Antioch Armory must hate customers.

[BillCA]

Any bargain hunting where you seek to get a better deal than the listed price is haggling.

"Price matching" is generally understood to apply to a price that a competitor advertises. If the retailer doesn't claim to offer price matching, and you ask for it, you are haggling.

How in the 'ell did you formulate that bovine scatology?

I've been in several gun shops where such a policy existed, but was either not posted or posted amongst so many signs, logos and advertising posters that it was difficult to find. And often the store workers won't promote that policy very profusely. Small businesses like gun shops seem to operate on a belief of "If you ain't smart enough to read all the signs or ask first, then it's not our job to educate you."

Certainly asking for a lower price (or waiving taxes & fees), suggesting what you're willing to pay as a counter-offer to the listed price or trying to get a "package deal" is haggling. Some shops will do it but others won't (it'll depend on their business model & philosophy).

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

I thought long and hard to find something good to say about Antioch Armory. Brian gave me Great customer service once. Brian is a good guy.
Alan Ripped me off a couple times. Charged me Tax on UPS delivery a service he didn't provide. Not a stand up guy. I will never go back.
A A is five miles away. I will drive 30 miles to J&R in Livermore.

[FNH5-7]

These days, I think it's mostly lack of good manners which can be attributed to poor parenting (and I'm in my 20's).

+1 I agree.

Next time you see a situation like that, very loudly ask "EXCUSE ME, AM I INVISIBLE???"

Sounds like a good idea.

[Fspeed]

Your willing to spend $500 on a gun, but want to hagle for ten bucks?

Employee is being a jerk, becuase he can get away with it.

[joedogboy]

What's wrong with haggling?

Nothing wrong with haggling. However, a store not being willing to haggle is not really a valid reason to complain about them on the internet. There is no law or rule that says a store has to accept your offer when you don't want to pay the marked price for an item. If they set a price that they believe is fair, and allows them a fair profit, the customer simply has to decide whether or not they agree that it is a fair price.
If the customer wants to ask for a lower price, that's fine - but there should be no expectation that the retailer will actually accept the lower offer.

[warbird]

there is nothing wrong with asking if that is the best they can do on a price. If they say yes, just say thank you and leave. Nothing wrong with asking if they can price match either as long as you are not blowing smoke. some stores buy in bigger volume and some have better connections in the wholesale market for certain guns/brands that allows them more flexibility in pricing. One store last year gave me such a good deal on three guns I was tied up for three months doing the one gun a month thing. great excuse to visit the area to fill out paperwork and go back and pick up guns. if I buy a new gun in the bay area it is from them and I transfer all my bay area FTF through them as my way of saying thank you. In fact I wil probably buy several more guns from them this year.

[checkenbach]

I went to A.A. today and the salesmen were very quick to ask me if they could show me something in the gun case(after coralling the dog that wanted to jump over the counter), they didn't have much that interested me so I wandered around for a bit and left, it was a pretty big waste of time considering the traffic and heat, so I went to Diablo Valley Gun Works, they did have some cool stuff, but a bit more than I was willing to spend on 686's.

[kcs1211]

.
A A is five miles away. I will drive 30 miles to J&R in Livermore.

I do the same. I live in Antioch, but tell everyone about J&R in Livermore. AA hasn't given me the service I want, so I go elsewhere.

J&R is open on Sundays too, which is a big plus for me.

[NotEnoughGuns]

Not willing to take $10 off the price is a friggin joke. I haven't been to A.A. in years and thought they were out of business.

FWIW, I've been buying all my guns through Triple As sporting goods in Vallejo. If the owner was in this situation he would have taken the $10 off without hesitation.

[Rob454]

Mine is working fine. Wiggle the cord.

Wow you still use a cord?

. Successful businesspeople know that sometimes it is better to "fire" a customer rather than allow them to waste your employees' time.

LOL. Personally I haggle over things I buy. I ALWAYS ask if there is a discount if I purchase today and if I pay cash. guess what 99% of the time there is a discount. I'm gonna try to keep as much of my money as I can. When I deal with anyone for furniture construction appliances guns ammo etc i always ask for a discount. and i usually get one. you wanna pay full price for something go ahead. if there is no discount I still ask if they price match. or i call around for the lowest price I can find and then I ask for a discount. I make a decision on weather to purchase from you or not. its silly NOT to ask for discount or price match. To each his own.
As for firing the customer ok fine. Its gonna take you 3x the money to get a new customer in the store to purchase what a guy that already is a customer purchases.
i don't see anything wrong with expecting decent customer service and asking if they price match with another store. if you say no when I am there IN YOUR STORE CASHIN HAND and willing to buy and you gotta drop 10$ off your price you're one stupid shop owner. I would of laughed and walked out.

