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

[Bubba613]

Bubba, your argument does not at all address price differences for the exact same product.

They aren't "the exact same product." That's the point. If someone doesn't see that, I can't help it. If the difference isn't worth it to the buyer, OK. That's the market. But people bitching because their local store sells something for $15 more on a $700 item than some online dealer elsewhere need to do their shopping elsewhere and quit bitching.

More evidence that people who spend more than something's worth look down on those who save money. You see, people who shop at Wal-Mart aren't smart enough to make their own decisions about value, so liberals have to take away their right to make their own decisions.

Huh? When did this turn into a liberal vs conservative debate?

 

[au01st]

And Bubba, you didn't address my last question. Do you think I should have paid $190 more for the exact same product from the store (all taxes, shipping, fees included in each purchase)? That is not the same as $15 on a $700 gun, it is like paying an extra 56% just to support a local business (it's 56% more than the $340 to buy at the store, or I'm buying at 35% off the store price if I buy online).

 

[Bubba613]

And Bubba, you didn't address my last question. Do you think I should have paid $190 more for the exact same product from the store (all taxes, shipping, fees included in each purchase)? That is not the same as $15 on a $700 gun, it is like paying an extra 56% just to support a local business (it's 56% more than the $340 to buy at the store, or I'm buying at 35% off the store price if I buy online).

It's probably been addressed in a different thread.
I dunno. What is the local store's service worth to you? You should never pay more "just to support a local business." They either add reasonable value or they don't. Do they keep a stock of used and/or new interesting guns you eyeball from time to time? (And are these the same models you fondle in the store but buy elsewhere to do the state out of sales tax?) Do they stock hard to get parts and accessories, like mags? Do they give good reliable advice on firearms, their service and repair?
There isn't a right or wrong answer here. Some people are just dollar guys. Others recognize a valuable relationship. I know which ones I want as customers.

 

[au01st]

Ok, well the handful of times I've been in there in the past two months (never been there before November) I don't feel like I've received $2 worth of service, much less $200, so that answers that question. I actually used Academy to go fondle the different models and then ordered from this store, but I've spent probably $200 on ammo and clays in the past month at Academy, so I don't feel bad about that.

 

[LawScholar]

What the heck do you mean its not the same product? Do my local gun stores carry better Glock 19s than buds? Does Whole Foods carry a softer loaf of Wonder Bread?

Yes. It is the same product. Mags and accessories are also available online, usually cheaper. If I already know what I am doing and don't need advice, it is factually the same product.

 

[driftrider]

I seriously doubt that some Austrian dude standing on the Glock assembly line is thinking about whether the pistol he's making is going to Billy Bob's Guns and Wedding Photography in Podunk, USA, or if it's going to Bud's to be sold online. :banghead:

All the guns are the same. Maybe even sequential serial numbers. The Nintendo Wii we got the kids for Christmas at Walmart is identical in every way to the Wii's that are sold at Best Buy, or Jim Bob's Electronics and Nail Care in Podunk, USA. Oh, except that we paid $30 less for the exact same thing at Wally, and if it breaks, we have the receipt and Walmart will be glad to exchange it for a new one, again, no questions asked.

A great example is Great Value bread. Great Value is Walmart's store brand. Great Value bread is made in the same bakery that bakes Sunbeam bread. It's the same bread, different wrapper, delivered every morning just like the premium brand... except it costs 1/3 less. What do you think I buy? What would a wise person buy?

Mike

 

[LawScholar]

Not to mention that every single Great Value and Equate product has a no exceptions ninety day satisfaction guarantee.

 

[merlinfire]

Really? I thought Walmart had a NO RETURNS policy on guns.

Furthermore, "ALL SALES FINAL"

 

[LawScholar]

Guns are not Great Value or Equate products.

We are not discussing Wal-Mart as a gun retailer, but rather the valid view of price as a deciding factor when purchasing an identical product, and I am challenging the elitist view that priced based shopping is necessarily tied to a poorer product.

 

[dirtyjim]

i buy online, in fact for the last few years the only reason i had set foot in a gunstore is for a transfer and since they all started raising their prices to ridiculous amounts i have started using a pawnshop that only charges $20 so now it looks like i don't have a reason to ever set foot in a gunstore again. i can have anything they have on their shelf delivered to my door for less.as far as i'm concerned they can get with the times or go under.

the rifles i collect rarely show up in gunshops and when they do the remchester selling morons running the store don't have a clue about the market of high end sporting rifles and price them where only a idiot would even consider buying it so i buy from gunbroker or other online sources such as the wts section of various forums.

i recently had one of the remchester selling morons try to tell me he don't do transfers because he can get anything i would ever want with no problems, the entire list i gave him has already been filled so i guess he cant get anything i want with no problems. i knew from the start he didn't have a clue about anything that he couldn't read the brochure from remchesters website.

 

[Bubba613]

We are not discussing Wal-Mart as a gun retailer, but rather the valid view of price as a deciding factor when purchasing an identical product, and I am challenging the elitist view that priced based shopping is necessarily tied to a poorer product.

This is because you perceive a gun as a commodity.
Some people get it. Some people don't. I can't help those who don't.

 

[au01st]

Hey now, guns are a commodity; they taught us that in Economics with "guns and butter" examples, lol.

 

[Neverwinter]

I buy products solely on price, and because that is the only measure of value that a product has.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is elitist.

 

[LS240]

I'm lucky in that my favorite local dealer sells nearly everything cheaper than I can find it online. Back during the Obama scare he was selling most things at $100-150 cheaper than online retailers. Not having to choose between buying locally and getting the best price is terrific.

 

[TX expat]

This is because you perceive a gun as a commodity.
Some people get it. Some people don't. I can't help those who don't.

