Rockrivr1
NES Member
That’s why I don’t go to The Springfield show anymore. Add $5 parking cost to all that. Plus only one ammo seller.
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Marlboro this weekend!!
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That’s why I don’t go to The Springfield show anymore. Add $5 parking cost to all that. Plus only one ammo seller.
EJFudd
NES Member
You are right. I forgot all about Tom's son Mike getting married this weekend. My bad! They should be at the West Springfield show in two weeks. Unfortunately, life is complicated and I don't think I'll be able to make that show.
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
I don't think the entrance fee has that much to do with it. Someone going to that show with the intent of buying something more than Jerkey, Tee Shirts or Soap in the shape of a Pistol will potentially spend hundreds of dollars. What's another four bucks. I think between the current administration not being a Gun Grabber and the Brick & Mortar business's falling by the wayside. I personally don't get it, I do buy some things on line, but for the most part I prefer to hold it in my hands. Check out the quality, see if it fits properly, such as Holsters, Mag Pouches etc. I think the industry had an unprecedented 8 year run. If Hillary got in, there'd be half mile lines to get into a Gun Show. I think instead of many gun shops closing, you'd see new ones opening. Something else that I think is over looked is that for many vendors at these shows, it's just a part time gig. They do it because they enjoy it, almost a social event. They can commiserate with others about the current state of affairs and gossip about the next thing coming down the pipe from Herr Healey. This type of vendor is dying off. I don't think I've ever been to a Gun Show that I felt like I wasted my time, even if I didn't buy anything.
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Does anyone know where the Marlboro Gun Show is today? I drove out to the Expo Center where it usually is and all I found was a Flea Market... ![[rofl2]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/035.gif "ROFL2 [rofl2]")
Note: It is still better than yard work...
Note: It is still better than yard work...
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What I'd really like to see is some of the Larger, Organized Gun Cubs hosting their own Gun Shows. Allow members and paying guests to sell firearms(up to 4 annually), ammo and accessories. Trades welcome. Seems like a no-brainer but probably a legal pain in the ass.
I'd set up a table...
I'd set up a table...
Dennis in MA
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I scored some nice Christmas decorations. Lol
I did grab a Deihl and a McMahon sign for the lawn. It was worth $11 just for that.
Some dealer had a SC 03-A3 for $675. He was either missing the 1, the bore was trash or that was a deal. I never went back. Too many rifles.
What I did notice is that there was really no “hot” gun that everyone had. Nor were prices all that good. Tombstone had a G17 for $900 w/2 mags. WHAH??? Seemed like a lot of places were higher than I expected. I wonder if they are just trying to make a buck and are pushing people away even more.
Lefty said he was talking to a Davidson’s rep and the rep said in 15 (Or more) years, this is the slowest they’ve ever seen it.
Oh, and I was out so fast that I didn’t have time for a beer stick. It was just TOO early.
I did grab a Deihl and a McMahon sign for the lawn. It was worth $11 just for that.
Some dealer had a SC 03-A3 for $675. He was either missing the 1, the bore was trash or that was a deal. I never went back. Too many rifles.
What I did notice is that there was really no “hot” gun that everyone had. Nor were prices all that good. Tombstone had a G17 for $900 w/2 mags. WHAH??? Seemed like a lot of places were higher than I expected. I wonder if they are just trying to make a buck and are pushing people away even more.
Lefty said he was talking to a Davidson’s rep and the rep said in 15 (Or more) years, this is the slowest they’ve ever seen it.
Oh, and I was out so fast that I didn’t have time for a beer stick. It was just TOO early.
lowbuckbob
NES Member
I've never seen the Marlboro show so un-crowded. Nobody there and lots of vendor tables missing. Picked up a few odds and ends, a couple of interesting guns but nothing I couldn't live without. I've never seen holiday decorations and costumes for sale at a gun show!
I found one of my best gun show deals at Marlboro several years ago(when there was a line of about 150 to get in the door and tight maneuvering inside). A guy had a bunch of older looking boxes stacked up with hebrew writing on them....I don't read or speak hebrew but someone next to me said they were cases of Izzy 1919 links.
BOING.....Instant boner!!! IIRC, it was 4 cases or three and an open one minus a few sleeves of new links in sleeves. I asked how much per case, guy says $45 a case(a reallygreat price at that time)......I bought the whole pile and couldn't stop smiling for a week....I'm still smiling now writing about it.
