you could get when said customer know they could come to you for the cheapest deal in town?

If you sell one item and make $300 but sit on it for 4 months isn't it better to sell 4 items with $75 profit and only have them a month?

That's why current gun shows are a joke and the laughing stock of the industry (at least around here). Maybe these guys need more write offs for tax season and that's why they keep their old product floating around.

Drop the admissions and parking or combine the two to a reasonable price and be realistic on pricing for items and the shows would grow again.

$.02

 

[CoastRange57]

Interesting takes on gun shows. I have not been to one on close to 2 years now. As with a lot of other types of merchandise, face to face sales at these shows seem to be slowing down. Vendors really are completely out of touch with pricing, and would rather pack stuff up a dozen times and move it all around before they sell it.

My wife has a collectible and functional merchandise business and it turns 65% of the inventory every year, one way or another. About 85% on line sales. Buy it on line, we ship it the next day and it arrives at your door 2 days later. If you are going to have a viable business in 2015 and beyond, you need to have a good online presence and sales process.

Old guys like me would rather stay home and order it on line than drive 38 miles to Portland ( kill me now), stand in a line, get crowded in the aisles at the show, and hear some sob story from the vendor about how he cannot sell anything.

Young guys would rather buy on line and skip the crowds as well. Gun shows are becoming loss leaders for a lot of gun dealers, you have to show up to be seen, but expecting to make money is probably not going to happen, unless you are a custom builder.

 

[raftman]

I went and actually found a decent deal (even when taking parking and admission into account) on a .38 wheel gun and am very happy with the purchase. On the whole however, it's hard to say it's worth it from a practical standpoint. Ammo prices tend to range from average to costlier than average (before taking into account parking and admission). As for some (most?) of the gun prices... well I'm willing to spend a little extra to buy local but to spend $775 for something thats $460 online would just be stupid. But from an impractical standpoint, it's kinda fun looking at guns and trying to spot the rare good deal on something that I'm interested in, and maybe that might make the whole thing worth it.

 

[AMT]

........ Gun shows are becoming loss leaders for a lot of gun dealers, you have to show up to be seen, but expecting to make money is probably not going to happen, unless you are a custom builder.

I am not sure that this is 100% true. Look at prices on the tables.

I was looking at a particular rifle. The vendor told me that he had it marked below wholesale just to move it. (Really? Selling something for less than you bought it for just to move it?)

This was the same rifle that he had setting on his table a year ago - with the same story. The rifle can be had for 3/4 what he was asking (and not budging from) at just about any other place.

He argued, this is a XYZ in mint condition, never fired, and they don't make them any more.

Yeah, they made this 5 years ago and sold for cheaper than you are asking.

Should have bought it 5 years ago because this is what it is worth now.

.....see ya next year with the same rifle???

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

nobody showed up because they're all broke after spending 50-70 a brick of 22 back in december at the rickreall show.

 

[Just Jim]

For vendors it's feast or famine. Everyone that comes through thinks they deserve a discount just because they are there. They handle your stuff with no intention to buy and have no respect for your time. Takes a lot of time to do a gun show and it cost the vendor $60 a table, gas to get there and parking fees. Then you have to listen to the BS from every man that comes through that thinks you need to hear his opinion even though he ain't there to buy anything.

Plus nobody thinks you deserve to profit on a sale.Guys come in and think you should trade straight across and forget how much you put out to set up. Vendor is out over $200 just to set up three tables of guns and ammo to sell plus he has to lay out money to get all those guns and the ammo. Stuff doesn't just appear there, vendor has to pay for it.

Yep the gun shows may go away and what ever you want you can buy on the net for their price plus fees to use a card and sales tax from their state. A record of everything you buy on the net and you never get to look close before you buy anything. You can buy a gun going from store to store burning gas and time to find it at the price you want. However you can pay with your card again to get it retail plus fees.

Personally I don't set up a table of my stuff for sale very often and I could never work in a retail business, I am not a people person