Awhile back,I was out of state and visited a gun shop. Saw two pistols at decent prices that I decided I wanted, purchased them both and told the owner of the shop I would send a copy of ffl. I then asked owner how much to ship (yeah, I know, shoulda ask before I purchased and paid for the guns). He said $50.00 each. Told him that was out of line, he was firm (after all he already had my 900+ dollars in his cash register). Tried to recind the deal, he said, no returns on used firearms. Was forced to pay $100.00 for shipping. I am frequently in his town on business, never again walked in his shop, never will.
Hinky gunshop practices
- Thread starter Carbon_15
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Gas stations don't work that way. The station does not buy the gas from the oil companies then turn around and sell it to you. The gas in the tanks belongs to the oil companies until you pump it into your car. The oil companies then pay the service station a set amount for each gallon they sell.
$50 to ship a handgun seems like a fair deal to me. UPS requires overnight shipping on all handguns and they would charge the gunshop $40-$50 per gun. He has his time and materials to pack and ship the guns. At $50 per gun he may not have broken even.
He shipped both guns in one box. I assume he made a decent profit on the guns, I didn't try to negotiate the price, just paid his asking price. As for materials, how much does that cost? Time to pack, maybe five minutes, and UPS picks up at his store. It's not like I was asking him to ship firearms I didn't purchase from him. I still think $100.00 was excessive. It cost him a customer, me.
In another, unrelated, incident, I wanted to purchase a long arm out of state (not a contigious state) in a gun shop while on vacation in Tn. last year (a single shot 410), price $140.00, and the dealer insisted he needed $50.00 to ship it. Didn't buy it, won't go back there either.
Maybe I'm unreasonable, but it's my business (money) and I can take it anywhere I like.
In another, unrelated, incident, I wanted to purchase a long arm out of state (not a contigious state) in a gun shop while on vacation in Tn. last year (a single shot 410), price $140.00, and the dealer insisted he needed $50.00 to ship it. Didn't buy it, won't go back there either.
Maybe I'm unreasonable, but it's my business (money) and I can take it anywhere I like.
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Bubbles
Member
FFL's can ship handguns USPS. A flat-rate priority box with insurance and signature/delivery confirmation for $20-25 depending on the insured value. It's a few bucks more if it goes to AK or HI.
azmjs
member
You shouldn't have bought it.
Sheepdog1968
Member
I know some local shops who do raise prices like that (though they relabel and send out email warnings prices are going to go up soon) and others that only increase the prices on the new iventory of guns. The store could have probablly handeled it better. I'm sure you work hard for your money. Just shoot 150 less rounds in one month and you will be at break even or one night on the town. This kind of stuff used to bother me quite a bit more when I was in my 20's. Now it my 40's, I shrug it off.
Enjoy the Sig and shop elsewhere for a while if you can.
Enjoy the Sig and shop elsewhere for a while if you can.
Yes, of course. Not only do they have the right, it is expected. If you bought an oz of gold in 1969, would you sell it for 150.00, today?
Look at the flip side. Consider what happens when the price goes down. Suppose you still have a case of SIG P250's, purchased when they first came out. Or Micro Eagles. The price on these guns went down a good bit since their introduction. You could try all you want to unload them at the original price, but good luck with that when everyone else is selling them for $200.00 less. As a seller, you'd take a loss on them. It works both ways.
Honestly I when I find new gun store I play the "dumb" role to find out if I'm going to be offered a fair deal [for both parties]. I recently went to one to buy a tapco 20rnd sks mag and started asking basic prices on 91/30s , sks , ak's, basicly any milpsurp I can think of. When I'm told $250 for a common 91/30, I don't point out that its overpriced by a huge amount, but I also never buy anything from them ever again. No wonder big box stores and the internet are killing local shops, they clearly rip off their customers. I'm not saying all local shops do, but to give you a idea of how bad it is in my neck of the woods, $600-800 is common for a basic WASR.
Safetychain
Member
There are a lot of posts about this type of bait and switch as being perfectly legal. In some states it isn't, but it is a state thing. In SC, if my old memory is too bad today, there are some laws against this sort of thing. It may be directed only at grocery, car or Wallymart, but I remember such laws being passed when Hugo roared through the state.
Galt
Member
Gloob, glad you chimed in. Cost plus pricing is a loser's game. Prices should reflect value in the market, not what the store paid for its inventory.
Not saying the store was in the right, just saying that the argument that a shop ought to only price based on inventory cost or cost to replace is wrong. The shop ought to price at a level that reflects a reasonable expectation of moving the inventory for an acceptable return on investment or recovery of the investment.
Not saying the store was in the right, just saying that the argument that a shop ought to only price based on inventory cost or cost to replace is wrong. The shop ought to price at a level that reflects a reasonable expectation of moving the inventory for an acceptable return on investment or recovery of the investment.
For all of you folks who think its wrong to raise prices based on the current market -
I'd love to pay you that same $50 you spent on your surplus M1911a1 back in the day instead of the $1000+ they go for now. PM me if you want to sell me yours. Actually I'll pay you $55 dollars. (your original cost + 10% mark up) Any more and you are being unethical!
I do agree that its crappy to raise the price after a verbal contract though.
I'd love to pay you that same $50 you spent on your surplus M1911a1 back in the day instead of the $1000+ they go for now. PM me if you want to sell me yours. Actually I'll pay you $55 dollars. (your original cost + 10% mark up) Any more and you are being unethical!
