Courtesy/Guilt of buying from the local store vs. online

[Magic_Man]

I am not made of money so I buy from whomever has the best deal. I prefer to support the local shops and do when I can. Luckily, one of them usually has great deals so I can just buy there.

 

[Davek1977]

Comparison shopping=theft huh? I'll be darned....here I thought that was something most responsible consumers do. Little did I know I was obligated to buy any goods I may look at, rather than compare prices and buy where I'm most comfortable doing so, after seeing whats availble and at what price levels. I can tell you one thing though...I'd never do business with anyone who accused me of being a thief with no factual basis to do so. That kind of attitude is what drives people away from shops and their grumpy employees and into the anonymity of internet shopping. I'd rather have a pleasant anonymous transaction than a miserable face to face one.

 

[daorhgih]

An easy choice.

Local GunShops cater to local LEO when they can. Cater to me too. Spec. orders and all. When I mention an item I am shopping for, in conversation, my FFL makes a note of it, and soon, if possible, it is for sale in the shop. Sure beats a "How May I Help You?" vest on a Duuhmmy selling weapons-stuff one week, and picture-frames the next. I'm gonna keep my business with the man whose wife and daughter drive my grandkids on our school-buses. Whether I want the "first one", or the "latest one", or the "best one", or the "best used one", I know where to shop. I am willing to sacrifice a bit to keep him open. Dao.

 

[LawScholar]

I can tell you one thing though...I'd never do business with anyone who accused me of being a thief with no factual basis to do so. That kind of attitude is what drives people away from shops and their grumpy employees and into the anonymity of internet shopping. I'd rather have a pleasant anonymous transaction than a miserable face to face one.

+1! I have been talked down to as a "Wal-Mart shopper" and "thief" since my beginning participation in this debate. I've gotten attitude from all my local gun shops that is strikingly similar, even in one my family has spent roughly $1,500 dollars at. It was enough that we stopped with them altogether.

 

[mcdonl]

What's happening is the "customer" (and I use the term loosely because customers buy stuff) enters the store with absolutely no intention whatsoever of buying there. They merely use the store, its capital and resources, as a showroom. They actually intend to buy the item at the online dealer, who of course can offer it for less

How do you know a customers intent. A smart customer shops around. The good thing about a LGS is the fact it is local and we can handle the merchandise as we shop.

Big deal. You own a business, and it is open to the public.

The online stores have a convenience too. I take advantage of the fact I can shop online 24/7, ask a million questions at MY convenience and then I buy the item where ever I feel like at the best price and convenient to me.

I often shop online and buy local if I can because I am impatient and do not like to wait for shipping.

Do the guys form buds piss and moan about everyone they get to their website who are just browsing? I doubt it.

Leroy

 

[Bubba613]

How do you know a customers intent.

Because several customers have posted their intent on this thread. I'll repeat: It is nothing less than theft to come into a store with the intent of merely scoping out a gun so one can go online to buy it cheaper. That is an exploitation of the brick and mortar guy's time and resources. You don't want to buy from the LGS? Fine, don't do it. But don't exploit him and steal.

 

[Davek1977]

I think this "debate" has shed some light on many things. We have many points of view, some valid, some less so. Ultimately though, not to point fingers, but Bubba (or moreso his attitude and view of potential customers) is an example of WHY local gun shops are becoming a thing of the past. I don't shop where I'm treated as a nuisence, where people attempt to tell me what I need despite my being educated on the subject. I don't shop at places that insult their customers, or their intelligence. I don't shop where comparison shopping gets me labled as a thief, nor do I dig the pity party most LGS owners are throwing themselves. "I just can't compete....." Well....thats the nature of evolution...those who CAN compete....DO. Those who can't get pushed to the wayside. I can understand a local gun shop survivng that provides excellent service, decent (not necessarily "bottom dollar") prices, and a staff of friendly people. Finding a local shop meeting those three requirements is like finding a nun in a house of ill repute. However, those that manage seem to be quite successful, and I enjoy shopping in such places far more than I do sitting in front of a monitor. I have nothing AGAINST the idea of local gun shops, and there are a number I enjoy shopping at. However, many more suffer the "Bubba syndrome" of poor customer relations, bad attitudes, and a general vibe that pushes people out the door instead of into the shop. I enjoy LGS's as much as anyone, but I'm not alone with my analysis of the way a good many LGS employees come off to those TRYING to patronize their shops. For as much crap as I hear about "not being able to compete" I sure see a lot of disgruntled shoppers leaving shops emptyhanded becasue of they way they were treated....or, in some cases, how they weren't treated..aka ignored. Many a LGS has problems extending far beyond Walmart or Buds.

