why do some gun shops rip you off for ammo prices?

[Johnat21]

I had cause to visit my local gun shop lately to pick up a Harris Bipod, which was competitively priced i might add, but i also decided to pick up a couple of boxes of 270 Win Core Lokt 150gr ammo while there.
I didn't pay much attention to the bill as i was stickybeaking some of the rifles in the shop, so imagine my surprise to find out i had been charged $130 for two boxes... $10 a box more than a couple of weeks ago and $18 more than where i normally shop..WTF???

[No1Mk3]

Some shops are able sell more ammo and have lower margins, some sell less of that type and have higher margins to compensate. Don't forget the Fiscal Year changed a couple of weeks ago and a large number of Statuary costs went up, as well as operating costs like power etc. Would add that you should always ask the price before you buy, I have avoided some surprises that way.

[Billo]

one word NIOA

Too much power

[animalpest]

A business decision. Different businesses have different operating costs and ideas on profit margins. And some will have more bargaining power with their suppliers.

Pay it or go elsewhere.

[Oldbloke]

A business decision. Different businesses have different operating costs and ideas on profit margins. And some will have more bargaining power with their suppliers.

Pay it or reload

I fixed it for you.

[northdude]

Could always open own shop and sell cheap ammo?

[Wallaby stew]

I commented once to a gunshop owner how the price of a brick of .22s had increased so much and he said it was due to the increase in raw materials. So I thought about this and did a rough calculation, in a brick of.22s there is roughly 500 grams of lead and brass which would be lets say $15 tops so a %50 increase would be $8 which didn't explain the price going from $40 to $100. In his defence it's probably what the middle man that has a leased office and wearhouse, leased phone, and leased delivery vehicles told him to justify the hike.

[madang55]

350 Legend 150gr Deer Season. Was, a couple of months ago, $25 or thereabouts, now $45...or thereabouts. In Melbourne. If yr in Gladstone, a lot cheaper, get in now. Everything has gone up, and yes blame the supplier, but blame the producer, and blame the components supply. No components, no re loading, no re loading and factory is all we got.

[Total_immortal]

My locals have all these great listings on their websites for cheap ammo, plenty of $30 and $40 boxes then when you get to the store their cheapest boxes are $60 and rise quickly from there. Feels like bait and switch to me

[mchughcb]

Old stock was sold to me for $15/box. New price is $23/box. I was told fill your boots because when its gone its the new price.

[AlHow]

Yep, some do. Mostly about profit. In this day and age, you need to ask how much. It’s not rude when pricing is going through the roof. Most of my local shops are a ripoff if I can get way cheaper from another particular store.

[womble]

Dose’nt bother me at all. I’m glad I have a lgs. I’m glad it employs several locals. I know I pay higher prices there and I’m ok with that.
I’m just glad that when I go down the local shopping strip there’s a shop that sells guns.
What I never want to see is them closing up shop.
And there are a whole lot of people who would very much like to see that.
I don’t want to see the day when I walk down that strip and where once was a gun shop, now stands a holistic vegan anal bleaching salon.
Support your local gun shop regularly. One can never own too much ammo.
Go there today. Buy some ammo

[mchughcb]

Vegan anal bleaching. Is it more expensive than a packet of 308 remmie corelokts??

[JohnV]

I have found over 50 years that all gunshops take advantage of the fact there is not many other choices for the average shooter . It's not like a butcher shop in the city where you may have a dozen of them within easy driving distance . Since the Government bought out dealers many gun shops have disappeared making things worse which was their plan to push people out of the sport . Now we have rampant inflation and a Government that will not handle it properly . So prices will keep going up . Some goods I buy at the supermarket have gone up 100% lately . Grain products , cooking oils etc. are going up due to the war in Ukraine and inflation pressure . Even though Australia can grow all it's own grain needs , if a bottle of cooking oil goes up 100% in Europe or Asia we have to pay the same rises because of globalized markets and countries with more valuable currency taking our product away from us , so we have to compete with those other countries for our own produce and the benefit of living in a better country is taken away . Some countries banned the export of staples like Rice to try and protect their people during covid from that competition . Australian Politicians don't care . Another dirty little secret is even though we don't pay GST on fresh goods but the Australian Government puts extra taxes on the growers so that pushes up the basic price anyway . So they still get the tax money on vegetables but hoodwink the public . Criminals .
If you can buy it online easily rather than drive hours to a gun shop then the gun shop will be more reasonable pricing on that product .

[mchughcb]

Right up there with pharmacies.

They have their own monopoly on who can setup shop within a certain radius, and a tightly controlled product with only one supply per prescription.

Boy are they squealing that you might be able to buy double the dose with one transaction at the moment.

[womble]

Not really much the government can do to control inflation. Could increase taxes.
The economy is global. The government can’t control consumers.

[mchughcb]

Not really much the government can do to control inflation. Could increase taxes.
The economy is global. The government can’t control consumers.

If that is the case they don't need a reserve bank

[womble]

No that’s why we need the reserve bank. To prevent political manipulation from government.

[Mattraff]

Not sure if it's the shop ripping us off more the importers. I remember years ago you would see advertising in the gun magazines from say Winchester for PowerPoint's and there would be a recommended retail in the ad. This gave you a basenline and you would know that any shop would be very close to this price.
I emailed a large importer here in Victoria asking how a shop in QLD could sell ammo way cheaper than any shop local to me especially considering the QLD dealer would have a much higher freight cost than the local dealers. The response I got back basically blamed the local shops for price gouging. The reality is the importer gives these huge shops a big discount so they are able to sell it cheaper than the local shop can buy it. My local shop is honest and has even told me just buy a particular gun on line and have it sent to them as they make more money out of the transfer than ordering and selling me the rifle. The importers need to look after all the shops otherwise they won't be around in a few years.

