Gun shop dilema

Since I used to be on the "retail" side - take it for what it's worth. 1st - EddieCoyle's post is spot on. 2nd - he told you he didn't know the price. If anywhere in that conversation he said something re: changing the price, then you were warned. 3rd - I'd ask why the difference and then base your decisiion on his answer.

Me? It's only $50. It's a gun shop. There aren't many of those left in this state.
 
So, if it came in rusty and broken, would the shop have lowered the price?

If not and you refused to buy it then, wouldn't he have kept your deposit?
 
I think First Defense has one in stock. Look at their website.
No price but you could give them a call.

Might be gone. Lots of turnover there.
 
It sounds to me like the shop person was negotiating in good faith and quite possibly the distributor jacked up the price on him, or tacked on extras along the way, maybe this gun/ bundle comes comes with 2 mags as opposed to one or maybe an extra sling or something along that line.
From the little we know here it does not sound as though he is trying to extort more from you.
And given the nature and scarcities of the Saigas lately, I'd be inclined to politely ask why the price delta, and if he gives you a reasonable explanation, (e.g. my cost was higher and I decided to bring it in for you anyways. Or this was the only one/ bundle available and I grabbed it for you as it was the last one, etc.).
Then I would consider the fact that he may be doing you somewhat of a favor and take the gun..
 
Gun shop was State Line in Mason. The guy said the increase was because, "The price went up", which I can believe. I mean I'm not super happy about the price, but I'm not getting ripped either as that's the upper end of the current market value for those. It had a threaded barrel though and the old guy wanted to send it off to have it "laser welded", but the younger guy jumped in and said the barrel was long enough just to chop it off. He said the laser welding was permanent anyways so I'm not too concerned about losing 3/4". It should be done today or tomorrow.
 
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Another thing to consider. if you opt not to take the gun, the owner may never order another gun for you without being paid in full in advance. As the shop is now unlikely able to return the gun and owns it. It may create some sore feelings on the shop's part. you may be burning a bridge.

just another consideration..
 
seanc said:
Another thing to consider. if you opt not to take the gun, the owner may never order another gun for you without being paid in full in advance. As the shop is now unlikely able to return the gun and owns it. It may create some sore feelings on the shop's part. you may be burning a bridge.

just another consideration..
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Re-read my posts please. He did not order it for me. He had already ordered it for the shop to modify and said that he would sell it to me instead. He kept mentioning the whole time that if I didn't want to take it then that was fine. I'm sure they could have modified it into a Tromix-style Saiga-12 that would sell for upwards of $900.
 
NWanner said:
Re-read my posts please. He did not order it for me. He had already ordered it for the shop to modify and said that he would sell it to me instead. He kept mentioning the whole time that if I didn't want to take it then that was fine. I'm sure they could have modified it into a Tromix-style Saiga-12 that would sell for upwards of $900.
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Sounds to me that the choices are - pay the $600 or forget it.
 
Personal experience:

State-line are about the nicest, most helpful and sincere folks I've ever run into in the business. Pay the $50 and be happy to know you dealt with some righteous people.
 
Bill Nance said:
Personal experience:

State-line are about the nicest, most helpful and sincere folks I've ever run into in the business. Pay the $50 and be happy to know you dealt with some righteous people.
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Eh, I've honestly dealt with better gun shops. Maybe it's just the way I come off, but the old guy has never treated me that well any of the times I have dealt with him. The younger guy with the goatee treated me good though. If you read my posts you will find the outcome of what I did. Some of the replies make me think people don't read all the posts and then decide to comment anyways...
 
