How much (generally) do dealers pay for ammunition wholesale

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Jessesky

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I’d like to hear from those of you who have had real experience. Not just theorizing (though I appreciate the help).

I potentially am entering into the firearms business, specifically in being a dealer of ammunition. I know this is a very general question, but what percentage of retail cost would one expect to pay buying ammunition wholesale. This would be lots of 5,000 rounds at a time. The ammo in question is premium self defense handgun ammunition, and premium rifle hunting ammunition.

Thanks !
 
10%-30% below retail. Find a distributor with free shipping.

You will make very little money on ammo. Walmart likely will have better prices on promo shotgun shells than your distributor.

HB
 
Yeah...good luck making money on Ammo.....you’re a little late to the game, and you will need a TON of assets to even begin to be competitive.....sorry.....
 
5000 rounds isn't a lot to a wholesaler; you will need to add a zero or two to get really good pricing. Are you planning a brick and mortar storefront or working out of your house? many wholesalers will not sell to someone working from home (and your fire marshal might object as well)
 
I’d like to hear from those of you who have had real experience. Not just theorizing (though I appreciate the help).

I potentially am entering into the firearms business, specifically in being a dealer of ammunition. I know this is a very general question, but what percentage of retail cost would one expect to pay buying ammunition wholesale. This would be lots of 5,000 rounds at a time. The ammo in question is premium self defense handgun ammunition, and premium rifle hunting ammunition.
Thanks !
As a dealer I can tell you that unless you're ordering in vast quantities the price drop isn't much until the quantity is almost buying at distributor level buying.
We carry ammo as a convenience along with a few targets and such. Regularly online retailers beat our wholesale cost. Unless we were to way overstock ourselves it's cheaper for us to get some things from certain online retailers.
 
.....This would be lots of 5,000 rounds at a time....
5K won't get your phone calls returned from a manufacturer.
5 pallets per month will.

I haven't bought ammunition from a distributor in years, because online retailers are consistently lower in price.

Last year I bought 10,000 rounds of .22LR from Palmetto, shipped free and included 30 free Pmags. No distributor could come close to that deal.
 
The first thing you should do is to do some market research and identify who your customers will be. The market for “premium” ammunition is a lot different than the people that like to go to the shooting range and blast a couple hundred rounds on the weekend.

If you have been following the thread Ammo Stockpiles you will see that having 5,000 rounds won’t even get you to first base with many people.
 
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When I worked in a retail gun shop, I did an inventory of the brands we carried and compared our wholesale prices to Walmart's retail prices. On about half the ammo, we were getting it for a little less than their retail price. On the other half, they were selling it for less than we were paying for it wholesale.

I offered to make a run to Walmart to restock, but the boss didn't want to do it. Thought it would look bad if word got out.
 
Even during the Obama shortage, I frowned upon any gunshop buying from WM. That was especially true of 22LR which the shop priced very highly... so for the most part it sat on the shelves with an occasional box being sold to somebody who simply didn't know or possibly care.
 
In the 1980s , Federal would drop-ship a 50 cases minimum, of ammo to your location on the first order, just to open an account. After, small amounts could be ordered.

Was the only way to make a decent profit.

The dealer prices in this 1995 photo list are prepaid shipping included. 20191017_211557.jpg

Cases that were drop-ship had free shipping and were 20% to 40% below dealer pricing.

Compare todays 9mm/124 gr selling at $12 today from cabela's. Computers/online ordering has changed things a lot. Example- https://ammoseek.com
20191017_222803.jpg
 
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I’d like to hear from those of you who have had real experience. Not just theorizing (though I appreciate the help).

I potentially am entering into the firearms business, specifically in being a dealer of ammunition. I know this is a very general question, but what percentage of retail cost would one expect to pay buying ammunition wholesale. This would be lots of 5,000 rounds at a time. The ammo in question is premium self defense handgun ammunition, and premium rifle hunting ammunition.

Thanks !


