WalMart Rant--Price Matching BS

[Sanford]

WM has whored up the margins.

FWIW, when Academy first opened here its prices were lower than the local WM. Since then the WM closest to Academy has lowered their prices to be competitive, but still isn't as low on most "name brand" ammo, while the WM a few miles farther away has retained its higher prices. Dick's, across town, is still higher than any of those except for the occasional special such as Dave was attempting to take advantage of. At least that's been my observation on the types/calibers of ammunition that I've purchased locally.

 

[ratski]

Good for you, but difference in you and the OP buying ammo at WM is that he holds a FFL and WM has whored up the margins.

Not sure what these two things have to do with each other.

The reason I hold the FFL is to offer a value added service to my patients. When I first got my FFL, there were no gun stores where you could order what you wanted in the area other than Pawn Shops. Closest one was over 40 miles away. I got the FFL for that reason.

As it stands, even though someone pointed out that you can order and get shipping free from some distributors, your customers also have to pay the same sales tax as they would in WM for the same ammo. With the margin between WM prices and what I could order, there would be no profit in it at this price.

It is not a smart business model to tie up significant resources in a lower profit margin item that may or may not be recoverable. Better to use those resources in other areas that are more profitable. If that works for you, fine.

Having said that, and having my FFL, I do very little retail stocking because firearms and accessories are not my bread and butter and I have no desire to compete with someone who makes their living in that industry. I still purchase ammo and accessories from my "local" gun store and I usually tell people that they are better off buying from the local gun store for the same reasons.

Yeah, I could buy the ammo from a distributor for my own personal use, but that is not what having a sales tax ID is about, just like having an FFL is not about getting guns "wholesale". If I purchased from a distributor, my intent should be to sell the product not circumvent the sales tax. Legally, if I bring in inventory under the guise of the Sales Tax ID, when it is taken out of inventory, even for my personal use, the sales tax still applies.

Dave