How do you know they are "trying to rip people off"? Do you know what they paid for the gun or ammo? If it is enough above pre-covid pricing does that constitute ripping people off? What is a reasonable profit for a gun shop to make? 20%? 10%? 0%? -20%? How do you know what it is and therefore make a determination.
I think it is safer to say you won't buy if YOU think the price is too high. I doubt you have the first clue what the market value of something is or what it costs to acquire.
Let me give you a VERY concrete example where I will not name names, but it is based on real numbers.
Gun has a dealer cost of $800
Gun has a MAP (minimum advertised price) of $900
Gun has a MSRP of $1000
pre-covid every gun store you went into would have this priced at $900. popular gun. supply and demand mostly in sync. sometimes we would run out. sometimes we would have a couple more than we wanted in stock, but overall a solid seller.
Today the gun, like ALL other semi auto handguns, is out of stock at every distributor. It is on allocation. Read this thread
The reality of gun availability during ECR if you need a lesson on gun supply chain mechanics.
So getting this gun for a dealer is a total crap shoot. I am not a big box or four seasons, but I likely buy more guns from my primary distributor than 99% of the shops/dealers in MA. I have seen 2 of this gun since March from my distributor. I could have sold 50, but I have been able to get 2.
These is a nationwide shortage of this gun relative to demand. The current AVERAGE closing value on gunbroker over the last two weeks, including shipping is in excess of $1250. That is before you, the buyer, pay the receiving FFL their transfer fee. So $1275 is your best case out the door should you buy on gunbroker. LOTS of this gun are posted on gunbroker so we are not talking a small data sample. 10s and 10s of sales in the last two weeks.
So if I get this gun into stock, what price do I charge for it? $900? $1000? $1200? help me price the gun. I can't get guns to match demand. I cant sell 50 guns at $20 profit each to make $1000 because I cant get 50 guns to sell. Am I ripping you off if I offer you the gun for $1200 that you cannot buy online for under $1275? Or am I doing you a favor?
Now lets talk about where I get the gun from. Since I can't get it from my distributor I use non-traditional means to acquire it. I have scripts that scour the internet for shops advertising it and if a shop lists it for sale at $1000 do I grab it? I know it is worth $1250 on the open market which looks like a good deal. If I am a FUDD gun shop, I just sit back and go slowly out of business for lack of stock. But since I pay attention to the market, pricing, availability and can see something available under market value with good profit in it, I grab it. I then put in my case and offer it for sale. Am I trying to rip you off? How do you know? Or am I doing a service for my customer of acquiring what they want, for instant purchase, at an acquisition cost less than gunbroker, with no risk and everyone goes home happy?
Ammo, same story. Same problem. Stock from non-traditional and have some, or leave the shelves bare?
You have no clue if a dealer is "trying to rip you off". You just have a choice to buy or not buy. Attributing motivation requires mind reading or perfect knowledge which you don't have.