My LGS doesn't negotiate. They don't really have to. For everything slightly lower vanilla polymer Smith or Ruger a box store has, the LGS has a bunch of guns that you can't find anywhere else. Their prices aren't terrible and their inventory rotates quickly. Making a deal would be foolish if your product sells for what is on the tag. They have a pretty good policy of putting slow moving stuff on sale. I bought my beloved Charter Pitbull .45 for about $45 off normal price because it was on their website priced as such.
Here's how I buy a gun: I walk in, I like it, I buy it. I'm not worried about getting a deal. For all I know they owner needs new tires or their kid needs sparring gear for karate class or whatever. I know enough to do an internet search, find a price and then figure that whatever deal I find I will need to take into account that I may have to pay shipping, I AM going to have to pay a transfer feel, I won't get to hold the gun and see how it fits in my hands, and I certainly won't be walking out the door that day to go shoot.
Here's a dirty secret, sometimes it is a bit offending to ask for a break on the price. I own my own business and my price is my price. It's not that I am trying to make more than my product is worth, but I hope that my customers understand that I have gone through a pretty complicated pricing matrix to come up with my cost and what I feel I need to make. Also, I feel that if maybe, just maybe, I eek out just a touch more coin than a cheaper guy commands that they feel my customer service and expertise is worth a couple bucks. As I always tell them when they ask, "If I could come down on price now, why didn't I do it from the beginning? I'm just being straight and honest. This is what it costs."
Here's how I buy a gun: I walk in, I like it, I buy it. I'm not worried about getting a deal. For all I know they owner needs new tires or their kid needs sparring gear for karate class or whatever. I know enough to do an internet search, find a price and then figure that whatever deal I find I will need to take into account that I may have to pay shipping, I AM going to have to pay a transfer feel, I won't get to hold the gun and see how it fits in my hands, and I certainly won't be walking out the door that day to go shoot.
Here's a dirty secret, sometimes it is a bit offending to ask for a break on the price. I own my own business and my price is my price. It's not that I am trying to make more than my product is worth, but I hope that my customers understand that I have gone through a pretty complicated pricing matrix to come up with my cost and what I feel I need to make. Also, I feel that if maybe, just maybe, I eek out just a touch more coin than a cheaper guy commands that they feel my customer service and expertise is worth a couple bucks. As I always tell them when they ask, "If I could come down on price now, why didn't I do it from the beginning? I'm just being straight and honest. This is what it costs."