You have to be freaking kidding me!!!!

[U.S. Patriot]

Well I was in Greenwood today, so I thought what the heck I'll stop by Gander. I needed some .22 ammo anyways. So I go back to cruise the firearms. I have been in there plenty of times, so I know that 90% of their stuff is way over priced. They had a FNP 40, which is my next gun now that I have my Xd sold. They wanted $727 for the blued model. I got quoted $495 at Acme. I laughed so hard, I almost pissed myself. That place is good for their .22 ammo selection. Other that that it's a joke. Which we all know, but that much mark up on a gun. That is just freaking crazy. I did get a S&W shirt for my Dad. I knew it would brighten his mood a bit .

 

[99zhuggerz99]

even .22 ammo is expensive, though thy did recently drop there cci minimag prices. wal mart still get them. i have only found one good deal at gander, that was on my 870 police. but i do still go and look for two reasons 1)they dont push you to buy so i can fondle all i want. 2) you just never know when they will not know what something is. I saw a mosin m44 up there once for $120, they had it lables as a 91/30. but i was out of "gun funds" at the time

 

[pathfinder317]

sometimes I wonder if they are in business with good ole Don ???

 

[drillsgt]

Once in awhile they will have a deal on a used gun that has a higher market price than what they came up with through their bluebook pricing but it's rare. I did pick up 100 rounds of federal .223 for 30.00 the other day, only around 6.00 a box so that wasn't bad.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

sometimes I wonder if they are in business with good ole Don ???

I hear that!

 

[Eddie]

even .22 ammo is expensive, though thy did recently drop there cci minimag prices. wal mart still get them. i have only found one good deal at gander, that was on my 870 police. but i do still go and look for two reasons 1)they dont push you to buy so i can fondle all i want. 2) you just never know when they will not know what something is. I saw a mosin m44 up there once for $120, they had it lables as a 91/30. but i was out of "gun funds" at the time

This is what I have found to be the best way to find a deal; just spend all of your gun money, then go to a gun store or get online and you are guaranteed to find a great deal.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

This is what I have found to be the best way to find a deal; just spend all of your gun money, then go to a gun store or get online and you are guaranteed to find a great deal.

That happens to be on a very consistent basis.

 

[Donnelly]

Once in awhile they will have a deal on a used gun that has a higher market price than what they came up with through their bluebook pricing but it's rare. I did pick up 100 rounds of federal .223 for 30.00 the other day, only around 6.00 a box so that wasn't bad.

That was a darn decent price!

 

[John Galt]

Acme is pretty hard to beat. Nice selection and a great group of guys to work with. There's also Bite the Bullet!

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Acme is pretty hard to beat. Nice selection and a great group of guys to work with. There's also Bite the Bullet!

I love both places, and frequent both. I bought my FNP 9 stainless at Bite the Bullet. He sold it to me for $529 OTD. I had him quote me a FNP 40. He told me $589, which is what he had on the tag of the FNP 9 when I bought it. He said no way I sold it to you for $589. I said old man you must being loosing your memory. I like th throw him . Acme quoted me $495 for the FNP 40, but they can not get a stainless. So I'm going to order it from them. Bob is a kick *** guy, but I'm going with the lower of the two prices. It was just funny to see Gander have that much of a mark up. Over where else I can find it localy.

 

[Walt_Jabsco]

When they had them, the Gander in Castleton had FNP's for $499, FNX's for $649.

 

[snuffy33]

i have only found one good deal at gander, that was on my 870 police.

So you're the guy who beat me to it.
I saw it in the rack and went home to get the cash and it was gone when I returned.

 

[JohnP82]

This is what I have found to be the best way to find a deal; just spend all of your gun money, then go to a gun store or get online and you are guaranteed to find a great deal.

this is always how it works for me

 

[Indy317]

The mark up at Gander makes sense. When you have a guy who owns only one or two stores. That they make enough money on the items sold to pay their employees, pay for the other business costs, and make them the money they feel they need to live life. When stores are under a corporate umbrella, the greedy idiots that run the place think that each item sold must not only cover the costs of running the store, and turn a small profit, they factor in the costs of the HR department, the outrageous six or seven figure wages of the upper level managers, the costs of the board members, etc. etc.. As such, they maximize the price to what they know they can sell it for. Too many folks who decide to get into guns will say "I needed a gun, I guess I would go to Gander Mountain?" So Gander Mountain can sell two guns and make a killing, whereas a local person might need to sell four or five guns before they make a similar profit.

