will you spend more to buy local

As always it depends. I will give my business to the LGS when practicle. But if they charge insane markups over the net stores then I will save my money. A pound of propellant here or a box of bullets there or a reasonable price on a new or used firearm----sure they get my money. But 40 LBS of combined propellant/primers or 50K bullets I will cost compare and usually go with a net seller. Then I can often average the cost to be 1/2 what the LGS will charge. But I often have them price out a quote for the order also to be fair.

If their service warrants it. I will not support local businesses that don't care about customer service. Often price is the ONLY thing these guys can't control. I don't mind paying a little more...or just buying accessories from them either.

When in my LGS I often just buy something I need. Yes it is usually more expensive. Will I buy something far more expensive? Not often.

I like to support local businesses, but it seems like so many of our local stores are either dishonest or terribly incompetent. If you lie to someone because you don't know the answer or steer them in the wrong direction because you didn't bother to find out what they really need, you've eliminated my primary reason to shop there - service. I can get treated like a number at any big box or online store...and get a better price. Brownell's is just one example of an online store where I still received good service.

Boy is this a loaded question for me.

I live near a major city with around a metro population of 500,000. We have Ganders, Cabela's and two indoor shooting ranges which were overpriced before the Banic and more so during it.

In fairness to Gander and Cabela's their regular prices are usually full msrp. I usually only buy from a rare occasional gun and my ammo purchases have been mainly when bulk 22 LR's are on sale. As I am a reloader I do a lot of Internet shopping for brass and bullets.

The two indoor shooting range LGS prices have shot way up during the Banic. Both of them have started running TV commercials this year. As some of you realize TV time is not cheap especially during prime time. I only shake my head and wonder how much they could reduce their prices if they were not making and airing expensive TV ads.

Now for the good news is I have found two LGS's that give me very good deals. One is a small store that has had gun powder in stock during the entire Banic and is selling pre-Banic prices. Not only that but most of his stock is bulk 4 and 8# containers (a preppers dream candy store). The only downside is he is never sure what will be in each shipment so it is necessary to stop in every week or two when looking for a specific powder. The strange thing is a hole in wall store gets powder and the big dogs don't (at least for regular customers).

My other LGS is actually a Sporting Clays business. I have a C&R and have accounts established with several wholesalers so when I want a modern firearm I simply call the wholesaler, order the gun paying for it by credit card and have it shipped to him. He charges me all of $25.00 for the transfer. It is a great deal for both of us. He makes $25.00 for 15 minutes of work (logging it in and then during the transfer to me which is going to get even easier after I get my c.c. permit).

Cabela's will get a good chunk of money when built 22 prices return to normal levels and especially when it is on sale (remember the prepper part). They have been advertising very good sale prices on long guns especially AR so a S&W Sport may be in my future.

I have not got caught up in buying a inflated prices. In fact all it did was too motive me to buy mainly just some gun powder and got me started in Black Powder shooting.

Don't have to, my local guy is competitive with just about anyone.

Good people, good prices. Hell, I'll give him a free plug.

22three.com

I won't pay over retail for anything new, but I'm very loyal to my LGS/FFL. Been going there 20+ years, and treated very well. I always try to support local business, then state, then USA.

rtz said:

"support the local shop"

I just don't buy into it. For one; all the money going into the shop gets sent out of state to buy more product. Two; if the owner is making a lot of profit; you're just lining his pockets and making him rich.

Best price wins. All the shops need to check prices online and either match them or sell them cheaper. Free shipping vs's local sales tax that can be approaching 10% in some areas. Makes a big difference around the $1,000 price point.

Shops charging $1/bullet and selling $600 AR15's for $1500 and all Glocks are ~$650 instead of $395(what they should be). I've got 6 Glock's(17,19,26,21,22,23) and never paid more than $400 something for any of them.

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Are you out of your mind. Do you not understand the cost associated with just keeping the business open so some fool can come in and say, hey I can get it cheaper on line, can you sell it to me at that price.

