Local Shop Owner: Sorry, I don't carry Kimber products anymore.

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StrikeFire83

StrikeFire83

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So I was in a local shop today and I asked the owner if he had any Kimber Solos in yet. He said, "sorry, I don't carry Kimber products anymore."

Now you may say who cares, it's only one shop. And maybe you'd be right. But this shop is a local fixture, the owner is incredibly trustworthy, and his prices are always within $20-$40 of Bud's. The owner has a policy, if you buy a gun from him, whether its a $250 Kel-Tec or a $4,000 custom rifle, if you have ANY issues, he will be your point of contact with the manufacturer and makes things right. He deals with shipping, everything, and if the manufacturer doesn't make things right, the in-house gunsmith will, and if all else fails, he'll give you store credit and take back the gun.

When I pressed him on why he dropped Kimber, he said there have just been too many problems. He was faced with the choice of changing his policies or dropping Kimber, so he dropped Kimber.

Anyhow, just some info, FWIW.
 
Time is money, and he was obviously spending too much time dealing with customers and Kimber 'customer service'. Gotta do what ya gotta do.
 
^ Yeah. He said it wasn't just that Kimbers had more issues than anything else he sells (which they did) but dealing with Kimber customer service department was like pulling teeth. And he does some serious volume.
 
My Kimber Tactical Entry II is taking this news very hard!! I'll be adding 0.5gr of a mixture of Prozac, Zoloft and Wellbutrin to each reload from now on. That should help. I'll keep an eye out for any side effects such as a dry muzzle, feeding problems (loss of appetite), stovepipes (constipation) etc.
 
^ Creative. My experience with a Custom II suggests that some Kimber 1911's do a fine job malfunctioning without any help from modern pharma.
 
The Truth is a lot dealers, don't like to stock kimbers as they are very expensive and have a long leed time, from when an order is placed usually 60-90 days.

In today tough economy, its far more profitable to sell hundreds of cheaper items , than it is to sell tens of a high price item.

There is always more profit to be made in sell in the cheap items, so a lot of gun shops would prefer to sell 5 cheap guns tying maybe $1200 making a $500 profit, VS tying up $1200 on one kimber and making only a $200 profit.

No shop is going to tell you out right that they can't afford to stock or sell high priced guns anymore.
 
When I read these Kimber bashing threads I almost believe my friends and I have the only dozen or so totally reliable Kimbers that left the factory.:D


I have 5 and one of those friends and I are going to get two more.



No shop is going to tell you out right that they can't afford to stock or sell high priced guns anymore.
Click to expand...
Bingo!
The local store does not stock Kimbers, or any other very high price gun. He will order anything you want but he can't afford to have many high priced guns waiting for a buyer.
 
^ Maybe, but this guy has Ed Browns and Wilsons in his case. More expensive than Kimbers.

I'm sure you're right about it being easier to do a lot of volume in less expensive products because more people buy more of them. But he specifically said he stopped carrying them because of the problems with the guns themselves and the BS from Kimber cs.
 
1KPerDay: Yeah, he's a really good dude. He moves a lot of iron to his regulars, but if somebody comes in off the street he'll take the time to give them good CS and sell them the gun THEY want, not the gun he wants to push out the door that day.

M2 Carbine: This isn't a "Kimber bashing thread" I'm just relating what a well-respected local dealer told me. My Kimber Custom II was never reliable with JHPs. I'm not making this up. I don't have a vendetta or work for a rival company. IN FACT, I went in wanting to take a look at a Kimber Solo Carry because it isn't one of their 1911s and it looks very promising.
 
StrikeFire83 said:
^ Creative. My experience with a Custom II suggests that some Kimber 1911's do a fine job malfunctioning without any help from modern pharma.
Click to expand...

That's the point. Everyone's experience is unique to them. My Kimber experience has been a good one so I don't have a problem with the brand. Do I plan on owning many Kimbers ... no ... maybe just one more. As for what my local gun shops like, stock, recommend, repair, etc .... I DON'T CARE. I buy what I like, when I like, for the reasons I like. Opinions about this or that expressed on forums such as this don't influence my buying decision. Facts, my experience and my opinion influence my buying decision ... nothing more.
 
a lot of gun shops would prefer to sell 5 cheap guns tying maybe $1200 making a $500 profit, VS tying up $1200 on one kimber and making only a $200 profit.
Click to expand...
Maybe speak to a few of our (or your local) FFLs and inquire as to which guns they can sell at a 70% markup.

Or even a 17% markup.

I don't think this is the answer.
 
Talking of markup, I asked my LGS for a quote on a Dan Wesson Valor (2010 model). The answer was $1,759 which according to the owner is only $50 over dealer cost. Not much of a profit margin when you think about it. I bought an Ed Brown Special Forces Carry from him and he made $90 on it. He made a similar amount on the Ed Brown Special Forces that I ordered. So his typical profit margin is considerably less than 5%. This is why he needs volume of sales and also why he sells other products with higher profit margins such as powder, ammunition and accessories.
 
This just doesn't compute. Let's say, your "guy" LGS does $3 Mil a year. HUGE for any gunshop. That works out to (per your "high of 5%") $150,000 of gross profit a year. That is $12,500 a month GP. Take out, what ever you want for salaries, insurance, rent, advertising, leasehold improvements, loan payments...on and on. He needs to be selling, let's take a popular gun, a S&W 686, 3" @ $670.00, 4478 of those, that is 373 a month, that is 12 per day (open 12 hours per day, 7 days per week) it's a gun an hour. NOT.
I'm afraid he's gotta be making a little more than he's telling you or has a trust fund.
 
Creature said:
you forgot in your computations...that gun shops dont just sell guns
Click to expand...

No kidding. The profit on a new gun sale is often very small.

The profit is on ammo, cleaning supplies, used gun sales, minor gunsmithing services, and everything else in the shop. It is NOT in new gun sales.
 
Well, I guess the small profits combined with the Kimber problems and his "I'll make it right no matter what" policy makes it not worth his while to carry them anymore.
 
Used to be a time when to be a stocking Kimber dealer, they required the shop carry a lot of Kimber inventory - all bought up front, of course. That was back when Kimber was taking the 1911 market by storm and they could - and did - force shop owners to make the investment to carry the brand.

Kimber hasn't owned that part of the 1911 market for over a decade. Don't know if they are still trying to hold dealers to that business practice, but if they are, I could see dealers telling them to get bent over it in today's market.
 
If he dropped Kimber because he does not like dealing with their CS then he should also drop Sig, Beretta, and Benelli if he has them still.
 
As far as I know, Kimber still does the stocking dealer/Master Dealer thing.

Like many industries, if you don't sell a lot of product you don't get much supplied to you.

"Kimber hasn't owned that part of the 1911 market"

I don't know what the current figures look like, but they own a big chunk of the autoloader market, at least as of these 2007 ATF pistol - not revolver - figures.

http://www.shootingindustry.com/Pages/09FAReport.pdf

Beretta - 87631
Glock - 61703
Kimber - 55722
Colt - 17833
Springfield - 13687
Wilson - 2339
Baer - 1974
Brown - 1065
 
^ I think the problem wasn't just their customer service, but the frequency with which he had to send malfunctioning Kimbers back to them + their crappy CS.

I assume Sigs and Berettas don't have nearly as many issues. I didn't see any Benelli in the shop.
 
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