Gun Show promoter playing god

So many people with good things to say. I have to disagree, I have a major problem with Shooting Supply in Westport. They are way too good of a shop apparently to be that far away from me. Over an hour and a half. For that reason I just cant see myself going there.

God I wish they were closer. They sound great!
 
MuzzleDiscipline said:
Then out the promoter and show. The truth is not very many guns sell at those shows any more because the prices are out of line.

Shooting Supply isn't just some cut rate operation. They carry heavy stock and reloading supplies and they are knowledgeable, friendly, and go the extra mile.

I was told the owner is an ex LEO and Licensing Officer. Great guy to do business with locally.
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I was only there once but their prices and especially their reloading inventory was impressive.
 
Wow, kicked out of the gun show for being non rapey. Eff those bastard promoters. They aren’t here to cater to buyers but they shouldn’t be screwing them over.
 
MuzzleDiscipline said:
You know it is a violation of the FTC price fixing regulations if his is being blocked because he is too competitively priced. Everyone one complaining as well as the promoter acting on their behalf could be waist deep in the
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It's called Restraint of Trade. I believe a complaint can be brought in federal court rather than state court.
 
I will have to echo what most have already said, shooting supply has a great selection and excellent prices. They complete very closely with FS. Staff are very friendly and helpful. It's worth the 30 -40 min trip for me.
 
I've set up at NewMart shows and anyone that goes in offering to sell at reasonable prices gets shunned by Carol's regulars and usually never gets tables at future shows. Your best bet is to go to Shooting Supply and save your 15 bucks and not leave with your ass bleeding from paying jacked up gun show prices.
 
I took a trip down shortly after they opened, when the owner saw that he didn't have what I was looking for he gave me the names and directions to other shops in the area and some on the way home while saying they were all great people, he also strongly suggested that I join MA Goal if I wasn't already a member. Been back a number of times and the place just keeps on getting better and better.

Perhaps signs should be made and some picketing done at the next show the creep puts on ??
 
In a way, I can't believe this. That huge shop in the west-of-Boston area never has TERRIBLE prices. Sometimes really good ones. The shop that takes up both sides of half-an-aisle. I forget the name. Shouldn't Mr. Gouge'a'lot be pissed with them as well?? They keep showing up. (Actually - were they AT Marlboro??? I forget.)

I still miss the "crazy vest guy."

I'll keep going for now just b'cuz. It's a treat to get out.

Never been to SS. And the shop is probably only 15 min from the office. Might have to take a trip tomorrow.
 
Frankly, this just reinforces why my wife and I no longer do the large gun shows. We visit the shops directly and two shows each year, one at the Holbrook club and one at the Monument Beach club. The large shows only have jewelry, jerky and overpriced guns. Sad.
 
My gun show attendance has been limited to Marlboro and Wilmington. I do a lot of tinkering and building so in the past there where some good deals on other peoples junk to be found. $15 for stainless steel 10/22 barrel, dickering to get M-1 Clips for 1.25, going back and forth with the Chinese optics guy etc. I only ever bought one firearm at a show and I got it at what I thought was a great price. I will probably go to Wilmington cause I haven’t gone for a couple years but I am setting a fairly low bar.

I can walk to 4S so every day can be a gun show if I want and Collectors Gallery can fill in the blanks for fairly priced reloading supplies.
 
Anybody who is going to Wilmington this weekend needs to take their so called "DOOR PRIZE" ticket and just write on it "BRING BACK SHOOTING SUPPLY"
Asking them not to attend is an unfair trade practice !!!
 
mike1960 said:
My gun show attendance has been limited to Marlboro and Wilmington. I do a lot of tinkering and building so in the past there where some good deals on other peoples junk to be found. $15 for stainless steel 10/22 barrel, dickering to get M-1 Clips for 1.25, going back and forth with the Chinese optics guy etc. I only ever bought one firearm at a show and I got it at what I thought was a great price. I will probably go to Wilmington cause I haven’t gone for a couple years but I am setting a fairly low bar.

I can walk to 4S so every day can be a gun show if I want and Collectors Gallery can fill in the blanks for fairly priced reloading supplies.
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shit! i can get money for the 10-22 parts i usually throw away? stainless 10-22 barrel for sale $15, stock too, and trigger...
 
These vendors at gun are using physcology against us. You travel up to an hour and then some , You pay 15 bucks to get in and they always have the ammo shyster and the jerky guy at the back of the show so a walk through is guaranteed . It's the perfect storm for a captured audience people get caught up in the buying with the other poor slobs who are paying a premium over what it's worth and let's face it no one wants to go to a gun show and come home empty handed
 
+1 on shooting supply. great pricing, good staff. (and a free pen after filling out a purchase application)
 
Downwind said:
Anybody who is going to Wilmington this weekend needs to take their so called "DOOR PRIZE" ticket and just write on it "BRING BACK SHOOTING SUPPLY"
Asking them not to attend is an unfair trade practice !!!
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It would be more effective if, after you leave, you come back in and ask if Shooting Supply has a table/booth. When they say "no", turn around and leave. They'll think they lost a customer.

