I went to the Ft. Wayne gunshow last weekend and I couldn't give any of the dealers my money. Nobody wanted to do business I guess.
There was very little there worth buying and even less worth haggling for. The few guns I saw that I may have been interested in were so over priced that it wasn't worth the time to haggle. I am talking about $1200 for a $600 Uzi, $475 for a used S&W 6906 ploice trade in, $250 for a Star BM, $395 for a VERY used 1st gen Glock 17, ect.
The one guns I saw that I was interested in was a S&W 342PD, they wanted $409 + tax. I want one of these and the price was okay so I decide to work a trade. I had my like new with box and all paper work S&W 642 for trade. I asked if they would do $300 on the trade and I would pay the rest in cash. I didn't expect to get $300 but maybe $250 in trade. When he came back and told me that the best they could do was $175 in trade I almost thought it was a joke. My 642 is very nice and I know they would sell it for about $350. Considering the other prices, it would sell quick at that price. If they gave me the full $300 they would make $50 on my 642 and whatever the mark-up was on the 342PD. As I was not even going to haggle on the price of the 342PD, I assume they were going to make at least $50 profit on that since they don't sell guns for no profit. The deal would would net them about $100 for 15 minuits of work. I guess that wasn't even worth their time so I walked.
I just don't get it sometimes. I know $100 profit is not as good as the $225 that they wanted but it has to be better than $0 profit. Why is it that some dealers won't deal unless they can take you to the cleaners? They are paying their employees to just stand around so why not have them work and do some deals? Even if it is not the big profit, at least they are doing some business. If they were more apt to trade and deal, they would make much more money. Everyone wants to sell at full price for cash.
I have offered some really good trades, much better than the one above and been rejected. I have been willing to take a bath on a trade just to get something I wanted and been surprised to find that they didn't want to deal. I know one gunstore near me that won't take a trade unless they can really stick it to you. I am talking about seriouse screw jobs not your average gunstore profits here. I think the reason for this is because he doesn't sell much and he knows 99% of his inventory is going to sit on his shelf for a long time. Just bad business I guess.
There was very little there worth buying and even less worth haggling for. The few guns I saw that I may have been interested in were so over priced that it wasn't worth the time to haggle. I am talking about $1200 for a $600 Uzi, $475 for a used S&W 6906 ploice trade in, $250 for a Star BM, $395 for a VERY used 1st gen Glock 17, ect.
The one guns I saw that I was interested in was a S&W 342PD, they wanted $409 + tax. I want one of these and the price was okay so I decide to work a trade. I had my like new with box and all paper work S&W 642 for trade. I asked if they would do $300 on the trade and I would pay the rest in cash. I didn't expect to get $300 but maybe $250 in trade. When he came back and told me that the best they could do was $175 in trade I almost thought it was a joke. My 642 is very nice and I know they would sell it for about $350. Considering the other prices, it would sell quick at that price. If they gave me the full $300 they would make $50 on my 642 and whatever the mark-up was on the 342PD. As I was not even going to haggle on the price of the 342PD, I assume they were going to make at least $50 profit on that since they don't sell guns for no profit. The deal would would net them about $100 for 15 minuits of work. I guess that wasn't even worth their time so I walked.
I just don't get it sometimes. I know $100 profit is not as good as the $225 that they wanted but it has to be better than $0 profit. Why is it that some dealers won't deal unless they can take you to the cleaners? They are paying their employees to just stand around so why not have them work and do some deals? Even if it is not the big profit, at least they are doing some business. If they were more apt to trade and deal, they would make much more money. Everyone wants to sell at full price for cash.
I have offered some really good trades, much better than the one above and been rejected. I have been willing to take a bath on a trade just to get something I wanted and been surprised to find that they didn't want to deal. I know one gunstore near me that won't take a trade unless they can really stick it to you. I am talking about seriouse screw jobs not your average gunstore profits here. I think the reason for this is because he doesn't sell much and he knows 99% of his inventory is going to sit on his shelf for a long time. Just bad business I guess.
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