Tips for talking to gun shops?

[Plisk]

MSRP OTD is unlikely.

[X231]

I will beat a car salesman to death (figuratively) to get a deal but always pay what's on the tag when I buy a gun .. go figure. I made the rounds at the local gun stores and I found one that treats me right and has as good or better prices than any of the rest in town. They have given me discounts without me even asking. In turn they get all my business plus some I've steered their way.

[Zedrek]

I bought two hanguns in two months at a LGS/pawn shop and asked about getting a discount on the $80 transfer fee on a gun I got at Gunbroker if I bought a rifle from him too. He said nope and I haven't been back since. Only time I asked for a discount and I have 15 guns.

[Czsp-01-9mm]

My LGS pissed me off, was looking for a new gun to plink with so I was looking at s&w 22a something cheap and cheap to feed, well I was holding checking out sight picture, then he said you can dry fire it, I said no thanks and I told him why it wasn't a good idea, and then he gave me the whole sarcastic oh no then you don't wanna do that, set down the guns told him thinks for your time and left, I don't like being treated like I'm an idiot from a store that I was going to spend money at

[CaliforniaLiberal]

I plan on buying a handgun next month once I save a little more/get the tax return. (Specifically a CZ 75 SP01 9mm)

Any tips on how to talk to shops to get a break? What SHOULDN'T I say? How much off sticker should I settle for, etc?

You may not have noticed, but the Second Great Obama Gun and Ammo Buying Frenzy is in full force. Gun owners and would be gun owners have been going nuts on all the gun stores, buying everything and anything in record numbers.

There was another horrible and tragic shooting of 20 first graders in Connecticut and all the usual anti-gun Congresspeople are promising to propose bills to ban "Assault Weapons" and even ALL Semi-Auto guns. Obama is finally speaking out with great energy about supporting lots of new gun laws.

Prices are rising, fast or slow depending on the retailer. There are no "Breaks" on price to be had anywhere.

Expect to find gun shops jammed with excited, panicked buyers, harried and irritable staff and not much selection.

You might want to wait a few months. Or just go hang out in a few gun stores and listen quietly and learn, get a feel for how things are done and what's possible.

The SP01 is a good gun. Popular. Might be hard to find in the next 6 or 12 months.

You've picked a fine time to learn about buying guns! (Remember Lloyd Bridges in Airplane!)

[Plisk]

You may not have noticed, but the Second Great Obama Gun and Ammo Buying Frenzy is in full force. Gun owners and would be gun owners have been going nuts on all the gun stores, buying everything and anything in record numbers.

There was another horrible and tragic shooting of 20 first graders in Connecticut and all the usual anti-gun Congresspeople are promising to propose bills to ban "Assault Weapons" and even ALL Semi-Auto guns. Obama is finally speaking out with great energy about supporting lots of new gun laws.

Prices are rising, fast or slow depending on the retailer. There are no "Breaks" on price to be had anywhere.

Expect to find gun shops jammed with excited, panicked buyers, harried and irritable staff and not much selection.

You might want to wait a few months. Or just go hang out in a few gun stores and listen quietly and learn, get a feel for how things are done and what's possible.

The SP01 is a good gun. Popular. Might be hard to find in the next 6 or 12 months.

You've picked a fine time to learn about buying guns! (Remember Lloyd Bridges in Airplane!)

You hit the nail on the head in bold.

You're entire post is right on.

[NorCalXJ]

Since the gun rush has happened, I would expect very little discounts.

[PjstoL]

I don't mind waiting for things to settle down a bit. I'm in no rush. (If they ever do haha)

When I am ready to walk in, hopefully theyll have something in stock that fits my criteria! Id rather buy locally and not have to special order.

[kantstudien]

Listen to gangsta rap to brush up on your vernacular and make sure you ask for a "Glock Fotie"

[MichaelM]

I usually walk into the gun shop and say, "hows it going you fat bearded bald motherF_cker!" If the price is to high you tell them to stop braking your balls. "Stop braking my balls Steve!, you ugly motherf_cker, give me a better deal, your asking 500? I say 250!"

At this point, they will not be able to resist and will come down on price. It works everytime!

[LMTluvr]

Why would they cut you a Break?
Why would they cut anybody a break? No lack of buyers, the possibility of a good portion of their sales ending( IF an AWB happens). First step would be to jump into the realm of the current reality. If you don't buy the next 10 people will...

[MichaelM]

Listen to gangsta rap to brush up on your vernacular and make sure you ask for a "Glock Fotie"

But the bigga cap be in tha Foe-Five.

[NoHeavyHitter]

I don't think you want my advice... A shop in Placer county that I've dropped $5900+ in the past 3 years just told me they "could do without my business".

[Katch]

Thanks for all the input fellas! I'm not trying to haggle down to a ridic price or anything, but I figure some vocabulary to throw out there to maybe get a break wouldn't hurt. I understand it's a really busy time right now, and a sellers market. I'm not going to busy anyone's balls over saving $50. I bartend at a restaurant, and I don't want to be that PITA customer I see from time to time.

As for the SP01 availability, le sigh. I haven't shot it, but that's one of the guns I boiled down to in my research. Hopefully I'll have some luck without having to drive too far from home (Sac). Otherwise, back to the review/forum grind looking for a full sized 9mm in my price range. (Curse you DOJ for not approving the Stoeger Cougar or Walther PPQ)

...Might work!

[JoshuaS]

Before the gun rush, discounts were hard to come buy if the shop already had competitive pricing. Most FFL's I have dealt with made a fairly small profit margin on new gun sales. My first handgun had an MSRP of 750 or so. I got it for $450, and that was not too far from the going price in many shops (just a tad lower). How much do you think the FFL made? 5-10% is my guess, and fairly normal.

During the gun rush, of course, prices are marked up. The good FFLs have marked up only a bit, not too much. I know my LGS added about $50 to lowers but didn't go 3x-4x the original price, as some gunstores have. Of course they were all sold out yesterday, except a Sig 556 that someone called and cancelled purchasing. They also had a bunch a p-mags and a few Glocks. But the shop looked fairly barren, so I think people window shopping did notice the mags and such. Anyhow. Whether it is a 25-50% mark up as at my LGS (and they said that was what they were doing, honest about it) or 300-400% on some guns/parts at others, prices are high. Little room to negotiate

And at least some moderate mark-up is good business sense, especially if it is a store that specialises in OLLs. Supplies are running out. Vendors (a lot of them, not all) are unreliable, and are likely to stab you in the back and sell their wares at inflated prices elsewhere, if they even have any. The short end, is that the store will be low in stock for a while, and cannot sell what they do not have. The honest ones will not take backorders as long as there is any uncertainty. So they need revenue now to coast though the next couple of months.

Your best bet is PPT frankly. Negotiate with an owner, and the FFL gets just a dros and usually something like $10 on top of the $25