I like Wal-mart

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flip180

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After doing some thinking, I put a Winchester '94 Trails-end .38/.357 on layaway for 363.35+tax. I had been throwing around the idea of either getting a Marlin 1894C or the '94 Winchester and decided on the Trails-end instead. I like the more classic lines of the '94 better to include the 20in bbl. I have to have it paid off by the 11th of march but, that's not a problem. Before going to Wal-mart, I went to my local gun store and, they quoated me a price of about 400.00+tax for the winnie. I'll be getting it at wally world for less that that OTD with tax included. After selling my last handgun chambered in that calliber and after being set up to reload that caliber, I needed another firearm to shoot my reloads out of and just for plinking. I'm going to set my dies up for strickly .357 and settle on a load for range use. Any ideas about what bullet type is best for that gun being that it has a tubular magazine.

Thanks, Flip.
 
Hopefully you'll never have a problem or question about your Winchester... cause Wally sure isn't going to give a rats behind.. and the yoyo behind the counter usually doesn't know as much as most 8yr olds about firearms...

Your dealer on the other hand would have been there for you if you had a problem, question or just needed some advice... But with customers like you, he'll likely be out of businees in a few years.... Walmart will go PC and stop selling guns because they don't make a living at it.... and you'll be whinning that you can't buy anything anywhere at a decent price.... and no one can help you with a problem...


I can see the wisdom of doing this when there's a significant difference in price... that $35 bucks you saved was likely the cost difference your Dealer and WalMart pays for the gun.... the dealer is making no more off the gun that Wally world is at that price....
 
I could have bought a Henry .22 at Walmart for $199. I chose to buy it from my regular dealer for $244. I get more than $45 in service from him during the year.
 
"Your dealer on the other hand would have been there for you if you had a problem, question or just needed some advice... But with customers like you, he'll likely be out of businees in a few years.... Walmart will go PC and stop selling guns because they don't make a living at it.... and you'll be whinning that you can't buy anything anywhere at a decent price.... and no one can help you with a problem...


I can see the wisdom of doing this when there's a significant difference in price... that $35 bucks you saved was likely the cost difference your Dealer and WalMart pays for the gun.... the dealer is making no more off the gun that Wally world is at that price...."

Ouch!....Easy there. That dealer in question is in no threat of going out of business anytime soon. He has gotten alot of business from me in the past (a few thousand dollars worth of business) but right now with the new kid and house, 35 bucks is 35 bucks and can go towards formula and diapers. And I understand that I'm SOL if there is a problem with the gun but, I'm willing to accept that risk. Other than my jam-o-matic Kimber I bought from that dealer for alot more than the winnie, all of my firearm purchases have been of good quality and reliability so, I'm really not anticipating any immediatley problems from the gun regardless where I buy it from. Would I have gotten so much of a response if I would have bought the gun from a gun show which, so many people do anyway as opposed to buying at a local dealer?

Flip.
 
Flip, I'm with you on this. I bought a NEF 10 gauge from walmart about 3 months back which was 18 dollars cheaper than the dealer. Sorry but that $18 went to buy some ammo.
 
I've bought guns from Wal-Mart, too. Why? Because the dealers in nearby Arab charge a good $50 - $100 more.

I'm all for supporting the little guy, but I'm also in favor of keeping as much cash as possible in my wallet.

Besides, if there is any trouble with my guns, Wal-Mart will box them up and ship them out to the manufacturer.

Works for me.
 
Besides, if there is any trouble with my guns, Wal-Mart will box them up and ship them out to the manufacturer.

Maybe yours will, the ones down here damn sure won't. they will not let you back into the building with it, no returns, no exchanges any and all warranty repairs go from you to the manufacturer.
 
Would I have gotten so much of a response if I would have bought the gun from a gun show which, so many people do anyway as opposed to buying at a local dealer?

I never buy new guns at a gun show... unless it's a local dealer set up there.

I buy plenty of used guns there, but then warranty is not an issue and "dealers" often don't have the variety of used guns that you'd find at a show....

My only point is that there will come a time that many of us are gonna be sorry that WalMart ever was in the gun business.... they've put many shops out of business along with the gunsmiths that supported those shops customers.... most of the time you have to send a gun out of town or even out of state for any repair or re-barreling work.