 

[Bubba613]

Dave, you ought to step over to this side of the counter sometime. You can have the absolute lowest price on something and that won't prevent the next slob coming in, lying about how he saw the same thing for $100 less down the street, and then trying to bargain with you and after reaching a deal he says "I get paid next week."
Or the guy who has read all about guns on the internet so he knows "the best gun" is the "nine eleven Kimber in .40acp" and that's what he wants. Or he wants a .308 rifle to shoot 1000 yards when he doesn't know a bolt from a floorplat, never mind there is no place within 3 hours to do such a thing.
Or the guy who says will you take X for that, naming a price somewhere $300 below the wholesale and then admits he has absolutely no interest in the gun.
Or....
While there are certainly bad practitioners in this business there are many more bad customers. The market generally will take care of the bad practitioners. The bad customers are doing themselves out of venues and make it worse for everyone else.

 

[CajunBass]

Do I ever feel "bad" about buying a gun one someplace instead of another? No, not at all. No more than I would buying a loaf of bread here rather than over there.

I've never bothered to order a gun from someplace where I'd need to do a transfer, but if Dealer "A" didn't like it, I'd just go to Dealer "B". No skin off my nose.

 

[Davek1977]

However, Bubba, taking the worst of your customers, and treating them ALL that way, isn't any more fair than the assumption the local shop is a riopoff joint. The customer has a choice of where he does busioness, the shop doesn't have the luxery of choosing their customers. What you are complaining about isn't exclusiove to gun dealers by a long shot. Bad customers are part of the territory in the retail business, and encoutnering them shouldn't be a surpirse to anyone. What sometimes DOES come as a surpirse is upon entering an establishment being treated like a complete idiot. When I ask for a box of "Federal Fusion 100 gr in .243 Winchester" and instead I get a sales pitch about how the .243 isn't a suitable rifle (without my ever mentioning what I intended to use the ammo FOR even) and that if I REALLY knew what was up, I'd be buying the lastest Remchester, becasue its "mil-spec" and can "shoot the legs off a fly at 500 yards" and they're REALLY popluar, so you should get it before a) its sold b)banned or c) discontinued.......and I got this pitch for askiong for a single box of ammo? You've basically already told me that I'm clueless because I have an inferior rifle (without knowing its intended use) and that if I KNEW what I was talking about, I'd have the gun you were trying to sell me ALREADY. As I stated previously, I don't consider myself an expert in firearms, but I'm 33, and have had a gun in my hands since I could safely look down the sights. I know what I want, what I need, and what works for me. Yet, unless I'm known in the shop, I get treated like a buffoon with a 3rd grade education and no experience with firearms. I don't care that the customer before was an idiot, or the one after me might be....I'm not, and would appreciate not being treated like one, at least until you've had some time to gauge my level of awareness or knowledge. Treating me like I rode there on the short bus without knowing anything about me tends to rub me the wrong way

 

[Mr. Bojangles]

I'm always willing to support the local guys. I will even pay a little more to be able to see and handle what I am buying, and to have someone to talk to if there is a problem. That being said, if it is a 35% price difference, that is a lot of money and I will probably use an online retailer.

 

[2WheelsGood]

I am 14, and have recently started buying my own guns. There is a gun store where I often go to fondle the firearms and such, but I have never bought from there. Call me terrible if you wish...

Well, you're 14. After your first girlfriend you'll realize how getting "used" sucks. Then hopefully you'll learn not to do it to others.

 

[Sam1911]

but the hyperbole is so thick in here you could hang your coat on it.

Indeed.

I think all opinions have been expressed at this point. Some, several steps beyond reasonable propriety.

As were now to that (seemingly inevitable) point of being blatantly rude to each other, let's put this to bed.

I'd encourage both "sides" of this debate to read through the thread and try to see what the other side wants/needs. In the end, there will be gun sellers and gun buyers. The qualities displayed by each will be in many ways defined by how much consideration the other is willing and able to give them in return.