New Gun Shop - Looking For Input

As per post 35 it seems this fellows shop
is nowhere near Littleton. That is all I can
determine from post 35. Can you help me out
with some more information? Is he in some
other town other than Littleton? It would
take a good half hour to get to Littleton from
Worcester or Millberry or Auburn.

Or is that you giving him advice on where to
move his shop?

Got it. I’m quite thick most times.
Takes a while for things to sink in.


Post 35 is answering the op's question on what you want in a gun shop and he is referring to a shop within 5 min of Worcester. He's not saying the guy's shop is that close.
 
A holster bucket or box. You will buy holsters on the cheap, and mark them up slightly. One man's junk is another's treasure!

Find a source for surplus 8mm Mauser and 9mm Makarov. Probably Swiss and Swedish as well, other stuff like that that is wanted, but almost oddball.

Have a value-added specialty like Arisaka section or something. I don't know how, but something like that generates interest from people.

Best of luck.
 
*Low or no transfer fees generate foot traffic
*A supply of oddball ammo, like say 7.5x55 Swiss, or 7.65×20mm Longue, generates collector foot traffic
*Reasonable prices, friendly and respectful customer service, and listening to what customers say and want always pays dividends

(Note: please don't try to stock 7.65 Longue)


Low or no transfer fee's That's some good advice. Guy will be out of business soon. Must be a School of Business grad
 
Low or no transfer fee's That's some good advice. Guy will be out of business soon. Must be a School of Business grad
I love guys who shop the world to save $10 dollars and expect a local FFL to do the paper work for almost nothing. Support your local store and buy local. in the long run you will do better.
 
Gun store and Massachusetts is never gonna be exciting. Actually depressing walking into most of them. Espeially the ones with the LEO only wall or section lol. Maybe more Milsurps? But those are drying up too. I think you have to risk it all and start selling new Glocks ARs and AKs. Good luck
Walk into Hunters Rendezvous.

That place is like an antique shop mixed with a gun store, mixed with something else, you can spend hours in there and still find random stuff.

I never understood why shops do not keep a running list of used guns people are looking for. I wanted some stuff that is not easy to find in MA. I offered my name to several shops in case something came in and all refused. For example if I am looking for a Colt Python (I'm not) it would be hard to find. If you took my name and a year later one came through you shop it would be easy to refer to the list and make some calls thus assuring a sale and helping out 2 customers (seller and buyer). It would also give you an edge over the big guys you can't go to to toe with price wise. It also might help offset any price difference on new firearms when those customers go to buy a new something.
This. I recently had a gunsmith Email me that finally after a year of being on his Email list, he received short stroked Uberti revolvers. This is a known CAS gunsmith.

Unfortunately right now is the worst timing, with all the clubs renewals coming up, car and hosue insurance renewals and the holidays. I am looking at $4K just in bills that I pay upfront every year and the possibility of a 5% layoff. F*CK.
 
Bet you thought you were going to get ALL serious replies[rofl]
He got the typical NES stupid replies ...

But he also got some good replies. I wish people saved the stupid sh*t for either a few pages IN when a bunch of good stuff has been presented or those really stupid threads started by people that need NES to make all their desicions.

But this is a legit business asking for advice.
 
He got the typical NES stupid replies ...

But he also got some good replies. I wish people saved the stupid sh*t for either a few pages IN when a bunch of good stuff has been presented or those really stupid threads started by people that need NES to make all their desicions.

But this is a legit business asking for advice.
It's easy for folks to advise someone how to run a business that they are not into themselves. Jack.
 
With all due respect to One Eyed's comment, I suggest numerical analysis on a per-hour basis to see if a store is even viable.
  • What is the fully burdened cost of staffing the store per hour, on average? (wages, SS, workman's comp, etc.)
  • What is the hourly cost of rent, heat, insurance, taxes, etc
  • What is your average weighted margin (average % margin on a per $ sold basis)
  • Hourly cost of inventory. You should use a cap rate of at least 5% (probably a lot more) when calculating the opportunity cost of having $$ tied up in inventory
  • Opportunity cost of what you would have earned on interest on the money spent on the shop build out (use the loan rate if that is borrowed money, or 0% if you borrowed it from a relative you have no intention of repaying)
  • What is the hourly cost of shoplifting?
Now, you take two numbers:
  • Hourly cost to keep store open
  • Margin percent
And use these values to calculate the average per-hour sales you need to cover just the above listed basics. Note that expense is non-inclusive and omits legal fees; junk inventory (the stuff you can never sell - every shop has a bunch of this); liability insurance (you sell a gun that gets in a high profile shooting and it's going to cost you)

If you determine it takes $50 per hour to keep the store open and you average margin in 20%, you need to average $250 in sales per hour to cover that (actually more when you consider the other stuff). When you look at the deli emporium you can see sales in the thousands per hour, so it is easy to understand how they crack their financial nut.

If you envision a day at the shop as selling a gun or two, maybe a transfer, and a $100 worth of accessories you'll find there is a viability issue. On the other hand, if you realistically think you will get the kind of traffic to cover the hourly cost of keeping the store open and accomplish something other than working the shop for minimum wage (or less - there is no "owners minimum wage"), go for it.

And remember, there is one easy to make a small fortune running a gun shop - start with a large on (fortune, not shop).
 
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