Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What Are Vendors At Gunshows Thinking???

I attended a gunshow where I met COLDBORE and bought some brass from him. We got into a discussion about how ridicules the pricing is at these events. Ammo that is decades old selling for the same price as new ammo. Leupolds that must be made out gold for what they want!

It depends on the show and the table your at. Here in Des Moines, I can buy reloading components cheaper than I can most anywhere else. If you get one or two dealers who keep their prices reasonable, the rest of the show has to, or they get no traffic.

We see that out here also but those are the samr people that carry that chit from show to show without moving anything. If your going to do gunshows you have to have good prices and quality items, otherwise your just wasting time.

The problems the dealers for the most part are buying retail and trying to move the stuff at higher retail.

Or some of the other dealers hassle the show promoter who then hassles the low price vendor.

I was at a gun shop in OK and found some ancient .411 350 gr. "X"s. For 54 freaking bucks!

Dude's on crack....

True enough. I often see people trying to sell used guns at significantly more than a new gun of the same model would cost -- and I'm not talking about collectibles. Having said that, I do occasionally find a good deal. Like anything else, you have to know what you're looking for and what a fair price is before you walk in the door.

Very true. Same as any purchase a guy might make.

Last gun show I was at in March the prices are on the decline. Several vendors had primers under $30. I see Sinclair listed Rem 7.5 on for 29.95 the other day. Pipeline is filling up at least until gun salesman of the year Butthole Obama causes his next crisis

I only go to gun shows ocasionally. But when I do, I assume that the asking price is just a starting point and that the final price will be substantially less.

But I bet that some of the vendors go from show to show always hoping to find one of those people that P.T. Barnum said was born every minute.

KC

They're thinking eventually someone will come by and buy it.

It's the same in Canada.I'd swear that some vendors don't want to sell their stuff,they'd rather pack it around from show to show!If you look hard enough though there's usually the odd little gem hiding on a table somewhere! Monashee

I also have noticed that in the past 2-3 years prices have gotten much higher at gun shows in general. I now mostly go look unless there is something specific I need (Like a particular clip or screw or...) I used to buy more at them.

This is exactly why I don't waste my money at the door anymore. When I do go to the occasional one, all I hear from the vendors is "There are no buyers anymore!".. Get a friggin clue guys and figure out why.

The way I heard it was, a lot of vendors bought at retail prices or above around the time of the election expecting the gun/ammo buying rush to last longer/go higher than it did.

The last one I went to had a vendor trying to sell bullets WAY over current retail. Try a 50 count box of 85 gr. 6mm partitions for $40.

Like others here have said, unless I'm looking for something in particular, there's no reason to go.

That's true. Bob's out of Monroe also goes to CR and his powder and bullet prices are better than any of the stores. Other people at the show will have the same powder priced higher. You can't buy from the first one you see. As others have said, the prices on firearms tend to be ludicrous. At the last CR show, I overheard one vendor feeding a potential buyer a line of BS about how all guns were going up now that the health care bill had passed.

Bob is who I had in mind. Nice guy, been buying from him for years. I'll buy a little more from him tomorrow night.

Nothin' new.. Same crap at shows around here - which is why they're not worth the 5$ to get in... There's junk at new prices or new stuff at MSRP+20%...

You only have to pay $5 to get in?? It's like $7-9 here...

I can't lie though, I did find a great deal on a used Rem 700 30/06 for $275. Bedded, floated, lapped bolt, and trigger work along with leopold mounts and rings.

Gotta love those estate auction resellers...