Gun Show Table to Table Price Variations

[Hanzo581]

Ok, it's one thing if a store on one side of town is priced differently than another store on the other side of town, but a table ten feet away having the same item for 10, 20, 30+ percent higher?

I don't know about you but when I am looking at something I check prices at every table that carries it. Most recently I picked up .223 PMC Bronze for $8.50 a box (I know I overpaid but I needed ammo) but there were tables that were charging between $10-$14 for the same exact ammo. Are they just relying on suckers?

And it wasn't just ammo, one table may have a pistol for $400 and a table over it's $459...just doesn't make sense, these vendors travel together, do they not check out each others pricing?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

one table may have a pistol for $400 and a table over it's $459

Especially at gun shows, what is on the sticker isn't what you can get the item for. Cash talks.
Their bottom line price is likely very close.

 

[Hanzo581]

True, but from the vendors I have bought from at my shows all their prices are cash prices and if you use card they charge you 3% or whatever to cover. Most private sellers negotiate price but most licensed vendors don't here and unfortunately most guns sold at local shows are from dealers.

 

[beatledog7]

They were taking part in free enterprise, and so were you. Your post is an example of the system working as intended.

 

[Hanzo581]

No doubt. They can charge whatever they want, I was just wondering who in the world would pay extra for something they can get cheaper literally in the same place. Or are they banking on people missing the cheaper items amongst the 700 or so tables..

 

[Iggy]

THey probably both got the ammo at Wal-mart and are just trolling for suckers..

 

[dogtown tom]

Hanzo581...just doesn't make sense, these vendors travel together, do they not check out each others pricing?

If they all showed the exact same price someone would complain of price fixing.

 

[Reloadron]

Ok, it's one thing if a store on one side of town is priced differently than another store on the other side of town, but a table ten feet away having the same item for 10, 20, 30+ percent higher?

I don't know about you but when I am looking at something I check prices at every table that carries it. Most recently I picked up .223 PMC Bronze for $8.50 a box (I know I overpaid but I needed ammo) but there were tables that were charging between $10-$14 for the same exact ammo. Are they just relying on suckers?

And it wasn't just ammo, one table may have a pistol for $400 and a table over it's $459...just doesn't make sense, these vendors travel together, do they not check out each others pricing?

Only an idiot would walk into a gun show, stop at the first table that has what he/she is looking for and buy it. That is especially true of ammunition. The savvy gun show shopper will walk the entire show and make mental or written notes of prices and where the prices were for what they may be interested in.

Typical gun show scenario from the selling side of the tables. Friday evening is generally setup. You unload your stuff and start setting up your tables. During this period other sellers will wander the show looking at what each other has. I never priced my stuff till 9:00 AM Saturday morning when it was showtime. I priced my stuff based on what I needed to get out of it, be it ammunition, guns or whatever. Here are typical table rates for a current Ohio show in the Cleveland area:

TABLE RENTAL IS $40.00 PER TABLE FOR ONE DAY, $50.00 PER TABLE FOR TWO DAYS.
**Berea tables this January through March are $50 each for one day or two days.

Tables were $40 the last time we did the Berea show. We would get 5 tables with an end cap so our table cost was $200 before the show even started meaning we needed to make $200 plus gas and overhead before we started to even make any money. Today's cost would be higher obviously.

Every seller knows what they can take as a minimum on what they have. Sometimes I would drag ammunition along but hated ammunition. It was a PITA in that a single round is not very heavy but when you have 50,000 rounds setup is a real pain and what you don't sell you pack out. That does not mean at 3:00 PM on Sunday you are ready to give the stuff away.

What you have at a show is a large number of sellers all trying to hawk their wares in a confined space. They all know what they can or can't accept. With us people would frequently ask "is that the best you can do on that"? I had no problem with them asking. If I have ammunition out there and someone wants 20 boxes I was happy to drop the single box price. I knew my bottom line to meet my expenses.

Also, all sellers don't get their stuff for the same cost so they price accordingly. Right now ammunition is a tight commodity so seeing inflated prices on 223 or 22LR comes as no surprise to me.

Conclusion; the savvy shopper has nothing to lose asking if that is the best the seller can do. The savvy shopper also walks the show taking notes, especially a large 1,000 table show.

Just My Take
Ron

 

[medalguy]

What do you mean nearly all sellers are dealers. What about the gun show loophole?

I agree with Ron that every seller may have a different cost. Some are serious to sell and others not so much. Do your research and make your best deal. Lots of what I sell goes for the listed price.

 

[larryh1108]

I believe that the cheaper ammo will sell out and then the higher priced vendors will get their price when they are the only game in town. Why sell for less if you 'think' you'll sell it at your original price eventually? Now, the last hour you can get some deals because many times guys don't want to carry stuff back to their vehicle or they overestimated what they'll get. I used to sell at gun shows so I've seen this first hand.

 

[Mike J]

I haven't been to a show in a while but when I do go I generally walk the whole show before I buy anything. Then if there is something I want or am interested in I will drift back to it. I have actually gotten things cheaper by doing this on a Sunday afternoon. They dropped the price between the first time I walked by & when I came back.

 

[Reloadron]

I haven't been to a show in a while but when I do go I generally walk the whole show before I buy anything. Then if there is something I want or am interested in I will drift back to it. I have actually gotten things cheaper by doing this on a Sunday afternoon. They dropped the price between the first time I walked by & when I came back.

There is another phenomenon that comes into play here. When Kathy (She who must be obeyed) and I did the shows we always paid up front. I remember many a Sunday with the show promoter(s) walking the show looking for their money. People who were not regulars were expected to pay in cash so if you owe and don't have cash you had better generate cash real quick. Promoters loved us as our joke was "Our checks don't bounce".

