The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Ksail101 on January 21, 2009, 03:38:30 PM
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I was listening to a competitors podcast today, and they had a sales rep from FNH on to talk about their new products at the shot show. I became very disgusted with the way FNH is handling the selling of the SCAR Light rifle.
When the interviewer asked what the SCAR will be selling for, the sales rep remarked enthusiastically "We had one go for $9000 on Gunbroker.com" He went on to say that they put up 12 on the site to sell.
The interviewer shocked asked "but that isn't the MSRP is it?"
The smug sales rep "replies we dont have an MSRP for the rifle." His reasoning behind this is that since Obama has been elected the general public may not have long to purchase these rifles.
They are doing something that makes me really mad, and it is happening through out the industry right now. Companies are riding on the coattails of this fear driven selling spree and making a profit off a tragedy.
Now I know FN doesn't really care about their civilian sales, obviously, but us civilians that do purchase their product A.) Have a military back ground, B.) Have a LE background, or C.) have heard from one of the two previous institutions operators on the quality of their firearms and decide that they would like a no non sense weapon to defend them selves with.
So for FN to cater to the upper class of the firearms industry pisses me off. Me a guy who saves for a year to buy on 500-1000 dollar weapon has no chance of purchasing one of the best firearms out there. (SCAR). And I dont believe that is right cause I have been one to use their product in real world combat and have come back to say "Yes buy their product, it works when you need it."
So the FN big wigs decide that this maybe the only year that civilians will be able to buy the SCAR lets get them for all we can. Relying on a fear based tactic rather than trying to help get the guns out there so that the firearms industry has more ammo when and if a ban should arise. The more Hi Tech rifles that are out there the better. A country that relies on Capitalism is not going to cut out a major money maker in this time of economic crisis.
As I said before it is happening all over the industry and the hard working Americans that have supported this industry are getting the short end of the stick. You cant even buy a Glock mag for the price you could 2 months ago. And its not because of any reason but that "MAYBE" something bad is going to happen.
I guess all it comes down to is who am I and I should make more money so I can have the finer things in life.
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With you on this Ksail, heard the same podcast today at lunch (OK, I'm slow). I think this same podcast interviewed someone from from FNH who said they had shipped 100, had another 120 in the pipeline - this for a gun announced 2 months ago. Seems like Ruger's experiment in not announcing until you had inventory on hand was lost on FN.
Something bad is going to happen, we just don't know what or how - or how soon. I tend to side with MB that it will be sooner rather than later - bho is finding out he can't just dream it and it will come true, so he will go for low-hanging fruit, stuff he can change with a command - like import bans.
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You can argue FNH's strategy, but this is a lesson in Capitalism: simple supply and demand.
I don't know what sweeping differences are between the civilian and LEO/military versions are aside from barrel length and an extra click on the safety. I have been patiently waiting for the Keltec .308 bulpup for a while. The manufacturers aren't gonna go all out for a production run to get an Obama boot in the posterior two months into the administration.
The only answer I have is to get as many people that you know that haven't been involved in shoot to the range with you. Build the base brothers (sisters too, I was just going for the alliteration).
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Remember that FNH is making the same money on these no matter the final selling price. They sell to a dealer or distributor, and then it's out of their hands. So, the extra money over MSRP (remember the S in MSRP is Suggested), is going to the gun dealer.
Overload in CO
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I heard the same interview sunday on "Gun Talk" , My 1st thought was "those gauging SOB's, Then I remembered what Overload has just posted.
Broso, current date for the Kel Tec is late feb or early march. I checked their website.
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It's basic economics. Companies will always charge what they find people are willing to pay. If people weren't willing to pay it, then the prices would come back down. Any company plans to make a certain number of an item based on their current production capacity. If they can sell all of their inventory at a price, then there's no reason for them to drop the price.
It's only price gouging when there is no choice (like buying from someone else) or substitutes (like buying a similar but different item). When stores charge $12 for a bottle of water and $9 for a loaf of bread during a natural catastrophe, that's price gouging. When a luxury item (like a Ferrari, a SCAR rifle, or an AR) goes up in price, that's just supply and demand.
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Remember that FNH is making the same money on these no matter the final selling price. They sell to a dealer or distributor, and then it's out of their hands. So, the extra money over MSRP (remember the S in MSRP is Suggested), is going to the gun dealer.
Overload in CO
I may be wrong but isn't Gunbroker.com kinda like an Ebay. So FN I think did make the difference of those rifles. But I could be wrong.
