This may get expensive...

[StrutStopper]

I don't know why, but for the 4 years I've lived in this town I've avoided checking out the LGS thats about a mile down the street. I went there tonight with a goal. I planned to pick up a Ruger 22/45 from Buds but wanted someone local to do the FFL. They had the gun I was interested in in stock. The price was about $50 more than Buds. I figure with a $30 FFL fee, Buds would have still been $20 cheaper (yeah, I'm a math wiz ) I told the guy I'd get the gun there if he could come down closer to what I could get it for from Buds. He whipped out his calculator and told me this is the best I could do, and showed me a price a few dollars more than if I bought the gun online and paid the transfer fee. I said ok and we got to talking a bit about local CCW issues and when he showed me the final receipt, it was for less than if I would have gone the FFL transfer route.

This could be bad. Now I know that about a mile away is a LGS that can probably price match the best prices I can find online. I can see I'll need to practice much restraint or I'm gonna end up dropping a small fortune at this place, and probably make some divorce lawyer a few bucks too.

 

[TwoWheelFiend]

Support your local gun store

 

[jakk280rem]

Don't expect the same price drop on every transaction. Different guns will have different markups. That said, you done good. Support you LGS.

 

[bannockburn]

Most definitely (and within your financial budget I might add), support your LGS. Not that many left these days, and if they're willing to work with you on prices, all the better.

 

[22-rimfire]

Support your local gun shop whenever possilble. $20 difference is nothing. I would start to think about it at $50 difference.

 

[Ryanxia]

My LGS is right around online prices when I order new guns from him. Once in awhile I have to pay an extra $20 or so through him but I don't mind. I like to support my LGS.

When I played paintball everyone started ordering online and the pro shops went under, from then on there weren't any places to go and fondle new gear and meet other people.

 

[Claude Clay]

as your collection grows so does your needs for 'small' stuff. and help with learning the smithing stuff--even if its just the little tricks that make disassembly & cleaning a pleasure rather than a chore.
developing a relationship with the people at your local shop is well worth a few dollars.

 

[LemmyCaution]

Unfortunately, my all my LGSs come in a couple hundred dollars higher than Bud's, typically. And I've been a customer since my father had to buy the guns for me.

I'm not terribly interested in dickering the price down to MSRP from whatever astronomical price is on the tag.

That and the the fact that they buy ammo retail at Wally World (generally hoovering up the entire supply) and then mark it up and resell it has put a real damper on my enthusiasm for the LGS.

 

[PapaG]

We often find that places like Bud's and some others sell "loss leaders" at prices below which we ourselves can buy.

 

[InkEd]

I have only had to order one gun online because my LGS didn't have it cheaper or for the same OTD price. When you add in the FFL transfer AND the fact that the advertised Bud's Price includes a 3% cash discount, it's not always such a great deal.

 

[Twiki357]

I almost bought a gun online a couple of years ago for the first time. When I checked with my LGS for the transfer, he had the same gun in his case for $20 bucks less and no S&H or FFL transfer fees.

 

[Deus Machina]

I'm always happy to pay a little more for a gun at a local store.

It gives the guy more money to buy more fun things and I don't have to wait for it.

$20? I would just consider that the 'hand pick' fee that the surplus sellers tack on.

 

[accrhodes]

Nice to see him working with you. As they have said above its always nice to support the LGS.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Waddaya Know

I'd never really given it a lot of thought until this thread, but . . . let's see . . . of all the stuff in my lockup, I've bought . . . three? four? . . . at big-ish stores.

I have a 10/22 long barreled stainless rifle that is only sold at Wal-Mart, so that kinda goes without saying.

My first 10/22 was also from Wal-Mart, since they were the only ones in town who had the 40th anniversary edition with the medallion in the stock. They also sold me the little Savage plinker.

Then there's my wife's PT111 from Sportsman's Warehouse (they were the only place locally that had them).

Oh, yeah, my Kahr P9, also at a Sportsman's -- they were doing a clearance, so I got a good price on it.

So, lemme see here . . . yup, uh-huh, right, yes, hey -- even that one! -- and that one . . .

Wait, one more, the S&W 586, I got a super deal on that when a local sports house that was bought by Sports Authority decided to eliminate all handguns from their inventory rolls, so that's a "big store" buy as well.

Six. That's it.

Everything else, rifles, pistols, carbines, the works: all picked up at one LGS or another. That includes the levers, the M1 Carbine, the Ruger pistols, the Beretta HD carbine, the sport utility rifles, the emergency rifle, and the rest, all purchased from the local folks.

I'd never really thought about it. The bulk of my stuff has been locally bought.

Kinda makes a fella smile.

 

[JustinJ]

I've found that the online lower gun prices do come with shipping and transfer fees but no sales tax if out of state(which sucks because some good stores are in Texas). My LGS does transfers for $10 as well.

My favorite local gun store is a LE supplier so used to always have incredible deals on confiscated guns traded in by departments for credit as well as dept issued trade ins. Well now they've found that they can sell such guns for much more on gunbroker so the incredible deals i used to find have vanished so my "support your local GS" attitude has soured. They want to make as much money as possible so i want to save as much money as possible.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

FWIW, there isn't a huge markup in firearms. When my brother was running a store, typical mark up was 10 to 15%. If you do the math, you see they don't make that much on each sale. The have better margins in the accessories/cleaning supplies.

 

[paintballdude902]

im always willing to pay a little (not a ton) more to buy local. even for non gun stuff

 

[2WheelsGood]

I have never bought a gun online. And I doubt I ever will. Which is strange since I buy almost everything else online.