When i think about the spike in gun prices I wonder how it has impacted future sales. You could separate the country into several groups with regard to guns:
1 - those who already own and arent looking to add
2 - those who own and will make future purchases
3 - those who bought first gun in 2013
4 - those who dont own but will buy in the future
5 - those who will never own
I think I'm in group 2 but everytime i look at prices I move back to group 1. While prices have come down from the panic levels they just arent yet back to where i grew used to seeing them. Until such time as they A-come back down, or B - i get used to the "new normal" i just wont be buying anything.
Theres a million reasons to buy more guns and i imagine im just fooling myself in the short run by thinking im in group 1, but it does make me wonder what percentage of current gun owners have put off purchases because they still view prices as artificially high?
This also plays into manufacturers profits. What percentage of guns are sold to existing gun owners? Historically what percentage has been sold to new gun owners? I say "historically" because one cant expect panic buying by first time buyers to persist...eventually I'd expect those sales to revert toward their long run average. It might even drop below that average in the near term because a lot of demand was "pulled forward" by the panic...meaning that gun sales they would have made in 2014 and 2015 were likely made in 2013 instead due to the panic.
Anyway...what are your thoughts? What did the Great Panic of 2013 do to change the landscape for both buyers and manufacuters over the next few years?
1 - those who already own and arent looking to add
2 - those who own and will make future purchases
3 - those who bought first gun in 2013
4 - those who dont own but will buy in the future
5 - those who will never own
I think I'm in group 2 but everytime i look at prices I move back to group 1. While prices have come down from the panic levels they just arent yet back to where i grew used to seeing them. Until such time as they A-come back down, or B - i get used to the "new normal" i just wont be buying anything.
Theres a million reasons to buy more guns and i imagine im just fooling myself in the short run by thinking im in group 1, but it does make me wonder what percentage of current gun owners have put off purchases because they still view prices as artificially high?
This also plays into manufacturers profits. What percentage of guns are sold to existing gun owners? Historically what percentage has been sold to new gun owners? I say "historically" because one cant expect panic buying by first time buyers to persist...eventually I'd expect those sales to revert toward their long run average. It might even drop below that average in the near term because a lot of demand was "pulled forward" by the panic...meaning that gun sales they would have made in 2014 and 2015 were likely made in 2013 instead due to the panic.
Anyway...what are your thoughts? What did the Great Panic of 2013 do to change the landscape for both buyers and manufacuters over the next few years?