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Almost all of this is absolutely true. The thing is when you are at one table looking at a very specific item and the vendor 2 tables away has the same thing for $170 less. Because you like the first vendor (attitude, helpfulness, whatever) you decide that you want to go back and make an offer of what vendor #2 has listed (which is $170 less) - and even explain that the other guy has it laying there for that price. Then you are told that he would lose money if he sold it at that price. And in so many words, GO POUND SAND IF YOU THINK I'LL SELL IT FOR THAT PRICE !!!

Now, how can vendor #2 sell it for $170 less than someone else? A couple dollars here and there, but not significant dollar amounts.

*This is a true story. I found a couple Colts (exactly like: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Colt-M-Ops-LR-Semiautomatic-Tactical-Rimfire-Rifle/710003.uts ). They were right at $520 ($519.95 to be exact). Walked across a guy who had a brand new in box for $350. Walked back to first nice-guy and asked if he would consider dropping his price. I was laughed at.

30 mins later I walked past with new Colt, raised the box to show him, smiled and kept walking...

This may not always be the case, and your mileage may vary.....

Rugers, Remingtons, etc. used to split firewood, or hammer nails into wood. Asking $300-$500 MORE than what a blind person would pay.

If the vendors want to play the "my item is made of unobtanium and that is why I will not take any reasonable offer". They can continue to put up with the fondling, BS stories, $200 to be there, etc.

All I am trying to point out is that the same guys seem to have the same over priced items and won't even consider a REASONABLE offer - even when confronted with proof of what you are offering.

My soapbox just broke. I'm going fishing.....:)
 
Since we are talking about shows, and I will deny ever typing this, rumor has it BiMart will be at the Sportsman's Show February 4-8th. The rumor is, all of that .22 rimfire "not on the shelves" at your local store has been saved and will be at their booth for all those who attend.
 
Perhaps the shows should bring back more of the actual "show." Demonstrations, talks, events, games rather than just local gun shops selling the same stuff.

Perhaps having OFF give a talk. Perhaps the local manufacturers could come and show their new stuff. Fly in Hickok45 to talk about anything. Have an expert give a good overview of what should go into a bug out bag and how to use it. Someone could give a lecture on field emergency medicine. have a show and tell where people bring in their rare firearms and give a quick talk about it.

I'd rather a less frequent show that I pay more for entry that has not only venders but a lot of other stuff to see and do.

Look at all the stuff you get to see at Comic con in a few weeks for $80 for the 3 days.
 
Almost all of this is absolutely true. The thing is when you are at one table looking at a very specific item and the vendor 2 tables away has the same thing for $170 less. Because you like the first vendor (attitude, helpfulness, whatever) you decide that you want to go back and make an offer of what vendor #2 has listed (which is $170 less) - and even explain that the other guy has it laying there for that price. Then you are told that he would lose money if he sold it at that price. And in so many words, GO POUND SAND IF YOU THINK I'LL SELL IT FOR THAT PRICE !!!

Now, how can vendor #2 sell it for $170 less than someone else? A couple dollars here and there, but not significant dollar amounts.

*This is a true story. I found a couple Colts (exactly like: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Colt-M-Ops-LR-Semiautomatic-Tactical-Rimfire-Rifle/710003.uts ). They were right at $520 ($519.95 to be exact). Walked across a guy who had a brand new in box for $350. Walked back to first nice-guy and asked if he would consider dropping his price. I was laughed at.

30 mins later I walked past with new Colt, raised the box to show him, smiled and kept walking...

This may not always be the case, and your mileage may vary.....

Rugers, Remingtons, etc. used to split firewood, or hammer nails into wood. Asking $300-$500 MORE than what a blind person would pay.

If the vendors want to play the "my item is made of unobtanium and that is why I will not take any reasonable offer". They can continue to put up with the fondling, BS stories, $200 to be there, etc.

All I am trying to point out is that the same guys seem to have the same over priced items and won't even consider a REASONABLE offer - even when confronted with proof of what you are offering.

My soapbox just broke. I'm going fishing.....:)

You get that a lot at the shows, "guy over there has it for $170 cheaper". Question I have is why didn't you buy his and save me the BS?:D It's a free market system and everyone has different expenses to run their table and put goods on it. Everything is marked with a price, offer what you want and the table holder will take it or leave it. It's just business but guys tend to take it personal if they can't buy at the price they want to.
 
Perhaps the shows should bring back more of the actual "show." Demonstrations, talks, events, games rather than just local gun shops selling the same stuff.

Perhaps having OFF give a talk. Perhaps the local manufacturers could come and show their new stuff. Fly in Hickok45 to talk about anything. Have an expert give a good overview of what should go into a bug out bag and how to use it. Someone could give a lecture on field emergency medicine. have a show and tell where people bring in their rare firearms and give a quick talk about it.

