Costco Sell Ammo? No!

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atlctyslkr

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I did some shopping at my local Costco and I on the way out I asked if I could speak to a manager. One came over from the membership area and I asked him why doesn't Costco sell ammunition. He looked at me like I was crazy. He asked me if I was a cop (maybe because of the suit). I told him no just regular guy wanting to practice. He got nasty and said that it didn't fit their business model. I pushed my cart and left. Jerk! Maybe I'll join Sams.
 
Are you crazy? Might explain his look. If not, then I guess the problem is his.

Anyway, locally at least, Sam's don't sell no ammo either.
 
Does Sam's around you sell ammo?

I've never seen ammo being sold at any of the large discount warehouse stores (Sam's, BJ's, Price Club).
 
Why do you ask me if I'm crazy? Ammunition is a LEGAL product (in this state is atleast). There are no permits or quirky laws on buying it. I'm sorry, I didn't think it was a big deal to ask a store why it did not carry a product I wanted. You would have thought I asked for sex toys. I don't have alot of choice where to shop here. While Atlanta is not like New York, Chicago, ect as far as the ashpalt to tree ratio I don't live in the burbs either. There is no Wal-Mart or K-Mart around. We probably wouldn't even have a Home Depot in the city if HD weren't headquartered here. My choices for ammo purchase are not as wide as maybe the average person in this forum. I went to a sporting goods store this week where I used to buy it and they don't sell it anymore. I am pretty much down to ordering online.

I don't mean to be rude and I know I'm new here but I don't feel I deserve to get slammed. Hopefully someone on here will take up for me.
 
In all the times that I've gone into Sam's club, I've never onced noticed ammo, guns or even shooting goggles. Most of their stuff was clothing & food related.
 
"Why do you ask me if I'm crazy?"

I think he was making a joke. "Are you crazy? Might explain his look."

ie. He was looking at you like you were crazy because you really ARE crazy.
 
Just be happy that Wal*Mart sells cheap ammo.


What do you expect next? Ammo at CVS?


The days of buying a rifle at Sears and ammo at the mini-mart are over.
 
Kroger's doesn't sell it either. Jerks!

:rolleyes:

Why would they sell ammo? There's not a lot of profit in it and complying with the "who can buy what, at what age" is a PITA. Plus you have the (perceived at least) liability for a business that doesn't even have a sporting goods section to segregate it in (should they stick it on a pallet next to the tube socks?) or a specifically trained staff to even attempt to knowledgeably answer questions.

The absence of guns and accessories and impedimentia does not "anti-gun" make. I'm a shooter and (were I a Costco employee) I'd probably look at you like you were on crack for asking that kind of question. You want ammo, it would make sense to ask about it in a place that at least sells guns.

edited: Sorry for piling on, there weren't any replies when I started typing.... and my tone was too harsh. Ammo's legal but it isn't something Costco, a national chain, is likely to carry since the state-by-state laws vary so much and they buy for nationwide distribution. It isn't something you want just left out where no employee (and they don't have many who aren't stockers or on tills) can watch it. Fairly easy for a kid who can't buy it to steal a box, that sort of thing.

I guess my response in general is think through the question before asking and you'll be less likely to be offended by the answerer's reply.
 
Interesting...I was at Costco this weekend and was thinking how great it would be if they sold ammo. You can buy gun safes from them, so why not ammo? I mean, I understand it not being sold one box at a time, but having at case price would be great. Even if they just carried the most common calibers of rifle, pistol, SG ammo it would be GREAT!

I dont think you are crazy for asking...
 
No slam intended. Since I don't know you, it seems like a logical question to ask when you say someone looked at you like you're crazy. If "I" thought you were crazy, I'd tell you straight out rather than asking. Even then it wouldn't be a slam, just an observation. I do think that you may be a bit thin skinned.

I don't consider the question you asked the manager to be a crazy one. I may be wrong here, but I don't think that a Costco store manager has much say over what they stock. When trying to track down an item from Sams last year that was out of stock at my local store, the story I got from ALL of the surrounding stores was "We get what they send us, when they send it to us"

BTW, sex toys are perfectly legal too. Lots of stores don't stock them because sex toys don't fit their business model.
 
aguyindallas:
You can buy gun safes from them, so why not ammo?
Click to expand...
IIRC, they refer to the gun safes as "executive safes", even though their online catalog photos for a few of them plainly shows longguns inside the open safe.