It wasn't that long ago that most medium sized towns/cities had several smiths to choose from.... now, many have none.

It was not my intention to be so insulting and I didn't realize my post came off that way until I went back and read it. For that, I apologize.

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone.
 
Flip180 I'm with you also. I've never purchased from Walmart, but have purchased from Bass Pro and Gaylans. For common firearms like Winchesters, Rugers, and other manufacturers I will go with who has the best price. Now if I dwelve into an area that could require service or expertise, I will go to a local gun dealer. Living in Atlanta, there are a good amout of dealers in the area, and quite frankly, any dealer that tries to compete with Walmart is stupid. A dealer should find a nitch and cater to that nitch. If a dealer in your area has 25 Win 94s on the shelf and wants to compete, then he better be prepared to lose to walmart.
 
Why shouldn't our dealers be expected to give us as good as or better prices than the big chains? They have a shot at every sale, all they have to do is be competitive. Be more competitive, sell more guns. That's business.

John
LMG
 
The local dealers here offer no better service than Wally's---so guess where I get my standard rifles and shotguns??? No to mention my discount because of my PT gig there.

The one dealer here that's any good around here only deals in military styled weapons---so guess who gets my AR and AK biz???? And even he buys his ammo at Wally's. But he is not in competition with them.

The other dealer here that carries the non-standard stuff gets my other business----like Benelli's---Kimber---Dakota---Sako---Weatherby---Cooper--Beretta----Rizzini-----etc..........and they get my business in those items----they rarely carry the same stuff as Wally's----so aren't in competition with then either.

It all depends what you're lookin for.
 
Ahh, just what a firearms forum needs more of...

MORE WAL-MART DISCUSSION!

Geez guys, give it a rest!
 
Oh, I don't know about all the arguments of local shops being driven out by Wal-Mart. Isn't that what's been said for decades? I mean, come on, Sears sold guns for decades (and through catalogs, no less!), so did KMart, Woolco, True Value hardware.....couldn't the same be said about buying from any of those places? In many instances they were cheaper than the local shops. To blame Wal-Mart is kinda out there I think. I wonder if our grandpas sat around saying the same thing about Sears. Probably.

I bought guns back in the '80s from KMart, and they were always cheaper than the locals. People have been doing it for years. The good local shops will stay in business, the not so good ones, well, sometimes they need to be put out of their misery, don't you think? Something about overpaying, and many times getting just as crappy service at the local shop, just doesn't sit well with me. Some shops, you walk in, and unless you talk/act/look like some tactical Rambo, or are in a LEO/military uniform, they don't want to have anything to do with you. Am I going to go to a shop like that, and spend $50 or more extra, just to "support the local guy"? Uh, no. I got a local shop that closes sometimes for a week at a time, just because he can. I like going there to get surplus stuff, and ammo, but it hacks me when I go there during regular business hours and he's closed. Wal-Mart gets my business then, because I ain't waitin' around a week for him to get back from vacation so I can buy some 7.62x39. Sorry.

The good local shops stay in business by providing what the Wal-Marts of the world cant. Specialized goods, great service and knowledge. I'll gladly pay extra, when warranted. Sometimes I go out of my way to go there to buy something from a shop like that, because they deserve the business. But you can't really fault folks for not wanting to pay an extra $50 or more for a gun, especially if they're treated poorly. I can get treated poorly at Wal-Mart, but at least I'm saving $50 by doing so. $50 can buy 500 rds of ammo for my SKS, that's a lot of shooting.
 
wally world

i like wally world too. i've done my part supporting the local guy,$2500.00 last year alone. but when wally has exactly the same gun for $75 to $80 less guess where i'm buying it? i can understand making a profit but sometimes he's way out of line. $481.00 for a cz 75? academy had them for $389.00. $30.00 for a chip mccormick power mag? got one at midway for $19.00 shipping included. i still go there for some of my purchases but i check prices. if he's within $10.00 to $40.00 i'll buy there, but if he's trying to gouge me i'll go elsewhere
 
We have 2 gun stores in my town of 5K...One's a total AH and well-known for that trait. I went in his store 20 yrs ago for about 15 min and never went back. The other guy is retired military like me and recently opened a really nice store with some $ he inherited, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He's been amassing dozens of great guns for decades, plus is a dealer for several brands. Highly knowledgable, an avid shooter/reloader/hunter and all around swell guy...he will get all of my gun biz for the rest of my life. I also know that he doesn't rely on his gun biz to support himself...he's financially independent.

