In this latest "panic buy," did you over pay? If 'yes,' why?

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Orion8472

Orion8472

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This thread is about buying gun related things during the "panic buy"/"hard to find" times we live in. This thread is not about those who would say, "No, I wouldn't and won't". But for those who did.

So, when guns/ammo are hard to find, who has spent more than they should have for something? Why did you?

I'll go first. I was needing some 147gr 9mm and probably paid nearly $10 per box more than I should have. I wasn't sure when I'd be seeing them and was really wanting to test out a hypothesis.

Also, purchased a slide and barrel for one of my pistols that I later discovered I paid nearly $130 more than it would have cost normally. On this one, I didn't know it was possible to purchase one of these before I saw it on gunbroker and "spur of the moment" purchased. But then when I asked how the seller got it, and he told me how, I went there and only then discovered how much extra I spent.

On both of these, I wouldn't do it again. I suppose this could be a "buyers remorse" thread. I'm glad to have these products, of course, especially the barrel and slide. But I would have been okay to wait until they came back down to more reasonable prices,....and in the case of the barrel/slide, when it was back in stock.
 
I almost pulled the trigger on a complete 300 BO pistol upper. Several times I was ready to do it but other priorities were there, and to needy. I still have not done it but this will happen as soon as my taxes are paid for the year. In this political climate I don't dare wait. One of the downsides of being retired now!
 
Is it too much if the high price today is still lower than the price one might find in the future?

Purchased 1000 SPP last month because I'd rather have the ability to load them up than not.

And yes I also filled up my truck's fuel tank last week at prices far greater than two years ago; that's just currently life.
 
Yep.

I was walking through the nearest Academy store a couple months ago and saw .223 ammo on the shelf. Right there and in person with a 4 box limit. I picked up 4 boxes, paid for them with some other items, and didn't figure out my cost per round price until I got home. 60 cents per round for plain 55 grain FMJ. Shame on me.

A couple months before that, I bought a pre-lock snub nose S&W 66 for probably $175 over what it would have cost me pre-gundemic. Shame on me again, but usually I only see 4" versions and I didn't want a 4 incher.

Around here, pre-lock snub nose 66s, 19s, 15s, etc. don't last but a day or two on the shelf. Not to mention a nearly exactly the same snub nose pre-lock 66 showed up about 3 months later at $200 more than I paid for mine. It sold within a day.
 
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I over paid for my POF Rogue, but I got good enough buys on other guns during this last shortage to make up the difference and then some. I paid full retail for the Rogue because I believed it filled a role in my tool box. No regrets at this point.
 
I paid 46.00 for 500 win srp recently, hadn't seen any I'm s while, I still had 1k nut didn't hurt to have more on hand. I also bought 6mm and 224 diameter bullets at slightly higher prices but a lot less than I saw them at a retail him shop, that's about an hour away.
 
No but I walked past a lot of over priced stuff, so lots of others did.
 
I bought 2 boxes 50 round 45 acp for $30 each. Also some 9mm @ $18-$19 box of 50. I passed on the primers for $80 per 1000.
 
I bought a few guns at great prices, all used but one (Barkeep) had to have it, just got a 1973 Mar/Glen 60 in awesome shape for 185 out the door...around here the guns were showing up at the pawn and if they were high priced they dropped fast because of no ammo and the pawns needed some cash, I had a pretty good small stash of ammo and reloading supplies. I did buy a brick of nickel LRP from my local supplier for 80, I needed to load some nickel and I'm OCD about that, it was also the first time I ever bought a brick, always bought 200 at a time...I think I am weathering this pandemic well, don't see prices dropping fast and probably won't get back to pre covid prices for years.
 
IMAhobbyist said:
Is it too much if the high price today is still lower than the price one might find in the future?

Purchased 1000 SPP last month because I'd rather have the ability to load them up than not.

And yes I also filled up my truck's fuel tank last week at prices far greater than two years ago; that's just currently life.
Click to expand...

Yessir. Inflation has run amok, not just in guns and ammo. Printing money, factories running at low volumes, supply chain problems, etc. and salaries aren't keeping pace.

The prices my customers are paying for machinery parts have doubled and tripled in many cases over the last 12 months. Looking at used cars prices for my oldest kid this weekend, a $3,500 Toyota Corolla just 2 years ago is currently $6,000 in the same condition. Insanity.
 
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I just paid .85/round for 100 rounds of Hornady American Gunner .380 XTP. I didn't really need to at this moment, but I can afford it, and every prediction over the past year of when the shortage would end has been wrong. There's been a recent dip in the price of this particular round, so I figured I'd grab some before it goes back up.
 
Depends on your definition of "over pay." I bought ammo in the last year because I don't stock 10,000 rounds deep, the panic won't stop, so topped up before going to some bigger matches and classes. I shopped around, paid the lowest price I could get for exactly what I wanted.

That was 30-120% above what it was 2 years ago, but that's the market today so that's the price. Over paying would be paying above market value; I've done that in moderation when traveling, at a far-flung range, or otherwise constrained and a captive to smaller supply, so I have to do that or not shoot.

It's also around 5 times more than when I first started buying ammo because of the intervening decades. And gas is never going to be under $1 again either.
 
I paid more than I wanted to for a rifle I wasn't even looking for. Ran across it in a small shop that I didn't realize even sold guns. It was there, I had the money so I asked...we settled on a price that was less than they wanted but still higher than I would have liked. I bought it anyway because I thought it was cool and been years since I'd seen one.

I really blew the budget when I bought 4 different ring configurations before I found a set that would allow my scope to fit.
 
Paid $625 for a used S&W 915 pistol....why? I have a Marlin camp9 and wanted a sibling for it to play with(they take same magazines)
Paid $28 per box for 9mm FMJ . why? because I now had multiple 9mm guns. ...(and they are hungry! )
 
I have shown great restraint since the pandemic/election caused prices to go insane.

Like many others I stocked up when prices were cheap. I went to the range for my birthday early this year and did buy some 9mm at $21 a box. I only bought 5 though. The only gun I bought was a Glock 26 I got a good deal on from a family member.

Prices are coming down on ammo. That's really good timing for me. A few more trips to the range and I will have shot up my supply of 9mm and I don't want to break into my ammo fort! I'll stock back up when drops below $15 a box.

Parts pricing seems close to normal. I just ordered up every thing I needed to finish a 300 BO build I have been sitting on for a very long time. Can't wait to get that done! Getting ammo for it is going to be pricey but it was that way pre-panic and I knew that going in.
 
defjon said:
Yeah, I paid 27 per box of 50 for 380 fmj. It'd been so long since I'd seen any, and I never stocked much so my supply was low. I'm still ashamed.
Click to expand...
Ya, I got caught low on .380 too since I only had one pistol in that chambering when China first struck.

I actually SOLD some to a friend (at normal price) and some more at a gunshow- for $1.00/rnd.

Thought I made out well, kept 200 rounds.......then I picked up two more .380 pistols, and 200 wasnt sufficient anymore.

Picked up an additional 200 rounds at the last gunshow.

For a dollar a round. SMH. :confused:
 
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