Seriously, what is with the falling prices of firearms

Obama Panic winding down.
Denis

One would think that sooner or later there might come a day when the gun market, or sections of it, gets saturated, leaving a lot of unsold merchandise.
Falling prices would undoubtedly soon follow.
Could be that's what is happening.
Mebbe.

new Glock 43 .....

Not all US handgun prices are low.
The new Glock 43 retails for $450-480.00 in my metro area.
That to me is a bit steep. I'd think Glock USA would want the new sub compact 43 9x19mm to compete with the popular M&P Shield, Kahrs, Ruger LC9, Beretta Nano, SIG P290/320 sub compact.
A sale price more in line with the M&P Shields; $350-380.00 sounds more realistic.
I've seen qualified professional M&P Shield prices as low as $299.00. The Glock Blue Label series 43s cost about $350.00.

I wouldn't think polymer components or engineering/production would cost a huge amount.
I learned many years ago that labor, administrative costs, legal-liability issues, marketing & other factors cause a US made firearm to have a steep price.

Look at Taurus for instance they are selling the Millenium G2 for $250 in retail stores and Palmetto Armory had them for $199 this gun would normally retail for $375-$400. And I believe the reason is to gain more customers that would normally not buy them otherwise or cant afford to pay over $300 for a pistol. So it is a marketing strategy to gain a foothold in a stagnant market since the Obama buying frenzy is over. So other companies such as Ruger,Sig Sauer,H&K,Walther,Smith&Wesson, and several others are trying to innovate new designs that are more affordable to the common man and ladies without sacrificing quality.

About time!!!
All the companies were churning out 9mm's as fast as they could.
People buying them up as fast as they came out.

Now the demand is lower, while the manufactures have excess capacity.

Starting to see lower prices.
Best part for me though we are starting to see a little variation in the market.
Esp with Ruger, They are starting to add some nice choices out side the normal.
I.E. the Single 7's and now the SP101 reintroduced in 327 magnum.
They got me twice...

I like it!! After all how many friggin 9's do I need?

Supply and Demand.

If demand is high and supply low, prices rise.

If demand is low and supply high, prices fall

While demand for firearms may be lower than the historical peak of few years ago, I think the sales numbers from gun manufacturers still show strong demand. I think the lower pricing is mainly due to increase in supply and lower manufacturing cost due to higher volume production.

For retailers/manufacturers, if particular models don't sell, specials/sales/promotions/incentives are offered until existing stock/inventory of models are sold and they are not reordered/manufactured until demand increases while more popular models are reordered/manufactured (If demand never increases, particular model may be discontinued and replaced with different models).

As to really low prices, that could be also various retailers competing with each other for lower prices to move their merchandise and/or draw customers to their stores with more popular items. Keep in mind that highest volume retailers for particular region get special pricing from manufacturers and may pass on the savings to their customers to move even more volume of sales.

Also, with recent years demand, many component suppliers have ramped up production which have lowered cost industry-wide due to higher volume. Lower overall decrease and higher supply with decreasing demand will translate to overall decrease in completed firearms pricing.

Best part? We can buy/build 2-3 AR rifles for what they were selling for one not too long ago with even better parts.

Life is good!

Looking forward to 2016!!!

I feel two-ways about this. My gun collection just took a beating in value but that's okay since I'm not really selling (but I could have bought for much lower I guess - oh well).

This is the effect of market saturation, simple supply and demand economics 101.

Guns are durable goods that last decades or centuries, and are manufactured faster than are disposed of.

At some point, everyone that wants or needs one, has reached their capacity.

The irony is that this over-production and purchasing and demand of the last few years is a result of anti-gun legislation. People have rushed to buy guns. Collectors adding to their inventory, and even non-gun owners snapping up guns due to fear of legislation. Demand was extremely high and we saw price spikes.

Now, appetites have been filled and that spike is reverse and it's low.

So, as they say, buy cheap and stack deep. NOW is the time to be a buyer!

I've been trying to convince my few non-gun owning friends that now is the time to buy, but they are foolishly hold outs and missing the dip in the price market.

It is guaranteed to go back up, as soon as there is a hint of a ban or war or attack...

Gunshows are a poor barometer for pricing to start with but even retailers both storefront and online were priced high above wholesale. I doubt that manufacturers have cut deeply as much as retailers have responded to the slowing of sales due to saturation that was inevitable.

The parts-kit and Mateba-heavy portfolios win again...

Guns which are still being made don't hold value so well in market with falling (relatively) demand.

TCB

Only one shop around me is trying to sell at reasonable prices. Pawn shops and little guys are keeping their prices high. Buddy of mine owns a Pawn shop and gets ticked off that I don't buy guns from him even though I buy at least one gun every couple of months. Granted my purchases are private sales.

I laugh at his prices and he tells that is what the market will bear even though he's had many of the same guns unsold for over a year now. Then I remind him of this thing called the internet so his sense of market and the consumers market is very different. Only newbs are getting caught with their pants down on prices.

Some guns continue to go up like Ruger six series and S&W Model 28s but they are hardly selling.