You know, if One person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and They won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, They may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in asks about shooting supply and walking out. They may think it's an Organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said Fifty people a day walking in asking about shooting supply and Walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.
 
Gee, and here I thought paying $12 to go to a gun show to look at overpriced guns was a bargain in itself. :eek:

I attended the Marlboro show once. I won't bother wasting gas and admission to go to a gun show again when my local GS will beat the prices at the shows.
 
I've given this matter a lot of thought in the past couple of days.
I'm a couple hours drive from Shooting Sports: out near Springfield.
On the other hand, I drive halfway there to get to the Marlboro show.
It seems like it is time to support SS by driving down there every couple of months.
I usually go to the gun shows with one or two other guys, so if I don't go, neither will they.

If this involved anything except guns, the AG would be down on the promoters in a heartbeat.

I would love to know the names of the complaining vendors so that I could single them out for special attention.

Jack
 
I hate to be the “wet blanket” on this thread, but there has got to be more to this story.

First, as far as I can tell, gun show promoters get two revenue streams from putting on gun shows. 1) from selling tables on a flat charge per table basis to vendors. And 2) from a percentage of each ticket sold to show attendees. To my knowledge, the promoter doesn’t get a cut, or a percentage of the merchandise sold during the show.

The promoter’s fixed costs to run the show are virtually the same regardless if all the tables are sold or not; or if the show is well attended or not. A promoter wants as many tables sold, and as many bodies through the door as possible.

What benefit would a promoter gain from barring a particular vendor, who would arguably attract attendees to the show, in addition to paying the promoter’s flat per table fee?

Now, if one or more vendors get together and tell the promoter they are going to pull out of the show if Shooting Supply is there; the promoter has to make a cost/benefit decision and weigh the loss of the revenue and foot traffic from several vendors, against the loss of revenue and foot traffic of one vendor. That’s a business decision, and a crappy decision to have to be forced to make too.

But it’s the complaining vendors who are forcing the promoter to make that decision. I would like to know who the complaining vendors are!
 
MuzzleDiscipline said:
You know it is a violation of the FTC price fixing regulations if his is being blocked because he is too competitively priced. Everyone one complaining as well as the promoter acting on their behalf could be waist deep in the
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I am not a lawyer, but I am in a profession that is strictly regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, and I am required to receive annual training on FTC regulations.

The FTC takes a very dim view of "collusion" or "price fixing." However, in order for it to be actionable, the collusion must take place between one or more “competitors.”

So collusion would have to be two or more competing promoters; or two or more competing gun shops agreeing to coordinate their pricing. But it is not collusion according to the FTC if a gun shop and the promoter agree to pricing or certain “favorable terms.”

However, it is interesting to note that the FTC says collusion doesn’t necessarily need to involve price fixing. It can also involve competitors colluding to demand favorable terms or accommodations from a third party.

So, technically, the only FTC collusion violation in this case would be if the two or more complaining vendors colluded among themselves to approach the promoter and demand that Shooting Supply be barred from attending the show. That being said the FTC has ZERO interest in prosecuting gun show squabbles.
 
Wheeler686 said:
I hate to be the “wet blanket” on this thread, but there has got to be more to this story.
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I couldn't agree more. The more I have thought about it, it just doesn't pass the sniff test.

First off, Shooting Supply is a fine place, but it is not the second coming of Christ with respect to crazy low prices. It is a fine competitive shop with a lot going for it. I'd even call it the "Four Seasons of the South Coast." I have bought there. And it's great for reloading supplies. But I have also beat their prices elsewhere without a whole lot of effort. Frankly, their prices on used guns are only really attractive when they run their occasional 10% off sales and on new guns when they run a flyer sale.

Second, I believe the big attraction to Shooting Supply's tables at the Marlboro show was all about them being a brand new vendor at the show that also put in a big effort to let people know in advance that they were bringing as much of their used stock as possible to the show. Being so far away from most of us, that was a big deal since they usually have a pretty decent selection of interesting used guns. Other show vendors should probably do the same, but they don't.

But at the end of the day, they are just another (albeit very decent) show vendor. Was there an objection to Pete's when Pete's did the shows in a big way and 'stole' business from other vendors? Was there an objection when Avid came in with a big presence? When Undercover Arms (now R.I.P.) started doing the shows did other vendors squawk? I could go on, but you get the idea.

It seems to me that it is in the interest of the promoter to have as many real gun dealers there as possible. I know who complained and got Martinello thrown out of the shows (for his Glocks)... but I can't see that vendor complaining about Shooting Supply. I think I know who might have complained or at least had reason to complain... but if so, I'm thinking the complaint (if real) was not about prices. Just a hunch. [thinking]
 

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