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rude dealers
rrfhunter
Member Posts: 187 ✭✭✭
Okay, I'm really gonna open a can of worms here!
Why are there so many gun dealers that are rude jerks? As a Real Estate broker, it's amazing to me how many rude, nasty jerks are in the gun business. I'm not saying all dealers are rude, just an unusually large percentage ie: 10-20%. I've heard a lot of rude smart a$% comments directed towards a variety of customers. It seems to me that there are a lot of frustrated unfullfilled individuals in this business. In all fairness, I've also seen a lot of idiotic "customers" that aren't gonna buy wasting valuable time. But thats part of being in business, don't take out the frustrations on the real cash customers. I've long observed this as have other friends. If they're tired of following the guns show circuits around a region maybe it's time for them to quit.
I would be interested in other opinions and observations.
....I never met a gun I didn't like!
Why are there so many gun dealers that are rude jerks? As a Real Estate broker, it's amazing to me how many rude, nasty jerks are in the gun business. I'm not saying all dealers are rude, just an unusually large percentage ie: 10-20%. I've heard a lot of rude smart a$% comments directed towards a variety of customers. It seems to me that there are a lot of frustrated unfullfilled individuals in this business. In all fairness, I've also seen a lot of idiotic "customers" that aren't gonna buy wasting valuable time. But thats part of being in business, don't take out the frustrations on the real cash customers. I've long observed this as have other friends. If they're tired of following the guns show circuits around a region maybe it's time for them to quit.
I would be interested in other opinions and observations.
....I never met a gun I didn't like!
Comments
I have found for the most part here in Florida the Dealers are a bunch of ninkenpoops, Their stuff is worth gold and my is worth tin, I cant count how many insults I have taken from them.
Most ask top book price for a peice of junk that might grade out at 40% at best.
So I avoid the dealers and do business with private persons, as many of my friends do. Get better deals and no insults
LR>
As for the apparent attitude we sometimes feel from dealers at shows... I ignore it, smile, crack a joke, ask how business/the show is going for them etc. You have to remember that in addition to those of us who are there as legitimate, legal, and honest traders and buyers there are the idiots, the convicts, the ex-felons, and the a**holes that the dealer must deal with as well.
Sure, they are in business... but a gunshow is just as stressful for the dealers as it is for us. They may not have to push their way through to crowd of idiots and apparently temporarily blind like the buyers do, but they do have answer the same "How much will you take?" question from the Charly Manson look-alikes a 100 times in one show.
Give them a break... you don't have to buy what they are selling anyway.
$.02
No matter where you go, there you are.
He replied "It's mine, unless you buy it".
I went home and bought one out of a catalog.
______________________
Charter member of the vast right wing conspiracy
I used to set up with a dealer friend that was sometimes kinda grumpy, but I would stand there all day asking people what they had, how much, what they were looking for ... If we had it, or something like it I would encourage them to pick it up & tell them to "try it on" ... then tell them "Wow that looks good on you!" If it was a woman, something like "That really brings out the color of your eyes" ... they always knew it was a line, but it never failed to get a smile ... Too bad more people dont realize its just as easy to be friendly, and a lot more fun!
=================================
I used to know everything, then I grew up!...(kinda)
kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com
? otherwise, you'll find an excuse.
Oh, misread the post - it says "rude dealers".
Never mind ............
Zee
I stand behind my tables, and I try not to eat in front of customers.
I engage passerbys.
I engage the wife/girlfriend pacing along behind some patrons.
I package small items in bags and label what they are for.
I use pegboard (24 -64 feet) You won't miss My Display at a show !
I use display stands, dump bin and props.
I have something new for every show. I discount slow-moving stuff.
I MARK MY PRICES WITH A BRIGHT COLORED STICKER ON EVERY ITEM !
I haggle, "wheel-and-deal" and round down prices on large purchases.
If I don't have an item(s) - I direct them to someone who has it.
I give out my business card.
I remember previous customers and offer special deals to them.
I take back unopened and/or un-altered items, refunds (table credit).
I advertise where I will be next.
I have enjoyed over fourteen positive years and I'm still growing.
I'll be in Lancaster, PA this weekend (18th & 19th) doing a show.
**It is your right to posess a firearm. In case of questions, please refer to ammendment 2, United States Constitution.**
I immediately went to a counter where I had seen new PT145's at the amazing low price of $329 ($100 less than in-town dealers) and bought the last one (it was Sunday afternoon). Then I went to a mag dealer and traded a couple of unneeded items for two extra PT145 magazines. So I came home with a new .45, 3 new mags, and about $100 cash in my pocket. Oh, yes, and I traded a 6-pak of Magsafe .380 for 50 rounds of regionally manufactured XTP in .44 special for my Pug.
Dealers at gun shows vary in personality, and I find that some get very worn down by the grind, but treat you decently if you don't get touchy with them in return. There are a few who just don't think the please and thank you is necessary -- you'll either buy or you won't. They're probably right, but they don't get much of my business. A rude remark is always a deal-breaker (unless I'm taking him for a heck of a deal).
