One of the problems most gun dealers go through is that we get asked for pricing and availability on out of stock guns, we call and email manufacturers and distributors to get best deal and are then told "ok, thanks, i'll think about it"

Now there's nothing wrong with checking options but I'm trying to put together a new program for people ready to buy if price is right.  So I'm gravitating to a "name your price" scenario where s buyer can say "I am ready to pay $xx for this right now" and we can check and accept or counter if too low.

Thus would be a separate program from our retail operations and would be targeted to ready to buy customers with cash in hand just trying to get the best deal possible.

I'm bouncing around different ideas that I'll share and welcome sensible input.  Any ridiculous or impractical posts in this thread I may just delete, please don't take it personally!

That sounds great. Makes sense if you are going through the effort and using your resources to get the best/fair price for an inquiring customer.

I am one of those who has asked you twice for a price and said thanks and walked away. However, I also came back within a week and bought those guns. I personally never do anything in a rush no matter how much I want something and how great the price is.

As a side note when I came back and bought both guns the price was actually a tad lower than the original price you quoted me. I am saying this because I was willing to pay the original quoted price and I appreciate the honesty. 

Good ideas!

I've often wondered if you might want to put a "price good thru" caveat to the prices you quote?   That way, it gives the shopper a time limit, which after expiration is not guaranteed.  Might motivate a fence-sitter to "pull the trigger" knowing the price will likely change in 5 days, 7 days, or whatever is reasonable.  Only you will know if that price is guaranteed for a any number of days.

Also, the "name your price" might be a good way to go, but it's almost like a "price match" option.  If someone finds it online or sale priced on island, they should know they can bring that price to you to match or beat.  Sometimes I get a good price online.  If I know it's less than the shop has it priced, including shipping and FFL fee, I go ahead and order it before they sell out.  Without a "price match" policy, I'm probably not giving you a chance to compete.

The main thing is to know whether you are willing to look into matching another vendor's price.  Whether or not you can match the price, at least it gives you the opportunity to try.  Online processing of these requests is necessary, as some sales might be short-notice and subject to expiring or selling out very quickly.

Just a few thoughts for your consideration.

 

We're always willing to look into price matching.  Always best to email me directly

three issues though:

Many online dealers leave their old prices up on out of stock items, at a price that they are not currently selling for so it would have to be in stock

Second, most people don't factor in shipping and FFL fee like you so they end up paying more sometimes even when we explain it

Finally, some manufacturers have VAST variances in their price points on volume to the point that some huge online dealers can sell at retail slightly more than our wholesale cost.
We have to make minimum margin on those sales to stay in business, the cost of sale cannot exceed the profit.

We've never been one to shy away from saying " I can't beat that deal, grab it and I'd be happy to be your FFL "

It burns me when they pay more than they would have from us and we could have make some money AND saved our customer $.  We've kept the same FFL fee for 8 YEARS!

Good ideas!

I've often wondered if you might want to put a "price good thru" caveat to the prices you quote?   That way, it gives the shopper a time limit, which after expiration is not guaranteed.  Might motivate a fence-sitter to "pull the trigger" knowing the price will likely change in 5 days, 7 days, or whatever is reasonable.  Only you will know if that price is guaranteed for a any number of days.

Also, the "name your price" might be a good way to go, but it's almost like a "price match" option.  If someone finds it online or sale priced on island, they should know they can bring that price to you to match or beat.  Sometimes I get a good price online.  If I know it's less than the shop has it priced, including shipping and FFL fee, I go ahead and order it before they sell out.  Without a "price match" policy, I'm probably not giving you a chance to compete.

The main thing is to know whether you are willing to look into matching another vendor's price.  Whether or not you can match the price, at least it gives you the opportunity to try.  Online processing of these requests is necessary, as some sales might be short-notice and subject to expiring or selling out very quickly.

Just a few thoughts for your consideration.

 

This sounds great. I'd be up for this

Ive never bought a gun from you guys, because i haven't been in the market for a while, However i must say that your prices are very fair. Thanks OGC i love the ammo prices as well which I have bought.

Ive never bought a gun from you guys, because i haven't been in the market for a while, However i must say that your prices are very fair. Thanks OGC i love the ammo prices as well which I have bought.

 Thank you for your business !   Over the next few years it may be a very different market ,  European laws are going to be shutting down the entire European market for a lot of the semi autos that they take for granted .   The Trump administration is it likely to allow them to come into the US unlike the previous administration .

 The soft gun market will likely drive some of the low margin businesses in the industry to bankruptcy .  The ones that expanded too much under the Obama and hoped for Clinton Administration.

 I think it's going to be a case of a evolve or die .