Dealer markup on new guns

[majordisorder]

Just wondering if anyone knows what sort of markup is put on by dealers for the big name guns? I'm guessing around 40-50% since that's what it was in the bike trade when I used to work in it years ago. I fancy a haggle for my new gun since it's out of my price range, so has anyone got any inside knowledge?

[Browning]

You'd be surprised at how little markup they do put on new guns.

 

Don't be surprised if they laugh when you offer them 40% off list......

 

At the end of the day they are in business to make money, if they won't sell you the gun at the price that you want to pay, then try elsewhere.

[lordhardup]

Just wondering if anyone knows what sort of markup is put on by dealers for the big name guns? I'm guessing around 40-50% since that's what it was in the bike trade when I used to work in it years ago. I fancy a haggle for my new gun since it's out of my price range, so has anyone got any inside knowledge?

 

I have a friend in the gun trade and his mark up is 20%

 

ATB Clynt

[Dunkield]

The only sucess I have had with new guns is to grab a load of extras, do the numbers in your head and then ask how much for the whole lot.

They are more likely to discount accessories than the actual gun.

When I bought my Tikka I got the dealer to chuck the slip in FOC, it was worth about £45 back then.

[robc89]

I know one of the local gun dealers and on new guns he says they dont actually make that much, now cartridges on the other hand.....

[CFSPORTS]

I know one of the local gun dealers and on new guns he says they dont actually make that much, now cartridges on the other hand.....

 

Hi

The mark up on new guns is very poor I have to work between 10 and 15% and as for cartridges 15% discounted down to 10% on 1000s we also have to buy 25000+ to get the best price so with cartridges and I have over 120 guns in stock the amount of money tied up in stock is substantial. However the mark up on other things is a lot better so yes we can do deals on kits. Hope this enlightens you all as now you can see why there are no mega discounts on new guns and cartridges.

[killer_pigeon]

my local RFD said he only puts on 14% markup on new guns, S\H guns is different and i suppose a lot more as he wouldnt say !

[hamster123]

so for an example how much is a new maxus

[Vince Green]

Its not just the markup on guns you have to consider. Look at all the money they have tied up in all the guns sitting in the racks waiting to be sold. Most of that has to be financed by a bank loan and interest has to be paid on that loan. Plus the rent on the shop, plus council tax, insurance, electric etc.

 

A friend of mine was going to open a gun shop and thought about calling it A. P. Rick because he said only A. P. Rick would be stupid enough to want to open a gun shop these days. In the end he didn't do it because the figures just didn't add up.

 

Don't go looking for discounts from gunshops, they were crippled by the ban on mail order selling and most are just struggling to keep going.

[majordisorder]

So if there's such a small margin in guns you'd think they'd want shot of them (excuse the pun) to encourage repeat sales of the higher margined goodies. I'd have thought that selling a discounted gun and making £100 on it aswell as recouping the £1000+ in tied up stock cash would be a good idea in this economic climate. If margins really are that tight surely it can't make financial sense to hold dozens of guns in stock can it?

 

Are we really sure than price fixing isn't "encouraged" by the big name gun brands?

[CFSPORTS]

So if there's such a small margin in guns you'd think they'd want shot of them (excuse the pun) to encourage repeat sales of the higher margined goodies. I'd have thought that selling a discounted gun and making £100 on it aswell as recouping the £1000+ in tied up stock cash would be a good idea in this economic climate. If margins really are that tight surely it can't make financial sense to hold dozens of guns in stock can it?

 

Are we really sure than price fixing isn't "encouraged" by the big name gun brands?

 

I hold well over 120 guns in stock because I want to offer my customers a choice. No doubt you like to walk into a gun shop and have a look at the different guns on display if that shop had six on display what impression would that give you. As a shop keeper I think it is so important to have a well stocked shop and to display items correctly it looks professional and right. You say it would make good sense to discount a gun and make a £100 and recoup the cost well great if you are closing down sell your stock off cheap and there you go but if your not closing down that gun has to be replaced with another staff have to be paid rent & rates etc etc so if you want to stay in business its not a good idea even in this economic climate. As for price fixing it dosent happen if it did you would be paying a lot more for your guns and ammo. For your information I worked out the profit on a new Beretta silver pigeon s field 30" multi choke I have these for sale at £1450.00 the profit on this gun is a miserable £98.75 but thats the price its got to be to be competitive with other dealers. As you can see there is absolutely no room for discounting.

[Ozzy Fudd]

youd be better of trying haggling for a 2nd hand one, i remember when i traded my benelli in the dealer gave me £250 for it, next week i was in he had it priced at £400; having said that both my mossbergs have been priced at nearly £300 and ive talked them down to £200 even for both, reckon if i went to trade it in he'd give me £50 for both of them :unsure:

[groach1234]

Im unsure about this 15% mark up, a sliver pigeon retails at £1500 and i bought one from a local dealer for £1175 so thats about 20% i do believe and i dont doubt the dealer had money in it at that the worst is the jewellery trade, when i worked in a jewellers i got told to give 10% straight off if someone asked and the most i gave was 20% but the manager gave over 30% and they were making a killing at that :unsure:

 

George

Edited April 24, 2010 by groach1234

[Glenshooter]

i remember when i traded my benelli in the dealer gave me £250 for it, next week i was in he had it priced at £400;

 

If my understanding and maths is correct, he 'only' makes £80 on this deal - which is still 32% so not too bad. He sells at £400, less 17.5% VAT which is £330 and is therefore £80 more than he gave you for it. A lot less than it might look at first.

