How much do gun shops make?

[metalhead357]

Well I'm gonna poo where I eat I cant comment on the rest of the makers but those comments on the Glocks might not be that far off...I dont think they're spec on but they might be a tally for the assembly line cost; but not including everything Bill had mentioned.

After years of buying from one mom&pop shop at some pretty good/ok deals I finnally hit them up when I was in the market for a Glock 26. I did some homework and asked <nicely> if they'd ship one in for me; Guy pretty much says he could still beat the prices I found. So ALL done and said-- Gun, Dros, tax AND shipping I paid a smidge under $400. I was shocked and litterally asked if he was still making any money. He said yeah- $65's worth... I dont think it takes a rocket scientist to figure the gun went through a distributor that also made some money....but that FFL clearly stated to me he was paying less than $300 on them while they lasted (Circa 2001-2002)............. but then again- them deals are HARD to find; these days I pay a different kitchen counter guy $15 above his cost and he's happy.............and he's flat out told me too the distributors are still making money..

[PIRATE14]

Dealer on GLOCKS is 450-500 which doesn't include overnight shipping....they might run a big special but not usually.....

Only way that you might get'em cheaper is from a big buy that went bad from some LE/DEPT that balked....

If you can get a used GLOCK for 200 and sell it for 400....that's good....prolly not going to happen...

Buy one a new one for 460 and sell it for 500.....not so good....

the distros are making some bucs but they have $$$$ inventory.....the big manufactures are the guys making the $$$$

[jmgray]

I suspect the corporate break-even cost - given all the above costs - is gonna run at least somewhere around $240ish for a Glock.

I agree, 250+ is probably more reasonable. During WWII (depending on the year), a 1911 cost any where from $15-$50 to make. That is 60 years ago, on a simpler gun, manufactured by multiple companies, on tooling that had been perfected for that model over 30 years prior, and cranking out at a very high volume.

[xenophobe]

Glocks cost around $75 to manufacture. Add a 250% markup to retailers & LEO and the price comes to about $190. Add the Retailer markup of 250% and you get somewhere around $465.

lol what? Smoking crack is bad for your health...

Dealer cost on a Glock starts at about $430 and goes up depending on the model.

A dealer will pay $200-$300 for a used glock which can sell for $300-$400 depending on model, condition and accessories.

[xenophobe]

Maybe someone can clue me in as well on this. I have seen pistols out of CA go for a very reduced price compared to my local shops. High demand pistols like Glock, HK, and so forth usually there is not much give. however I have seen Sig's and Springfield's going for a hundred or more less online....that seems kinda strange to me.

A lot of online dealers sell out of their houses. That reduces overhead immensely.

Some gunbroker and auctionarms dealers sell for $20-$30 over cost... they don't mind being bottomfeeders and since they're not doing any transfers, they don't have rent, mortgage, bills, etc to pay.

[Turbinator]

I work for a company that has manufacturing overhead. The cost of this overhead is roughly 7.5% the cost of product, I've been told.

Turby

[JTROKS]

Um, yeah, I am sure it takes more than an hour of maching time to mill the slide on a glock and maybe another half hour for the barrel. Thats an hour and half. Last time I was in the machining business we were getting $75-$110 per hour per machine so we can assume $112-$165 just to machine those two parts. All the other crap doesn't cost much but I would be willing to bet it

Yup! A machinist is about $30 - 40 an hour plus the cost of bits and machine time. If a company can get the slides, barrel and misc part machined in China that'll be a money maker.

JTROKS

[peter455]

Retting has a 25-30% markup on new guns and 40-60% on accessories. Turners has a 15% markup on new guns and 30-40% on accessories. These two are the high and low.

Used gun markup is a minimum of 100%. (no one passes on a "smoking deal" to the customer)

Only wholesalers buy 100 guns at a time, and are able to take advantage of the discount hat gets you. Wholesalers have a maximum 10% markup on guns.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

He said yeah- $65's worth... I dont think it takes a rocket scientist to figure the gun went through a distributor that also made some money....

