Pros & Cons of working in a candy store...

[10-Ring]

I was curious, what are the plusses & minus' of working in a gun shop...maybe even your favorite gunshop???
I know the idea of being paid working in a place you hang out in anyway may be appealling, but what are the real advantages & disadvantages?

 

[XD Fan]

It seems to me that the obvious disadvantage is that you would never make any money. You (I) would just sign our checks back over to the owner to pay for our newest purchases.

On the other hand, you would have lots of cool guns.

 

[plexreticle]

pros:

-Lot's of guns to play with

-Meet new people that are into shooting

Cons:

-Low pay

-Gun dealing is a very cut throat business

 

[usp_fan]

The one thing I learned in while working my way through college in my dream job (mountain bike shop wrench and manager) is that you rarely have time for your hobby, because you're too busy working at it. I enjoyed the deals, but my ride time was greatly curtailed.

I'd think something similar might apply working in a gun shop.

--usp_fan

 

[10-Ring]

usp fan - I too managed a bike shop in my youth...that was the most fun I had at a job bar none. Yup, low pay is what ultimately got me to leave, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.

 

[FTF]

I seriously doubt that one works in a gun shop with the overall goal of becoming rich.

I guess that enjoying your job would be a plus. Poor pay would be a negative.

I think that it would primarily appeal to those interested in part-time/fun work, retirees or those teens/young adults looking at getting their feet wet in the biz. Teens usually take retail jobs for the perks like discounts and such... if you like guns, discounts on range time and potentially, firearms, could swing one in that direction.

 

[Skywarp]

Pros
- Great job while I finished up my engineering degrees. Took my mind off cutting my wrists.

-Discount

-Nice people

-Fun to help newbies

- Helping people practice their 2A rights

Cons
-Idiots who dont believe in physics. Then tryto tell me the logic behind their reasoning is beyond me.Go ahead, I'm always willing to learn new things, but I have set people straight if they start pulling things out of their asses.

-Idiots who think we have a 95 percent markup and low ball everything. glocks for 300 bucks, USPs for 500, bars for 200 etc

-Idiots who are just there to touch every gun, with no intnetion of buying anything, ever. they just saw 24 and want to touch a load of guns

-Idiots with a mouthful of tobacco trying to talk without vomiting up their cancer juice.

-Old people who can't hear calling on the phone trying to price every gun in the store.

- People who live four blocks down the road calling to phone shop so they dont have to drive 1.3 miles.

- People coming to the shotgun deptartment to show their buddies all the guns their buddies have while were packed with duck hunters trying to pick a gun before ducks season starts. It's not show and tell, its a business.

- PEope who bring their old beat up pieces of crap in to trade and want MSRP for the guns in pristine condition desipite the fact its pitted, rusted, broken but base it's worth onthe number of animals killed by a family member

- People who come in like this:
Them : Show me a 30-06
ME: Any particular make?
Them: A 30-06!!!
(I hand them the nearest gun to me)
Them: This doesnt look like a 30-06
Me : It is, read the side of the barrel, we also convienently wrote it on the tag for you.
Them: well it doesnt look like my great great great great grandfathers 30-06 that he used to slay Mastadons with.
ME: Oh. We dont have any model 1903's, 1917's or Garands in
Them: HE DIDNT HAVE AN 1903. I SAID I WANT A 30-06
Me: Ohhhh a thirty aught six I thought you said a thirty aught SIX. Here you go
(hand them the same gun)
Them: This isnt a 30-06.
Me: Ohh they must have lied on the barrel....those sneaky gun makers.
and on and on and on. Every caliber...it gets old. Real old.

- The after church rush....millions of annoying kids screaming while the dad tries to haggle down a Finnlight to 400 dollars.

- Gangbangers, white(brown, yellow, tan, black) trash, immigrants who dont speak english trying to negotitate through their young children.

- The garage sale crowd. We have a used gun section. It's decent sized but they go quick. They pick through the used guns then proceed to ask if all the guns are used one by one in the new gun section. If they cant find what they want. they then tryto find a new one and try to haggle it down to used prices.

- Idiots who try to jack live rounds into display guns that look like their gun to see if their gun is that caliber. We've had them. Almost didnt end well.

- Idiots who bring pistols in to size holster pulling them out of their pants, pockets etc

- Idiots who think pointing the crimson trace displays at the staff is funny.

- Idiots who think testing out surefires by blinding you is fun. I almost had to whack one with my E2d after he did it 3 times.

