HUGE disparity in price between S&W M&Ps from different retailers

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carlrodd

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So, with the guns I get excited about, I keep a close eye on pricing from as many sources as I can, and usually, the difference in retail pricing is negligible. Sometimes you find the odd great deal, and sometimes you find the crazy flyer that is asking obscene prices. When researching pricing for the M&P 9MMs and .40s though, I see such a huge difference in pricing for NIB guns, I don't know what the average retail for one should be. I see lows of $400, and highs of over $600. My preferred local shop has them new for $589. Support for local goes out the window however, if the same gun can actually be had for $450 after shipping and FFL fees. So, in a nutshell, what's an acceptable average retail for this gun?
 
buds gun shop is about the cheapest I've seen in the past month or so...

Smith & Wesson M&P40 209200 40SW SS NO LOCK 15RD
$399.00

S&W M&P9 9mm NO LOCK 17RD
$399.00

IIRC they were about $325 or so a while back.. may be wrong.. but it was pretty low.

MD
 
I bought one from Bud's Gun Shop a few weeks ago for $369, after shipping cost, transfer fee, and $10 background check I was out the door for $421 :D . Although most of the shops around here are selling them for around $475.
 
mp compact price

i paid 479.00 out the door. have seen them between 415.00 and 500.00 plus tax and such. good luck with your mp i am very happy with mine. joe
 
$489 with 3 mags and night sights, plus $15 shipping and $10 transfer fee.
 
Last I looked, most wholesalers were showing $425-$450 with a suggested retail of $500 for the non-night sight 40S&W and 9mm versions. However, several vendors at last weekend's gun show in Mesquite, TX were selling 'em for $397-$399 plus tax. At that price, I bought two.

Dunno what happened, but it looks like somebody/something dropped the bottom out of the M&P market in the last couple of weeks. That's got to be great for folks just getting in new inventory, but I have to imagine that it sucks for folks sitting on older inventory.....
 
M&P timing

I don't know about the bottom dropping out on them. They seem like a really nice mid-priced pistol. Nothing to mount in a case, but certainly something you can carry or just take out for fun. I think S&W is just trying to get a larger market started for them and trying to get a Glock style following. Also, I thought I heard that the 45ACP model is due out next year. If true, that would also lend itself towards the fan-base idea, though I dont know how many 1911 or XD people would consider switching. I do know that my local provider picked up 200 of them (don''t know the number of 9 vs 40), and has had them for 399 for the past few months. Getting mine out of layaway next paycheck :D
 
I don't know about the bottom dropping out on them. They seem like a really nice mid-priced pistol.
They're a very nice fightin' pistol - I have three of 'em. :)

My point was that the price point for them in my neck o' the woods has dropped almost a hundred dollars in recent weeks, and I wonder what has caused that to be so...
 
Also, I thought I heard that the 45ACP model is due out next year. If true, that would also lend itself towards the fan-base idea, though I dont know how many 1911 or XD people would consider switching.

It's what Smith intended to introduce in the military contract trials that were planned and may be yet to come. As for people switching, you'd be surprised. Even some big names in the 1911 market are strongly in favor of the platform as an excellent general purpose/LE weapon.
 
S&W probably offered the guns at steeply discounted prices to dealers to get them on the shelf in front of consumers.

Some internet dealers(Bud's) passed on the savings, other dealers just sold them at their normal MSRP-XX%.

Like any product the hardest part is getting it in front of consumers and getting them to fondle it. S&W probably took a loss or at the very least barely covered costs, by selling them soooo cheaply. Now that there are quite a few in consumers hands, they will let word of mouth sell the gun.

Steve
 
is there something wrong with going into this shop and saying, 'hey, i really love supporting you guys...i've gotten some great deals here etc. I really want this gun, but i can't be brought to pay $100-150 more than a whole bunch of other retailers. any chance.....?'.
 
What happens when the shop bought it for 'wholesale' @ $430, only to have wholesale drop to $380 a month later? They can't compete. They can only put it out at their best price and hope that somebody sooner or later wanders in and buys it without shopping around.
 
A good shop would lower the price to what ever the going rate is, even if it means taking a loss because it is the death of retailers to become known as over priced. How many stores do you still go to once you have determined that their prices are too high. Unfortunately it really does not matter at all how much you have in a product it only matters what it will sell for. Hoping for uninformed customers is a poor way to do business, you might fool them once but any good business man will tell you he would rather have a customer for life then a one shot customer.
 
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