Gun Sales; New Vs. Used

[DRM]

ETA: I'd also like to know why its standard fare to haggle gun prices? Do you do that at Walmart when buying firearms? Do you do it at Lowes when buying wood? You do it a a car lot, or at least I do. Why gun shops? Do you do it a Buds even?

Actually - yes I do.

Several months back I was at Lowe's and saw a $399 tool box set. I took them to the checkout, and asked the guy at the register for the "Super Awesome Person Discount". He said "what"? So I repeated myself. He then asked how much this discount should be - and I told him 20%.

He called the manager over, did a price over-ride, and I got my tool box set for 20% less than the ticketed price.

My momma always told me "You might not get what you ask for every time, but you'll never get it if you don't even ask."

EVERYTHING is negotiable. EVERYTHING.

[DRM]

BTW, I came here today - for the first time in months - to look into paying to be a Premium member just so I could make use of the classified section to see about selling a few guns. I see them selling all the time here, hopefully I can move some as well.

[Guest uzzi]

A brick and morter will always charge more, but in my opinion and experience, they offer more. The fact that I can see and handle what I want to buy is an advantage. Paying tax and going through the background check is the biggest deterrant to buying at a store. It is a huge disadvantage to store owners for sure!

[RobertNashville]

I'll look at online dealers to get an idea of what a new gun is selling for but I doubt I'll ever buy one from an online dealer - if I'm going to buy new I'd prefer to support a local dealer. That said, I don't buy new very often (only two in that past two years).

Generally speaking, I prefer to buy used (like new or lightly used).

One reason I do is because like avoiding the federal paperwork and supporting big brother's ability to know what I own. Another reason is that I feel that I can get a better deal all around that way (and if I don't believe it's a good deal then I don't buy).

I can't say I've seen any real migration from the use firearms market...I suspect that the rabid buying/selling of a couple of years ago (which seemed to coincide with Obummer's assertion to power) has probably died down some but my gut feeling is that both the new and used firearm's market is pretty healthy.

[Guest drv2fst]

I always check prices online and use that information to get the best possible price from local dealers. They will usually match and sometimes even beat those online prices. I value the ability to hold the gun before I buy it.

[Guest GunTroll]

Actually - yes I do.

Several months back I was at Lowe's and saw a $399 tool box set. I took them to the checkout, and asked the guy at the register for the "Super Awesome Person Discount". He said "what"? So I repeated myself. He then asked how much this discount should be - and I told him 20%.

He called the manager over, did a price over-ride, and I got my tool box set for 20% less than the ticketed price.

My momma always told me "You might not get what you ask for every time, but you'll never get it if you don't even ask."

EVERYTHING is negotiable. EVERYTHING.

My time isn't. Walmart is just down the road.

[RobertNashville]

My time isn't. Walmart is just down the road.

The only value I find at Walmart is inexpensive entertainment - watching some of the folks who shop there is truly entertaining.

I do my shopping elsewhere.

[Guest GunTroll]

Glad I'm not alone in taking enjoyment at people watching at Walmart! Good times.

[Guest WingMan380]

ETA: I'd also like to know why its standard fare to haggle gun prices? Do you do that at Walmart when buying firearms? Do you do it at Lowes when buying wood? You do it a a car lot, or at least I do. Why gun shops? Do you do it a Buds even?

Great point GunTroll!! I'm a manager at a hotel and I get haggled every day over rates and discounts. I have often wanted to ask the people who are haggling me where they work so I can go to their place of business and haggle them for a while, or ask them if they argue with the grocery store or gas station over prices. I conatantly say, "I aint a car salesman, what it is is what it is".

[Guest WingMan380]

Everything is NOT negotiable.

I hate Mal-Wart, I will gladly pay the few extra dollars to purchase something somewhere else and most of the time get better quality merchendise and service.

[DRM]

My time isn't. Walmart is just down the road.

So you charge exactly the same rate for your gunsmithing, to every person, every time? Is your materials or retail markup the same every time, for every customer, no matter what? I bet not... You just like to negotiate on YOUR terms - which is fine. But it's still negotiable.

[DRM]

Great point GunTroll!! I'm a manager at a hotel and I get haggled every day over rates and discounts. I have often wanted to ask the people who are haggling me where they work so I can go to their place of business and haggle them for a while, or ask them if they argue with the grocery store or gas station over prices. I conatantly say, "I aint a car salesman, what it is is what it is".

Funny, you work at a hotel and actually can say with a straight face "the price is what it is". Well, no - it isn't.

Hotel room prices change based on the week day, the number of days you stay, holiday rates, military discount rates, AAA discount rates, group discount rates, rewards program discount rates, special sales, and special event rates depending on what happens to be going on in town at the moment. You guys even adjust your rates based on what kinds of deals your competitors nearby happen to be running.

