TexasCHLforum.com

From price discussions I've seen on a lot of forums, including this one, it seems that surprisingly few people know about Bud's Gun Shop at http://www.budsgunshop.com/. It seems to me that a lot of people are paying more for guns than they need to be and don't know it. This is especially true for people buying current models from local gun shops (e.g., Nagels in San Antonio), but it also applies to the prices on the auction sites and at gun shows.

Anytime you're considering buying a current model, new or used, it's worth checking Bud's to see what their NIB price is. They charge $25 for shipping, and the FFL transfer fee is up to $35 in some places, so Bud's price plus $60 gives you an NIB price to use as a rough upper bound on what you should pay for the same gun locally, including sales tax.

In the San Antonio to Austin area, I've found Bud's to be invariably cheaper for new guns, and sometimes significantly so. Very often Bud's new price is cheaper than the local used price. The gun shop here in Seguin will order anything for 10% above his cost, plus sales tax. This has been 10% to 15% higher than the total from Bud's for everything that I've checked on (maybe eight or ten items).

I don't have any axe to grind with Bud's except as a satisfied customer and wanting them to stay in business. I'm just letting people know about a possible way to save money. Guns are an expensive enough obsession without people paying more than they have to without realizing it.

I just bought my Remington 700 VSF from those guys, the only thing to check is they have a 3% price jack if you use a credit card.
Even eith the 3% it was still a little cheaper than local.






p.s. So called cash discount; technically if the CC companies find out they could lose their ability to accept CC.

i looked around when i bought my beretta. a local police distributor had them for $589, and that was the "officer" price on a letterhead. with tax, i'm paying more than $600 for a 92FS (it was during the ban, and came with 3 hi-caps). i found another distributor in florida. $479, no tax, and $30 to ship. that decision was a no-brainer.

i bought 3 springfields from a guy in iowa, or idaho, somewhere like that. he sells out of his house, and frequents gun shows, so no overhead. it was far cheaper to buy from him, than it was to get one local.

tires are the same way. most local tire places will charge an arm and a leg. tell them you'll just order from tire rack then you'll be back to have them put the tires on. the local place will beat the tire rack price. the net is good all the way around.

Chris wrote:
tires are the same way. most local tire places will charge an arm and a leg. tell them you'll just order from tire rack then you'll be back to have them put the tires on. the local place will beat the tire rack price. the net is good all the way around.

Chris:

I don't know how it is in your town, but in my small South Ga. community I don't think you would want to "bring back the tires you bought someplace else" to have them put on after you had shopped at this place first and passed on their price.

Around here those local folks would tell you to take the tires back where you got "the good deal" to be put on, or more likely they would tell you to stuff them "where the sun don't shine"...

Maybe it's a good old boy thing, but I've lived in other states over the years and I think you might run up on this pretty much in a small community no matter where you live..

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

PX wrote:

Chris wrote:
tires are the same way. most local tire places will charge an arm and a leg. tell them you'll just order from tire rack then you'll be back to have them put the tires on. the local place will beat the tire rack price. the net is good all the way around.

Chris:

I don't know how it is in your town, but in my small South Ga. community I don't think you would want to "bring back the tires you bought someplace else" to have them put on after you had shopped at this place first and passed on their price.

Around here those local folks would tell you to take the tires back where you got "the good deal" to be put on, or more likely they would tell you to stuff them "where the sun don't shine"...

Maybe it's a good old boy thing, but I've lived in other states over the years and I think you might run up on this pretty much in a small community no matter where you live..

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

not if they want to make any money. i got $100 knocked off my last set at discount tire when i brought up tire rack. i got a good deal for my money, and i'll buy all my tires from them because they treated me right.

do you want to keep a customer, and lose a little profit, or lose the sale and the customer? good ole boy system will put you out of business quick. you can always find someone willing to do anything you need. i would think there would be even more emphasis on that in a smaller community where not many people spend their money to begin with; you certainly wouldn't want to chase anyone off. but then again, small community to me is 30,000 people.

Chris wrote:but then again, small community to me is 30,000 people.

try two trailers and a dog!
jk

srsly, though, I have run into the aforementioned "small town syndrome" before, a time or two.
it's best to not let the door hitcha, where the good Lord splitcha.

Like ^ that dude said, there's always someone somewhere that'll do the job fer ya.

Chris wrote:

PX wrote:

Chris wrote:
tires are the same way. most local tire places will charge an arm and a leg. tell them you'll just order from tire rack then you'll be back to have them put the tires on. the local place will beat the tire rack price. the net is good all the way around.

Chris:

I don't know how it is in your town, but in my small South Ga. community I don't think you would want to "bring back the tires you bought someplace else" to have them put on after you had shopped at this place first and passed on their price.

Around here those local folks would tell you to take the tires back where you got "the good deal" to be put on, or more likely they would tell you to stuff them "where the sun don't shine"...

Maybe it's a good old boy thing, but I've lived in other states over the years and I think you might run up on this pretty much in a small community no matter where you live..

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

not if they want to make any money. i got $100 knocked off my last set at discount tire when i brought up tire rack. i got a good deal for my money, and i'll buy all my tires from them because they treated me right.

do you want to keep a customer, and lose a little profit, or lose the sale and the customer? good ole boy system will put you out of business quick. you can always find someone willing to do anything you need. i would think there would be even more emphasis on that in a smaller community where not many people spend their money to begin with; you certainly wouldn't want to chase anyone off. but then again, small community to me is 30,000 people.