Lets be honest here. If the LGS goes out of business you would be complaining about that too.

What I don't understand is this mindset of yours and others. You have no understanding of basic economics, ypu haven't the slightest idea of the cost associated with running a business yet you and others expect a LGS to sell at a loss a product you claim you can get cheaper elsewhere.

I swear people seem to be morphing into those people protrayed in the Mike Judge film Idiocracy.

Is a 50 mile Drive Local?

Would you consider a 50 mile drive Local? I do!! The "local" gun stores(2 of them) have unrealistic prices on everything from ammo to Firearms!! So if I make a call to my new local gun store (50 miles away) and he happens to have what I am looking for I will gladly drive 100 miles round trip to go buy the rifle, pistol I am looking for. When I add up the gas and the time spent driving that far, I will have saved enough to pay for the gas time and almost a steak dinner traveling 50 miles one way!!! This new local gun store has their main store another 30 miles further, if I need powder or primers and I call a day ahead he will have whatever powder, primer and even firearms that I want moved to the store only 50 miles away. They get 75% of all of my business as far as reloading and firearm purchases. The other 25% is from internet sales of parts, pieces and gizmos!!

I'm done buying except for ammo and extra mags and in the tradition of the shrewd American Consumer I price shop and expect any LGS to carry on the American tradition of competitive pricing.

What I don't understand is this mindset of yours and others. You have no understanding of basic economics, you haven't the slightest idea of the cost associated with running a business yet you and others expect a LGS to sell at a loss a product you claim you can get cheaper elsewhere.

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I don't know about rtz, but I don't expect a LGS to sell at a loss. What I do expect is for the government to not throw up artificial and arbitrary barriers in the marketplace. If I want to buy a CZ-82 I can have it shipped straight to myself from Wideners but if I want a CZ-83 I have to either buy if from a local store at a markup of X% or pay $X for a transfer.

I have no idea why a local used bookstore charges what they do, nor do I care. They're free to charge what they want and I'm free to go to Amazon.com, which is cheaper, easier, and doesn't involve spending gas money to get there (full disclosure: I also own a very small amount of their stock). Luckily the government hasn't thrown up an artificial barrier in that transaction ... yet.

What I don't understand is this mindset of yours and others. You have no understanding of basic economics, ypu haven't the slightest idea of the cost associated with running a business yet you and others expect a LGS to sell at a loss a product you claim you can get cheaper elsewhere.

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I get what your trying to say, the problem with it is that the online vendors selling for less also have the same cost associated with running a buisiness.
A buisiness owner must do what's needed to reduce those cost and be competitive with others who have managed to do so. Economics.

Being as I started purchasing for a local hardware at the ripe old age of 14 way back in 1957, then progressing into purchasing for the largest RV Co. in the U.S. in the 60's/70's, then starting my own successful business which we "my wife & I" retired from 14 years ago, I shop by price #1 then comes service way down the road in 2nd place.

If the LGS can not keep to price point, then the vendor who can gets the business. This holds true for most everything we buy.

I was just wondering how many of you guys will spend extra to buy from your lgs.

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I do, at least to an extent. I certainly won't buy online just to save $20-30 on a $500-600 purchase. I'd rather support a local store that provides me with local access to a shooting range, ammo, ect. than drive him out of buisness by just using his FFL services.

He raised prices through the roof during the panic as did a lot of others. The problem is he lefthis prices there. One example that comes to mind is the 480$ asking price for the s&w shield(I'm in the market for one.) That's 11$ over msrp. There is also no negotiating on price what so ever.

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There's a difference between supporting a local buisness and being a sucker. I would never spend MSRP for a new gun, let alone over MSRP. Even if the local pricing wasn't over MSRP, a $100 difference on a $400 purchase is outside my tolerance limits.

Has anyone else had to abandon their lgs because of pricing.

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Luckily, my FLGS is pretty competative on pricing, so its not an issue for me. In the case you posted, I'd drop them like a hot potato.

