Do gun dealers.......deal?

[FireintheWhole]

I've stopped at Bobs and Edinboro recently because I just started looking for a subcompact. I didn't find anything that said BUY ME NOW so I left empty handed, but I am going to buy something soon. Have any of you bought from these shops and been able to talk them down at all? I have no clue how the markup on guns works and how much room they have to work with, let alone if they are willing to work with you. What experiences have you had? Thanks.

[Warners Surplus]

I've stopped at Bobs and Edinboro recently because I just started looking for a subcompact. I didn't find anything that said BUY ME NOW so I left empty handed, but I am going to buy something soon. Have any of you bought from these shops and been able to talk them down at all? I have no clue how the markup on guns works and how much room they have to work with, let alone if they are willing to work with you. What experiences have you had? Thanks.

From the dealers side of the coin. We only average 50 bucks on a new firearm and YES most of us will hagle a little bit just don't expect the world. This is one of the roughest businesses to be in with regulations and paperwork out the wazoo. Most of the bigger shops have more man hours tied up in paperwork from disposition and aquisition to fileing transfer taxes etc etc then actual time on the sales floor.

But YES most guys will deal! 10 buck here or 20 bucks there and or maybe a box of ammo for free (which nowadays is $$$$$)


JMHO,
Rich W.

[TheDrew]

i have had nothing but good dealings with Bobs.. talking them down.. well maybe on a used firearm.. but never really tried with a new one since IMHO they are usually the lowest price in town most of the time.. i have asked for a box of ammo to be tossed into the deal and that is usually acceptable.. in my experience over the years with Bob he really stands behind what he sells..


Edinboro has been good to me the one time i bought from them.. i was looking for a marlin 1894 lever in SS 44mag (which at the time was impossible to find) but they kept calling around for me until they tracked one down.. no idea if you can deal with them or not..


anyway it never hurts to ask worst they can tell you is no..

[FireintheWhole]

Cool, thanks guys.

I figured new ones didn't have much markup. I'm not going to try to haggle the dealers $50 profit away.

I see some used ones though that I know they can't have anywhere near into them what they are asking. These are the ones I think about haggling. Hey, $50 bucks will cover a lot of the fees. Ha

[kpw]

I buy almost exclusively from Bob's these days. He will deal a bit on used guns. I never haggle price on new ones with him. Like TheDrew said, he is usually the lowest price around anyways. Sometimes by a bunch. I always had good luck dealing with Ken at EO or Uncle Sam's when he was there. Uncle Sam's used to be heaven when looking for used gun deals. Edinboro Outdoors isn't quite the same but it's still a good shop.

[KeithPA]

I don't think smaller dealers don't have access to the large distributors (like Warner mentioned), but the big chains do and their mark up is usually 30%

[Whiskey Delta]

I tend to bargain like an Arab rug merchant, but will confess that I don't ever do so with small dealers unless I am buying more than one at a time.

I still don't care if they say no.

They are the backbone of our industry and have to serve two masters (us and the Feds) so I figure any profit they can eek out and use to stay in business, the better for all of us.

My C3 dealer is very upfront with me when selling my guns or selling me, since I have made it clear to them that I have no problem with them making a profit. They also tell me that I am one of the few that they can be candid with, since my viewpoint is somewhat unusual.

Capitalism: it's what's for breakfast.

[Michele]

First let me say welcome to the forum FireintheWhole.

You're looking for a sub compact I see.
Did you try looking in the firearms classifieds right here on the forum?
You can also post a WTB (want to buy) in the firearms classified section.
Just a suggestion.

Again, welcome to the forum.

[FireintheWhole]

Yeah, I looked in the classifieds and there was one gun I liked, but it was already sold.

I went to Gander Mountain last night and they had pretty much exactly what I want - an XP subcompact .40. None of the shops have one. Is there any way to get Gander to deal off retail? Otherwise I'll probably go to Edinboro outdoors and order one there since the guy was cool to me.

[KeithPA]

Yeah, I looked in the classifieds and there was one gun I liked, but it was already sold.

I went to Gander Mountain last night and they had pretty much exactly what I want - an XP subcompact .40. None of the shops have one. Is there any way to get Gander to deal off retail? Otherwise I'll probably go to Edinboro outdoors and order one there since the guy was cool to me.

Their wholesale price is.....

$434.00 Black or OD
$484.00 for Duo Tone
$506.00 with Trijicon NS or Heinie NS


Now that you know what they pay, your ready to wheel and deal.