[Ozzy Fudd]

If my understanding and maths is correct, he 'only' makes £80 on this deal - which is still 32% so not too bad. He sells at £400, less 17.5% VAT which is £330 and is therefore £80 more than he gave you for it. A lot less than it might look at first.

 

yes, making £80 on the gun i traded in, but how much did he make on the gun i bought at the same time, which incidentally was a 2nd hand benelli nova at £400?? dont get me wrong i know its a business and they have to make money, what im saying is you got more room to bargain with 2nd hand ones:yes:

Edited April 24, 2010 by Ozzy Fudd

[fortune82]

I used to work in a gun shop on a saturday when I was at school. The shop didnt make a huge amount on guns or shotgun cartridges but did make a huge profit on rifle ammo and air rifles in particular. Air rifles were about 50% profit, clothing etc also had huge markups.

[Paddy Galore!]

A friend of mine owns a gun shop, i work there part time, and while some of his clothing has a healthy mark up, the budget stuff doesn't, the guns make between £60 to £150 gross profit, second hand guns have to be sold with warranty so a minimum of £100 is added, cartridges make £10 per slab gross (that's £1 per box).

Answer this if you will, would you be prepared to do a days work and then deal with some cock who wants to knock you for 20 -30% of your wages?

[markm]

So gun shops make very little or no money on guns and cartridges. Clearly they are just doing the job for fun.

 

I get the guns and tackle trade magazine and it's surprising at some of the mark up on their sales.

[Glenshooter]

I get the guns and tackle trade magazine and it's surprising at some of the mark up on their sales.

 

What is surprising? Surely you need to see the shops P&L statement, or similar, before you can judge?

 

I have never worked in retail, sold to them in the past though so have only a little insight, but with the cost of wages, rent, rates, all the other overheads, I don't envy their business in the slightest.

 

OTOH, the surly, couldn't be bothered attitude from some shops could infer that some get it easy - or perhaps they are just really poor businessmen.

[Chris Bb]

Do we haggle in Tesco, Halfords, the local butcher, the local baker? Or is it only at the gun shop?

 

If so, why?

 

I shop around, I compare prices, I buy where price & service suit me, cheapest is not always best. Especially with something technical like a gun which I'm not able to "fix" myself if anything goes wrong with it.

 

 

Just my £0.02.

[Paddy Galore!]

Do we haggle in Tesco, Halfords, the local butcher, the local baker? Or is it only at the gun shop?

 

If so, why?

 

I shop around, I compare prices, I buy where price & service suit me, cheapest is not always best. Especially with something technical like a gun which I'm not able to "fix" myself if anything goes wrong with it.

 

 

Just my £0.02.

you are bang on chap.

[jackinbox99]

With regards to haggling, in my experience, most people dont haggle in big supermarkets, but smaller local shops, then haggling can be done.

 

Personally im happy to pay more to support local friendly businesses, but do find with regards to gunshops the prices vary staggeringly. For example, i have 2 local shops i visit. When I was looking for my last new gun, one shop had it for £550 and the other one had the same gun for £440. To me, thats a huge difference in price for an identical new gun. 2nd hand guns, id expect a bit of difference, but a new gun straight from the supplier....

[majordisorder]

With regards to haggling, in my experience, most people dont haggle in big supermarkets, but smaller local shops, then haggling can be done.

 

Personally im happy to pay more to support local friendly businesses, but do find with regards to gunshops the prices vary staggeringly. For example, i have 2 local shops i visit. When I was looking for my last new gun, one shop had it for £550 and the other one had the same gun for £440. To me, thats a huge difference in price for an identical new gun. 2nd hand guns, id expect a bit of difference, but a new gun straight from the supplier....

 

Haggling is a part of life and I'd imagine everyone is subject to it whether you're a builder, a shop keeper or a web designer, if you're in business you should be prepared to be competitive. You don't haggle in supermarkets / Curry's because you can't speak to a decision maker the same way you don't haggle with British Gas....

 

It's interesting the price differential you found from your experience jackinbox99, if there's only 8%-15% markup on new guns (as some have said) it's funny how you a got 22%+ discount by shopping around. I'm guessing the cheaper shop was still making a profit on the gun too.

[Glenshooter]

With regards to haggling, in my experience, most people dont haggle in big supermarkets, but smaller local shops, then haggling can be done.

 

Personally im happy to pay more to support local friendly businesses, but do find with regards to gunshops the prices vary staggeringly. For example, i have 2 local shops i visit. When I was looking for my last new gun, one shop had it for £550 and the other one had the same gun for £440. To me, thats a huge difference in price for an identical new gun. 2nd hand guns, id expect a bit of difference, but a new gun straight from the supplier....

 

With the way prices were increasing last year, this price difference could easily be just due to the € / £ rate and slightly different buying time.