If you don't need a gun, only buy if you get a great deal. Focus on ammo and reloading supplies. If you don't own a Semi-auto rifle, get a couple in advance of 2016.

Otherwise, enjoy the coming price slump short of Hillary winning an election.

The auction frenzy may be finally wearing off. With the advent of the auction sites, the prices of firearms jumped dramatically. We've all seen examples of this phenomenon.

Mark-up, sales ....

I get that FFL holders and gun shops need to pay the bills & keep the lights on, but some of them mark up prices crazy high .
Or they have staff or sales clerks who are clueless or not properly trained.

One gun shop near me jacks up prices often for brand new firearms. They cater to the new shooters or entry level gun owners who fall for the "the guy in the shop told me this is #1" ploy.
I'm not against someone selling products & making an honest buck but don't get angry or uptight when a serious shooter or informed consumer refuses to pay high prices or chooses to deal with online retailers(who offer sales or deals).

its just coming down to pre retarded prices, and thank god for that i was 17 when Obama took reign (back when a colt 6120 was about $700 otd i remember my uncle saying getting one wasnt worth it at the time as a m14 was 460 ish :banghead so for the last 7 years, my entire firearms purchasing life i have been only buying when something is "mislabeled" or on supper dupper sale and waiting for them to come back down from the stratosphere because my great grandma didn't raise no summer fool and im not paying two grand for a rifle that with adjustments should be selling for around 700 before taxes .

Whatever the reasons may be, enjoy the low prices. Lots of talk in DC now about pushing for more gun control, I know they always say this but if you heard the speeches lately you know they are serious this time. Hillary Clinton may become the next President, love it or hate it you have to acknowledge it. She will push forth more law control. Also individual states are pushing and winning, obviously in liberal states. Conservative states are winning their own states however. If you live in a liberal state, your laws will tighten up no matter what is happening in the White House or Senate.

My thoughts, do you agree?
AR15s probably can't go much lower. Seen people make complete AR15s for less than $500 after shipping, taxes, mags, sights, etc
AKs are actually going up...any clues on that? Odd since they are making AKs in the USA now, so the supply might be going up. I hope the USA made AKs turn out great, too early to tell.
Mosins SKS etc are going up but that is expected. If you don't have these, get them now. Both awesome guns.
New production handguns are pretty low right now.
Ammo is reasonable but I think they hit hear bottoms.
Shotguns are interesting, they seem to have their own market trends, which is always flat. I would like to see more 12ga sales. The good thing is there have been TONS of 00 buckshot sales lately. Pay attention, I got some for as low as $0.30 shipped.

Of course, after reading the response from one of the younger posters, it dawned on me that maybe part of the increase is us baby boomers with lots of disposable income.

Or as my sis says, "We have used up almost all of the fun (remember our chant, sex, drugs and rock & roll). There are only scattered pockets of it left around, and we are not telling the kids where it is".

Hildog .....

Don't let the scare fool you.
I seriously doubt HC will get the DNC nomination. The US public had 8 years of Big Bill.
Mass shootings or high profile crimes will occur several times between now & Nov 2016.
I wouldn't get too upset or panic.

Gun sales and ammunition prices should remain stable(or even less due to the drop in OCONUS US military deployments).
.22LR might be tricky or cost more but that's been "normal" since the early 2000s.

Maybe the experienced gun owners all bought a lot in the Obama panic, but in my circles many people are buying their first gun, people who 20 years ago would never have imagined doing so, and I think this phenomenon can only grow.

Prices are just going back to their pre-price gouging days, IMO

I'd LOVE to get a better price on my purchase, but all the local stores charge the same prices. I only want new, if anyone can suggest reliable online dealers for a S&W revolver (leaning toward 686 Plus, still vacillating on barrel length, 4", 5" or 6") I'd love the information. I *think* Californians can legally buy online by having the gun ship to a local FFL, if anyone knows for sure please advise.

I've been waiting for this to happen ever since the panic started and the EBR craze took hold. What I'm really anxious to see is the price of barely used AR's after the price of new ones comes way down. I can already buy a new S&W M&P 15 Sport for just over $500. It's a very good rifle by what I've read. It's going to be hard to sell a used AR for a lot of money once it becomes clear that there are prices like that. Yes they cut a corner or two but that can actually be a good thing. I don't really need a forward assist.

goes up and down, republican control of the house/senate/supreme court/many state governments plays a big role. if hil gets the win, and the dems retake one or both of the legislatures, that $500 dpms at buds could easily be 800+ lol.

If it starts to look like things are changing for the worse I may get an AR at the best deal possible while the getting is good. I'm just glad for a slight chance to get something reasonably priced. Of course I could buy a Taurus PT-111 Millennium Pro G2 right now for $200. That's an incredible deal. I thought I did well getting my PT-145 for about $320. For the time it was a great deal. But a 9mm version of the .45 I have for $200??? I haven't seen a lot of deals that good in my life. I may just have to get one.

Still the days of $99 SKS, $79 Mousers and $59 Mosin Nagants (complete with accessories) are long gone and will never return.
.