Nightmare Dealers

ziffusion said:
I think you got the wrong guy there. You meant me and not @Rob Boudrie .

But yes, I do think a lot of folks on here might qualify as "knuckle-dragging, gun-toting community" who buy more than the necessary number of guns. For heaven’s sake, spending thousands upon thousands of dollars, satisfying some childhood boy-fetish for guns, cheered on by the ecstatic firearms' industry exhorting "buy buy buy, shoot shoot shoot", who like nothing better than the dumb clowns swallowing it all up; millions and millions of dollars just going up in smoke, just to hear something go bang. I mean, if you are capable of just one rational thought, you have to see how absolutely dumb all this is.
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Looks like @SIGNES got himself a new account.
 
In many businesses, asking for a discount is common practice, or asking for a cash discount. I never get offended when people ask. I don't sell to the public but even at the wholesale level, it is common.

Cash is honestly a pain in the ass. I would rather take a check. Cash requires my book keeper to go to the bank with a bunch of cash. She hates it.

My price is always fair. I have customers that have questioned the apparent randomness of my sell prices. It's rare that it is a round number or ends in .99. That is because I figure my cost and add a specific mark up that will produce the margin I need to keep the business healthy. Not a penny more or less.

Constantly giving discounts really amounts to being dishonest. What you are saying to your customer is " I will rip you off, if I can." And even if you give the customer a discount, they always feel like you made too much money off of them, and just assume they could have got a bigger discount.
It is why people hate shopping for cars and the "no haggle" places are becoming popular. No matter how good a deal you think you got when walking out, there is still this feeling that somehow, they screwed you.

I don't do business that way, and in general, prefer not to do business with people that do. My first price, is my best price and I wouldn't charge you more if I thought I could get away with it. If you want customers to come back, build a relationship based on trust and honesty.
 
ziffusion said:
wow - that is more than fine. What perplexes me is when the number goes above that kind of a range.
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Your license instructor failed you.

I taught a class recently. To minimally cover the required action types, I had 10 firearms. To fully cover them, it would be better to have closer to 15.

And that's before we get into the horses for courses conversation. If there are at least 6 common reasons Americans own guns - of which you seem to recognize only one - then its reasonable a person owns at least one for each of those reasons.

Rob Boudrie said:
In a sense, yes. I view "stuff that makes the wife happy and I think is cool" as the commodity. Art is just one form of that commodity.
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I mean, my working artist friends have called their work "rich people trading cards." I guess it's just curious to me to think that the room for negotiation expected in the art industry is comparable to the margins available to a retail firearm dealer, selling new product.

Regardless, I'm genuinely glad you helped feed someone who makes cool and beautiful stuff. I'm sure it looks great in your home and I hope it continues to bring you and your wife joy.
 
Mesatchornug said:
Regardless, I'm genuinely glad you helped feed someone who makes cool and beautiful stuff. I'm sure it looks great in your home and I hope it continues to bring you and your wife joy.
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It was appropriate. My weekend place is across from a church that was hit by lightening and without bells for months. A local artist did a small oil painting of lightening hitting the church, and it was for sale in the gallery in the building next to our weekend place. Goes nicely on the wall.

My wife thinks I'm mistaken when I speculate that the church bells are now speakers controlled by software. One of these days I will have to find out.
 
fencer said:
In many businesses, asking for a discount is common practice, or asking for a cash discount. I never get offended when people ask. I don't sell to the public but even at the wholesale level, it is common.

Cash is honestly a pain in the ass. I would rather take a check. Cash requires my book keeper to go to the bank with a bunch of cash. She hates it.

My price is always fair. I have customers that have questioned the apparent randomness of my sell prices. It's rare that it is a round number or ends in .99. That is because I figure my cost and add a specific mark up that will produce the margin I need to keep the business healthy. Not a penny more or less.

Constantly giving discounts really amounts to being dishonest. What you are saying to your customer is " I will rip you off, if I can." And even if you give the customer a discount, they always feel like you made too much money off of them, and just assume they could have got a bigger discount.
It is why people hate shopping for cars and the "no haggle" places are becoming popular. No matter how good a deal you think you got when walking out, there is still this feeling that somehow, they screwed you.

I don't do business that way, and in general, prefer not to do business with people that do. My first price, is my best price and I wouldn't charge you more if I thought I could get away with it. If you want customers to come back, build a relationship based on trust and honesty.
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I think it depends on the business. I've never had someone overthink a discount to that degree... but then again I'm also transparent about why they're getting the discount. It's basically a reward for not being a pain in the ass. Even then only certain things get discounted regardless so it's not that complicated.
 
ziffusion said:
Business is a bit more complicated, unfortunately. Stores have loss-leaders - right? Turns out you can go past zero on individual transactions.
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Yes. That's not price competition, though. That's marketing. Price competition in the way I'm using is when two or more marketplaces are selling the same product(s), and continue to undercut each other. If that's your primary business strategy, only one firm is left standing (the one who didn't undercut to zero), and a massive price increase for that product follows. I've used a "break even" approach on certain items when running sales before, and it can work well. But the money is being made up somewhere else.
 
Rob Boudrie said:
Except Surefire, Oakley and a few others.

The tricky part for dealers - customer wants a transfer from a non-retail source (out of state friend transferring a handgun) or something unusual they do not sell. How hard to you hammer the customer when it's not a "beat your price" deal but something that does not parallel what you do when selling a gun.

