10 replies to this topic

[Hare Trigger]

Anyone have an idea how much profit is usually made on the sale of a gun? Gun dealers usually have the best prices, but recently I put a Sig P238 on layaway, while looking around for the best price I found the price on the same model from as much as $650 and as low as $560. I know sporting goods stores are usually higher but thats not always the case. A dealer that I used to use (before he went out of business) only made about $15 on the price of a gun plus $10 for paperwork.

[RubberBullets]

Anyone have an idea how much profit is usually made on the sale of a gun? Gun dealers usually have the best prices, but recently I put a Sig P238 on layaway, while looking around for the best price I found the price on the same model from as much as $650 and as low as $560. I know sporting goods stores are usually higher but thats not always the case. A dealer that I used to use (before he went out of business) only made about $15 on the price of a gun plus $10 for paperwork.

Todays market is anyones guess. Prior to this i believe the higher profit margin was in selling used guns in a local gun shop. New guns were a much tighter margin, and of course transfer fees helps make up for loss of sale at the desk. If it is a new gun..chances are prices are only different because of the sellers ability to purchase larger quantities equating to a better discount from the factory. Online retailers also carry the distinct advantage of having lower overhead without a physical store presence. Mileage may vary

[Sonnylee]

30% markup..

[BarkNBite]

$15.00 on the gun and $10.00 on the paperwork.....how could he have stayed in business.......guess he couldn't....Ah ha.

[Old Dog]

Gee, my LGS keeps telling me that he only makes $50 or sometimes $25 on a new gun which is why he cannot reduce his prices.

[mattio41]

I would like to think it is like any other business. They need 15-20% to keep the lights on.

[9X19]

$15.00 on the gun and $10.00 on the paperwork.....how could he have stayed in business.......guess he couldn't....Ah ha.

Guess he gave out free donuts and coffee every morning too. $15 on a gun sometimes won't even pay for the shipping...

[howard]

Well I think it is a lot like the car business. You make a lot more on the used ones than the new ones. My LGS told me that the max he makes on a new gun is $75. While you can sometimes find things cheaper on the Internet, by the time you pay the shipping and the FFL transfer fee you might be saving almost nothing. If its close I rather pay a little more and support the local business anyway. As for used I was told there is some sort of equivalent to the car blue book and that the gun shop typically pays about 70% of that value to buy and tries to sell it at the blue book value. Who really knows, but it makes sense.

[Frank Rizzo]

I dunno about the whole markup percentage. My brother bought a pistol recently at his local range for $130 less than one of the local gun stores was charging.. and getting. Someone is making a nice profit...

[howard]

I dunno about the whole markup percentage. My brother bought a pistol recently at his local range for $130 less than one of the local gun stores was charging.. and getting. Someone is making a nice profit...

Keep in mind we are not in "normal" times. We are in a period of tight supply and frantic buying. Its sort of like when certain cars are in hot demand and some dealers sell then at higher than MSRP. Yea I know they can't do that, but they include custom floor mats that you can't buy the car without and charge $2,300 extra for that

[Hare Trigger]

It was the mid 90s the last time I was able to buy from the dealer that made about $15 on a sale an $10 on paperwork. They were slightly different times. He had no overhead, he ran his business out of his house, and unfortunatley for me he got devorced and moved away.