So if the hotel can afford to have a range of prices for a room from $59 to $159 - then don't be surprised when an person walks in and tries to get it for less than the $159 you just quoted him.

[Guest GunTroll]

So you charge exactly the same rate for your gunsmithing, to every person, every time? Is your materials or retail markup the same every time, for every customer, no matter what? I bet not... You just like to negotiate on YOUR terms - which is fine. But it's still negotiable.

Wrong. Again.

The only negotiating going on is the thoughts in "your" head when I tell you the price. The only option is yes and no to the estimated price. No, take it elsewhere. Yes, I'll get started ASAP.

Edited August 31, 2011 by GunTroll

[RobertNashville]

Great point GunTroll!! I'm a manager at a hotel and I get haggled every day over rates and discounts. I have often wanted to ask the people who are haggling me where they work so I can go to their place of business and haggle them for a while, or ask them if they argue with the grocery store or gas station over prices. I conatantly say, "I aint a car salesman, what it is is what it is".

Quite a few years ago, I was the night auditor at a hotel...we had our standard rack rate but the owner also had a rate he would not go below and which he communicated to me...part of my job was getting as much for a room as possible (I never charged more than the standard rack rate). So, depending on how full or not full we were, the time of night, etc. etc. I most certainly would negotiate the rate with a customer - after a while, I got a pretty good feel for what a customer would be willing to pay and not willing to pay.

With that experience, I almost always negotiate the rate for my room when traveling (and I travel fairly often)...I don't always get a better deal than standard/online pice but I get a better deal than rack more often than not.

Perhaps your experience at your hotel is typical for you my experience had certainly been different - I'd suggest that in the overall hospitality industry, prices are very, very often negotiable.

Edited August 31, 2011 by RobertNashville

[DRM]

Wrong. Again.

The only negotiating going on is the thoughts in "your" head when I tell you the price. The only option is yes and no to the estimated price. No, take it elsewhere. Yes, I'll get started ASAP.

lol - if that's what you want to stick to...

But as someone else who is in the business of selling my services, I recognize it's pretty silly to act like it's as simple as that.

Anyway... back to the topic.

[R_Bert]

but my gut feeling is that both the new and used firearm's market is pretty healthy.

As evidenced by Ruger's performance on the stock market (outperformed GLD), and Kel-Tec's ability to sell well beyond their capacity to produce, just to name a few.

Edited August 31, 2011 by R_Bert

[Caster]

Wrong. Again.

The only negotiating going on is the thoughts in "your" head when I tell you the price. The only option is yes and no to the estimated price. No, take it elsewhere. Yes, I'll get started ASAP.

High five!!!!

People try that mess with me every stinking day. Makes me sick.

"Well, what's your best cash price?" - ALL my prices are cash prices, I don't take plastic.

"Well could you do it for (insert price)?" - I tell them I COULD do it for free, but I'm not.

Or my personal favorite; Mexicans that speak broken english are bad about using the phrase "I giva yoo (insert amount) american dollars." I tell them "If you buy it, I know you're going to give me american dollars, I don't take pesos, and the price is still the same."

I'm not rude off the bat, but some idiots really push their luck, bickering like an Arab at a bazaar.

[Guest nicemac]

Hotel rooms are very negotiable. Hotwire, price line, etc…

Last weekend I went to Cincinnati. In the area I wanted to stay "Courtyard by Mariott" type hotels were $93 - $150 per night. I got on Priceline and got a room for $45.

Two years ago I got beachfront on Waikiki at a four-star hotel for $125 on Priceline. The normal rate calling the reservation desk was over $400.

Everything may not be negotiable, but most things are.

[Guest GunTroll]

lol - if that's what you want to stick to...

But as someone else who is in the business of selling my services, I recognize it's pretty silly to act like it's as simple as that.

Anyway... back to the topic.

Fair enough. To each his own.

[RobertNashville]

There was a time in my life when I thought that the "price" was the "price"...the only exception seemed to be motor vehicles where "haggling" seemed to be expected. That's just how our culture operates.

However, as I've gotten older, I've come to learn that (to borrow a phrase), you can negotiate on everything some of the time and on some things all the time but you can't negotiate on everything all the time.

I've been pretty successful negotiating prices on things I want if I'm dealing with someone who has a vested interest in making the sale (i.e., an owner, manager, private party, etc) and as was said earlier, if you don't ask you don't get...if you try to negotiate and don't get anywhere then you either accept the offered price or you move on; sometimes I accept and sometimes I move on!

Edited August 31, 2011 by RobertNashville

[DRM]

However, as I've gotten older, I've come to learn that (to borrow a phrase), you can negotiate on everything some of the time and on some things all the time but you can't negotiate on everything all the time.

I was just about to reply back with an amended version of my earlier statement along those same lines as what you are saying:

"Everything is negotiable... just not every time".