I do agree that its crappy to raise the price after a verbal contract though.
Not at stores that want to survive....I worked retail management for 10 years. I wasn't the most customer friendly person either. I had all kinds of off the wall demands that I had no intention of meeting, except for the fact that my superiors often told me to go ahead and do it. Their reasoning was that the honest customers outnumbered the frauds and it wasn't worth it to have the frauds come in and make a scene.
However, I completely side with people when they see a price on the shelf, and it comes up higher in the computer. That is our fault...not theirs. We signed it wrong, or our employees were too lazy to go out and change the prices like they should have.
Sure, I've worked for stores that put up signs stating that the ad was incorrect. However, those signs are more for keeping everyone from coming up and complaining. They aren't for making sure we have no obligation to honor those prices. I have never worked for a store whose policy wasn't "if it is labeled for a lower price than the computer says, then we give the customer the lower price"
I'm not talking about missing "0's" here either. Obviously it is beyond customer service and more along the lines of insanity on both the part of the vendor and the customer to sell a $200 item for $2 just because part of a label got torn off. If we are talking about a $80 item, listed at $65 however, it is going out the door at $65 and I am immediately going back and changing the label.
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MachIVshooter
Member
BS.
I buy items to stock in my shop. A month ago, I bought a bunch of Valvoline maxlife at $2.91/qt. This month, the price has gone up to $3.34/qt. I sell parts at my cost, and until I run out and have to resupply, my customers will continue to pay $2.91/qt.
In retail, the ethical approach is to only increase your retail price when you've had to buy the item at an increased wholesale price. You don't do it in anticipation.
Whole different ball'o'wax there. You'd sell it for current market price, which is not set by individual wholesalers and retailers. And for the sake of argument, if the value of gold had gone down, you'd sell it at a loss or keep it. Gold and other similar investments are little more than low (no) risk stocks.
Also, a gun shop selling new guns with a fast turn around cannot be compared to the guy who bought a Colt Combat Commander for $200 in 1970 and sold it for fair market value today. Gun shops haven't had their money tied up in one piece of merchandise for 40 years, waiting on inflation.
Lex Luthier
Member
It has been my experience as a contractor and a customer that the BBB is irrelevant. It is just another place for businesses to be afraid of and customers to wield some kind of childish control when they don't feel good about a transaction.
RimfireChris
Member
So it's childish to feel hosed on a transaction?
gc70
Member
I'm glad everything turned out well for the OP in the end; the store owner did the honorable thing to resolve the issue.
If I were the store owner, I would also hope to not have customers who would trash my reputation on the internet before giving me a chance to resolve a problem.
If I were the store owner, I would also hope to not have customers who would trash my reputation on the internet before giving me a chance to resolve a problem.
Averageman
Member
Averageman: What the heck did that first clerk stand to gain by lying to you? Was he trying to buy the store out himself on minimum wage?
He didn't appear to be a minimum wage worker to me. He looked more like an off duty Cop to be accurate.
I was drinking my coffee and saw the flyer, it was either Saturday or Sunday and it was that days advertised special, first day of the Sale. I was pretty sure I was being BS'ed because I was essentially the first Customer that day.
What his motives were mean nothing to me.
The facts are
A) He either didn't care to look to see if he still had the pistol in stock.
or
B) Had them in stock and didn't want to sell them to me. Perhaps the clerk had promised them to other Customers.
The point is he lied.
The Second Clerk behind the counter immeadiatly pulled all three from one spot in the bottom of a large ornate wooden shelf behind a sliding door. That shelf sets underneath the wall long Rifle rack. (if you know the place, take a look)
It is a shame too, because I used to shoot on the indoor range they have;.. weekly for a while.
As far as making some sort of complaint, well essentially I have. I took my money elsewhere and forever. So the way I figure it thats their share of 15K + over the last ten years of firearms purchases they missed out on.
I really don't care who believes the truth, it is what it is.
He didn't appear to be a minimum wage worker to me. He looked more like an off duty Cop to be accurate.
I was drinking my coffee and saw the flyer, it was either Saturday or Sunday and it was that days advertised special, first day of the Sale. I was pretty sure I was being BS'ed because I was essentially the first Customer that day.
What his motives were mean nothing to me.
The facts are
A) He either didn't care to look to see if he still had the pistol in stock.
or
B) Had them in stock and didn't want to sell them to me. Perhaps the clerk had promised them to other Customers.
The point is he lied.
The Second Clerk behind the counter immeadiatly pulled all three from one spot in the bottom of a large ornate wooden shelf behind a sliding door. That shelf sets underneath the wall long Rifle rack. (if you know the place, take a look)
It is a shame too, because I used to shoot on the indoor range they have;.. weekly for a while.
As far as making some sort of complaint, well essentially I have. I took my money elsewhere and forever. So the way I figure it thats their share of 15K + over the last ten years of firearms purchases they missed out on.
I really don't care who believes the truth, it is what it is.
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Lex Luthier
Member
No. Just saying that the BBB is irrelevant.
When two men enter a transaction, and they both leave happy, it was a good thing. If either does not, they learn how to transact differently. "Feeling" hosed is just another way of admitting to oneself that one should reevaluate how they do things.
When two men enter a transaction, and they both leave happy, it was a good thing. If either does not, they learn how to transact differently. "Feeling" hosed is just another way of admitting to oneself that one should reevaluate how they do things.
RimfireChris
Member
Fair enough, they've never been able to sort things out for me.
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