I'd rather a less frequent show that I pay more for entry that has not only venders but a lot of other stuff to see and do.

Look at all the stuff you get to see at Comic con in a few weeks for $80 for the 3 days.

Cost of doing business is what it's all about. Comic con is lots of fun and plenty to see but cost a lot more if you want a picture with the stars:D Guy at the gun show also sells hockey pucks at the hockey games. Makes $5 a puck and will sell 200 a night. Easier than trying to sell a gun with the state on you for background checks and having to use your credit card and phone. Hauling the guns to the show and back home.

This year I am doing one last show as a vendor. I only do a couple a year but wont sell guns at the shows any more. Going to post my guns on the board at the gun club to other club members. Time for change.o_O
 
You get that a lot at the shows, "guy over there has it for $170 cheaper". Question I have is why didn't you buy his and save me the BS?:D

I believe his example said he like your attitude and helpfulness, and was giving you the courtesy of matching the price the other vendor offered. Seems like a legitimate sales / buyer approach and not BS to me.

I sold capital construction and grounds equipment for a number of years for a top level manufactuer. Their equipment was very good and they felt it commanded a premium price. Up to 15% more than a competitor. You can get away with a 5% premium in a lot of cases, but at 15% on comparable items, my good looks and attitude did little to sway the clients to drop an additional 20k or more to get my color of equipment.

On new guns, the wholesale prices have to very similar for most vendors, and margins will be similar and pretty thin. On used guns it can vary widely, depending on how well you buy the item. Some vendors or retailers have a very good grip on their cost of doing business as far as labor and overhead costs are and how they need to recover those and make a profit beyond that. Others not so much, and they just apply margins to see if they can get it.

In one of my former lives I ran a construction/ excavation business. I knew my costs so well, that if we changed the brand of toilet paper in the porta potties, I knew how that would impact our overhead costs and net margins. We tried to get the most profit we could out of the jobs, and sometimes we did very well, depending on market conditions, competition availability.

My estimating sheets gave me 3 prices to choose from to bid or present. I would prepare them, look at them and think on it for 24 hours, and then decide. When things got tight in 08, we had a never go below profit margin that we had to maintain the sustainability of the business. You had to project manage the hell out of the jobs and keep things going the right way or you went negative real fast. I do not miss that.
 
If the vendors want to play the "my item is made of unobtanium and that is why I will not take any reasonable offer". They can continue to put up with the fondling, BS stories, $200 to be there, etc.

In my wife's collectible / functional merchandise business, we do mostly on line sales. If the inventory does not move in one calendar year, it is sent to our 3 annual Portland Garage sale booths. It is priced to move, and move fast. If we cannot move it, is is usually donated away there. Our booth rent is $ 90. Our gas is $ 60. we take our own food and water. I do not care we sold it for 1/2 or less of what we paid for it. We dollar average all items out, and usually come out of each show with $ 1,000, and a trailer that is 1/3 full, and ready to take the next round of inventory purging.

People go the "Antique and Collectible ' shows for $ 350 per booth, and 3 days of floor time and another day of set up and tear down. Some do not even make rent, and yet they continue to go there, because they must "like" hanging out there. One guy has an aviation collectible piece that I routinely offer him about 1/3 of the $ 500 he wants for it. This has went on for 3 years now, 2 times per year, and he still has the same piece. Go figure...
 
I understand whee you're coming from J Jim. Venders are not there for their health, it is a business and money is the object of the game.
I sell a lot of stuff (not just gun related) I bought it new, used it but did not abuse it, cleaned it up and people say they can only offer 1/10th of what I have it listed!!!!:mad: I HATE LOWBALLERS!!!!!
 
I believe his example said he like your attitude and helpfulness, and was giving you the courtesy of matching the price the other vendor offered. Seems like a legitimate sales / buyer approach and not BS to me.

I sold capital construction and grounds equipment for a number of years for a top level manufactuer. Their equipment was very good and they felt it commanded a premium price. Up to 15% more than a competitor. You can get away with a 5% premium in a lot of cases, but at 15% on comparable items, my good looks and attitude did little to sway the clients to drop an additional 20k or more to get my color of equipment.

On new guns, the wholesale prices have to very similar for most vendors, and margins will be similar and pretty thin. On used guns it can vary widely, depending on how well you buy the item. Some vendors or retailers have a very good grip on their cost of doing business as far as labor and overhead costs are and how they need to recover those and make a profit beyond that. Others not so much, and they just apply margins to see if they can get it.

In one of my former lives I ran a construction/ excavation business. I knew my costs so well, that if we changed the brand of toilet paper in the porta potties, I knew how that would impact our overhead costs and net margins. We tried to get the most profit we could out of the jobs, and sometimes we did very well, depending on market conditions, competition availability.

