Went to Dean Safety at the mill

Maybe Dean Safety can correct me if I am wrong, but if they could sell Shields at a 200% markup, they would sell Shields.

Makes it worth their while to sell a $200 gun for $600.

You are wrong. The sign is mine. The shield attracts a certain clientele that I cannot be bothered with; for all the money in the world. Same goes for those whom in 2021 still think 40 Cal is a good idea.
Maybe Dean Safety can correct me if I am wrong, but if they could sell Shields at a 200% markup, they would sell Shields.

Makes it worth their while to sell a $200 gun for $600.
You are wrong. The sign is mine. The shield attracts a certain clientele that I cannot be bothered with; for all the money in the world. Same goes for those who in 2021 still think 40 Cal is a good idea.
 
So the couple good conversations we have had would have been ruined if you knew I had a Shield on me? Don’t get me wrong I’d think twice before getting into with you with those Goliath hands of yours though 😂😂
I wouldn't worry about how big his hands were, they feel too soft. Like velvety soft. Those are hugging hands.
 
You are wrong. The sign is mine. The shield attracts a certain clientele that I cannot be bothered with; for all the money in the world. Same goes for those whom in 2021 still think 40 Cal is a good idea.

You are wrong. The sign is mine. The shield attracts a certain clientele that I cannot be bothered with; for all the money in the world. Same goes for those who in 2021 still think 40 Cal is a good idea.
Wow. I still own a couple Glocks in .40. Guess my money ain't green, lol. I understood @CrackPot 's logic in his response, but this post seems like dumb business. I mean, your business, your rules. But the mindset makes no sense to me.
 
Hey, if you don't like the sign, if you don't want to wait in a 2 hour line, if you don't want to be ridiculed for your firearm or ammo choices, like Randy said, you have options!
Just walk right past that line and come on down to Custom Defense Solutions!
We welcome new and experienced shooters alike, and we're happy to answer any questions. We sell a lot more than just Shields & Taurus too. We have a decent stock of ammo (yes .40cal too), some accessories, Handguns/Rifles/Shotguns, oh and Flamethrowers! Don't forget the Flamethrowers. Stop by and check us out. Hours in my signature.
 
I have done business with both dean safety and maga arms and although they won’t sell me a shield or Taurus, they are willing to provide me weekly with a detailed list of their entire available inventory, which no other FFL will do

makes it really easy to see what they have, just call and ask for the list
 
Wow. I still own a couple Glocks in .40. Guess my money ain't green, lol. I understood @CrackPot 's logic in his response, but this post seems like dumb business. I mean, your business, your rules. But the mindset makes no sense to me.

Work long enough servicing and selling stuff and it gets to a point where deselection/market discrimination makes a lot of sense, either based on cost/benefit or just trying to keep ones own sanity. This isn't just a gun industry thing but a whole bunch of others, too. Restaurants do it. (eg, by like not selling desserts or shitty vegan food) Auto Mechanics do it. Landscapers do it. Cigar shops do it (Most cigar shops don't sell cigarettes, for example, even though they are already licensed to sell tobacco products- not to mention there are many cigar shops that ban or refuse to sell entire product lines for one reason or another. For example, if you want to watch a cigar shop owner to recoil in horror, ask about Ghurka. [rofl] )

But yet, somehow, people become 110% retarded when a gun dealer wants to do the same things and is brutally honest about it, I don't get it... [laugh]

Not selling or caring about .40's is just another form of deselection. There are a whole bunch of archetypes that are too hard to explain in this thread that go with things like .40s and
shields.
 
Hey, if you don't like the sign, if you don't want to wait in a 2 hour line, if you don't want to be ridiculed for your firearm or ammo choices, like Randy said, you have options!
Just walk right past that line and come on down to Custom Defense Solutions!
We welcome new and experienced shooters alike, and we're happy to answer any questions. We sell a lot more than just Shields & Taurus too. We have a decent stock of ammo (yes .40cal too), some accessories, Handguns/Rifles/Shotguns, oh and Flamethrowers! Don't forget the Flamethrowers. Stop by and check us out. Hours in my signature.
And cleaning kits. Don't forget the cleaning kits.
 
Wow. I still own a couple Glocks in .40. Guess my money ain't green, lol. I understood @CrackPot 's logic in his response, but this post seems like dumb business. I mean, your business, your rules. But the mindset makes no sense to me.
Quite the opposite. Knowing what the objectives are for your business and setting up policies to achieve them and ways to measure are critical for success. As I have mentioned in an infinite number of other posts selling guns is a side gig and not my livelihood. I've been to b-school and my day job I am an executive at a publicly traded defense contractor. Being a small number of years from retirement I started Dean Safety to be an enjoyable distraction once I retired. Being a seasoned business executive I could not help but apply pretty standard techniques to determine what my objectives, business model, ideal customers, etc would be. As anyone who knows me will tell you, yes, I have a spreadsheet for that. I have spreadsheets for everything related to the business because I constantly measure to make sure what I am doing is getting the results I want and when I make a change it has the desired impact.

