Aeroprecision will not ship to MA, even to a FFL/dealer. Try and buy a sticker from them, let alone a lower and they will decline. Aero has to come through a distributor as a result.
At any given time you can find some lowers at some distributor and if you checkout quickly you can even get them shipped to you (eventually). For a while we had 2-4 week backlogs at the distributors on shipping even if they did have stuff in stock. The distributor you show below was the absolute worst. They were at almost 30 days from order to shipment for a while. They are down into the high teens now for delays.
Distributor pricing may or may not be interesting as it does not necessarily reflect acquisition cost. During "normal" times, yes, it is reflective. During times of multiple week delays, buying at retail, expedited shipping, etc are necessary if you actually want to have something in stock. I have bought a lot of items at non-distributors over the last 3 months to insure I was able to deliver to my customers what they wanted to buy. I explain that it will be more now and the price will be lower if they are willing to wait. Most want to make the purchase now.
AR lowers add an additional layer of complication. Many believe they are "illegal" because of a press conference and supporting "documentation" on an official website. You are right, most FFLs won't advertise that they are willing to perform the totally legal transfer/sale of an AR lower. Some advertise but require you to sign an affidavit that you will only build 22LR. (The only reference to 22LR in Chap 140 relates to tubular magazines so why that matters (ok, the press conference)).
@TPNES is serving a market. People who don't want to do lots of leg work but know they want a lower and look for one advertised. He is below almost every other advertised price IN MA. Again, free state prices dont matter unless you do the leg work to find someone who will transfer. We can bash him endlessly but it only adds to the advertising hype.
People will come out of this with
a) lowers
b) civics lesson on the difference between the executive branch and legislative branches of government
c) butt hurt that someone is making money
d) clear understanding if they are a capitalist or a socialist (ok, not really, because they are not actually self aware)
I enjoy these threads. You supply facts but are clearly ok with the free market doing its thing. Many others just get butt hurt, report the posts, call out "price gouging", want censorship, contact the AG, etc. Interesting behavior from theoretical free thinking individualists. Suddenly they too want to control the behavior of others.
Another real world example in the gun world. M16 replacement parts. trigger, sear, full auto-sear, pin, springs, etc. All the parts unique to the M16 vs an AR15. All perfectly legal to buy/sell/own. The lower with the 3rd hole drilled is the "machine gun" in this case, so all the parts are fine. Go on the internet and start looking for parts to buy. Prices have come down, but the only place that used to openly advertise sold kits for ~$180. They are now down to a bargain $129. There are now other vendors selling kits or complete M16 LPKs at reasonable prices. Or you can buy the individual parts from Brownells for under $20. Yes, $129 vs $20 if all you do is google and someone else does your leg work and advertises.
I am certain the $129 vendor is raking it in. They can sell 1 for every 5 that Brownells sells and are still coming out ahead.
Parts for your HK have a similar "advertising" cost from the biggest boldest HK parts seller who advertises. They sell above retail because people will pay it by not doing their homework.
Capitalism is wonderful!
And back to Broccoli's original comment about $200 lowers.
If you are simply paying retail you can get a Gucci style LaRue lower for about $200.
~$100ish gets you a cool gadsten flag Spikes billet lower. If you figure in you save $20ish in not needing to buy a curved trigger guard, its a great deal.
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And if you are a real skinflint, you can get a diamondback foreven less. These are wholesale numbers, but there are dealers selling for the Retail MAP listed here.
Also, these wholesale numbers are for a quantity of ONE. Larger dealers can buy for considerably less.
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