My estimating sheets gave me 3 prices to choose from to bid or present. I would prepare them, look at them and think on it for 24 hours, and then decide. When things got tight in 08, we had a never go below profit margin that we had to maintain the sustainability of the business. You had to project manage the hell out of the jobs and keep things going the right way or you went negative real fast. I do not miss that.

I am familiar with your business, I was a heavy equipment operator for years. I wondered why they put cheap toilet paper in the blue rooms, now I understand why:D. The men I run with have an FFL but sell mostly used guns. They have to be priced reasonable to move but no matter what price they put on them people want more off. Too many dealers selling new stuff so there is damn little room for profit unless you have 30 tables of new guns to choose from.

I help the guys set up and watch their table for them while they do paper work. So we had a little used mossberg that new was $359 and we marked it for $200. Time and again people wanted an even better deal but we ended up selling it the last day for $200
 
I understand whee you're coming from J Jim. Venders are not there for their health, it is a business and money is the object of the game.
I sell a lot of stuff (not just gun related) I bought it new, used it but did not abuse it, cleaned it up and people say they can only offer 1/10th of what I have it listed!!!!:mad: I HATE LOWBALLERS!!!!!


People are funny, we had a few full autos cabled together to keep people from handling and banging them around. Idiots still grab a gun and jerk it till it won't move. So we put a dummy machine gun there for the idiots to handle.:D Low ballers are a fact of life. You get the guy that comes along and wants you to sell your stuff cheap to him so he can make the money off of it. All you can do is look at them and wonder how they got so greedy.:D
 
People are funny, we had a few full autos cabled together to keep people from handling and banging them around. Idiots still grab a gun and jerk it till it won't move. So we put a dummy machine gun there for the idiots to handle.:D Low ballers are a fact of life. You get the guy that comes along and wants you to sell your stuff cheap to him so he can make the money off of it. All you can do is look at them and wonder how they got so greedy.:D

How much for the dummy machine gun? :)
 
I go once or twice a year - to the 3 day shows, but always on Saturday. Friday fewer vendors will be there, Sunday the vendors pack up early and leave - which irritates me when there is 4 hours left in the show and people are packing up stuff from their tables.

I go to look to see if someone has something of interest I haven't seen before and I just can't pass up.

There are deals there that are better than online or in a gun shop, and many items that aren't. But yes, it seems that most are priced higher than anywhere else and I just take note and pass them on by.

And yes, I see the similar items on someone else's table marked down from others prices. That is why I always walk around all of the tables first before buying anything. I don't know one table vendor from the next, and most people there are pleasant, so I generally buy from the one offering the best price. It is the guy who thinks his common item is rare and worth a 50% markup when the same thing can be had multiple other places for significantly less that I consider to be unpleasant.

Most vendors also do walk arounds to see what stuff is selling for, and some adjust their prices accordingly (I have seen them do it).
 
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I never have been to a gun show, and reading what I read here, don't yet see a reason to go to one. I know folks that go to all the shows, but rarely do they come home with anything special. Usually they go to look and to be around other gun folks. I don't have a lot of free time to attend stuff like that, so I really need to know there's a good deal available if I'm going to take the time to go. Otherwise, I prefer to go to a local gun store to 'browse' or just shop online. Who knows, maybe some day I'll poke my head in to one.
 
etrain, I go to quite a few a year. You never know what is going to end up on a table, or when it will end up on a table.

I was at one and walked through. Found a couple items that peaked my interest. Made a note of location of the item.

About 30 mins later walked towards the table/item of interest and ran across a guy setting out a used Coonan Cadet that he just got as a "trade in". The price was right and I jumped on it hard and fast.

You never know what is going to be there and when it will be there. TYPICALLY it is the same stuff and same over priced items. There are deals though too.
 
I bought this at a gun show:

wtf20070625ace.jpg

Although the seller didn't have a table, he was just walking around with it.

I also bought this:

20fajx3.jpg

And an number of other interesting and/or rare firearms.

You never know what you are going to find there.
 
<- Why there aren't any school shootings in Israel!
Teacher with long gun slung over her shoulder!!!

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

Same here!

Deen
NRA Life Member, Benefactor Level
NRA Golden Eagle member
NRA Recruiter
Defender of Freedom Award
Washington Arms Collector Member
Vancouver Rifle & Pistol Club member

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"
 
People are funny, we had a few full autos cabled together to keep people from handling and banging them around. Idiots still grab a gun and jerk it till it won't move.
What kind of d-bag grabs a $$$$ class 3 firearm without asking first?

What did you have for sale? I might be interested, especially in a RR Uzi or a M11-a1.
 

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