I have on occasion spent a little more on a firearm or ammunition at a local gun store
than I would by shopping online or looking elsewhere. Sometimes, it's just not worth
driving a hour or more or waiting to have something shipped to your house when
you can get the same product at a store about ten to fifteen minutes away. When
you buy from your local gun stores, they tend to remember you, especially if it is
a small store and that builds a good relationship which can pay dividends in the future.

will you spend more to buy local[?]

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Yes, just to support the local business and keep the money in the community. But I won't spend *much* more.

To answer the initial question I will spend more to an extent. The amount your describing is well beyond that extent though. Luckly the LGS I use (who isn't even that local since I moved) is usually cheaper than or within $15-20 after taxes of online prices at least 90% of the time. If he isn't or he can't get what you want he will flat out tell you to order it online and have it shipped to him and that he offers free transfers. His only down fall is that he keeps a very small inventory on hand so almost anything you want will have to be ordered.

If anyone in north Alabama is interested in knowing who he is PM me and I will send you his info.

What Bob said:

Yes, just to support the local business and keep the money in the community. But I won't spend *much* more.

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And this goes both ways. He charges 10% over his costs. I don't haggle w/ him, but I'll tell him I'll wait until I can get it for XXX. When I wanted a Ruger SR 1911 when they first came out, he said "wait and you can get if for $600 bucks next year, right now I can sell them on gunbroker for $750". Then Obama, then Newton, so it never quite got there on his pricetag, but when I bought one a few weeks ago, expecting to pay $650, he rang it up for my original hold-out price, plus tax. I pointed it out to him, and he just said "well, hey, look at that. Isn't that what you initially wanted to pay for it?" Wink Wink.

Yeah, I'll support him but I won't expect him to lose money by selling to me. If I wanted to be the first to own one, I would have payed more so long as he could sell them for more. That's just good business.

It is what it is--call it arbitrary and nonsensical but it doesn't change the bottom line. Local FFLs are a necessity if one wants to be able to purchase new firearms and as such it makes sense to support them--at least the ones that treat their customers right.

As far as the C&R aspect goes, you may be able to get everything you want via your C&R, but most people can't. And most people aren't willing to deal with getting a C&R just to be able to buy firearms.

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All the more reason why we should be pushing to modify or scrap the 1968 GCA. Until then I'm going to keep calling it what it is. I'm a little lost as to why I should support a business because of an arbitrary and nonsensical law though. Are you saying that the 68 GCA is propping them up and they wouldn't survive without it?

Factoring in shipping and FFL transfer fees, I'll gladly pay a bit more to see what I'm actually buying instead of just getting what is shipped to me. This is crucial for anything "Century", and usually important for used.

But most of my "local" dealers are the regulars at the larger gun shows around here.

Yeah, I'll support him but I won't expect him to lose money by selling to me.

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I think this is one of the most important things for everyone to realize when dealing with their LGS

I live in a small town in central Texas there are a number of gun shops but all of them are outrageous on prices for ammo, one store has 22 ammo a 500 round brick for 75.99 the other has one brick of the federal 555 for 99.99 to me that is un called for. the other week I drove to San Antonio to a random Academy and they had Remington 22 ammo a brick of 525 for 21.99, needless to say I havent spent any money in my lgs in a while.

jcwit said:

Being as I started purchasing for a local hardware at the ripe old age of 14 way back in 1957, then progressing into purchasing for the largest RV Co. in the U.S. in the 60's/70's, then starting my own successful business which we "my wife & I" retired from 14 years ago, I shop by price #1 then comes service way down the road in 2nd place.

If the LGS can not keep to price point, then the vendor who can gets the business. This holds true for most everything we buy.

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Then local shops lose out to the Buds type stores. So what do you do when your purchase from an out of town vendor needs work and there is no LGS around to do the work. What do you do when you want some work done on your purchase and no one is there to do it because the LGS is out of business.