FNH Sales Strategy for SCAR....

[Middle Man]

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... 

[Pathfinder]

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.