I gladly paid GFA in Natick $35 each to transfer a couple of 1911oid frames.
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I just charge a transfer fee. I think part of having a good shop/business is to know your audience and stock accordingly. Unless you have access to low interest revolving capital or can self-finance continuous expansion, the businesses that do the best have niche operations and focus. They market/brand accordingly. For most gun shops, it's not possible to compete on inventory quantity, so getting someone in the door and charging them a fee for service is still a touch point and potential long-term customer.
 
fencer said:
In many businesses, asking for a discount is common practice, or asking for a cash discount. I never get offended when people ask. I don't sell to the public but even at the wholesale level, it is common.

Cash is honestly a pain in the ass. I would rather take a check. Cash requires my book keeper to go to the bank with a bunch of cash. She hates it.

My price is always fair. I have customers that have questioned the apparent randomness of my sell prices. It's rare that it is a round number or ends in .99. That is because I figure my cost and add a specific mark up that will produce the margin I need to keep the business healthy. Not a penny more or less.

Constantly giving discounts really amounts to being dishonest. What you are saying to your customer is " I will rip you off, if I can." And even if you give the customer a discount, they always feel like you made too much money off of them, and just assume they could have got a bigger discount.
It is why people hate shopping for cars and the "no haggle" places are becoming popular. No matter how good a deal you think you got when walking out, there is still this feeling that somehow, they screwed you.

I don't do business that way, and in general, prefer not to do business with people that do. My first price, is my best price and I wouldn't charge you more if I thought I could get away with it. If you want customers to come back, build a relationship based on trust and honesty.
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This is the way. If you want to build a sustainable business, you have to build relationships with customers. And then they will want to support you, even if your price isn't always the best. When someone asks "how come you don't charge more," or "why is your price lower," I simply respond that there is always an opportunity to make an extra $10, $20, $50 or more. But I only get one opportunity to make you know that you'll always be treated fairly.

You sound like you know what you're doing :)
 
michaelpelosillc said:
When someone asks "how come you don't charge more," or "why is your price lower," I simply respond that there is always an opportunity to make an extra $10, $20, $50 or more. But I only get one opportunity to make you know that you'll always be treated fairly.
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wow - I think I've found my FFL.
 
I can sell you a part with a brand name on it for twice as much as the part is on the open market. It also costs me more to buy it from the factory than if I source it from the original design manufacturer. I usually stock a bit of each, explain that I can sell you the same part for double with the brand on it, or you can have the exact same part for half price. Some people absolutely have to buy the brand name, they don't care about the cost. Other people appreciate the honesty, trust me, buy the cheaper part, and move along with a heavier wallet. Different strokes for different folks. Giving the option is my way of providing transparency and having customers who trust me and want to work with me.
 
chris_1001 said:
Wow, Reported!!!! lol

What is the "necessary amount of guns"?

You are not going to last long here with that attitude!!!

Let us know when you get to 2 or 3 guns...

I'll bet you become the next "Chris from NES"
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The poster is a troll implant he probably doesn't understand why people drive BMW's as opposed to Chevy's and it's quite clear he is an employee and not someone who could be a business owner.
 
We both shoot guns, we both have experience but we also both have preference i’ve never had a problem with thumb safety since i carry one in the chamber comfortably 10 + 1 is a nice feature. This may not make sense to all the hardos but as much as you can practice being safe without one you can also practice firing with one!
 
ziffusion said:
May I ask, how many guns do you own? How much money do you have invested in your armory?
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Whoa, easy there pal, nobody has an armory. Long before you came around the definition of “armory” was established to be 2 more guns than you currently own, therefore, clearly, nobody here has an armory.
 
paul73 said:
absolutely true.
but for majority of people it is needed due to amount of negligence they unleash on a loaded gun with one hot in the chamber.
for a striker models that only rely on the trigger pull, if gun is in the purse, bag, pocket or just gets shoved into a holster over stuck shirt or who knows what shit - that is how people get themselves shot.
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You just never know when something will get caught in the trigger guard.
paul73 said:
i got enough glocks, and sig/cz has a safety, dunno, it is not an issue.

and on a 365 safety up is a good indicator that there is one in the chamber.
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See, no issue with a safety!

jkelly1229 said:
Also...safeties are gay
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Safeties are for people who are smart enough to know how to use them (and train with them). Or old guys who are used to them. One or the other.
And it's not ghey unless it's in .40
 
fencer said:
And that's what you get for buying a RUGER!
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Oooof! lol. The ammo seemed to have the biggest impact on it running well, well that was until the top came off and leading me to borrow a gun.

I have the TK Kraken lower, and it uses a set screw to hold and tighten the upper to the lower and I had loosened it too much. So that was my fault. Once I switched from SV's to Mini Mags the gun started behaving.

I'm only a fan of the Mark's, SR22 and the 10/22's. nothing else by them do anything for me.
 
Broc said:
They were right on the safety.
A safety is just another thing that can go wrong when you need the gun.
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While I agree with this, and I'm guessing most of NES does as well, it's not reflective of new shooters.

A lot of gun shops in 2020-21 pandemic mania were getting tons of glocks returned. The internet said "go buy a glock", then people realized it doesnt have a safety and werent comfortable carrying it. Yeah, it's not logical, but thats just how it is.
 
P51MA said:
While I agree with this, and I'm guessing most of NES does as well, it's not reflective of new shooters.

A lot of gun shops in 2020-21 pandemic mania were getting tons of glocks returned. The internet said "go buy a glock", then people realized it doesnt have a safety and werent comfortable carrying it. Yeah, it's not logical, but thats just how it is.
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In 2023 i would bet whatever they bought to replace it is still collecting dust.

I also was at the tip of the spear and i never heard of this glocks getting returned business... and easily 85% of the handguns we sold had no safety, glock or otherwise. Non 22lr Handguns with safety levers are effectively a very small market segment at this point.
 

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