- People shooting themselves in the range. It's annoying to deal with the paperwork,and cleaning.

- People who want you to special order random esoteric stuff but dont want topay forit in case they dotn like it.

- People who are prohibited purchasers trying to get their wives to buy stuff for them. We are blunt if we think it's a straw purchase we'll tell itlike it is.

- Cops ignoring the range rules like they are special then flaunting it. "So what I'm a cop.. Makes tossing them morefun if they do it. Most cops are cool about it butquite a few have turnedinto hardcore *******s about it.

So many more. Wow...And you wonder why us counter commandos are so croitchity.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Being swept with the muzzle on a daily basis. It deters me from wanting to even be in such places.


I took my wife to the shop I frequent a few years back; a good friend owns it.

She was there to select her own handgun. While there, I left her with the owner to help her and offer advice. Women just don't listen to their husband's in the same light as those unrelated to them, so I left them alone. A county deputy overheard the conversation, and offered her the opportunity to handle his concealed handgun. She accepted the offer. He put his leg up on the glass, and removed a PPK from his ankle, and handed it to her.

She, having been taught to never accept an unchecked firearm, declined. He said, "it is OK, I trust you". She looked at me, as this caught my attention, and I smiled and said, "ask him to unload it". He reluctantly did at her request, inspected it, and handed it back, action opened.

We left shortly after, and she expressed her amazement. "I never believed you when you told me how terribly police handle guns. I thought you exaggerated. I could have taken it, shot him, and left with it. He didn't know me from Adam." I responded by telling her she was right by not taking a loaded gun, from anyone, and that I was glad I insisted on instilling that as a minimum level of competency with her when we were first dating.

 

[Eightball]

Skywarp has it right on the nose. The number of idiots we get in our store exactly like that is astounding. Quite a few of them, due to their insistance that they're the only customer on earth and that we should tailor to their needs, have almost screwed up my sales of Beretta Silver Pigeons. Now, THAT wouldn't have ended well.......

 

[Ala Dan]

First and foremost, most likely you will be "johnny on the spot" for any
bargains that appear. I know this has been the case more than once
for myself. Second, you stay abreast of the latest gadgets in the arms
industry. If some company makes it, well you will know 'bout it. Meeting
people is always a challenge; especially the folk's that know absolutely
nothing in relation to firearms. A lot of time is spent with these types;
limiting useful time that could be spent actually selling firearms. Many
times, these persons are seeking nothing more than advice~!

In my case, I work for a very large family owned and operated sporting
goods store and gunshop that was built on a strong foundation dating
back too the early 1900's. We're in an old building, have bad plumbing,
close on Sundays; but have some of the friendliest service, and best
prices found in the southeast United States.

 

[entropy]

Pros: First dibs on good gun buys, better if the shop dislikes the type of guns you like.

Cons: Same as above! Also seeing the milsurps people want to Bubba up for a deer rifle. It sickens me. I leave them for the other smith, he'll do them.

Skywarp's list is spot on!

 

[TimboKhan]

Well, in defense of gun shop customers, there is no shortage of self-righteous jerks and idiots behind the counter either. Case in point, there is a clerk at the Sportsmans Warehouse that told me that every Taurus they sell comes back for service, and that the store is contemplating not selling them any more. I did a little research, confirmed that he was full of crap, and have avoided that clerk ever since. Even his fellow clerks wouldn't support him on that line of BS. Then, there is the time that I heard a gun shop employee refer to a semi-automatic pistol as a "pull back action".

Now, to answer the question from my experience of working at a pawn shop as the "gun guy":

Pros: Good deals
First look at new merchandise
Decent working environment

Cons: The only groupies you will ever see are guys named Chuck that always try to lowball you.
Not enough money to buy all the stuff
Esteem issues developing as a response to lack of money

 

[Sheldon J]

I've got yaall beat!

When I was 18 my best friend's parents owned a real nice gun store.
One day his dad approached me and asked if I would come over Friday after work N Saturday for the day.
They (younger brothers, and wife) were going up north to ride motorcycles.
The really great part is I would have went there to BS for free and they would pay me in reloading stuff.
They did this almost every weekend, and Man did I shoot cheap for a long time.
Got to fondle every gun in the place,
learned to work on guns,
and met a lot of interesting people, good and bad, some smart as.... and real stupid ones too.:banghead:
Then on Sunday we went to my Uncles Farm with a huge gravel pit and spent all day shooting, from early morning to dark, thousands of rounds, It was a great experience ah to good old days

 

[Slimjim]

-Idiots who are just there to touch every gun, with no intnetion of buying anything, ever. they just saw 24 and want to touch a load of guns

Uh, ive went into gun shops, handled guns and walked out before, I'll do it when im trying to decide between a couple guns. I recently ended up dropping 2k at a local shop after handling a few guns on different occasions. So you might want to rethink your customers.

