Kynoch
member
I'm curious as to when the current hyper gun demand bubble will burst and when will prices drop? It will happen. It's just a matter of when?
Guns are a durable product. They aren't consumed for the most part and they aren't typically thrown away -- they are sold, traded or given away. At some point the current hyper demand will lesson because of far greater saturation of product (particularly in semi-new markets like small 380/9mm pistols) and possibly because of potential political changes.
Gun makers in the USA have been extremely shrewd in not stepping up production on most products (small semi-auto pistols would be a notable exception as they build market share) and flooding the market with output. That would put a lot of pressure to lower pricing to keep the flow moving, particularly once the bubble breaks. They face far less foreign competition (both high quality and lower quality products) due to the GCA of 1968 so that too plays a part. If the GCA didn't exist there would far greater price competition today.
On the other hand once demand decreases there will finally be increased competition amongst the different manufacturers which should lead to price erosion if the market is indeed free (except for the GCA of course.)
This is a fascinating subject to me. Gun sales have been a feast/famine industry for well over 100 years in the USA. Gunmakers do well during times of war and uncertainty. Then (at least in the past) they had to compete with the surplus sales of what they had earlier built for the gov't. Any insights?
Guns are a durable product. They aren't consumed for the most part and they aren't typically thrown away -- they are sold, traded or given away. At some point the current hyper demand will lesson because of far greater saturation of product (particularly in semi-new markets like small 380/9mm pistols) and possibly because of potential political changes.
Gun makers in the USA have been extremely shrewd in not stepping up production on most products (small semi-auto pistols would be a notable exception as they build market share) and flooding the market with output. That would put a lot of pressure to lower pricing to keep the flow moving, particularly once the bubble breaks. They face far less foreign competition (both high quality and lower quality products) due to the GCA of 1968 so that too plays a part. If the GCA didn't exist there would far greater price competition today.
On the other hand once demand decreases there will finally be increased competition amongst the different manufacturers which should lead to price erosion if the market is indeed free (except for the GCA of course.)
This is a fascinating subject to me. Gun sales have been a feast/famine industry for well over 100 years in the USA. Gunmakers do well during times of war and uncertainty. Then (at least in the past) they had to compete with the surplus sales of what they had earlier built for the gov't. Any insights?