What are "reasonable" ammo prices?

[ma96782]

A post on another local forum got me thinking? What are reasonable, or community acceptable prices?

In that post the author is offering ammo for sale. He doesn't what specific ammo , and at what prices, just that it is "for sale at reasonable prices for members who need it." After that statement, the post gets fun. He goes on to rant about price gougers and how people take advantage of one another and how he will sell only to those who meet his specific criteria of being a nice person and truly needing some ammo, as judged by him and him alone. Sounds familiar? No? Let me try... "You don't need an AR-15 with a 30 round magazine! I will be the judge of what you really need..."

To be clear, I don't personally care he won't sell to just anyone. I have plenty ammo. The concept just got me curious. I'm sure the authors heart is in the right place, but I think the execution is bad.

Anyway, at the core is the question. What are reasonable prices? What the market will bear, even if that market is artificially inflated like it is now? At some percentage of current market? Like 50%, 75%? What they were in some time in the past, at some arbitrarily picked moment? 2018, 2017, 1999? What would be a spot that most of the community would accept without labeling you a a$$..... price gouger?

IMHO......FULL STOP. No need to keep reading after that.

Aloha, Mark

PS....should we now visit the discussion of........ IF he is a NEW gun owner or an old one?

 

[sealine]

I was talking to a friend, who told me about a sign taped to the ammo shelves at the local gun shop where he lives, something along the lines of:

"You'll find our shelves are not bare like most, and our prices are high right now. This is because we spend a lot of time searching for ammo wherever we can find it, and we pay whatever we have to for it, to make sure we actually have some available for our customers.

We apologize for the temporary high prices. When our costs go down, our prices will too."

IMO if every ammo retailer did this, the ammo shortage would quickly go away. It would weed out a lot of those who do the friends and family trip to Bi-Mart, buy as much as they can, then flip it online for a higher price.

 

[ma96782]

IMHO....BiMart is sort of like an "ENABLER". Stocking the shelves at a predictable time is enabling the neckbeards to flourish.

But then......
I don't get to make the policy. So whatever.

Aloha, Mark

 

[raindog]

I seem to recall pre-panic that Bi-Mart had WWB-type 9mm ammo at a price around $100/250. Possible I'm misremembering - this was a couple years ago.

 

[ma96782]

BiMart use to carry this (pre-Covid).......

At about $10 a box (on sale). Those were the good old days.

Aloha, Mark

 

[RVTECH]

I'm sure the authors heart is in the right place, but I think the execution is bad.

I'm wondering what might be going on between his ears......

Sorry but his post sounds a little psychotic and of a manipulative and controlling nature and I would not put it past some to use a stock of ammo they have as a way to possibly 'influence' someone in some manner......

He goes on to rant about price gougers and how people take advantage of one another

SO he is going to show how he is NOT going to 'take advantage' of anyone - but will only sell to those who meet his 'specific criteria' ?

I wonder what his 'specific criteria' is exactly? Huh, huh, Hi there, there young lady, uh, uh, if you come with me I can show you how you can get some ammo and not have to deal with those bad ammo gougers anymore'

Psycho 3 - 'The silence of the guns'

 

[Caveman Jim]

I have bought, sold and traded during this Dempanic without gouging, I will not succumb to the madness.
My ignore list has swelled to well over 200 as of late, new and established members gained access to it.

 

[Idaho44]

Clark's candy bar for $0.05, movie theater for $0.25! Where will it all end? Ah the good ol' days of getting $0.50 an hour for manual work! If you don't like the price keep your money in your pocket, otherwise just bubblegum and moan, which in the military service is a sure sign of happiness!

 

[UnderFire]

Pre-panic pricing that I can remember for sure was 4-6 cents for cheap 22lr 8 cents for CCI 22lr 10-12 cents for 22wmr 15-18 cents for brass 115gr 9mm 25-28 cents for brass 45 FMJ, 30 cents for brass 5.56/.223 $20/100 12 Gauge target loads

It'll probably be quite a while before any of it goes that low again. Personally I've been trying to pick up and shoot other things that have been relatively unaffected price wise and probably won't be buying any of the more common stuff for a while, but it's been slowly declining in price again for a couple months as availability has increased.