There are only two ways to compete; you compete on value or you compete on price. Competing on price is horrible as it is a race to the bottom and engenders zero customer loyalty. Competing on value means you find a value, ideally one that has a high barrier to entry so no one else can easily compete. Competing on value means higher margins and significant customer loyalty. You have seen the evidence of the loyalty in this thread with customer testimonials. You have also seen plenty of evidence of the people self selecting themselves out as non-customers for various reasons. This is all good from where I sit.

The average gun shop essentially competes on price. The only value they bring is location and in the rare case a little bit of personality or specialization. But the average gun shop is essentially in competition with the Deli Ticket Emporium as they sell the same products and the DTE sells them cheaper. That is a hideous way to try and do business.

I dont sell the same guns as the DTE. I have no interest in competing on price by offering the same products, same services, etc as every other shop in MA. I don't carry and will not carry those common things that you find at every other shop. You want a Shield, or a Ruger American, or a cleaning kit, or a holster or... I am the wrong place. I WANT to be the wrong place if that is what you want. 1/2 the stuff you can get on Amazon and the other 1/2 I cannot compete with the DTE on price.

Math is easy. Let's say I can process a customer for a gun sale at 6 customers per hour. If I am making $50 per shield that is $300/hr. If I am making $100 per 1911 that is $600/hr. Which is a better business plan? First I LIKE 1911s, I LIKE customers who like 1911s, 1911 customers have other guns and will buy more in the future and I make more money selling them. On the other hand I hate shields, 1/2 the customers who buy shields are not gun people and therefore not repeat customers and not interesting to talk to. So what should I stock and sell?

Go open a retail business and let me know how you fair with your concept of "good business"
 
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Hey, if you don't like the sign, if you don't want to wait in a 2 hour line, if you don't want to be ridiculed for your firearm or ammo choices, like Randy said, you have options!
Just walk right past that line and come on down to Custom Defense Solutions!
We welcome new and experienced shooters alike, and we're happy to answer any questions. We sell a lot more than just Shields & Taurus too. We have a decent stock of ammo (yes .40cal too), some accessories, Handguns/Rifles/Shotguns, oh and Flamethrowers! Don't forget the Flamethrowers. Stop by and check us out. Hours in my signature.
Jason will always get my referral when the customer wants something "normal". If they want pre-ban AKs or ARs, they get sent upstairs to Defensive Dynamics. It is part of how we have multiple large scale retailers in the Mill, we have minimal product overlap.
 
Hey, if you don't like the sign, if you don't want to wait in a 2 hour line, if you don't want to be ridiculed for your firearm or ammo choices, like Randy said, you have options!
Just walk right past that line and come on down to Custom Defense Solutions!
We welcome new and experienced shooters alike, and we're happy to answer any questions. We sell a lot more than just Shields & Taurus too. We have a decent stock of ammo (yes .40cal too), some accessories, Handguns/Rifles/Shotguns, oh and Flamethrowers! Don't forget the Flamethrowers. Stop by and check us out. Hours in my signature.
CDS has a decent ammo selection even with everything going on. I have probably bought a couple thousand rounds post election with no wait. Also Bought a firearm from CDS as well as at Dean/MAGA and a couple from Defensive Dynamics upstairs.
Place is full of choices
 
The sign has already been the most successful, cost-effective marketing strategy since a punkock band called themselves “Free Beer”.

View attachment 474063
Viral marketing is an awesome technique. This sign has generated multiple threads now. @MAGAArms had a thread here and on facebook over this sign already. Every time this happens, the lines get longer...

But keep the criticisms coming everyone. I *KNOW* what I am doing is working even if y'all don't understand it or agree with it.
 
CDS has a decent ammo selection even with everything going on. I have probably bought a couple thousand rounds post election with no wait. Also Bought a firearm from CDS as well as at Dean/MAGA and a couple from Defensive Dynamics upstairs.
Place is full of choices
There are also a number of other shops that while not always open are here and can service overflow when things get busy and have their own loyal following. Seneca Arms, Pathfinder Armament, Hytech Armament, Battle Road, Minuteman, and I can keep going. When our line is 2 hours long and out the door, a lot of business flows to other FFLs in the building. All good.

Remember the primary goal is to give Maura the middle finger. We are succeeding in that mission.
 
That sign has been like a blacklight at a crime scene as far as out’ing people. It’s beautiful.

