LGS Ethics?
 

I wasn't sure where to post this question, so I chose the broadest of forum discussions. Anyway, here's the deal. I have a LGS that I am pretty committed to (I have my reasons), and they have the gun I want to purchase. Yay! But they for some reason have the pistol at a pretty high price :( It's a Springfield XDm 9mm Compact. They want $618 plus tax, and I am not willing to shop anywhere else locally. So what's the problem you ask? I can get the same exact gun at Bud's for $541 shipped :eek: Springfield 9mm 3.8 CMPT Black $541.00 SHIPS FREE

So now I am stuck as to what I should do. Do I give the LGS a chance to match the price, and if not buy it online and have it sent to his shop? Or do I just go ahead and order it online? I have very little faith that he could match a price thats $80 lower than his asking price. Please, what is the rule for such a situation?!

Whats the transfer fee going to cost you if you order from Buds? Add that to their price and see if your lgs can match that price.

Did you decide you wanted this gun by holding it in the lgs? If so I would feel some responsibility to support them.

Standing on the other side of the fence from you. . . . .

Even if I can't match a price from Bud's I still like being given the opportunity. And if a customer finds an awesome on-line deal that I can't even get close to, I try to be happy for them and their find, and take the transfer business.

It's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but I'm pretty sure that your LGS is unaware of Bud's price point.

After the transfer fee from Bud's it would be a grand total of $566. If i paid full price from the LGS the total would be $661. That's almost a $100 difference. I simply can't afford that much of a difference. I DID decide I liked it at the LGS and have been back a few times to see it. I would be willing to pay $600 OTD for it, but I just can't pay any more than that. Does that sound fair at all?

It's a really odd thing to point out, but he has his price listed almost exactly the same as Bud's for the gun with a SS slide http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/72143

What's MO's sales tax?

This is one of the jacked up tings about the industry. The MSRP on that is $705.

Just to give you some kind of idea, I just checked a distributor of mine and my wholesale price on that piece is less than $10 cheaper than Bud's. Plus, I've got to pay shipping to my shop, and overhead.

the sales tax for that county in MO is 7% on the money. If he sold it to me for $560, it would be $600 OTD. But that's still a pretty big price drop if he were to agree to it. I am not sure which path to take on this one :(

Yea, that is kind of what I figured, HE would actually make more money on the $25 transfer fee than on the mark-up if he sold it for $560. Like you said, that is messed up.

I know how ya feel. I like supporting my local dealer too. But i get other intangables from being a regular longtime customer that keeps me coming back and giving him first crack at a gun sale or gun related product sale.

I get first shot at some REAL nice ammo deals, he calls me if a unique item comes in before he puts it for sale, and other little things like no hassles on oddball special orders etc. I dont mind the little extra it isnt gonna make or break me and it helps keep a local shop in business. The ptrice of driving to cabelas and back or gander mountain or one of the milwaukee shops is huge and greatly offsets the price diff.

The question is does it mean much to you to save up the extra $$$ vs losing your relationship with your dealer??

I say give him the chance to match or come down on his price. It's always best to try and support local business, more of what you spend locally gets returned to the community that way.