He's not saying he sees firearms as a commodity; he's merely point out that if product A and product B are equal, then price isn't a determining factor for 'quality'.

I see your point about your experience being a value added to the price of the firearm, but it isn't a 'get it or don't' situation. Not every consumer who buys a product wants, or needs, the same level of pre or post sales support. They aren't wrong for buying based on price if they are capable of making informed choices without the brick and mortar experience and they aren't buying a substandard product just because they purchased it for less than you would like to sell it for.

The days of 'everyone must pay a premium for my good or service because I'm a professional ________ (insert chosen profession here)' are gone forever. The internet has opened the way for anyone of moderate intelligence to gain a vast amount of knowledge on any given subject quickly and easily. That's not to say that mistakes can't be made or a learning curve won't be encountered, but nobody starts off being an expert, including the experts...

 

[LawScholar]

A gun IS a commodity, except for those with sentimental value such as family guns.

It has a point of value based on condition, supply, and demand.
It is bought and sold in a free market.
It is a commodity.

Please have the respect not to claim that I don't get it simply because I disagree with you.

 

[Bubba613]

He's not saying he sees firearms as a commodity; he's merely point out that if product A and product B are equal, then price isn't a determining factor for 'quality'.

\No, that is exactly what he is saying. One Glock 19 is the same as any other. One RI 1911 is the same as any other. They are merely commodities so it makes sense to buy the cheapest because otherwise they are interchangeable. Like wheat, or gasoline.
Anyone with that view will buy based solely on price. I.e. they don't get it.

Please have the respect not to claim that I don't get it simply because I disagree with you.

I am not disagreeing with you. I am agreeing that if you see one gun as the same as any other like gun then they are commodities and it makes sense to pay the least amount possible.
That means you don't get it.

 

[TX expat]

Umm, well please tell me how the Glock 19 that you sell is different than the Glock 19 at Bud's?

 

[driftrider]

What, precisely, don't we get? Please explain to us so that we, the poor ignorant masses, can understand the intangible value of a mass produced firearm. What makes a stock Glock 17 special just because you sell it? Do you put a magic spell on it to make it shoot straighter? Do you spit shine the flat black off the Tenifer? All facetiousness aside, the truth is that the gun is not worth what you want to sell it for, it's worth what the consumer is willing to pay for it. If you want to sell a NIB stock Glock 17 for MSRP +10% because it comes with your advice, and no one is willing to pay that much because they can get it for MSRP -20% at Buds, then your Glock 17, and your opinion, isn't worth a bucket of spit. As a price conscious buyer, I won't shed one tear when the bankruptcy court sells that precious Glock 17 for you at cost because nobody wanted to buy your opinion or attitude.

 

[Ian]

Do they keep a stock of used and/or new interesting guns you eyeball from time to time?

Nope. I'm not looking for an AR, shotgun, or bolt rifle.

Do they stock hard to get parts and accessories, like mags?

Ha! The last mags I bought were DP drums and ZB26 20-rounders. But I could get AK mags for $20 plus tax! Tokarev mags? No. VZ58 mags? Nope. Heck, few enough even have BHP mags. And local gun shops have basically nothing in parts, unless you need to bolt something onto a black rifle (or make a 1911 shinier). Accessories, sure - but not parts. Gun parts are barrels, bolts, springs, gas tubes, pistons, grip frames, and that sort of thing. Gun shops don't carry those. If you really want to get a laugh from a sales guy, try walking into a gun shop and asking for a new locking shoulder for your FAL, or a Browning .30-06 booster.

Do they give good reliable advice on firearms, their service and repair?

That would be a...no. Most shop gunsmiths are just there to mount scopes.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

They don't get what?? That they need to pay more for the same product???
Ok, for gas, do you go to the gas station with the lowest price? Or do you go to the gas station with a higher price just because you feel guilty about not supporting them?

 

[LawScholar]

Bubba, I am sure you run a fine business, and I mean no disrespect but simply to have a gentlemens' disagreement.

That said, I think I get it plenty.

 

[oneounceload]

I buy products solely on price, and because that is the only measure of value that a product has.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is elitist

That is completely false - on both statements - quality has a lot to do with value - whether it is the product itself, or the support before, during, and after the sale.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Exactly.
Technically, price has no correlation with how good a product is. Whether one gun costs 1000 dollars or another of the same kind costs 3000 dollars, they are still the same gun. The price doesn't make the gun shoot straighter.

 

[Marshall]

sansone

Join Date: March 10, 2007
Location: north florida USA
Posts: 1,021

my regular customers will call and ask me to match a price they see online. Almost always I can match it or get really close. If I can't my gratitude is expressed for giving me the chance to make the sale. Without local FFL's to do transfers there can be no online gun sales and most buyers understand that. There is no guilt if you give your local FFL the chance to match price, and as a bonus he might stay in business to help you again in the future

I wish more Gun shops operated that way. Thanks Sansone for the good attitude as well.

I'll pay a little more for local dealings, absolutely! However, not in the face of poor attitude and rude social skills. I'll walk so fast I'll leave a smoke trail.

As fas as two dealers having the same gun and the same price, the dealer that treats me well, genuinely desires my business, is a nice person to deal with and offers help in other thing that go with a gun purchase, ammo, mags, holsters, etc. and try to treat me fairly there as well, will be the guy I buy from.

I usually tell them that they get to decide where I buy a good today, that I'm wide open. Usually gets a chuckle and we go from there. Sometimes downward, sometimes strait up and it's a great experience. But I do give them a chance and kinda let them make the decision. I asked one gentelman, after our dealings, 'if you were me where would you buy it', he said "online". He did the transfer cheaply and I check with him first, everytime.