Not anything to do with delivery as both are good, Fedex around here edges out UPS. But at one time I had a Smith and Wesson 2nd model HE I sold. I had to ship it to a FFL obviously. Fedex would deliver it for me. Ok, so I look up their regs, package the box accordingly. I went to drop it off all boxed up and ready to go. I told the agent it was a collectable pistol going to an FFL and *BOOOOOMMMMM* the liberal lunatic behind the counter went ballistic on me. Was it loaded, was it taken apart, was the firing pin removed, don't i know guns are dangerous, Fedex does not take firearm shipments. blah, blah, blah. I had to get their supervisor and explain the FEDEX regs to them. Geez......they took it but made me seriously doubt if I ever wanted to do business with them again.
PSA along with every other retailer and some distributors pricing was higher six months ago than they are today. We followed the market and in some cases were well below the market with our prices. PSA was one of the companies that we used to help set our prices.
Dealers were forced to buy unsaleable merchandise to get the parts we needed....ask Reddog about that Pink Black Rain rifle.
I realize that - and again, I'm totally not directing this towards you or Red Dog (I probably shouldn't have quoted you when I did), but having higher prices at the distributer-level, or from a major online dealer isn't the same as 150% plus markup at the local shop level while then crying about the locals supporting brick/mortar establishments.
Either capitalism is in effect or it isn't - you can't have it both ways (pay more money to keep us open, but don't cry when we price-hike to a level that you feel is inappropriate). This was my point the entire time through this last dry-spell.
To clarify, I'm talking about local shops who were charging $650 for new Glocks, and $1500 for bone-stock ARs that typically go for $800. If you had to raise prices to account for the dry-spell, then cool (I like having brick/mortar shops open so I purchased from local when I could and completely understand adjusting prices for the market).
When you take advantage of a dip/rise in the market though, there are always effects/consequences. If you alienate your customer-base by hiking prices to get all the money you can in the short-term, then don't cry about "supporting the local shop" because you're suffering in the long-term like some are doing now (again, this is not directed at the Fat Boys or Red Dog - there are a couple of local shops on OSA that took a $#!+ where they eat and they are the ones crying the loudest on other message boards or in their stores).
I get that some local shops decided to price-hike on gunbroker or online but gave discounts to the local folks or here on OSA and to those guys, I'm still loyal to them and will buy locally (or send business to them when asked) since they looked at the long-term and deemed customer-loyalty more important than the all-mighty dollar (even if in a limited capacity).
To put it simply, customers are who retailers make money off of, so you're free to do whatever you want as a retail store, but you can't cry about it if your products/service/business-tactics piss them off.
I'll continue to support the Fat Boys, BANG, and a few other Tulsa-area shops since I live over here, but there are places I starkly avoid and if those shops close-down then they learned that lesson the hard way - I say F#@$ 'em and more business to the folks who at least put out an effort to take care of the local customers.
I've had terrible luck with FedEx home delivery. FedEx Express and Ground, USPS and UPS all have done well. FedEx home delivery has lost 3 shipments from 2 different vendors in the last 6 weeks. I realize that home delivery is contracted out. I must have terrible contractors that service my area because I will refuse to order from a vendor that ships via home delivery.
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North East OK
- For Sale
- Sale Price: 250$