[BillCA]

One other thing to keep in mind... If you want to haggle a deal, ask to bundle some of his higher-profit items into the deal.

Dealer (profit) margins are not all that high on firearms. S&W can produce a Model 629 for probably around $300-$325 and marks it up to sell to a Distributor. The distributor probably pays $500-$600 for a gun with an MRSP of $1025 and sells it to a retailer for around $750 and the retailer lists it for $899. [note: number for discussion examples only]

So that retailer might make $150-$225 on each gun sale, out of which he has to pay his overhead. Slim margins. But his margin on accessories is usually higher. Profit margins on holsters, ammo, scopes, grips, reloading supplies, etc. is higher per-unit.

Thus, if you want a discount on that 629 and he's hedging, ask what kind of deal he'll give you if you want to buy "this leather holster", a set of grips and two boxes of ammo. He can afford to give you 10% off the accessories and still make a good profit, even if he discounts the revolver by $50.

[Lazy eye]

Any bargain hunting where you seek to get a better deal than the listed price is haggling.

Can I get ten dollars off this because I SAY that another shop has one for ten dollars less than you are asking?

Can I get this for ten dollars less if I can show you that it is ten dollars less on the internet?

Can you eat the sales tax on this?

Can you eat the DROS and paperwork fees on this?

Will you throw in a box of ammo?

Can I get it for ten dollars less than the marked price?

"Price matching" is generally understood to apply to a price that a competitor advertises. If the retailer doesn't claim to offer price matching, and you ask for it, you are haggling.

Not that there's anything wrong with haggling, but complaining because a retailer stood by their listed price, rather than haggling, is a little bit silly. Might even make a good Monty Python sketch.

Wonderful hospitality lazyeye. I point out that asking for a discount is haggling, and you tell me to leave the site.

Merriam-webster says that haggling means "to annoy or exhaust with wrangling", their thesaurus suggests "to talk over or dispute the terms of purchase". He asked one question and wasn't given the courtesy of a response from the employee that denied it. You are being deliberately obtuse about the common understanding of the word "haggle" in order to prove your strawman of an argument. Because of that, yes, you can go somewhere else.

[joedogboy]

i don't see anything wrong with expecting decent customer service and asking if they price match with another store. if you say no when I am there IN YOUR STORE CASHIN HAND and willing to buy and you gotta drop 10$ off your price you're one stupid shop owner. I would of laughed and walked out.

If they cut their price to the point where there isn't enough profit margin to cover the bills, then they are stupid business people.

You can always ask for an additional discount, but why cry about it when you don't get it?

Gas and groceries must be really difficult for you.

[joedogboy]

Merriam-webster says that haggling means "to annoy or exhaust with wrangling", their thesaurus suggests "to talk over or dispute the terms of purchase". He asked one question and wasn't given the courtesy of a response from the employee that denied it. You are being deliberately obtuse about the common understanding of the word "haggle" in order to prove your strawman of an argument. Because of that, yes, you can go somewhere else.

Common definition - per YOU:

their thesaurus suggests "to talk over or dispute the terms of purchase"

- which includes the price.

I asked him if he could sell me the .40 for $545. That is the price Diablo Valley Gun Works was selling it for. The employee went to ask the owner, but as he was waiting the rude phone employee walked up and bumped him and shook his head no. He walked back and told me they couldn't, so I left pledging I will not support Antioch Armory EVER AGAIN!

Tag price $555.
Shopper offers $545.
Merchant stands by tag price.

Sounds like they were "talking over" the "terms of purchase".

And since this is the reason that the OP says he decided not to ever "support" AA again, it seems that this is the main complaint - rather than the fact that the employee didn't put down the phone and help him.

Maybe you should actually read the posts before commenting. As for your suggestion that I leave, I will respond with the classic "make me". I have done nothing wrong, just suggested that it is well within a businesses rights to stand by their listed price.

[testosteroneOD]

I walked into a very large shop in Vegas, wanting to buy an AR. I patiently waited at the counter in front of the ARs and waited for somebody to walk up and help me as they were busy that morning. After 15 mins or so, somebody finally asked if he could help me. I asked 'can I see that Calvery Arms AR right there please?" while pointing to the exact rifle I wanted to see. He pulled it off the rack, held it in front of my face and said 'see' and put it back and walked away...
I took out the wad of 100s I had in my pocket and got his attention as I walked out the door and said 'see' and went to another shop and bought a better AR at a cheaper price.
The original shop has since been sold.