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Price Gouging


LPatterson

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Went by the local sporting goods store yesterday (near daily check for primers) and they finally had some bulk pack 22's. The main problem is they are Remington Cyclone 500 pack at $29.95 a pack with a limit of 2 per customer. I understand the limit, what I don't understand is the price. I understand the concept of supply and demand but this is going a bit far and is liable to come back and bit them in the a**. Part of the problem is there is no telling where in the food chain the gouging is taking place. It could be Remington or it could be the distributor or it could be the sporting goods chain. There are several manufacturers who set a retail price that distributors may not exceed nor discount and those are the ones we need to be finding and let the rest twirl in the wind when the supply problem is resolved.

This sporting goods chain does not realize and probably doesn't care that I will be taking all my business else where, except for primers. It is a real pain to have to drive 90 miles to the next town with a chain store of any kind.

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I've never figured out why for just about everything other than guns (TV's, cameras, etc.) you get the best prices by going to the largest volume big box store supplier, but firearms are an exception. If you look for guns, not only does the big box store have a smaller selection but you will generally see higher prices. The local "big name" sporting goods chain recently excluded firearms from any price matching because people were bringing in fliers from the small independents looking for a match.

So, in keeping with the theme - I hate big box store pricing on firearms.

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Well, having recently gone on a nice road trip trying to get some primers from someplace, I have to say that I don't think anyone is gouging too much. In the big stores, I saw ammo, even in the same caliber, priced all over the place depending on brand. This variation was present in most of the larger stores, and even in the smaller stores to some extent. I suspect the price differences between larger stores and smaller stores has to do with turnover, as the smaller stores for the most part were priced slightly higher than the big guys a month or so ago.

I hate the stupidly jacked up prices as much as the next guy, but I think you are just seeing the natural process of capitalism when faced with an unrelenting demand and a customer base willing to pay stupidly high prices. In December alone, 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammo were sold. Demand is so high are generating scarcity, and scarcity leads to higher prices.

When I saw some of this first places to get inventory at the new prices, I was starting to get on the gouging bandwagon, but if it's gouging, it's a conspiracy with almost total participation.

As for .22lr the only thing I could find were 550 round bulk packs of federal 36gr, and those were a hair under $27. (ohyeah, and some CCI mini-mags, but they actualy cost more than 17hmr ammo).

You want to talk price gouging, see what the profiteers are reselling primers for on gunbroker. Ow.

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