I also wonder if Gander Mountain just buys in bulk, distributes the items, jacking prices way up, until they decide to have a huge sale, at which time prices are dropped to what the local gun shops are selling?? I say this because their ARs have always been over-priced, but not so much anymore. Plus, a guy I work with got a S&W AR. It was only $800 or $900, came with a $200 sight, plus for every $100 you spent in the store, you got $10 off, and it just so happened that S&W was giving away five free magazines with a purchase during that time. He made out like a bandit in my eyes. Thing is, there were likely a few folks that paid $1,600 or some other crazy price.

 

[MadCity Hoosier]

I always used Gander Mountain (and Cabelas and Bass Pro when I was closer to one) as the place to go get a hands-on "look" at something I was considering for purchase. Once decided, I would go to my local archery or gun shop to make the purchase. I think Cabela's mark-up is even higher than GM. Have you seen/heard their comercial for their rewards program? Something like "our rewards customers recieved 3 million in free merchandise last year..." Well, guess who pays for all that "free" stuff, and those huge stores with mountains of taxidermidized animals.

Remember Galyan's? Now that was a fine place until bought by a retail conglomerate and turned into a yuppy crapfest. I grew up in that place, their first one, right next to Plainfield Shooting Supply. If they didn't have something, their standard response was, "go next door to PSS and see if Bob has it. If not, one of us should be able to order it for you." I miss that.

 

[fordmech_2000]

i have yet to go to a gander mountain store and after reading this doubt i ever will!!!

 

[HICKMAN]

I like Gander for things other than guns.

If you are a hunter or fishermen, they have a great stock of hard to find local things.

They also put on great clinics.

 

[dross]

The mark up at Gander makes sense. When you have a guy who owns only one or two stores. That they make enough money on the items sold to pay their employees, pay for the other business costs, and make them the money they feel they need to live life. When stores are under a corporate umbrella, the greedy idiots that run the place think that each item sold must not only cover the costs of running the store, and turn a small profit, they factor in the costs of the HR department, the outrageous six or seven figure wages of the upper level managers, the costs of the board members, etc. etc.. As such, they maximize the price to what they know they can sell it for. Too many folks who decide to get into guns will say "I needed a gun, I guess I would go to Gander Mountain?" So Gander Mountain can sell two guns and make a killing, whereas a local person might need to sell four or five guns before they make a similar profit.

I also wonder if Gander Mountain just buys in bulk, distributes the items, jacking prices way up, until they decide to have a huge sale, at which time prices are dropped to what the local gun shops are selling?? I say this because their ARs have always been over-priced, but not so much anymore. Plus, a guy I work with got a S&W AR. It was only $800 or $900, came with a $200 sight, plus for every $100 you spent in the store, you got $10 off, and it just so happened that S&W was giving away five free magazines with a purchase during that time. He made out like a bandit in my eyes. Thing is, there were likely a few folks that paid $1,600 or some other crazy price.

Respectfully, your analysis is off. Prices are rarely set according to cost. When they are it is in highly competitive areas for utilitarian items.

Actually, per unit sold of any of their products it's a near certainty that Gander can make a profit much more cheaply than any small gun store.

There's a simple reason they charge more for their guns: someone will pay the price they charge. Don's gets away with it because of his aggressive advertising and his location.

My theory of why people pay the prices at Gander is that it isn't intimidating. Gun stores are intimidating to people who don't know guns very well. They are usually small, the salespeople try to engage you, and if you dont' know much, your ignorance shows immediately. Gander is just a big ol sporting goods Wal Mart, and you can browse guns without having to show you don't know anything. If you don't go to gun stores you don't know the market price, so you assume that Gander must cost about what everyone else does. A lot of people who go to buy a gun don't have a clue as to the caliber they want, much less the difference in brands and models. Gander takes advantage of this.

 

[Ten Yard Fight]

Respectfully, your analysis is off. Prices are rarely set according to cost. When they are it is in highly competitive areas for utilitarian items.

Actually, per unit sold of any of their products it's a near certainty that Gander can make a profit much more cheaply than any small gun store.

There's a simple reason they charge more for their guns: someone will pay the price they charge. Don's gets away with it because of his aggressive advertising and his location.

My theory of why people pay the prices at Gander is that it isn't intimidating. Gun stores are intimidating to people who don't know guns very well. They are usually small, the salespeople try to engage you, and if you dont' know much, your ignorance shows immediately. Gander is just a big ol sporting goods Wal Mart, and you can browse guns without having to show you don't know anything. If you don't go to gun stores you don't know the market price, so you assume that Gander must cost about what everyone else does. A lot of people who go to buy a gun don't have a clue as to the caliber they want, much less the difference in brands and models. Gander takes advantage of this.

This guy totally gets it.

 

[beararms1776]

sometimes I wonder if they are in business with good ole Don ???

Yeah but it sounds like they don't want to make money or sell guns. Who buys at that price! Geez!