Any one familiar with blue label Glocks?
On the old tupperware Glock box a blue label on the end meant it was an LEO Glock. Same thing as a regular Glock but sold with the LE only magazines.
Weeeell, back in the day, uhm, unscrupulous dealers would get LEO blue label Glocks (which are sold at a fantastic discount, around $325.00 for all 9mm and .40s and $355 for 10mm and .45s) and then sell them to the general public at less than retail for the area. If Glock caught a dealer doing it, they'd cut them off.

[Stormfeather]

I was working for a security company a few years ago, and they decided to upgrade their firearms inventory from S&W Sigma series to Glock 17's. I contacted Glock directly and dealt with them. We had a regional distributor that was going to handle the transfer. Our cost, with total inventory trade-in, was going to be $328.00 per gun, for 200 pistols. That was from Glock. Im sure someone here can do the math, as Sigmas werent worth much on trade-in. As for the poster saying that Glock makes them for $75.00 each, I would have to say you are pretty much off base here. With all the overhead, labor costs, insurance, packaging, Im sure that it costs more than a mere $75.00. I for one would be interested in where you came up with that number.

[4D5auto]

Manufacturing cost on a gun really isn't all the much. The only two people who make the real $$ are the manufacturer and the wholesaler!! Back in the day, I had my FFL and I owned a Machine Shop, trust me when I say, manufacturing costs for that product isn't that much. Especially today's Polymer Receivers, which are manufactured 99.99% Off Shore for next to absolutely nothing. Other parts are stamped, cast, with minimal one and two step machine procedures. Then you have these parts in vast quantities that don't cost that much. Example, Springer XD's, Receivers are made in Croatia.
The manufacturer mark up is between 3-500%!!!

Anyway, shops around here are from 22% and up!

[glockman19]

what the hell are you talking about,

When we sold here we were getting about 60 bucks on a Glock. I sure as hell never saw a Glock come in for less than $420 from the distributors. Maybe they make a big markup but we sure as hell weren't. I don't know what deals turners runs, but thats the way it worked here.

As to the original poster, it depends on the individual business.

Let's face it your prices just suck on your guns and ammo too. I've bought and seen Glocks for $430 in group buys. Try reading.

Um, yeah, I am sure it takes more than an hour of maching time to mill the slide on a glock and maybe another half hour for the barrel. Thats an hour and half. Last time I was in the machining business we were getting $75-$110 per hour per machine so we can assume $112-$165 just to machine those two parts. All the other crap doesn't cost much but I would be willing to bet it costs $150-$200 to build a Glock.

I'm simply quoting from an article where Gaston Glock was quoted as saying his cost to produce one gun was $75. The article was from Forbes Magazine.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0331/064.html

You're nuts.

Glocks may indeed have a *raw* cost of materials of $75 to mfgr. What about direct-to-item labor? That's probably $10/gun alone for mfgr, testing, boxing, putting on the shelf, shipping out...

But if they sold at that $85 price they'd not only not break even, they'd go broke in a screamingly dramatic fashion.

That $75 you quote, if even remotely correct, certainly does not include corporate overhead, sales overhead, etc.

lol what? Smoking crack is bad for your health...

Dealer cost on a Glock starts at about $430 and goes up depending on the model.

Yes $430. and the most I've paid is $550 for a Glock 19 with night sights NIB 2 mags, case.

Sorry disappoint you guys:

"These days Glock GmbH has an estimated $100 million in sales, two-thirds of it from the trigger-happy United States. A gun that retails for $500 can be manufactured for $75, and the company has a pretax margin nearing 60%, estimates John Farnam of Defense Training International, a LaPorte, Colo. small arms instructor."

[tenpercentfirearms]

I make what I can, where I can, when I can. That is what I mark items up. I try to make at least 15% but will make up to 150% if I can get away with it. I definitely spend too much time in that shop not to be making as much as possible.

[Salty]

Keep in mind that for every hour someone is milling away on the factory floor there is typically another two hours of office work being done by someone else, especially on newer products. The office workers also get paid 2-3 times more than the factory workers.

[metalhead357]

i think wes said along time ago they start at 440. the guy that got a glock for alittle over 400 including dros and tax got a used gun most likely

nope- NIB. From the sounds of it- I think my FFL mighta stumbled onto one of those balked contracts...... or maybe one of the blue label specials; but nope no leo mags.........