gunshow observations

[Reverenddel]

So I decided to go to the gunshow. I was bored, it was there.
Realized many things previously, but putting these truths down:
1.) Vendors bandy the word "Tactical", and "Limited" like a teenage boy uses the word "love", and "promise" to get into a teenage girls pants.
2.) Most of what is called "tactical"? Ain't.
3.) If the vendors stepped from behind the tables, and went online, and to gunshops, they would realize they're about 10-30% OVERPRICED.
4.) How many cheap junk chinese knives can they make in as many colors!?!? Holy hell!
5.) Gunshow food suck, and it's 3 times the price of regular food.
6.) Jerky dealers are the greatest things ever.
7.) Women who are into the shooting sports, and go to the gunshows on their own ROCK! Flat out! Maybe bring your friends!
8.) If you're 600 lbs, maybe you need a treadmill, not a rifle.
9.) I hate people who say "WHAT YOU NEED IS..." then try to sell me something they're hawking. Only say that when you have no dog in the fight.
10.) Ammo prices are way over the norm.
11.) Lot of the old codgers I used to see, have long since passed, and I miss them because they were a HOOT!
12.) Um, leave the nice LEO alone whose working security, he ain't a lawyer, and your talking is probable cause... MORON!
13.) I enjoy the non-firearms vendors more than the firearms vendors, and wish they would be all lumped together...

I stopped off at Growler-To-Go before coming home, I'm having some beer after dinner.

[Swampman]

I would add:

14.) The entrance fee is too damn much. Charge the vendors more. Maybe the stupid ones will stay home and we'll have a better selection and fewer idiots.

I haven't been to a gun show in several years and don't plan on going back. I can see all the latest stuff I might be interested in on-line, in magazines, and catalogs, for nothing!

[SHMIV]

You didn't happen to see one of those Loopholes of Legend lying around, did ya Rev?
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I wasn't much impressed, last I attended a gun show. I was actually turned off to it before I got in. The parking was ridiculous. Had I driven instead of riding up, I would have turned around and left.

I also don't care much for crowds. Too many people there.

Of course, I wish I owned a large venue. I could charge to park, charge to walk through the doors, charge vendors and buyers. I could probably get away with breathing and exit fee's, these days.

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[Snakester]

I know a couple of guys that went.....They told me that I did not miss a thing. I hit several Wally Worlds and scored some .22LR and 150 rds. .22 mag.

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[M1A4ME]

I got 5,000 small pistol primers (Tula) for $100. Went by the new Cabela's store after the gun show and the cheapest small pistol primers I saw were $32 per thousand.

I also got a very heavy duty leather belt to replace the one I've had for years that is starting to tear up in the most used belt buckle spot. Paid $45 for that but it's HEAVY DUTY and I think it will support my IWB holster and P07 just fine.

Wanna see high prices? Got to Bass Pro or Cabela's. If I shop at local gun stores I usually go to Green Tops first (yeah, I know lot's of folks complain about Green Tops, but they usually have better prices that the big name stores.)

[Reverenddel]

Agreed on Bass Pro, and Cabelas.

Those are what I called "Newbie" shops, or "Emergency" shops. Only Newbies, and people really desperate for something will go there...

Now, some of the camping gear at Bass Pro is nice. But it's over priced.

[SHMIV]

Cabelas is ridiculously highly priced. The only time I ever shopped at one of those, was at their World Headquarters in Nebraska.

They have dedicated truck parking, so I didn't mind spending some money there. As rare as truck parking can get, I generally thank places that have them by spending some money, in hopes that they continue letting us park.

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[dorminWS]

Cabela's, Bass pro Shops, and Dick's.............

I haven't been in any of them very many times; the first time was more than enough for me. Not only are they ridiculously overpriced, over-fancied and over-merchandised, but when you go to look at a gun, some wet-behind-the-ears millennial will jump out in front of you and try to hard-sell you and tell you what you need, what's better for you than what you want to look at, and generally treat you like you are a total greenhorn and they (by virtue of their 15-minute orientation by the sporting-goods manager and today's e-mail from headquarters about what they are overstocked on, I suppose) are a firearms and shooting expert. A feller just about has to bite his tongue to keep from telling them something like "Hey, you condescending little ignoramus, just hand me what I ask to look and, step back, and speak only when you're spoken to; and if I want any crap out of you I'll screw the top off'n your head and dip it out." But that kind of stuff is just too much trouble, so I stay out of such places.

[louisaguns]

On the overpriced merchandise, most vendors realize they might have a haggle a bit and price accordingly, but it's tough to haggle with an aggressive customer that only wants to pay the wholesale price they saw on CDNN or Bud's Gun Shop. These guys are small business owners that can't compete with the buying power of the big box stores, and their profit margin is much smaller.

Vendors have to pay the table fee and, if they want electricity, have to pay for that as well. Insurance for the gun show is pretty expensive as well as paying the local or State Police for security. As you increase prices for the vendors they have to increase their prices.

I was a vendor at a recent gun show in Louisa, and sold something like $2700 worth of merchandise. Out of $2700 gross sales, I cleared less than $400. Then I had to pay my sales tax and VCHECK fees to the State Police, I actually made less than that. I was one of the top sellers at the show and I believe that it was because I priced my merchandise to sell instead of haggling.