 

[Camelfilter]

Pre-panic pricing that I can remember for sure was 4-6 cents for cheap 22lr 8 cents for CCI 22lr 10-12 cents for 22wmr 15-18 cents for brass 115gr 9mm 25-28 cents for brass 45 FMJ, 30 cents for brass 5.56/.223 $20/100 12 Gauge target loads

It'll probably be quite a while before any of it goes that low again. Personally I've been trying to pick up and shoot other things that have been relatively unaffected price wise and probably won't be buying any of the more common stuff for a while, but it's been slowly declining in price again for a couple months as availability has increased.

Set a price in your mind of what would be realistic to stock up again on. Be reasonable.

Consider reloading as well, either in entirety, or simply as a stop gap. I am current!y reloading 9mm at ~ $.11/round, using current priced coated lead & ~$.13/round using current priced plated Berry's. Granted, that is with pre-plandemic purchased primers/powder.

Point being, if one IS considering reloading (either completely, or simply as a stop gap measure), purchase components as well when prices are low. Particularly primers & powders.

 

[Jay Walk]

"Reasonable" is kind of subjective right now.

This week for instance

Norma 30ct .223 Norma's website $15.99
Same ammo at Big 5 $39.99

Winchester 20ct .223 at Sportsmans $14.99
Winchester 20ct 5.56 across the street at Bi-mart $11.99

 

[nwslopoke]

Bimart has steel cased 223 $8.99. Brass $11.99 20ct. I think they had 100ct American Eagle for $61. Better than a few months ago. Best I've seen. Still too much, but if I was short I would buy now.

 

[arakboss]

I don't know about reasonable but it's in stock.

BLACK FRIDAY MEGA DEAL! - 9mm Luger FMJ 115 Gr GECO - QTY 50 - FREE SHIPPING + INSURANCE ON ORDERS OVER $200! | Ammo Shop Online

Geco Ammo 9mm 124 Gr FMJ is perfect for shooters looking for high quality, consistent ammo. The FMJ flat-nose is optimized for precision & stability.

www.ammoshoponline.com

 

[gmerkt]

"Reasonable" is kind of subjective right now.

If you don't have any and need some, the bar can be set pretty high.

For many years, selling ammo on Gunbroker was tough unless it was a larger quantity. Because the shipping charges for UPS Ground service were just too high for most people to justify buying a smaller quantity. When I sold my 20 gauge shotguns, I had a hard time finding a new home for the ammo without giving it away.

Fast forward to present time. Ammo in just about any quantity doesn't have trouble finding online buyers, the shipping charge issues have gone away. This has been of benefit to some older shooters who realize they are never going to use up what they saved in earlier times. Not all the individual ammo shippers going to UPS are reselling new stock they've just purchased. Some are older people letting go of what they've had for years. It's an opportunity.

I don't know when they came out with it, but UPS now has a small package rate. That is based on several tiers of size, but weight isn't a factor. Which can work out very well for small but weight concentrated goods such as ammo.

 

[arakboss]

Happy Valley Sportsmans has a bunch of ammo on their shelves and it may linger for a while. Prices seem high to me but I am a cheap dastard. I was viewing pics of their stock on their facebook page here:

Sportsman's Warehouse Happy Valley | Portland OR

Sportsman's Warehouse Happy Valley, Portland. 2,827 likes · 598 were here. Sporting goods shop

www.facebook.com

 

[Jay Walk]

Notice shelves in the free states were filled first.

 

[arakboss]

Notice shelves in the free states were filled first.

We get leftovers and scraps here.

 

[Mikej]

Notice shelves in the free states were filled first.

Retailers are in business to make money. Retailers have to make money money to stay in business. Retailers make money selling product. It would be a rare retail business owner that would give up sales of a valuable product. Maybe seeing more ammo in red state stores is because us red, and somewhat red buyers, are more frugal and refuse to pay the higher prices? Or there are more hand loaders in redder areas?

 

[nwslopoke]

I went shooting the other day. Someone had a full auto or a binary trigger in the background. I was being frugal with my ammo. That was Wolfcreek.

I have enough to last a while but I don't want to back fill at these prices. If the midterm has positive results or leading to it looks good, that's still 9 months of high prices.

 

[Mikej]

I went shooting the other day. Someone had a full auto or a binary trigger in the background.

Ooo. That would make me want to stick around and see if the were leaving their brass lay. Nah, probably steel case and they just leave it lay.