That said, when he charges $12.50 for 50 rds of ammo when I can buy 100 rds at Wally World for 15 bucks he knows I'm going to WalMart...and he says he would, too!
 
Maybe yours will, the ones down here damn sure won't. they will not let you back into the building with it, no returns, no exchanges any and all warranty repairs go from you to the manufacturer.

Then you need to talk to someone higher up the chain of command, cause it's printed right on the receipt. You can go to a gun store too and get as bad service as you're willing to accept.
 
Why shouldn't our dealers be expected to give us as good as or better prices than the big chains? They have a shot at every sale, all they have to do is be competitive. Be more competitive, sell more guns. That's business.

Heck, they're actually in the gun business!
 
Have a problem with a new firearm? Dont be so sure your local dealer is going to be any more responsive than Walmart.After buying all my firearms from my local dealer had a problem with a new out of the box purchase.

The response not my gun you bought it, Call the manufacter.
 
I'm all for supporting the little guy, but I'm also in favor of keeping as much cash as possible in my wallet.

But you can't really fault folks for not wanting to pay an extra $50 or more for a gun, especially if they're treated poorly.

Yeah , I was looking at a Marlin 17V. One local shop had it at $229 and the Wal Mart at $179. Hmm...... $50 difference! Well some here say buy from the local. That is fine but I don't see how the gun shop's 17 was worth $50 more? Myself, I don't make much money to begin with so there was no way in hell I was going to support the local shop. Later found a 17V at another shop , a little farther , but for for $189. Still $40 less than the other shop and only $10 more than Wal Mart. So I bought the 17V for $189. If a shop wants to charge outrageous prices I will not buy from them , plain and simple. I don't agree with belittling others because they choose to save their $50.
 
Go into the local gunshops and ask for a new Ruger 10/22 or a Rem 870 and they'll tell you to go to WalMart and get one. They don't even stock them because Wal Mart sells them for less than they can buy them for.
 
Gun Stores don't support purchases either.

Three different gun stores in my locality (and from whom I have bought pistols) have clearly posted signs letting you know they do NOT deal with out-of-box problems. That is between you and the manufacturer.

The MOST they will do for you is to perform shipping services -- at your expense.

On the one I actually had to return to Springfield, the dealer even refused to support my claim of a problem on the form --- he wrote "buyer claims - - - -"
before he charged me the $40 shipping fee.

Fud
 
I have been a licensed dealer now going on 18 years. I have no problem with a dealer making a profit, but I DO have a problem with dealers ripping-off the unknowledgeable buyer. I too, have advised some of my prospective 870 and 10/22 customers to go to wal-mart in order for them to save money. But you know what, guess who comes back later on that fall to buy a high dollar elk rifle that wal-mart dosen't carry? Your'e right- the same guy who appreciated the fact that I saved him a twenty dollar bill and sent him to wally-world. Does it always happen that way? No, but when it does, a customer-supplier relationship has been established, not to mention the fact that the customer knows that I was decent and honest with him, and that I will more than likely treat his future hunter-shooter children the same way. Now when the customer did come back to buy the elk rifle, I did make sure that he had ammo, cleaning kit and rifle case, to protect his investment. Yes, we may not be able to compete with wally prices, but we can blow wally- world "out of the water" with knowledgeable customer service and salesmanship. Bottom line is this- I attempt to treat and respect every customer as my best customer, (AND IF YOU DON'T THINK THIS ISN"T WORK, THEN YOU'RE CRAZY!) and I do my best to deliver to them the products they want, at a fair and reasonable price. Sorry for being too long. I'll get off my stump now
 
I've never requested nor received service of any kind from a gun dealer. I've also never bought a gun from Wal-Mart, but wouldn't hesitate to do so, if they had what I wanted at a good price.

I doubt if the average guy working behind the counter of a gun shop knows a lot more about firearms than the average guy working behind the counter at Wal-Mart.
 
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