Sad that the gunshow circuit has taken such a beating in MA.
BOING.....Instant boner!!! IIRC, it was 4 cases or three and an open one minus a few sleeves of new links in sleeves. I asked how much per case, guy says $45 a case(a reallygreat price at that time)......I bought the whole pile and couldn't stop smiling for a week....I'm still smiling now writing about it.
Sad that the gunshow circuit has taken such a beating in MA.
EC1
NES Member
didn't find the guns I was looking for but did score and old swiss army knife identical to the one I have been carrying for over 40 years and is was less than a third the price of the ones I have found on ebay and in near new condition compared to the one in my pocket. so it was unexpectedly worth the trip for me.
Eric H
NES Member
Showed up to the "flea market" late Saturday, I was very disappointed in how un-crowded it was, Pete's being absent again was noticed immediately. I did feel like I scored pretty well with finding a 6" stainless Ruger Security Six from B&K, goes great with my 4". Absolute pleasure to deal with Brian and his wife and their crew, GREAT people, I can't say enough kind things about them!
I hope Brian also sold some of those sweet S&W revolvers that have been tempting me.
If the promoters were smart, they would take low attendance as a hint and maybe take a hit for a year and offer severely discounted admission. I like to just browse, every show I have gone to, I have made a splurge purchase. Paying $ to shop isnt my thing. I was free all day, but I wasnt about to pay to walk around.
Hell, they would gain a few more bonus points if they ran a "50% of door collections will be donated to GOAL/Comm2A".
They are not thinking of the long game.
Hell an "admission price refund with proof of purchase over $500" wouldn't be bad. It would entice more dealers to show. And yes, I will spend $500 to save $12. Funny how that works.
Hell, they would gain a few more bonus points if they ran a "50% of door collections will be donated to GOAL/Comm2A".
They are not thinking of the long game.
Hell an "admission price refund with proof of purchase over $500" wouldn't be bad. It would entice more dealers to show. And yes, I will spend $500 to save $12. Funny how that works.
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minininjer
NES Door Greeter
Both clubs that I belonged to previously had a “show” like that. I’m not sure how big of hit they were but it wasn’t just a one time deal so I imagine it worked out some what for some members, else they’d never do it again.
Dennis in MA
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People aren't staying home because of the price. A movie costs more than a gun show. Dinner costs more than a gun show. People are home because they spent 8 years buying more guns and ammo than a sane person would and now they're trying to figure out what to do with it all. Another gun is NOT helping that problem.
This isn't a MA problem - it's a nation-wide problem. A good problem to have, for sure. It means we've got a lot of gun owners and a "friendly" administration.
Now, couple all of that with the 44 dealers OEJ has in Littleton as well as a swell of newer more savvy shops, how many retailers are having a hard time beating on price? Or selling a frame??? It's not easy.
I did see a Yugo Mauser on some table for $250 or $215. I forget which. That seemed like a deal if you wanted one of those.
What I did notice was a higher concentration of "bros." Maybe it was just because it was too empty so people weren't shoving the Bros around. One guy would be looking at a gun at a bigger dealer. His 2+ Bros would be spaced out 1.5 people apart ensuring NO ONE ELSE could even look at guns at that table. Try to muscle in, they don't move. All of them under 30.
Better was the two guys wandering down the center aisle at about 9:20 randomly going from table to table. LOL. Dude. There aren't many people. Just do the stroll. You'll see more that way. Nope. Just wandered aimlessly. Was probably out of there in 40 min.
Oh, and last was the HUGE (like tall and wide) guy with the full-size rifle case wandering around. Good thing it wasn't crowded. I think he had a M1Carbean in there. Sling it over your shoulder, dude. I couldn't understand that.
HarryPottar
NES Member
In the big scheme of things $12 is not that much, like you say cost of a cheap dinner or movie, however I know what I’m getting for that. I’m not looking for anything in particular but I wouldn’t mind browsing. However I don’t want to pay $24 for my son and I to window shop. I would rather spend that $24 on a movie or some ammo to have a great time at the range with my son.
Had the event been $4-$6 then we would have gone, it’s not the money, it’s the value it represents.
Had the event been $4-$6 then we would have gone, it’s not the money, it’s the value it represents.