Thus Sunday sale prices leading to desperate fire sale prices. Just depends on the seller.

Ron

 

[bgw45]

I don't shop so much as in the "wifey" type of shopping. If and when I go to a Gun Show I am looking for something precise to fit my need. I have my price range based on local shops and internet shops. In most recent times the Gun Show prices are no bagain. Not willing to pay more at a gun show is keeping me from paying the entrance fee and directing my purchases elsewhere.

I'm not going to another gun show till .22 is back in stock at the local dealers.

 

[oneounceload]

(I know I overpaid but I needed ammo)

No, you didn't since you stated that you NEEDED ammo.

As stated, not everyone has the same costs to cover and recover. Some sellers might be local, others may have a lot of gas and hotel bills to cover; some might be pawn shops where they bought stuff for .05 on the dollar and others might have a $30 profit on something just trying to move it. Many gun shows also have different pricing depending on WHERE your table is in relation to the majority of the traffic flow of customers. Not really much different than the boat/RV/car dealer expositions where they are all in one big area

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have relied on the last hour of last day of show to get reasonable prices;
Baikal IZH43 Bounty Hunter II , double barrel shotgun, 12ga 2 3/4", 20" c&c, 15 Aug 99, $200. My thinking is, last day vendors need to pay room bills, meals, gas, etc and may need money. Of course I paid in my time for cutting it close: by the time my 4473 got to the phone desk, the instant check phone line was down, so the vendor transfered the gun to a local dealer connected to the show. When I arrived there the next day, I passed BG check and was free to go with my gun no extra charge.

 

[gbran]

We have a big gun show come thru town about every ther month. There may be a few reasonable tables, but far too often the used gun prices are greater than new.

 

[wally]

Only an idiot would walk into a gun show, stop at the first table that has what he/she is looking for and buy it.

I've watched it happen a couple of times with the Kel-Tec KSG for $1800, the buyer seemed thrilled to have found one, and the dealer, admitted to being surprised anyone would pay that much in the first 5 minutes of the show, he was expecting to lower the price depending on how many else were out there at that show.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I pre shop at local GS and online to establish a price range for myself.

 

[huntsman]

gun shows are a lot of fun with a pocket full of cash if you're looking for something out of production it's the simplest way to buy. I'd rather haggle with the seller than buy from an auction site and I don't begrudge anybody's prices, if I want it I'll let him know then let the fun begin.

The one thing I won't buy at a gun show is ammo, unless it's bulk.

 

[Reloadron]

gun shows are a lot of fun with a pocket full of cash if you're looking for something out of production it's the simplest way to buy. I'd rather haggle with the seller than buy from an auction site and I don't begrudge anybody's prices, if I want it I'll let him know then let the fun begin.

The one thing I won't buy at a gun show is ammo, unless it's bulk.

Exactly and the merit to a show is I can thoroughly inspect the item. Last show I was at there was a really nice Colt Trooper. I got to handle the gun and really feel the action and trigger release. I can't do that with an online auction. Yeah, the gun is in the safe.

Ron

 

[JohnBT]

"The savvy gun show shopper will walk the entire show"

You think I should spend 3 or 4 hours walking around taking notes just to save a few bucks? My time is more valuable to me than that. I might spend 3 or 4 hours walking around taking notes if I thought I could save hundreds of dollars on a purchase, but otherwise those are just hours I'll never get back before I die.

In other words, I have more money than time. And some of that time can be used to make more money.

 

[jmr40]

The guy selling at 30% higher may be making less profit than the others. Lots of reasons why prices are the way they are at gunshows and in gunshops. Wholesalers prices are up and down as are manufacturers. One local gun dealer refused to sell Rugers many years ago because of their pricing. He bought up more than $10,000 in Rugers to put in his shop. Shortly afterward Ruger reduced their prices on most of their line.

He ended up having to sell them at just 2% over his cost to match the prices other dealers were able to sell at 10-15% over their costs because they bought after the price drop. After he sold his inventory of Rugers he wouldn't carry them for several years. Many other dealers complained and shortly after Ruger started offering rebates instead of reducing dealer costs. This was much more fair to dealers who already had inventory in stock.

 

[crazy-mp]

I always sell me guns below dealer cost at gun shows that way I can make other dealers mad and give great deals to the people there I just really enjoy loosing money...Oh wait, I am a business and I am in business to make money that won't work...hmmmmm

I guess I will have to sell my stuff for more than dealer cost and still hope to make enough to pay for gas my help and the tables, guess I have to charge more than dealer cost.

And FWIW I have dealer accounts at 7 different distributors and the most any of them have ever been apart on price is 8-10 dollars. Dealers cannot get new Glocks for 75.00 or Kimbers for 250.00. We are all pretty much buying the same products at the the same price.

 

[kendak]

I'm like JohnBT ..I walk in with cash & buy from the first table that has what I want & then I'm out of there...don't like being in with a bunch of idiots ...my time is worth way more than a "good deal" ...take care

 

[USAF_Vet]

Especially at gun shows, there seems to be a mindset of "get it first, get it now, it might be gone when I come back around" at least among new gun buyers. If I'm looking for something in particular my LGS can't reliably get, and it is within the budget I have set, I have been guilty of this behavior myself.

Then again, I've also passed on items I wanted in the hunt to find it cheaper at a different table, only to find it sold by the time I've come back around.

I go to gun shows for rare gems and oddities, not the standard fare of my LGS.

With ammo generally back in stock at my LGS, I don't bother with gun show ammo.

Free market being what it is, I pay the price I'm willing to pay. Better ideas can be had, but I willingly and happily pay $459 for a gun I want, I'll have only a like twinge of self inflicted Burt kicking if I see the same thing for cheaper five tables down.