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It's basic economics. Companies will always charge what they find people are willing to pay. If people weren't willing to pay it, then the prices would come back down. Any company plans to make a certain number of an item based on their current production capacity. If they can sell all of their inventory at a price, then there's no reason for them to drop the price.
It's only price gouging when there is no choice (like buying from someone else) or substitutes (like buying a similar but different item). When stores charge $12 for a bottle of water and $9 for a loaf of bread during a natural catastrophe, that's price gouging. When a luxury item (like a Ferrari, a SCAR rifle, or an AR) goes up in price, that's just supply and demand.
It's supply and demand my friends. "Anti-gouging" laws are a government's attempt to "do something". It actually prevents people from getting supplies. Case and point: After the hurricanes of '04 here in FL there were no generators to be had. If a private citizen were to purchase generators and ship them to FL where they could be of some use and sold them for what he paid plus shipping cost (break even) he would be a criminal and be charged under the "anti-gouging" statutes, in effect, leaving people needing gennies without. Long story short, if we expect to turn this country around, we need to stop looking to government to save us from ourselves.
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There are a number of them for auction on Gunbroker right now. One has a starting price of $5500 and buy it now price of $5995. Several have numerous bids in the $4700-$4800 range. Seems to me you could sell a few in the $5000-$9000 range and thousands in the $1500 range.
Not sure what the Sig 556 is selling for, but actually saw one for sale in a shop the other day for $1537
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I may be wrong but isn't Gunbroker.com kinda like an Ebay. So FN I think did make the difference of those rifles. But I could be wrong.
Gunbroker.com is an auction site, just like Ebay. But, FN isn't selling the rifles on gunbroker.com, dealers are, unless you know something I missed. When he says "We" in the podcast, he doesn't mean FNH, more of an imperial "we". Like how "Y'all" could be refering to one person.
Overload in CO
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The real bummer in FN's strategy is what they force FFL dealers to do in order to purchase a SCAR. A dealer must sign up, pay and take delivery on a "stocking dealer" order that is chock full of FN's slow moving, overpriced handguns, shotguns, etc. to even be considered "good enough" to purchase a single SCAR. It's a common strategy on the part of manufacturers in the firearms industry so that they sell the "dogs" that are on their shelves. Sig used the same strategy when the 556 rifle was introduced and is doing the same thing with their new 380 mustang clone. Nothing necessarily wrong with the practice, just a bit unethical and a vastly nasty way to treat the retailers that sell your products in my book.
In the end, a dealer is left to sell all the extra, undesirable products at cost or below in hopes of generating enough profit to cover the whole stocking dealer order...oh, and the SCAR's won't ship to the dealer until fourth quarter of 2009 or later. So the dealer is left essentially fronting the money and hoping he can collect a decent profit in eight months to a year. It borders on a Faustian bargain...
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The real bummer in FN's strategy is what they force FFL dealers to do in order to purchase a SCAR. A dealer must sign up, pay and take delivery on a "stocking dealer" order that is chock full of FN's slow moving, overpriced handguns, shotguns, etc. to even be considered "good enough" to purchase a single SCAR. It's a common strategy on the part of manufacturers in the firearms industry so that they sell the "dogs" that are on their shelves. Sig used the same strategy when the 556 rifle was introduced and is doing the same thing with their new 380 mustang clone. Nothing necessarily wrong with the practice, just a bit unethical and a vastly nasty way to treat the retailers that sell your products in my book.
In the end, a dealer is left to sell all the extra, undesirable products at cost or below in hopes of generating enough profit to cover the whole stocking dealer order...oh, and the SCAR's won't ship to the dealer until fourth quarter of 2009 or later. So the dealer is left essentially fronting the money and hoping he can collect a decent profit in eight months to a year. It borders on a Faustian bargain...
The only problem my (very small, Mom & Pop) dealer had was in the long wait times to actually get a 556 - May to November. Maybe the distributor he used had to stock all of that stuff, but my dealer did not.
My $.02 (where did that d$%@ cents sign on the keyboard ever get to?) - we bypass the dealers that seek to gouge at our expense, and deal with folks we trust and who aren't trying to fully fund their kid's college fund with one order. When Midway is selling standard cap AR mags for $10-20, why buy from someone who is selling the same thing for $50-70?
If you absolutely positively have to have a SCAR, go buy one. Me? I'll get a SOCOM II, DSA FAL and a couple of tricked out ARs for the same money you'll be spending on one SCAR at this point. Buyer's choice.