Walmart labeling their ammo as only be for sale by Walmart

Interesting. Since I never see ammo on the shelf at my local walmart, I've never seen these stickers.

I don't mind if a few flippers get dimed out either

Might be trying to stem resale at other retail stores/gun shops.

And what exactly is Walmart gonna do when someone calls?

I think it's a great idea under the circumstances.

I don't know if they really can do much, perhaps they have some plan, but it at least lets people know ammo isn't unobtanium, is available at regular prices from them and dates the sale of the ammo in any event.

Anyone notice its only winchester ammo?

Question for the lawyers: How enforceable are those labels? Other than refusing to sell ammo to people identified as reselling, there's nothing that Walmart can actually do to someone buying ammo at retail and reselling it as far as I know.

Just to prevent the snarky comments before they start, I'm not an ammo reseller and I've probably only ever bought a brick of 22LR and 400 or so rounds of centerfire ammo from Walmart in my life. I'm just curious as to what they plan to accomplish, and it would seem to set a precedent for reselling ANY surplus item from Walmart or another retailer.

Considering the current situation I think it's a good idea

"What do you think they are hoping to accomplish here?"
Trying to get ammo to all the customers and not just those who buy it only to resell it at 3x their cost.

Barry the Bear said:

Anyone notice its only winchester ammo?

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That's pretty much all that Walmart has ever stocked. At least the ones near me.

Depending on their intent and the way the stickers are labeled, it could be possible to track it to a specific store and they could come down on management. That's probably wishful thinking, but I think it is a good start.

Think about it from this prospective, Ammo flippers go in to just get ammo in most cases (had a buddy who collected Hot Wheels and that was his experience with that as well as what I've been hearing on ammo for the most part). Regular customers come in and purchase more than just ammo. If they can't find everything they need, they could start going elsewhere (for instance, it is easier for me to go to Walmart, buy my work lunches and pickup a box of ammo every payday. Not finding ammo, it is easier, and shorter for me to hit Kroger and the LGS to get the same items).

My company used to do the same thing. The deal is there's special pricing for each reseller, depending on their volume or frankly the best deal the retailer can negotiate. Special deal products are marked this way so the company can tell (supposedly) if a distributor is diverting product from the intended channels. Now once it is sold at retail by Wally World, if it's seen at a gun show at inflated prices, all bets are off. However if it's found at a store like Cabela's or Dick's at normal retail, then the manufacturer knows the reduced price product has been "diverted" by a distributor to an unauthorized retailer. Product can usually be traced by lot number, and if that's the case, the offending distributor loses any future business.

Remember, Wally World cares not what happens AFTER they sell a product at retail.

"What do you think they are hoping to accomplish here?"
Trying to get ammo to all the customers and not just those who buy it only to resell it at 3x their cost.

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^^^ This.

Medalguy may have a valid point also.


The wal mart near me has Federal, Winchester, CCI and Remington ammo, as well as import stuff since the regular stuff has been harder to get.

I don't think there has been much of a problem with that locally. One LGS is pretty decently stocked but the other is REALLY well stocked. You could literally walk out of there with five varieties of 9mm and ten varieties of 5.56, then stop on the way out and get a box of 30'06 too. The only place they are lacking is on components - no one has Unique or some other stuff right now. And there is virtually no .22. But the LGS's are way better stocked than the local Walmart... except that Walmart had four boxes of .22 Thunderbolts today (which I did not buy).

Having said that, I did buy a couple boxes of 9mm at Walmart today. It was in stock. I don't have another 9mm yet, but it's only a matter of time and the price was pretty decent.

That sticker looks easy enough to pull off.

Once I pay for it its mine to do with as I see fit.

I think it is really smart marketing. Walmart positions itself as champion of the little guy with "rock bottom" prices, and whether or not this has any legal teeth, it serves that image. I like it. It's "were in this ammo mess with you", rather than the evil company that is hand-picking its favorite recipients, a message several threads have leaned toward lately.

Queen_of_Thunder said:

Once I pay for it its mine to do with as I see fit.

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I imagine you're 100% correct. I'd still call the number if I saw it for sale elsewhere, if only to try and hassle flippers. I don't actually think its wrong, but I also think it takes a special kind of a hole to spend time flipping ammo, because nobody is making a livelihood by doing it. Flipping houses as a career is one thing. Flipping ammo to make an extra $500 per month just makes you a tool. I'd do my part to make their work slightly less rewarding.

As an aside, I've been seeing those stickers at my local WalMart for a few weeks now, and IIRC, its on every brand of ammo they stock.

Wouldn't it just be easier if Walmart raised their prices?

Once I pay for it its mine to do with as I see fit.

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I agree with this as well. Of course that also goes for Walmart; while they own it, they can get some marketing mileage out of adding clever stickers to it.

I've bought shampoo from a drug store with a similar sticker. No foolin'. it was from the CVS at Lovers and Greenville in Dallas. I just assumed it was in case it was stolen or the truck was hijacked. Big hair care black market, don't you know.

I'm sure Wal-Mart, or any other retailer, doesn't really care what you do with their goods after you buy them. So long as it somehow doesn't come back to bite them on the backside.

Wouldn't it just be easier if Walmart raised their prices?

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How would raising prices make anything easier? Unless you mean it would make things less rewarding for flippers. I think the only thing that would do is encourage other vendors to raise their prices as well, which in turn would result in flippers raising their prices. It wouldn't stop anything, just slow it down before making it worse than it was before.

Wouldn't it just be easier if Walmart raised their prices?

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No amount of profit on a single item is strong enough for them to damage their low-cost brand. They would risk damaging long-term customer relationships. They are successful because they know who they are as a company and they are extremely disciplined in protecting it.

This is a fact that a number of LGS will be licking their wounds over when supplies normalize. There are shops in my town that I will NEVER frequent again over this. The market works both ways.

I recently put together a CHL class for my office, and a few struggled to find 9mm ammo. They paid $60 a box for WWB. That's not reasonable mark up to cover the cost of the line-sitters, I'm talking about 500-600% of retail. And before I get flamed, I fully support their right to do it. I also support my right to remember them when supply is normal again. I won't forget those folks.