Possibly the only thing that would make it better would be to give @TPNES a couple of espresso shots and let him loose in the hallways. lol
 
Work long enough servicing and selling stuff and it gets to a point where deselection/market discrimination makes a lot of sense, either based on cost/benefit or just trying to keep ones own sanity. This isn't just a gun industry thing but a whole bunch of others, too. Restaurants do it. (eg, by like not selling desserts or shitty vegan food) Auto Mechanics do it. Landscapers do it. Cigar shops do it (Most cigar shops don't sell cigarettes, for example, even though they are already licensed to sell tobacco products- not to mention there are many cigar shops that ban or refuse to sell entire product lines for one reason or another. For example, if you want to watch a cigar shop owner to recoil in horror, ask about Ghurka. [rofl] )

But yet, somehow, people become 110% retarded when a gun dealer wants to do the same things and is brutally honest about it, I don't get it... [laugh]

Not selling or caring about .40's is just another form of deselection. There are a whole bunch of archetypes that are too hard to explain in this thread that go with things like .40s and
shields.

A bit of an oversimplification. Every business select the customers they target, true. But how many times do you see a steakhouse with a sign out front that said "If you order a salad you are an idiot and not welcome".

It just seems like a more savvy/intelligent business owner has figured out how to target certain customers without demonstrating their arrogance or "better than you" attitude.

Of course it business owner's right to do it however is best for them. Or in this case, the tough guy way they understand.
 
Quite the opposite. Knowing what the objectives are for your business and setting up policies to achieve them and ways to measure are critical for success. As I have mentioned in an infinite number of other posts selling guns is a side gig and not my livelihood. I've been to b-school and my day job I am an executive at a publicly traded defense contractor. Being a small number of years from retirement I started Dean Safety to be an enjoyable distraction once I retired. Being a seasoned business executive I could not help but apply pretty standard techniques to determine what my objectives, business model, ideal customers, etc would be. As anyone who knows me will tell you, yes, I have a spreadsheet for that. I have spreadsheets for everything related to the business because I constantly measure to make sure what I am doing is getting the results I want and when I make a change it has the desired impact.

There are only two ways to compete; you compete on value or you compete on price. Competing on price is horrible as it is a race to the bottom and engenders zero customer loyalty. Competing on value means you find a value, ideally one that has a high barrier to entry so no one else can easily compete. Competing on value means higher margins and significant customer loyalty. You have seen the evidence of the loyalty in this thread with customer testimonials. You have also seen plenty of evidence of the people self selecting themselves out as non-customers for various reasons. This is all good from where I sit.

The average gun shop essentially competes on price. The only value they bring is location and in the rare case a little bit of personality or specialization. But the average gun shop is essentially in competition with the Deli Ticket Emporium as they sell the same products and the DTE sells them cheaper. That is a hideous way to try and do business.

I dont sell the same guns as the DTE. I have no interest in competing on price by offering the same products, same services, etc as every other shop in MA. I don't carry and will not carry those common things that you find at every other shop. You want a Shield, or a Ruger American, or a cleaning kit, or a holster or... I am the wrong place. I WANT to be the wrong place if that is what you want. 1/2 the stuff you can get on Amazon and the other 1/2 I cannot compete with the DTE on price.

Math is easy. Let's say I can process a customer for a gun sale at 6 customers per hour. If I am making $50 per shield that is $300/hr. If I am making $100 per 1911 that is $600/hr. Which is a better business plan? First I LIKE 1911s, I LIKE customers who like 1911s, 1911 customers have other guns and will buy more in the future and I make more money selling them. On the other hand I hate shields, 1/2 the customers who buy shields are not gun people and therefore not repeat customers and not interesting to talk to. So what should I stock and sell?

Go open a retail business and let me know how you fair with your concept of "good business"
Shit, none in .40,
 
Viral marketing is an awesome technique. This sign has generated multiple threads now. @MAGAArms had a thread here and on facebook over this sign already. Every time this happens, the lines get longer...

But keep the criticisms coming everyone. I *KNOW* what I am doing is working even if y'all don't understand it or agree with it.

I love that you THINK this is successful viral marketing campaign. Because your sing was seen by a few dozen people who knew who you were anyway! . Its not viral, its preaching to the choir. You touting this as your big "viral marketing" success story is quite funny.

You sure *know* what you're doing. You really are the next Sam Walton. [rofl]
 
I love that you THINK this is successful viral marketing campaign. Because your sing was seen by a few dozen people who knew who you were anyway! . Its not viral, its preaching to the choir. You touting this as your big "viral marketing" success story is quite funny.

You sure *know* what you're doing. You really are the next Sam Walton. [rofl]

D62DAB30-ECED-4EE5-BB80-1771C2B59E0E.gif
 
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