Academy must be crazy.

Support your local businesses....As in not chain stores!

But Midways usually has pretty good deals. Fast shipping and what have you.

I think you will find a lot of places asking more for that barrel.

I understand how retail works but a 33% mark up seems a bit steep to me.

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Sometime, check out the mark up on a can of Coke, or bottled water, or a Calvin Klein dress shirt, or a bottle of perfume.

I thought that store's like this were supposed to give you a better deal on items not mark them higher than I can get them on-line even including shipping.

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I think you misunderstand how it works. Academy (and any other non internet chain store) keeps an inventory on hand, at several stores all open to the public, across several states and cities. Each of these several stores requires stockers, cashiers, etc. Midway has a couple large warehouses that they don't need to decorate, where no one comes in to ask questions (so they need less staff per customer). Midway has a lower overhead, so they can charge less.

When you go to Academy, you are paying more because you can have the item in your hands in 30 minutes after you leave your house (depending on driving distances of course). They also offer other things, like hunting and fishing licenses. You are paying for convenience.

With the exception of bulk/heavy items (where shipping costs will kill you), I think you will find that just about every single item available can be found cheaper online than in a walk in retail store.

All that said, Academy tends to be one of the lowest price walk in stores for sporting goods, at least around here.

It's not a 33% markup. It's probably over 100%.

If a retailer is selling them online for $64, they still have to make money. They, too have staff, facilities, etc., though less overhead than a retail store. Therefore, they can't be giving Mossberg more than $50 for the barrel wholesale, probably less.

Cabela's sells the barrel for $75 in store and on line, when it's not on sale. They, too, have costs. Academy IS overcharging.

But it's true that, if you need an 18.5" Mossberg barrel TODAY, it'll cost ya. Furthermore, there's really no such thing as overcharging. Just overpaying.

Academy's prices for replacement parts may be high (I've never checked), but their prices for the entire firearm are ridiculously low. Compare their prices vs. a local gunshop, and it'll be much, much less.

For example... when I was looking for a new Mossberg 835, all the local gunshops wanted in the neighborhood of $300-$350. Ended up getting the exact same model at Academy for $225.

You guys make me smile

My Mossberg 500 cost me £350 new. Thats a 500, not a 835. Factor in the exchange rate, that makes it about $700

Think yourselves lucky

As noted above, Academy has good prices on their guns. I have never bought (nor even seen) a replacement barrel at Academy, but if they are high, so be it. They have to make money somewhere.

Now if you want to see high prices, go to a Gander Mountain...

Todd

I've always found that Academy has very good prices on guns and ammo.
Beats the heck out of everybody else around here.

I wish we had an Academy around here. I hear they have very good prices overall.

If you get mad and never want to spend money because they have one item that costs more than someplace else, that is your choice.

I find it laughable that people think that a retail store can survive on the same margins as a .COM! Yes WAL-MART can but look at the size, scale, and service..........
Places like Academy run fantastic sales on things like shotguns shells for $2.90 a box to get you in the door in hopes that you will buy a shirt or shoes at a profit margin that allows them to pay their employees and keep the doors open. When I was at WAL-MART we used to sell Pennzoil at one cent below cost in hopes that you would buy an oil or air filter at 100% mark-up...... Being able to handle the merchandise and ask employees questions costs the retailer A LOT OF MONEY!
A .COM may have a warehouse or simply a phone line and a computer as overhead. They may never even see the items you order; many simply drop-ship from the manufacturer and collect your money.
A small business requires at least a 33% overall mark-up to stay afloat. Do you think that your favorite gun store clerk works for free? Are the building and utilities free? Did the 400 guns in the rack cost them nothing? Everything financed at zero % interest? It's tough.

I find Academy to have low prices on firearms and ammo .. I don't know about replacement parts . . I will keep buying from them as long as they keep the prices like they are ..

Academy has great prices on ammo, and i bought my barrel for my 870 there. Granted, it was about 90 bucks, but when it came to shipping from brownells or other online stores, it came out even.

Yes, that 1 part may be high, but overall, they have great prices on ammo and some guns

I've always found Academy to have pretty decent pricing on firearms. They say they will match anyone else's price on the exact gun. The only problem I have with them is their selection is very limited. If they happen to have what you are looking for, their price is pretty good. If their buyers would go out and stock what is selling in larger variety they could have a much better gun turnover. It's almost like they are into gun sales just because they think they have to be. We have bought five pistols and one rifle at Academy. Most big chain stores don't even try to be price competitive. The only place I have found with better prices occasionally is at gun shows.

Think of it this way. When you buy something from Academy, the price is indeed higher because Academy has already paid for the shipping on the item. If you think about a $70 product + $15 shipping, thats $85. So by charging you $100 thats only adding $15 more to the price. As has been mentioned before, they have workers to pay and overhead costs to cover, not to mention they might try and make a little profit for themselves to please the stockholders.

Any store who charges more for any product than you can get it from the original manufacturer is ripping you off. The price on the original manufacturer's website is the "Suggested Retail Price." The manufacturer can't charge less because they would be undercutting their Retailers but if the Retailers charge more, they are a store I would never spend a penny in... I'm not talking about a online Etailer, only the Manufacturer. If Mossberg has it for $74 then the Retailer should have it for no more than $74. If they can sell it cheaper fine but they should never exceed the MRP.

For about $160, you could have bought one of their Maverick "Persuaders" which I believe has an 18.5" or 20" barrel on it. You could have probably put this barrel on your Mossberg (if the mag tube was the same length) and put the longer barrel on the Maverick and had two shotguns for about $70 more than the price of an extra barrel. Check their gun prices. They hang in there with Wal-Mart, and in many cases, come close to Bud's prices. Their prices are almost always better than Cabela's and Bass Pro when it comes to guns. Even Brownell's charges $90 for this particular barrel, and that's the discounted "gunsmith" price (and before shipping).