Chris:

Not trying to be argumentive, but I guarantee you that the great majority of such dealers around my neck of the woods would indeed tell you to take your tires and hit the road... Loss of profit wouldn't mean a thing, and you ALREADY bypassed on buying the tires there in the first place, so you aren't even considered "as" a customer..

I'm not saying that attitude is "smart business", I'm just saying "it is what it is".. I don't mind paying a little more to buy locally, because I know when I need service I will get it. But shopping at a place first, then buying elsewhere, then expecting them to mount the tires simply to make a small install fee just is not the way it works.

I DON'T buy tires from the local dealer in my small town (8-10 thousand?). I found out early that my local dealer simply isn't competitive, so I don't offend him by "shopping" him. I buy my tires from a larger dealer in a nearby larger town with an excellent reputation for competitive pricing and excellent after sale service. When my tires need rotating or whatever THAT'S where I go to have it done. I buy there, I get service there.

Hey, I can't speak for anyplace other than South Georgia, but I'm a senior citizen and it has always been just the way I explained it to you.. Not just tires, almost anything.

The logic of making a little profit over zero profit in a situation such as you suggested simply bypasses the thought processes of the tire store (whatever) owner and in the process of you coming back to get them mounted he will probably get highly irritated and become "unpleasant, at the very least"..

Not saying it makes sense or has any reasonable logic to it.. But I am saying that's the way it is..

Anyone else with a different opinion who might live in a small community, not just in Ga., is certainly welcome to pipe up..

Just my opinion, and observations from over 45 years of vehicle ownership, and tire buying in my little redneck part of the U.S.

And, I love it here.. Georgia is "gun friendly"...

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

PX wrote: Chris:

Not trying to be argumentive, but I guarantee you that the great majority of such dealers around my neck of the woods would indeed tell you to take your tires and hit the road... Loss of profit wouldn't mean a thing, and you ALREADY bypassed on buying the tires there in the first place, so you aren't even considered "as" a customer..

I'm not saying that attitude is "smart business", I'm just saying "it is what it is".. I don't mind paying a little more to buy locally, because I know when I need service I will get it. But shopping at a place first, then buying elsewhere, then expecting them to mount the tires simply to make a small install fee just is not the way it works.

I DON'T buy tires from the local dealer in my small town (8-10 thousand?). I found out early that my local dealer simply isn't competitive, so I don't offend him by "shopping" him. I buy my tires from a larger dealer in a nearby larger town with an excellent reputation for competitive pricing and excellent after sale service. When my tires need rotating or whatever THAT'S where I go to have it done. I buy there, I get service there.

Hey, I can't speak for anyplace other than South Georgia, but I'm a senior citizen and it has always been just the way I explained it to you.. Not just tires, almost anything.

The logic of making a little profit over zero profit in a situation such as you suggested simply bypasses the thought processes of the tire store (whatever) owner and in the process of you coming back to get them mounted he will probably get highly irritated and become "unpleasant, at the very least"..

Not saying it makes sense or has any reasonable logic to it.. But I am saying that's the way it is..

Anyone else with a different opinion who might live in a small community, not just in Ga., is certainly welcome to pipe up..

Just my opinion, and observations from over 45 years of vehicle ownership, and tire buying in my little redneck part of the U.S.

And, I love it here.. Georgia is "gun friendly"...

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

that's what makes a good business; somewhere that's willing to make you the best deal because they want your future business and your referrals. the mom and pop place, yea, i can see them doing that, but there aren't many of those left around these parts. just about everything is a chain of some sort.

it's like the gun dealers here. some have outrageous prices, and they're not too far from shutting down. some can't keep them in stock. what i think kills a lot of gun dealers, or any shop for that matter, is on higher priced purchases, the shipping is significantly cheaper than the taxes. i make purchases on some stuff just to save on the taxes. local places can't compete with that.

back to the original post though; it's a case in point. a shop makes people good deals, keeps them as customers, and they go out and refer their friends. shop makes even more money. i might mention a good shop i frequent should someone ask. i'll brag about an excellent shop. and i'll tell the world about a crappy one.

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND FREE ENTERPRISE!

Hey! Take this to the tire forum, OK?

There's a guy on the Beretta Forum that is selling Berettas and Glocks at dirt cheap prices. I'm almost tempted to get a Glock at those prices. For local purchases, I hit up Schramms at the gun shows. Great prices.

Glock 17 $337 delivered Glock 22 $317 delivered
Forum ONLY 92FS police trades $319 delivered

age_ranger wrote:There's a guy on the Beretta Forum that is selling Berettas and Glocks at dirt cheap prices. I'm almost tempted to get a Glock at those prices. For local purchases, I hit up Schramms at the gun shows. Great prices.

Glock 17 $337 delivered Glock 22 $317 delivered
Forum ONLY 92FS police trades $319 delivered

++1 Agree as to Jeff Schramms! Over time...purchased 5 guns from him at shows...+ wife and son's guns.

This is weird, JLaw was just telling me this morning about Bud's. Think that means something?

I called them about a gun. They're $70 less than a local gun shop dh checked. I'm still going to check the gun show this weekend and make sure I can't get a better deal there.

Venus, check out Allcorn Creek at the gun show. I have bought several guns from them, decent prices and usually at least $20 cheaper than any other dealer at the show or more.

Venus Pax wrote:I called them about a gun. They're $70 less than a local gun shop dh checked. I'm still going to check the gun show this weekend and make sure I can't get a better deal there.

Were they $70 lower than the one I told you about? If so, I need to check these folks out!

Chas.