LGS vs Big Box - how much extra will you pay?

[Jont22]

How much extra will you pay your lgs before going to a big box store?

I see prices vary $20 to over $100 for some guns I’ve looked at. I get supporting small businesses and I give plenty to them, but where do you draw the line?

Wondering how much extra you are willing pay, not how much extra one might expect to pay.

 

[rosejm]

I mean, if 10% is enough for the big guy...

 

[Leo]

I always go to the local gun shop first. There are some times I have to go elsewhere, like tracking down a discontinued item. I like the shops in my town. and yes, if I hunt around, I can usually find some larger place 75 to 100 miles from here, and save $20-$50. Fuel both ways uses up a good portion of it, and I have multiple other responsibilities rather than spending 1/2 a day shopping.

Staying 1st name basis with local shops has always paid off. More than once I have gotten a call like this; "hey Leo, you know that pistol you were trying to find? We got one and thought we would call before we put it out for sale" That is worth something also.

 

[BackFromDC]

If it's something new/current then I hit up the big box stores. I've seen Bass Pro run some obscure specials every now and then. But if I have a vague idea and haven't settled on a particular model, then I go LGS and try to pick up something 2nd hand.

 

[Michigan Slim]

I just go local. Small hardware near work gets different things in. I walk in for a part for a job and walk out with a rifle too.

 

[Cameramonkey]

typically $20, $50 max. I'd rather pay a little more to the small biz if I have a relationship with them.

 

[KLB]

Your LGS is charging over MSRP?

 

[Leo]

Local owned used to be a lot more important to people than it is now. The house I was raised in only bought gas at the locally owned station with a repair garage, even if the gas was 3 cents more. Of course the station guy knew us as good customers and treated us well. And when the station needed something welded, our shop is where he went. That was just part of being in a neighborhood.

 

[Jont22]

Your LGS is charging over MSRP?

Not on what I’ve looked at.

Ex.
MSRP $659
LGS $629
BB $579

 

[DadSmith]

I take into account shipping costs, transfer fees, and if I have to drive 80 miles to get a firearm cheaper etc.
$20 shipping
$25 transfer
$16 fuel if I have to drive say RK Greensburg to buy it.

That said if my local gun shop has a $1000 firearm within $60 I'll buy it from them,
If it's a $500 firearm If it's within $30-40 I'll buy it. Anything under $500 it has to be within $30.
This isn't set in stone, and I do my best to buy from my LGS.

LGS buys off the top if my head.
Many of these I no longer have.
CZ P10 F
Ruger American Ranch 7.62x39
Taurus G3x
Ruger 10/22
Springfield Ronin 45acp
3x Springfield XD Tactical 45acp
Springfield M1A National Match
Ruger Precision Rifle 308
Taurus Model 44
Canik TP9DA
Ruger LCRx 38
Sako Model 85 LR 338 Lapua Magnum
Savage 110 Tactical 300 Winchester Magnum

Lots of parts and accessories.
Rarely buy ammunition from LGS only on occasion if they have something I really want to try or it's hard to find I'll buy it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Not on what I’ve looked at.

Ex.
MSRP $659
LGS $629
BB $579

Just remember one VERY key thing: your LGS will follow the letter of the law, and if you are delayed with no subsequent deny, you can take your gun home after 3 days.

Big box store? Not a chance. If you are prone to delays with no explicit proceed, you'll never get your gun at a BBS. Never. So that could very well be worth the added price.

And every reputable LGS I have ever repeatedly bought from will price match other shops. If your LGS wont at least negotiate if not price match, walk away.

Now I'm not saying if the likes of RK can move a gun for $500 and thats below your small LGS cost due to ridiculous volume or special deals that you should walk, but at least try to work with them. If they own up that the best they can do is $525, take them up on it.

 

[Jont22]

If you are prone to delays with no explicit proceed, you'll never get your gun at a BBS

This has happened to me at RK…reason I don’t go there anymore…well they kept delaying me for no reason. Don’t have that problem anywhere else.

 

[Expat]

I only go to the LGS. If we don’t support them, they will close.
Big corps are not your friends. dicks?

 

[Cavman]

Torn on this. Our local gun store was my go too. He was always busy. I can't even think of a time I was in there someone wasnt buying a gun or ammo. Then one day he gets out of guns and just sells ammo. Said wasnt worth the hassle. His gun inventory was always turning over. He never kept stuff on shelf. And his prices were higher than big box stores. No I just look for used or order online and send to cheapest transfer I can find

 

[Gabriel]

Just remember one VERY key thing: your LGS will follow the letter of the law, and if you are delayed with no subsequent deny, you can take your gun home after 3 days.

Big box store? Not a chance. If you are prone to delays with no explicit proceed, you'll never get your gun at a BBS. Never. So that could very well be worth the added price.

This very reason is why I'm pretty much forced to buy from a LGS and won't go far to buy a firearm since I already know I'm going to have to drive there twice.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Torn on this. Our local gun store was my go too. He was always busy. I can't even think of a time I was in there someone wasnt buying a gun or ammo. Then one day he gets out of guns and just sells ammo. Said wasnt worth the hassle. His gun inventory was always turning over. He never kept stuff on shelf. And his prices were higher than big box stores. No I just look for used or order online and send to cheapest transfer I can find

Then you don’t have a LGS. It a LAS. Lol

 

[ditcherman]

I paid 200 more for a 1200$ gun at my lgs and saw it cheaper at RK a few days later, but had no regrets. At least that’s what I told myself. That was kinda the limit for me.

 

[Basher]

I’m cheap, and literally don’t think I’ve ever purchased a brand new firearm. I always shop classifieds first. Like cars, guns lose value as soon as you use them, but if they’re not abused a gun with 1000rnds on it will be just as accurate and reliable as if it were new. So I let someone else eat the sticker price and I’ll net the saving while still getting something that’ll likely outlive me.

But I always use an LGS for a transfer, and will buy parts and ammo from them when I can. A few times I’ve bought a used gun from an LGS as well, but never new.

So I guess I support my LGS as much as I can. I’m sure someday I’ll cave and get a new gun, but patience has never cost me anything so I’m not in a rush to change that.

 

[Mongo59]

If all you buy is new out of the box and never want any chance at history then I say go to the big box.

Myself, I want to keep the doors open so I can go back in history and have a chance to bring some of it back with me to the now. That is why I go to and support several of my LGS. Yes, I buy online some of the stuff I am looking for but my LGS still gets a cut when doing the back ground check.

For all I know my family will have to spray paint everything I have black to sell it after I am gone but all I want is good old wood and blue. New stuff just doesn't do it for me. But the people who want the best price by the last one or two spots before the decimal place is likely to find there LGS locked up with a sign in the window some day when they really really need them.

Hang out at the LGS, get to know them and let them know you. I have two that call ME when something comes in that they know I will like. That doesn't happen because you go in once or twice and then make a demand, it is the result of a nurtured relationship.

You can spend your time and you can spend your money, I spend my time to keep from having to spend my money. Support your LGS, the .gov is sure hoping you don't...

 

[shibumiseeker]

I don’t buy many guns new, but the last five or six I’ve gotten from Bobcat. I don’t think I’ve bought a gun from a big box store since MC Sports went out of business in Bloomington. I think that was like 10-15 years ago. In a prior thread discussing Cosner’s in Bedford, I think it says some thing that I will drive an hour and a half to go buy from a guy I know to be a good friend of the gun community rather than buy from a shop that I pass every few days.

Most big box stores are not really friends of the gun community so I can’t really imagine buying from them.