What are some of the most common mistakes you see at gunshops that if corrected, would make for a much better gunshopping experience? What are some of the things you would do if you owned a gunshop?
Do's
1. Be open when people want to shop. If this means staying open until 8:00pm or so on the weekday and weekends, so be it.
2. Be friendly and polite with the customers! I can't believe there are so many GS owners that won't follow this simple rule.
3. Wheel and deal. Buy, sell and trade. Many gunstores only want to sell but have little interest in buying or trading. I wouldn't let people walk out of my store without at least trying to make a deal. I can't tell you how many times I have gone into a GS and told the guy that I was looking to sell or trade my gun only to have them flat out refuse to consider any deals. Before price was even talked about, they shut down the deal. Bad move.
4. Sell at least one type of affordable ammo in the popular calibers. If my local shops sold 9mm, .223 and 7.62x39mm at decent prices instead of trying to take adavantage of the customer, they would sell a lot more. I am not talking about making a reasonable profit but some shops want to charge $6-7 for a 20rd box of cheap Wolf 7.62x39mm. I can get this stuff for less than $2.00 pre box mail order so even if they charged $3.00, I would buy from them. They wouldn't make a huge profit on each box but they would end up making a lot more since I would buy a lot more. They only time I will the rip off prices is if I am caught without any ammo and I need to test a gun or don't want to waste a trip.
5. Have LOTS of guns. I don't see the point of going into a gunstore that has less guns on display than I have at my house. They always remark "we can order anything you want". Guess what? So can I and I can get it for less.
6. Fire anyone that makes outright racist or crude comments when there are customers around. I have heard some ugly things in some gunshops that make me avoid certain shops just because I didn't care for the racist and hatefull attitude of the jerk behind the counter. I am not overly sensitive so it has to get pretty bad to bother me and sometimes it does.
There are more but those are the big ones that have been bothering me. I am not trying to bash gunshops because I have seen life from that side of the counter and I know the public and the customers have more than their fair share or problems as well. Since you can't really fix the public, we have to try and fix the gunshops.
Do's
1. Be open when people want to shop. If this means staying open until 8:00pm or so on the weekday and weekends, so be it.
2. Be friendly and polite with the customers! I can't believe there are so many GS owners that won't follow this simple rule.
3. Wheel and deal. Buy, sell and trade. Many gunstores only want to sell but have little interest in buying or trading. I wouldn't let people walk out of my store without at least trying to make a deal. I can't tell you how many times I have gone into a GS and told the guy that I was looking to sell or trade my gun only to have them flat out refuse to consider any deals. Before price was even talked about, they shut down the deal. Bad move.
4. Sell at least one type of affordable ammo in the popular calibers. If my local shops sold 9mm, .223 and 7.62x39mm at decent prices instead of trying to take adavantage of the customer, they would sell a lot more. I am not talking about making a reasonable profit but some shops want to charge $6-7 for a 20rd box of cheap Wolf 7.62x39mm. I can get this stuff for less than $2.00 pre box mail order so even if they charged $3.00, I would buy from them. They wouldn't make a huge profit on each box but they would end up making a lot more since I would buy a lot more. They only time I will the rip off prices is if I am caught without any ammo and I need to test a gun or don't want to waste a trip.
5. Have LOTS of guns. I don't see the point of going into a gunstore that has less guns on display than I have at my house. They always remark "we can order anything you want". Guess what? So can I and I can get it for less.
6. Fire anyone that makes outright racist or crude comments when there are customers around. I have heard some ugly things in some gunshops that make me avoid certain shops just because I didn't care for the racist and hatefull attitude of the jerk behind the counter. I am not overly sensitive so it has to get pretty bad to bother me and sometimes it does.
There are more but those are the big ones that have been bothering me. I am not trying to bash gunshops because I have seen life from that side of the counter and I know the public and the customers have more than their fair share or problems as well. Since you can't really fix the public, we have to try and fix the gunshops.