Why do guns cost so much?

['Card]

It's also important to remember that competition doesn't work the same way in the gun industry as it does in electronics, for example.

When you go out to buy a new widescreen TV, odds are that it doesn't make a bit of difference to you if you end up with a Sony, a Toshiba, or an RCA television, as long as you get the features you want. There's very little 'brand loyalty' in that market.

With firearms, many people are brand loyal to a ridiculous level, and will continue buying Colts (just used as an example - nobody get your panties in a wad) even when similar products at a similar quality level are available much cheaper. That lack of direct competition allows companies like Colt to keep their prices artificially high, therefore keeping prices higher than they would otherwise be across the board.

Once a company has big-time name recognition and big-time customer loyalty on their side, it's practically a license to print money. Harley-Davidson is the classic example of that. They spend next-to-nothing on research & development, and almost nothing on advertising, and yet they can get away with selling a bike for $20,000+ that it only cost them $6000 to make. As long as their customer base will continue buying anything they put their name on, there's no incentive for them to control prices at all.

 

[Taipei Personality]

To see an illustration of what pcf stated, above, go to http://eh.net/hmit/compare/ and scroll down to the calculator. For example, your $300 AR-15 in 1975 would be equivalent to $1,054.08 in 2004. As a decent AR-15 can be had for about $800 today, that means that the same AR-15 would have cost $227.69 in 1975. Therefore, the cost has come down.

By the same token, let's say you make $50,000 gross today. That equates to $14,230.45 in 1975. So put another way, the AR-15 in 1975 represents 2.64% of your yearly wage while it is only 1.6% of your current wage. So yes, the monetary price is higher now but you're paying less.


*edited to add - TarpleyG typed it out faster. It's funny that we both picked 1975 . . .

 

[Lou629]

Add one more thought....

The guns themselves may be more expensive, but it's not all in the guns themselves. Most of the increases over the past 20 years, after allowing for inflation, are due to liability issues at both the manufacturing & retail levels. These guys have to be insured out the wazoo to protect themselves, there are only a few insurers out there that will even consider writing a policy for a firearm related business, and the premiums cost big money. The rest of it is "what the buyer will bear" in the terms of the margin the retailer is trying to make, and where you're located.
If you're in a gun-friendly state like Pa., you will pay a little less for the same piece than you will if you're unfortunate enough to live in DPRNJ ( Democratic Peoples Republic of New Jersey ) for example. The dealers over in NJ are fewer and much further between, and charge (or try to) a premium accordingly, because they know they have a captive audience, at least in terms of handgun sales.
The thing that has caught my attention though is that I've seen more of an increase in the price of ammunition on a % basis over the past 20 years than in the guns themselves. Again, this is probably due to liability issues, and a little due to retailers trying to boost their margin.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

Lou629, here in Oregon dealers are only able to charge a 10% increase over their cost for a firearms due to competition. Lets say you place a special order and lets say the price from the distributor is $400. You pay $465. That is a $40 mark up and then $25 per item for shipping.

 

[Lou629]

To: Playboy...

Do you have an extra bedroom to rent me till i can find a place for myself out there?

 

[Camp David]

So the short answer is; because there are plenty of people who will pay the prices.

So if nobody buys guns the price will fall? Ok guys... no gun purchases for the next month... I have my eye on a new S&W !!!!

I don't think macro-economics is quite that simple...

When laptops first came out they were several thousand dollars, now you can get one for $400....however when sneakers were first introduced by Converse and Nike they were poor man's shoes and cost $5.00... now you can't get a good pair for less than $75.00... cost is not based simply on what people are willing to pay, as their is society's demand and market break-even point...While I agree with your point that some prices are based on what people are willing to pay, there is escation and deescation of prices due to socialogical factors as well... try to sell a "pet rock" today... yet a decade ago they were in style... lot's of other examples as well.

 

[depicts]

all for $300

funny how things don't make sense.

I can buy a nice Ruger MK111 for the same price as a 10 Speed bycycle, both have lots of parts and last a long time.

Why does a pair of frames for my glasses cost just as much and only last a year?

 

[Sistema1927]

Guns are expensive?

30 years ago, it was tough to cough up the cash to purchase one gun. Even a couple of boxes of .22 shells took some budgeting.

Today, I can buy darn near anything I want, and don't blink an eye at spending multiple hundreds to get what I want. And I do. At last count, my firearms collection is around 50.

If there weren't people like me, with ready cash and a desire to spend it, then the price of guns would go way down. (Yep, you can blame me.)

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Sistema1927, I'm guessing you make more now than you did back then.

Regarding guns being expensive, they're not. Quality optics and tac lights will sometimes cost more than the gun, and ammunition, cheap or expensive, will probably end up costing more than the gun by around the time you need a new barrel. Then there's cleaning, various fees and taxes, the cost of driving to the range/to the woods, etc, gunsmithing to repair, etc. The nominal cost of the guin will become a faction of the total cost of shooting it.

 

[zahc]

Guns are CHEAP! I have friends that spend thousands on PAINTBALL guns. Guns last practically forever and generally hold value somewhat.

I'll say it again. Guns are CHEAP.

 

[Sistema1927]

Sistema1927, I'm guessing you make more now than you did back then.

Yep, there has been just a bit of Creeping Incrementalism in that department.

However, the fact remains: Sellers get what the market will give them. They didn't have to sell to me for the tiny amount that I could offer them 30 years ago when there were others who had more dough, and the desire to spend it. Same today.