Gun Show Experience

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I believe ammo costs from the manufacturers went up around 15% since this crap started a year ago.
 
I believe ammo costs from the manufacturers went up around 15% since this crap started a year ago.
However product volume did not increase.

The local dealer almost never buys from the factory. Factories typically sell by the pallet. Their production volume mandates that. The factory "makes" no money while the line is down changing from one loading to another or from one caliber to another. So, they make entire runs of a given loading in whatever quantity that is.

The chain looks (mostly) like: Factory -> Wholesaler -> Distributor -> local retailer.

If you are a wholesaler, you have the space/time to break down pallets of ten, a hundred thousand into saleable units.
Which then go to the distributor to break into saleable units.
The local retailer only needs a few cases to fill his shelves. He also needs to have one each of five or six different kinds of stuff. So, .38spl in 110gr, 124gr, and 158gr, and in LRN, LHP, JHP, and all the myriad "namebrands."

The distributor can make up "lots" of a given caliber or "bundles" of a 'brand' (like XTC or the like) and make that an easy sale for the LGS. Or, at least they can if the wholesaler has the volume to sell.

There's an entire stack of people involved with mark-ups at each step. And shipping required between each one.

All of which is heresy to the convinced that those selling for $50 bought at $5.
 
I can see they need something to sell too but it just raises the price of ammo for all of us by doing this.
 
Those who can't afford the ammo won't be able to buy at these prices. So they are the ones that will suffer. Yeah, people would say, "they should have bought when ammo was cheaper",...but what if it is a new person just getting into shooting?? What if it is a young woman just getting into personal protection because she's now out on her own? She can't afford the outlandish prices these people are asking....so they are causing the issues with [IMO] greed.
 
Gun shows have not been worth going to (except to look ) since the clinton years when the overpriced magazine business started. Twenty dollar cheap mags going for 65 dollars no thanks. Shopping on the net left me no reason to go to gunshows and now with the surplus market dried up and whats left is higher than modern production guns and ammo, I remember getting a cz52 just because the ammo was cheaper than 9mm, oh clinton screwed that up also, when the ammo got higher than 9mm I no longer wanted the gun.
 
Those who can't afford the ammo won't be able to buy at these prices. So they are the ones that will suffer.

This is true in every single aspect of life.
No matter what you go and buy, there is someone who can't afford it, and they sometimes suffer.
I don't mean to sound elitist or callous, but that's just the way it is.

Things are worth what someone is willing to pay.
If the vendors are not moving the product, they will be forced to lower their prices. If they bought at too high a price, they will suffer for that when the bubble crashes and people refuse to pay.

I agree with you mostly by the way. I won't pay these crazy prices. I am somewhat prepared with some ammo on hand, but I don't have nearly as much as I'd like.
It's just the way it is.
 
Thanks, Arkansas Paul. :)

I've been prepared with ammo for some time now as well.
 
Saturday's Orlando show had no lines at all half hour after opening. Big room first and noticed many "new" FFL's. Some had tons of product, in order of quantity: Glock, any model by the dozens. Shop around for the best price on that Model 43 or whatever, $529-$749. Next was Turks; you name it, Beretta knock offs, 1911's "Glock-like" Girsans etc. Good price point for the average "consumer" not knowing the difference between a HiPoint and Wilson Combat. Sig 365's are hotter than a $2 pistol. I never realized there were so many different variants from $550-$1K.
As far as revolvers, I saw a 649 in .357 for $700, a 10 shot 617 for $829 and a 648 for the same money. 642's and 637's were $450- $600. One guy in the little room had a righteous Model 520 with the 2 piece box in excellent condition. It was marked down from $1800 to maybe $1629. Bet it would go OTD for $1500. The "Beckwith table" in the corner had folks 3 deep. Family moving lots of product at decent prices. I really liked the new Colt's Python 4" for a little over $1700, well under anyone else including Khaled.
Khaled had a very good day, moving lots of guns. The prices are very high but stimulus money "ain't like it's mine" so party on. He also had 10 PALLETS or more ammo, case lots or by the box. Spendy but who care if the .gov is buying. I saw more ammo in one place today than ever before. Some for "stupid money" $85 box 50 9mm ball but also $60 for a box 50 Federal 9mm HST, last show 2 months ago it was $125. Now, where's my next stimulus check, I'll need it before the next show. Joe
 
For the primer and ammo prices at the gun show noted in Post #11....were some show attendees paying those prices, or did everyone just walk away?
 
Gun shows have not been worth going to (except to look ) since the clinton years when the overpriced magazine business started. Twenty dollar cheap mags going for 65 dollars no thanks. Shopping on the net left me no reason to go to gunshows and now with the surplus market dried up and whats left is higher than modern production guns and ammo, I remember getting a cz52 just because the ammo was cheaper than 9mm, oh clinton screwed that up also, when the ammo got higher than 9mm I no longer wanted the gun.

The Internet is an underrated factor in all this. It's a lot easier to sell anything on gunbroker than to haul it around to a gunshow, but a lot of people who don't think too deeply have drawn the wrong conclusion from this They think there's an endless supply of suckers anywhere they go who will buy anything if they just wait long enough, not understanding the number of people who see posts on gunbroker is at least 100 times the attendance at any gunshow. Combine that with what others have noted about no one trying to make a real living selling guns anymore, and you get what we have: Ludicrous prices that change only slowly until the market goes bust. Guns have been a boom-and-bust business for nearly 20 years now, with who was running for President and who won as yet another factor. It's getting kind of old. I'm wondering if archery is in my future.
 
The internet sales tax may impact net sales to the benefit of shows and "other" venues. One middle range net seller i know just got his "tax" bill for the $ collected on last months sales. He, like many others, pulled all his net sales until further notice. He says its a backdoor way to control gun sales using the Capone method. No sure he isn't right.
 
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