Kharn
 
What do you expect next? Ammo at CVS?
Click to expand...
Actually, I was in a Mom & Pop hardware / convenience store down in the northern suburbs of Atlanta a couple of years ago, somewhere around Alpharetta. Don't remember what I stopped in for--snacks for the kids or something. There on the end cap where most grocery/convenience stores sell candy, gum, and magazines was a rack of ammo. .30-30 and .30-06 seemed predominant. I laughed out loud! That's my kind of impulse buy!
 
My local Ace hardware store has a small ammo section - it's got the common rifle and shotgun calibers, and the pistol ammo is locked in a glass-front case right there as well. The same section has targets, clays, and airsoft and air pistols & rifles.

As for the sex toys, I think some of them *are* illegal here in Texas - so they get sold as novelty cake decorators and soup stirrers, instead.:what:
 
Sam's doesn't sell ammo because it will certainly cannabilize (sp.?) sales of ammo at Walmart. Also, as others have mentioned (and as applies to Costco), it doesn't fit with their business model of having as few employees as possible to save on costs. With a Walmart or a sporting goods store, there's a dedicated place where guns are sold (i.e. where the guns are locked up) and an employee is around there who's trained a bit in that product line, so doing the same for ammo is not costing them anything.

Still, it'd be nice to buy cases of ammo at warehouse prices.
 
In the late '80's, Sam's here in north Louisiana sold bricks of .22 LR; I used to buy it there. I haven't seen it in more than a decade. They still occasionally sell blackpowder rifles here.

In the early '90's, Wal-Mart corp. changed several of the older, smaller Wal-Mart stores into "Bud's" stores - a place where they sold stuff that, from the looks of it, had been returned to Wal-Mart. On their store sign, there was a picture of a man, presumably Bud Walton (Sam's brother), wearing a Federal Cartridge Corp. hat; the Federal logo was plainly visible and readable.
 
What do you expect next? Ammo at CVS?
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Why not? You can buy ammo at the local Long's Drug stores ... in fact you can buy obscure stuff like 8mm Mauser and .45-70 Government there.


As for Costco not selling ammo, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but the instant the manager got snippy with me just because I asked him if they sold ammo I'd go over his head to complain about the mistreatment ... this ain't like walking into WalMart or Target, you pay to shop there and by God they should treat you better than that.
 
It might be a logistical reason. Costco likes to buy large volumes of stuff and sell it quick with as little gov't regs and red tape as possible.
I'd LOVE it if they sold ammo though! "Honey could you pick me up a couple cases of 5.56 on the way home and maybe a case of .45 if it's on sale?" :D
 
If Cosco or Sam's sold ammo you'd buy it by the case?!?

It's a warehouse store !!!!!!!

The proper base unit would be the skid or pallet, and the proper quantity would be determined by how big your truck was and how many trips you wanted to make (or when you run out of plastic.....).
 
Costco has a NO GUNS policy. They've got a nice, shiny sign right by the entrance. It could just be that they are biggots.

Why in the world do you want to give them money?
 
I'm sorry, I didn't think it was a big deal to ask a store why it did not carry a product I wanted.
Click to expand...

It's called free enterprise. Private businesses that determine what they can sell at the best profit. They sell what moves, and discontinue items that don't. Ammo is not a high-profit item in bulk, except for "premium" rounds that tend to come in small packages. It's extremely heavy for its price, and shipping costs and high security storage requirements would cut into a profit margin that would be better served selling giant bottles of ketchup, LCD TVs, hardcover novels and big trays of dinner rolls as most warehouse stores sell.

Would you get mad if you went into a BBQ place and asked why they didn't serve fish?

And as regards the last poster, the one here has no such sign.
 
Would you get mad if you went into a BBQ place and asked why they didn't serve fish?
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I'll forego the red herring joke. :p


Indeed it is free enterprise, but most businesses welcome questions and critique by their customers as it allows them to better serve their customers and thus get richer and more successful.

Its worth comment and discussion when a business is rude and/or treats its paying customers like there is something wrong with them because they ask why they don't carry a product that is not unreasonable for them to carry (Costco carries other sporting good products ... and I've had fish at a BBQ place too).
 
I, too, wish Costco sold ammo

... but in fact it does not fit their model. They do not stock much of anything that requires constant resupply of a great many variations.

In my local Costco, eggs come in extra large only in packages of three dozen only. There are a couple of kinds of tuna, but forget sardines. You want linguini? Sorry, the closest substitute is spaghettini. You want yellow highlighters for school or office? You will have to buy the multicolor pack instead.

You want them to carry ammo? You want .40 caliber? They would have a pallet of 9 mm, couldn't you use that instead? Or perhaps this variety pack?
 
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