I think you will find that it varies based on what distributor you use and how much business you do with them. I helped out at a friend's gun store about 10 years ago and saw what he was paying for ammo (when he could get it at all). As a firearms instructor I was also the guy who ordered ammo for my police department. The distributor I used for the PD was considerably cheaper than any of the 3 used by the gun store. When I spoke to 2 of the store's distributors they acknowledged that the store (a small, low volume shop) was on the lowest level for discounts and that better prices were available for the higher volume stores. They wouldn't tell me exact prices but when I mentioned what I was paying for the PD's ammo they both said that what I was paying was below their cost and they couldn't match those prices. ( I didn't believe that).
 
Manufacturer cost to make + 100% to distributor. Distributor cost +40% to the dealer. Dealer to retail + 40%
There are always discounts and deals to be made for a lower price thru the supply chain.
 
Manufacturer cost to make + 100% to distributor. Distributor cost +40% to the dealer. Dealer to retail + 40%
There are always discounts and deals to be made for a lower price thru the supply chain.

You're smoking crack if you think this is how the gun industry works. The margins on ammo and firearms are MUCH lower than that.
 
Manufacturer cost to make + 100% to distributor. Distributor cost +40% to the dealer. Dealer to retail + 40%
There are always discounts and deals to be made for a lower price thru the supply chain.
Not a dealer are you?:scrutiny:
Your margins are 100% nonsense.
Margins on new firearms are closer to 5% (thats 5% markup over dealer cost)

If your numbers were anywhere close to being correct, gun shops, distributors and manufacturers wouldn't be dropping like flies.
 
If your numbers were anywhere close to being correct, gun shops, distributors and manufacturers wouldn't be dropping like flies.

I respectfully disagree, if profits approached VAT levels they could make plenty of money. ;)

Then again, I agree. If they tried to make that kind of money on every sell, they wouldn’t be making any.

The “on line” buying leaves very little “meat on the bone” for FFLs. So little many have raised their transfer fees just to get something off every transfer. So a guy orders a firearm online $10 cheaper vs buying it for $10 more from the FFL. Solution is to raise transfers by $10..

More to the OP’s question, I was a dealer for a few manufacturers at one time and I asked them how to get better pricing, because customers thought I was trying to gouge them. I pointed out the fact that, at the time, anyone could buy their product from Powder Valley for less than I was being charged to buy it directly from the manufacturer. So they sent me another price schedule, that was a LOT better than the one I had, with a large note “$250,000 minimum order”, to get those prices. That’s why I said “was a dealer”...
 
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Had a local kid in town start a new firearms business a few years back. Rented a small shop downtown and stocked it with half a dozen rifles, about as many handguns and one small shelf of ammo. I tried to help him out and buy reloading supplies from him, but he couldn't match online or even other retailers locally. He was out of business within a year. Talking to him later, he mirrored what dogtown tom said. He didn't have deep enough pockets or the financing to buy in the quantities needed to make a decent profit. He admitted to going to Walmart and buying ammo, because he could get it there as cheaply as he could get it from his wholesalers. Same with powder. He said he went to the same small shop a few miles away as I did and marked powder up just enough to cover his gas just so he could have some on his shelves. Any more of a markup and it would sit. Can't make monies that way.
 
I wonder, what will happen now with Walmart leaving the ammo market.
Small mom & pop shops will have more chance with the ammo bss.
 
You're smoking crack if you think this is how the gun industry works. The margins on ammo and firearms are MUCH lower than that.
There are always discounts and deals to be made for a lower price thru the supply chain.

Do the math on 9mm 124 gr fmj ammo posted above.. $12 today from cabela's. A case of 1000 price is $9.25 per box of 50 rounds from Lucky Gunner. Do you think Lucky Gunner paid $9.25 for a box of 50 rounds? :rofl:

Ammo has to come directly from the factory to your retail outlet. Like Cabelas and Walmart and others..........

Have a nice day. :)
 
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No they did't pay $9.25 a box. But they paid more than $6.50, and the factory sure as hell has more than $3.25 in a box.

I was selling ammo and firearms in the '80's. The company I worked for bought direct from Remington, we bought ammo by the train car load. Even then we were working with around a 20-25% margin on ammo.
 
I do not care what they pay, only what I pay. Joined Target Sports Club and never looked back.And looking at the invoice above, I can buy one lousy box of American Eagle 124 gr, to include tax and shipping insurance and shipped to my Door Step for $9.43.

u43d6Qo.jpg
 
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