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first gun show since I started carrying. was surprised at how few modern / current pistols there were, and how many hi-points there were!
one table had a pistol at least $75 higher than everywhere else. asked if they'd move on the price and got the 'the boss makes those decisions'.
i was planning on buying two pistols but no one had one of them (common make) and the others were so overpriced. I like to keep my money local but they really do make it hard to do so.
if I was in the market for a knife though...
one table had a pistol at least $75 higher than everywhere else. asked if they'd move on the price and got the 'the boss makes those decisions'.
i was planning on buying two pistols but no one had one of them (common make) and the others were so overpriced. I like to keep my money local but they really do make it hard to do so.
if I was in the market for a knife though...
Horrible
NES Member
I wish that I could have made it. There is always one or two decent deals to take advantage of. Unfortunately, they always schedule this show on one of the busiest weekends of the year for me.
Oh well, will try and plan to attend the January show.
Oh well, will try and plan to attend the January show.
It's worth knowing that like in 2005 these shows were like 9 bucks with the coupon I think (Len can correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember it being under
10 bucks. In 2018 with inflation that's about $12, so the entry cost really isn't out of whack.
The problem with the $12 ticket is now that same show is a hull of its former self with 2/3rds of the stuff/vendors in it that it had in 2005. Nobody can sit there
and say it's a good value when the show is f***ing empty....
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
Well I guess the promoter does that and thinks nobody is paying attention... As a promoter you can't expect to get the same $ and bill vendors the same $ for tables when the show only gets half the attendance, I think their pricing
just ends up driving lower attendance on both sides of the booth.
I also think the post sandy hooks "pissed in the well" without knowing they were doing it, WRT gun shows, but that's a whole other story I could write a
page about, but the summary version is the existence of those people created an unsustainable economic environment at gun shows, which supported high pricing. Now the vendors are still prancing around thinking those same people are still buying stuff. They're not, they're mostly gone now. Now you have enthusiasts left instead of one and dones that don't buy stuff all the time. The enthusiasts see the terrible gun show price as being so far away now that they can't bring the vendor back to the middle.... amongst other things. This creates a cycle of malaise which deteriorates the gun shows.
-Mike
Lol, guy was well known, often referred to as Shitbag Steve, etc, basically this guy would grease the promoter up to get best placement etc at the
shows. It was funny whenever more than one ammo vendor showed up though, etc, he'd start sweating and reduce his prices...
-Mike
Its the guy on roids who has massive amounts of ammo every show,he is usually at every show but Concord due to competition.
He also likes filling his truck by backing it up to the show doors and just leaving the motor running and pumping fumes inside the venue.... and the promoters let him get away with it because he greases the correct palms or whatever.
-Mike
Hetzer
NES Member
[QUOTE="Dennis in MA, post: 6034764, member: 2207] Oh, and last was the HUGE (like tall and wide) guy with the full-size rifle case wandering around. Good thing it wasn't crowded. I think he had a M1Carbean in there. Sling it over your shoulder, dude. I couldn't understand that.[/QUOTE]
Was it a black hard case? I saw a guy with one trying to sell what I think he said was an M1 carbine trigger group to one of the dealers. Looks like he was very interested in buying it.
Was it a black hard case? I saw a guy with one trying to sell what I think he said was an M1 carbine trigger group to one of the dealers. Looks like he was very interested in buying it.
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Has anyone here on NES had a table at one of these larger Gun Shows? What is involved? Can a schmuck off the street, rent a table and sell some gear and a rifle/pistol or two?
Or, does he have to be a "Business" to gain access?
Thanks,
~Matt
Or, does he have to be a "Business" to gain access?
Thanks,
~Matt
Yes. Not only are fewer vendors an issue when considering the entrance fee, the high prices also factor in. It all boils down to the probability that the trip will be worth my while. Even if the place were stuffed with vendors, a lack of attractive pricing means that I have to justify it mostly on entertainment value, and I'm just not sufficiently entertained.
MA DOR goes around at many of the shows and demands to see your Mass Sales Tax Vendor Certificate. If not, you must pay him for one and DOR will expect to see income reported as a business. Back when I volunteered for GOAL at the shows, I was questioned by DOR twice. Carole also requires one prior to renting you a table. You'd have better luck doing this at a NH show.
Well the one good thing is that you get to see lots of different products in one place at a show.
