How to alienate a loyal customer - A message to LGS owners everywhere

[RiverParker]

It's called supply and demand. The owner of that LGS would be an idiot not to raise his prices and get every cent he can. Let me give you an example:

Lets say, for some reason the bottom has fallen out of the AR market. They were selling for $850 dollars yesterday, but now your LGS guy is struggling to get $400 for AR's that he paid $700 for. You go in there because you've decided you need another AR. Do you notice the price and say to him "Look, we've had a good relationship for the last 4 years. I'm going to go ahead and pay you $850 for that AR." ? No, you wouldn't.

The same reason everybody is buying is the same reason he is selling high. Fear of an outright AWB. He is taking a big risk by providing them to you. What if it does happen and he's stuck with $50,000 of now worthless inventory? You going to go down there and cut him a check to help out?

Yeah, you've had a good customer/merchant relationship for some years, but the bank doesn't accept those as mortgage payments.

 

[airmotive]

So I assume all the "Burn the price gougers" group will be happy to sell me all their gold for exactly what they paid for it 20 years ago? C'mon. Sell it to me for $250 an ounce. Put your money where your big mouths are.

Rice, steel, gold, tickle-me-elmoes, pork bellies, Pete Rose rookie-year baseball cards, gasoline and rifles...all are commodities with a price that fluctuates based on their value. Their value fluctuates based on their demand.

Econ 101...heck, that's not even Econ 101. That's pre-school lunchroom "I'll trade you my pudding for your Twinkie" economics.

...and to the gun store owner who proudly declared he won't raise prices on his ARs....okay....you got one to sell me right now?
How much will it cost you to replenish your stock of ARs?
Will the money you made on the ARs you sold this week come even close to what it will cost to re-stock your shelves with new ARs? Or are your shelves going to be empty for a long time to come?
I bet the shop that doubled the prices of the ARs they sold over the last 7 days are in a much better position to buy new ARs from their suppliers next week, at much higher prices.
Don't get me wrong, I commend you for sticking to your guns on prices....but from a purely business perspective, it was foolish. If... IF anyone remembers your noble deed in a year after all of this has subsided, you may see some extra sales out of it. But between now and then, your shelves are empty of everything that is in highest demand.

 

[nucone]

First let me explain that I have cooled off quite a bit on this. I am not calling to "burn the price gougers", boycotts or anything else of this LGS or any other. If I had been, I would have named the LGS which I have not and will not do under any circumstances. Having owned a specialty retail shop for over 11 years, I am fully aware of the free market, supply and demand, the need to make a profit etc. since profit is what business is all about. I also remember that how you treat customers is important to that customer and to your business reputation.

Remember, this LGS had nearly all of my business for the last 3 years to the total tune of expenditures in excess of $15,000 with more to come. Additionally, I was loyal to this LGS and never price shopped although I knew of another LGS where I could get the same gun at a slightly lower price and pay 8% sales tax instead of the 9% at his location. I will also add, that whenever this LGS placed an order for me and he asked me to prepay to help him out with bills he had due, I always obliged to help him out (a practice that neither he nor other shops in my area ever require for special orders).

Whatever is left of the relationship with this LGS is now changed considerably. To do business with him again, I will price shop and this LGS had better be the best price I find anywhere including sales tax. Additionally, there will not be any prepayment of anything. Loyalty from friends and customers is very hard to earn and very easy to destroy. I had been loyal to this LGS because I felt it was important to support a local business and keep him in business by giving him my business. The bottom line is that I have no loyalty to this LGS anymore so whether he stays open or not is no longer important to me. As someone else indicated earlier, the free market is a 'bee-yatch' and it works both ways.

 

[lucky4034]

IMO, it will be hard to find a LGS that isn't doing that same thing right now.

Midwest Gun & Range for the most part just stuck to MSRP... they didn't price gouge on their AR's or Mags that I seen... Now that their inventory is about depleted that might change... but kudos to them for not doing it.