Gun Show Prices
It's probably a regional thing, but I've noticed that prices for firearms are higher at the gun shows than at the local stores/pawnshops. In Texas in wasn't quite as bad, but here in Virginia stuff is at least 30-40 percent higher at the gun shows. Then again, private citizens could set up a table in Texas and sell their guns. Only FFL holders/dealers had to do paperwork. The only good deals you get here is on surplus ammo. Any Thoughts?
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i think this should be a general discussion topic. thanks. 0 -
I agree with bobski...
However, as long as the question is still here, this is my personal take as a non-dealer (I am a collector)...
First, nearly any price you see on a firearm at a gun show is negotiable... if you don't like the price on the tag, make a reasonable offer. If you get a counter offer, politely consider it. If you don't like the counter offer (or don't get one), move on to the next table.
Second, I find that the mentality at many gunshows is that those dealers or private parties that place exorbitant price tags on firearms are looking to make a killing on at least one sale so they can cover the cost for the entire show. Some are simply just plain greedy, and want to make a killing on every sale they make. What really cracks me up, is seeing the same dealers at the same shows, month after month, and with the same unsold merchandise and the same price tags. Kinda reminds me of that Forrest Gump line...
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
Hello: Maybe this is a General Discussion topic, but I truly believe that buying at gun shows is just as much an art form / science as the valuing of guns that is done under this forum. No doubt about it many dealers jack prices by normally 20%+, and display the same guns time and again. It has gotten so flagrant in our midwest town (population 100,000) that most of our hunting group makes plans to go to the larger out of town shows just to see new merchandise. I've walked into many a convention center priced a new Ruger MKII for $295.00; and then worked my way to the back of the show, and the price for the same Ruger will drop by 1/3rd. Gun Show dealers have a certain mentality. The dealers believe customers sell on Friday, Buy on Saturday, and shop/browse on Sunday. Some of the best deals your going to make won't even be from the dealers, but from the customers who are in to sell to the dealers. Often these sellers are either in need of the cash, and more likely completely out of touch (both high and low) as to what their item is worth. If you walk into a show with what I call a "trade gun" your in a unique position to test the market. You don't even have to intend to sell your "trade gun" just the display should help you read the dealer. Hang a sign with the make/model, and walk it through the show. If a dealer shows interest you can assume he has cash in pocket; if he's cold then you can assume he's cash poor, and gun rich. Most gun rich dealers will even tell you their not interested in your "trade gun" because sales have been slow. It helps to carry a marketable "trade gun". In our area 788 Remingtons sell like hotcakes. If you hang a tag off a gun case advertising a 788; and a dealer is not interested then you've certainly found a gun rich cash poor dealer. Now its time to bargain. The dealer has already told you he can't sell anything; its certainly fair play to point out to him that he's high on the item your interested in. If the dealer indicates he has some room; I generally will shoot him a price, and tell him "that's what its worth!" I don't hesitate, or banter . . . I just state the offer, like it's a fact of life. The dealer should assume that you are cash poor, or you wouldn't be there peddling your own gun. 60% of the dealers in the show have jacked their prices, and won't budge for any reason. Of the remaining 40% about half have sold guns, and are looking to reinvest those proceeds on cheap buys from the public. That leaves about 20% of the dealers who are in a selling/bargaining mood. My tried and tested method ferrets these guys out. That's not to say that those 20% will have what you are interested in; but it does take a lot of the guess work out of the mix. Many a time I've walked through with a "trade gun" and been offered so much out right, or in a fair swap that I couldn't pass it up. Finding the right dealer, who is in the right monetary mood, and who has the right gun is what it's all about. I think having a gun on your side of the table changes the customer/dealer equation in your favor. As I said at the beginning of this now lengthy post buying at gun shows is an art form. I'd be interested if others have any techniques that they have used successfully for finding those dealers who are motivated to sell. 0 -
Hello. If what you are saying about Gun Shows is true, why don't you stick with the local Wally Mart or Cabela's? You don't have to bargain and you know the price. Pretty soon we will buy everything at Wally's and not have to bother with local Mom and Pop businesses. We are buying a lot of our ammo from ihe EU and Russia and our regular goods from China. We can sit back and pay these low prices while our manufacters go out of business. We don't need jobs because we are retired.
Old Ammo, have lots always looking for more.0 -
I also agree that this should be moved but as long as I looked. I too have noticed that prices seem higher at the shows. I also noticed that if you wait until Oct or Nov. & Dec. the prices drop drastically at the shows, that is if you can wait that long.
PJ
If nobody seen you do it, how could you have done it. NRA Life Member, AF&AM0 -
I have a saying for this phenonmena. I suspect most dealers at gun shows have never been to a sporting goods store. Why else would they be asking 20% more than retail for a beat up used gun? And yes, we see the SAME GUNS being dragged around from show to show. At the same time these dealers offer private parties $120 for $500 guns. I don't have a problem with a fair profit, but QUADRUPLE?!?! If I applied those practices as a Real Estate Broker, I would be sued and even in jail. The next time I pass by the table, there's the same gun with a $500 tag on it. I also gets me po'ed the number of guns I've bought that are damaged internally ie:missing internal parts,etc and won't shoot properly jamming, broken scopes.
The real problem though is the number of JERKS that are dealers! The rudeness from a large percentage is incredible.
....I never met a gun I didn't like!0 -
I just have to jump in here. What was said concerning rude gun show sellers is absolutely true. I have gone so far as to report one individual to the gun show sponsor. I offered him the tag price for a gun and then asked him if he charged sales tax. Some gun show dealers do and some don't. I just wanted to know. He puffed up and told me to "take a hike". Yes he's still carrying around the same old junk he's had from year before last. There's no place for rudeness.
Terry0 -
I have a dealer ffl and set up at 6 or 8 gun shows a year. I agree that some dealers price their merchandise at outlandish levels. It is also true that almost no one will pay the marked price on the gun. If it is priced cheap, as mine sometimes are if I have bought them at a bargain, the potential buyer is often frustrated because he can't find out what is "wrong" with the gun. I have lookers begin to disassemble a gun without even asking. Others have picked up a gun and dropped it on other guns on the table. Most buyers are courteous and know gun show etiquit but the "tire kickers" and "know it alls" sometimes make the show a stressful experience for a dealer. I live in Arkansas. Sales tax is supposed to be collected by anyone having a gun show table here. The same is true in OK. I don't understand the mentality of a buyer who readily pays sales tax at gun shop but thinks it should be waived at a gun show. The point is, rudeness occurs on both sides of the table. The enjoyment I get from gun shows greatly overshadows the disagreeable part. I will be driving nearly 600 miles, one way to a show in Louisville, KY. in three weeks. I hope to meet some of you there. 0 -
If you are attending a show looking to buy a specific piece you should have a good idea of a fair price before you walk in the door. Also, as a buyer I would not negotiate until the last hour or so of the show. Conversely, if you want to sell at a show I would have a good idea of my minimum acceptable price, (it will be considerable below local retail unless it is a strong collectable) and negotiate with a couple of sellers the first hour or so of the show. 0 -
And if you are into old guns, a gun show is always fun to go through. Wally World and Cabela's are sterile dealers... nothing unusual or customized... only the cheapest of the cheapest at Wally World. I don't go to gun shows for the price alone. I go to see what's out there... like a kid in a candy store. Some of my favorite rifles were bought at gun shows. 0
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