[JohnV]

Tell you a story about a crazy gun shop owner . I had $5000 to spend on loading components and other gun stuff . It was savings over a few years of shooting skins . I rang the gun shop I normally buy from to get some prices and talk some discounts . Halfway through the owner stopped me and said , " your not a customer , your an opposition shop getting all my prices ". I assured him I was a customer of his and had some money to spend and gave him my name but it made no difference , he kept ranting on about being a spy so I was forced to hang up . I eventually drove a long way to another shop pulled out the wad of cash at the counter and got some very good deals . That shop eventually went broke I wonder why ?

[d4n73n]

It's a little overwhelming searching for a shop in Melbourne that sells reasonably priced 12ga buckshot/slugs. Does anyone here have good recommendations?

[bladeracer]

It's a little overwhelming searching for a shop in Melbourne that sells reasonably priced 12ga buckshot/slugs. Does anyone here have good recommendations?

I've never seen buck or slugs "reasonably priced".
Buy field loads, open them up, load in the shot or slug of your choice - Lee do cheap moulds for 7/8oz and 1oz slugs.
Last time I bought buckshot it was about $110 for a 10kg bag, enough for 350 1oz loads. You can also buy moulds to cast your own buckshot.

[Oldbloke]

It's a little overwhelming searching for a shop in Melbourne that sells reasonably priced 12ga buckshot/slugs. Does anyone here have good recommendations?

I've never seen buck or slugs "reasonably priced".
Buy field loads, open them up, load in the shot or slug of your choice - Lee do cheap moulds for 7/8oz and 1oz slugs.
Last time I bought buckshot it was about $110 for a 10kg bag, enough for 350 1oz loads. You can also buy moulds to cast your own buckshot.

^^^^ this

[deye243]

I get these for 24 bucks a box of 25 they are surprisingly accurate.

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[safeshot]

Please correct me if...
I understand that the profit on rifles is modest so they make up their profits on the extras.

[wanneroo]

Plentiful supply always fixes everything. Like I have said before, people wanted all the lockdowns and government printing of money, so I reckon it will take 10-15 years to normalize all of the massive disruptions to the business environment and government making a big mess. It's an event on the scale of the great depression and WW2 and things just are not fixed overnight as the politicians promised.

When supplies are tighter and demand is high, prices go up as a retail shop has to make a profit on the fewer boxes they can obtain for sale.

I see this all the time in the big box sporting goods stores here in the USA. When supplies are strong and demand is normal and things like 9mm are literally stacked on the floor in big boxes, prices are cheap. When production lines get shut either in manufacturing or raw materials and then demand goes crazy, what few boxes a store can get have to be priced higher to make the same profit as when the stuff was piled on crates in the store.

I realized 10 years ago after another panic that lasted 18 months that I needed to fix my own problem.

First thing is I needed to learn how to reload my own brass. At least that would give me another option if factory ammo was scarce or expensive. I could either obtain components or better yet buy powder, bullets and primers in bulk and store them up.

Second thing is for a supply of brass to reload and ammo, I decided I would buy factory ammo when supplies were strong and demand was weak and prices were low. So during the Trump administration any time I would see sales I would at least pick up a few boxes of something. I accumulated a hefty lot of stuff over those years.

In the past 3 years I have bought a few odd bits of this or that, but really not much and looking at the shelves I have a long time before I have to worry about anything.

[JohnV]

If you shoot a lot of buckshot and slugs it's probably worth reloading and casting your own slugs and letter shot . More so than the smaller shot sizes . If you can get the power and primers that is . I also knew a guy that would buy clay target 12ga shells in bulk cheap and open some of them up and convert them to buckshot and slugs that he molded himself . I am not sure about the details of exactly how he did it but having reloaded 12 ga myself for a long time it would not be that difficult as long as the new shot or slug load is the same or lighter than the clay target shot that comes out probably around no 7 shot . Cut the crimp petals off and roll crimp for the slugs . For the letter shot AAA to SG , fold the crimp petals back down and glue them with a dab of something in the center , even a bit of duct tape might do . I would recommend AAA or SSG size shot as it's easier to work with inside an internal plastic mono wad that will be inside the shell and work on pigs real good . With the SG size , 9 pellets will not fit easily inside the mono wad cavity and put bulges in the shell wall .

[Oldbloke]

I have one of these. Easy to cast and load.
I don't roll crimp, just normal 8 star crimp. They consistantly hit a 6" Target at about 70 yards IIRC.

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[S O K A R]

Seemed appropriate for the topic...
Had 6 slabs of remington #00 buckshot on order for a while now, get a phone call today from the dealer to advise me that it has gone up in price and to see if I still wanted it.
$68/box, $680/slab...$4,080 total
Think I'm going to pass on that one

From memory when I ordered it was around $36 a box, not sure how they can justify such a price hike....

[mickb]

if you shut the world down for 3 years to save grandma, you can expect to pay the price. The disruption to the supply chain was one thing, the profiteering that occurred was another. The consumer price index graph now looks like the ski jump at the olympics with us standing at the wrong end. That graph also exactly matches the net worth increase of the worlds richest. and market cap of the largest businesses. They didnt just get richer through this, they invented a new level of rich.

Even in the medieval era the average peasant who couldnt read or write knew something was up when he was running out of goods and food but the local baron was getting fatter and wearing more gold trim clothes. With all our education and access to information in the modern era we still cant make the connection.