 

[Skywarp]

Uh, ive went into gun shops, handled guns and walked out before, I'll do it when im trying to decide between a couple guns. I recently ended up dropping 2k at a local shop after handling a few guns on different occasions. So you might want to rethink your customers.

It's not so much that I dont like showing people guns. I love it. But there is a massive difference between narrowing the field and just touching guns to touch them.

Example: When I bought my P99 I looked atthe Glock 23, XD40, P2000, USP Compact, CZ75 and everything I could think of before I made a purchase. There was A clear reason for bugging the guy to see everything. Likewise todaywe had a Napa county SO deputy trying out different off duty weapons. I must have brought out 13 guns in 15 minutes. Did I mind? No he was comparing compact firearms for carry.


However when you have a guy that comes in and says.... Uhhh can I see the Taurus 85, the uhhh M9, the uhhh Rock Island 45, uhh the 460XVR, uhm that gun Tom Cruise uses in Collateral, uhmmm the smith and wesson model 10, the ruger mark III, ohhh wow a Desert Eagle that too, the Beretta Tomcat, ohhh the Sig 220 Sport, uhhh the Kahr and uhhh the Raging Bull.

It's even better when they start naming off the guns by the names they haveon Counterstrike, or reference them by who used them on a TV show or movie.

When you ask them what they are looking for : "Oh nothing, I just wanted to see them"


There is a huge difference between looking at alot of guns with a clear point and just picking things out of your ass just to kill time.

 

[10-Ring]

As it is, I don't have 1st dibs on the used guns that come in, but I get some nice crumbs...my BHP, my Python, my mod 19, my USP Expert 45 and my M1A make for some nice crumbs I don't think I could afford more

 

[statelineblues]

When I worked in a gun store (many years ago!!) I would actually have people come in and say "I just want to look at your guns - I'm not going to buy anything."

These folks usally show up 5 minutes before closing time..........

 

[countertop]

I worked at a brewery while in law school. Funny, I cant think of anything bad about it. Made beer, gave tours to happy customers, dranks beer, gave happy customers free beer, sold happy customers beer, went 2 12 years without paying for beer.

Nope, no problems at all.

As for the candy store thing . . . . my cousin owns a candy shop in upstate NY. Worked there for a day once. Pretty cool, but I sure had a sick tummy when the day was over.

 

[strat81]

I used to work in the drum department for one of the major musical instrument chains. Ugggghhh. Like guns, drums are not toys. They are instruments. People would think nothing of letting their 7 year old beat the snot out of a $2500 set of drums. I also loved the customers who would hit every cymbal and tap every drum for 45 minutes then buy a pair of sticks.

On the plus side, you got first dibs on new gear (at a discount), got new gear demos from product reps, and met some of the coolest people and greatest musicians.

 

[American By Blood]

I don't work in a gun shop, but I'd imagine meeting every single woman in town who likes guns is a huge pro.

Can any con possibly outweigh that?

 

[quatin]

When you ask them what they are looking for : "Oh nothing, I just wanted to see them"


There is a huge difference between looking at alot of guns with a clear point and just picking things out of your ass just to kill time.

I have to say I am guilty of this at times. Sometimes if I am close to a gun retailer, I would walk to the gun counter and just check out their inventory. I won't have intention to buy that day (or anytime soon) and sometimes I have no clue what I want. I try not to just hamper the sales guy to bring me every single gun that looks cool, but just kind of poke and stare at what's displayed. I don't really know what else is better to get to know what's out there and to keep updated. Looking at pictures of guns on the net is just not the same as seeing/handling one. I did this when I was buying my first gun, how else do I know what's available locally? I would hop stores and check out everything from pistols to rifles to shotguns just to see what sticks to me after I left. So far every guy I met at the counter was helpful and probably understood I wasn't going to buy anything, but showed stuff to me anyways and offered advice. Places like that I would go back to even if I don't buy a gun, but for supplies and ammo. Shopping has got to be 90% browsing, even if it's half-assed browsing.

 

[XDKingslayer]

All depends on how good the employee discount...