NWanner said:
Eh, I've honestly dealt with better gun shops. Maybe it's just the way I come off, but the old guy has never treated me that well any of the times I have dealt with him. The younger guy with the goatee treated me good though. If you read my posts you will find the outcome of what I did. Some of the replies make me think people don't read all the posts and then decide to comment anyways...
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Ok, I'll relate my experiences: Usually when I go into a gun shop I get one of two responses: 1. I can't be bothered until you've shown me cash, Oh, (sigh ) I GUESS I'll actually show you something. 2. Ok, I'll show you something, give you no information of any kind. Questions? um, gee, you'd have to ask the boss. (who's usually not around). From State-line I got the following on the two occasions I've been there (the last one we put a gun on lay-away *waiting on the LTC for the transfer*) 1. Here, let me trip over myself to show you anything you want. Hmm. honey (to my wife) that doesn't look like it fits your hand too well, try this (cheaper gun) 2: Reloading: Sure, here's all we have, ...gee I'm not sure, hold up a sec, let me check. (comes back with actual info) And if you want anything you don't see here, ask me and if we deal with them we can work something out. In other words, I felt I was treated with respect, given a fair price, and encouraged to ask any questions and even if they didn't know, they'd endeavor to get me the answers. (as a new Massatwosh*ts resident I was especially grateful). The "old guy" (Paul if I remember correctly) treated me terrifically. I'd highly recommend the folks at state-line. I plan to do a good bit of business with them specifically BECAUSE of the way I've been treated there.
 
Customer service is a dying art.

I've only been to a few shops, settling quickly on M&M's in Plymouth. I went to 4 Seasons a couple of times and it was always pretty busy, which probably contributed to the low level of customer service I got from all the guys there. Another place I went to in Middleboro or Marlborough, can't remember which, the guys were very condescending and didn't want to answer questions.

Seems like if you're not flashing the cash, or don't already have a good report with the shop workers, you won't get good customer service.

Then again, I'm not really going into the gun shop to make friends.
 
I've always had good experiences at State Line, I'm actually surprised that they pulled that one on you. It does sound like the final price was iffy, but the receipt should have at least reflected that the price was pending.
 
NWanner said:
Is that the same M&M's that sells the reloads under the same name? I've used alot of their ammo in the past.
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They're in Plymouth near the water front, used to be in Cordage Park. I don't know if they sell reloads.

They offer lay-away, which many places don't seem to do. It's good, but it's bad 'cause it lets me put too many expensive things aside, like the SW1911 currently waiting for me, haha.
 
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TomH said:
I've always had good experiences at State Line, I'm actually surprised that they pulled that one on you. It does sound like the final price was iffy, but the receipt should have at least reflected that the price was pending.
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Yea, that's what irked me really.
 
I got bored and decided to check out to some pricing on the Saiga 12 is. Found them between $550-600 for PRE-election pricing.

Now given the whole election panic in the firearms industry there is bound to be price jump (high demand for it low supply).

I honestly think your still getting a damn good deal on a gun that was hard to find PRE-election results and you found one post election that was still in your 'range' when shopping.

Last question you need to ask yourself, if they had it for $600 originally, would you still have bought it? Especially now given the whole gun sale madness.
 
Skald said:
I got bored and decided to check out to some pricing on the Saiga 12 is. Found them between $550-600 for PRE-election pricing.

Now given the whole election panic in the firearms industry there is bound to be price jump (high demand for it low supply).

I honestly think your still getting a damn good deal on a gun that was hard to find PRE-election results and you found one post election that was still in your 'range' when shopping.

Last question you need to ask yourself, if they had it for $600 originally, would you still have bought it? Especially now given the whole gun sale madness.
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Honestly this buy wasn't fueled by the election at all, I've been wanting one for about a year and have been searching for one just as long.
 
NWanner said:
That's funny, when I was in there about 4-6 months ago I inquired about one and they told me they didn't even know what one was.
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For some reason BN is not big into these kind of rifles. They never have had a large selection of Semi-auto rifles. However, they do have plenty of hunting rifles, shotguns and pistols and on occasion they will have a sprinkle unique stuff.
 
News Shooter said:
What really bothers me about this whole thread is calling Paul an "old man."
He's younger than I am and I don't consider myself an old man[wink]

Just remember, you'll be there some day too
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Lol, I always called him the older man. I never call anyone an 'old man' out of respect. I just picked up the Saiga about 30 minutes ago. Good news is it's one of the recently imported ones which means that it is brand spanking new. Bad news is they charged me $30 to chop off the threads and crown the barrel, which was not mentioned when I agreed to let them do it. I mean I can't say that I had a bad experience overall, but like most gun stores I've been to, I can't say I had a good one either. Unless they have something that I can't get somewhere else (like AG Guns who has the best prices I've found so far), I probably won't buy an actual gun from there again. I'm partial against gun stores in general though, I'd rather do FTF purchases on guns.
 

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