There's another gun show coming up here this weekend and I'm looking forward to it as I almost always do -- with anticipation, and wishing I had more extra bucks. There are a few basics I want to find, and I know which "used bins" to dig through to look for the real deals by now. I love getting good leather for next to nuttin', and right now I need a few mag holders for my Star PD. And maybe another holster, but a leftie is required.
I doubt I'll find what I really want -- a lightly used .308 semi-auto carbine at an incredible deal price from someone who doesn't expect as much as he paid for it. I don't know why, but since 9/11 I've had a craving for a battle rifle that hits heavier than my Norinco AK. Do I "need" one? Probably not. That's why they call it a hobby. right?
- Life NRA Member
If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
- Life NRA Member
If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
I'm with you guys on the "their stuff is gold and mine is tin". I know it's all about profits and what not, but let's not be an * to the customer about what they're gun is worth.
I like things that go "BOOM"!!!
"The spirit of the woods makes me feel warm and good inside"
SSG idsman75, U.S. ARMY
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
As for Rude Dealers, you'll find rude people in general in all walks of life. In many cases I think we all will tend to reflect in attitude, the attitude we are presented from the other individual. I try to treat everyone the way I'd like to be treated myself. As for questions, I really look forward to answering as many as I can. If I don't have the answer, I try to direct that person to someone who can answer their question. I guess I get a sense of accomplishment helping individuals. I never realized how much being a good dealer was like being a good teacher. Seeing that little light come on in their eyes, that is what makes it all worth while. So many people either have no information to base their decisions on or they have wrong information. Either way, it is hard to make any kind of a good decision if you don't have the information to work with. Information, guns, ammo, gas in the tank, money in your wallet...; it is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
We know that a lot of the anti-gunners are badly mis-informed as to the real facts about guns. But what a lot of people don't know is that there are a lot of gun owners that are misinformed as well. Some of us may want to help fight the battle of ignorance with an anti-gunner, but without the right information, we probably will not effectively be able to sway them from their views. It has sadden me to here gun owners at a gun show make discouraging remarks about those ugly guns, or those assault weapons, or "what would anyone ever want one of those for?" So many gun owners only think that people should have the guns that "THEY" think are suitable. I've had to actually interrupt some guy slamming a particular gun to his buddy and point out the error in his thinking process. We all need to stand together or we will surely lose our rights (and guns) one by one.
Whether it be the black powder shooters or the skeet shooters or the cowboy action shooters or just the guys collecting whatever, we all have to think in bigger terms to be able to keep the rights we have or we will loose them just like almost every country in the world. Guns are a part of our history, we should be proud of that and remember that. So many of the anti's don't see that, and never will. But with some effort we can all help to reverse the damage that has been done by the former administration, HCI, the media, and the general population in an effort to be politically correct. I'm not that old (over 30, under 50), but I remember when you just had to be correct, not politically correct. I remember when the word gun didn't have to be said in such a way as to not offend. I remember when a gun or a knife in a school didn't mean anything out of the ordinary. It could be there for shop class, speech class, show and tell, or just for using on the way home from school for a little bit of hunting.
Anyway my point is: there are rude people, nice people, smart people, not so smart people, there are those that have been properly shown how to handle a gun, and those that have learned everything they know about guns from TV, the movies, and video games. So yes, some dealers may not be as engaging and polite as others, but remember, not everyone at a gun show is as well informed as all of us here on GB. If a particular dealer is not as polite as they should be, don't just mirror them and be rude back, try to find a middle ground. Remember this is how they intend to put food on their table and keep clothes on their children's backs. Just because a dealer is trying to sell a gun for more than wholesale, doesn't automatically make him an *. However if his being an * in general that is a different story.
We should all try to stick together when it comes to guns, (any kind of guns). Without dealers there wouldn't be gun shows. Without customers there wouldn't be gun shows. Without gun shows, what would so many of us do on the weekends? Some dealers just aren't good with people, then again some people aren't good with people. Try to find common ground and go from their. Some people you'll never be able to reach, but some you will. If we could just all work together, maybe our children will still know guns like we do. I worry that if things keep going the way they are, we may lose this battle if we aren't careful. We are all in this together, let's try to keep that in perspective.
No matter where you go, there you are.
When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
There are probably as many * customers out there as * dealers. No matter what though we all need to stick together. We need each other. If you guys dont like the guy selling the item then walk away.
AlleninAlaska aglore@gci.net
How would you rather die, 10,000 foot pounds of muzzle energy in the BUTT or a sharp knife in the HEART?
Here's one, a friend and I were trying to decide on a new pistol. Our choices, in .40 caliber, were Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Beretta, and Sig Saur. So what did we ask dealers at local gun shows? Which was the most accurate? They either made a snide remark or said they are only as good as the hand holding them. Now that comment is okay for folks new to the sport or who don't know diddly. And its the same as saying there is no difference at all between them. I looked at the guy who said that and told him, "You mean if we put these in a test, fired mechanically, they would all be the same?" And walked away. Fortunately, other dealers were interested in making a sale. They let us handle the pistols and answered our questions to the best of our ability.
P.S. I chose the Sig. But that was 5 weeks ago and I am still waiting
for it to arrive.
I am absolutely amazed at the people standing behind the Tables.
They are entrepreneurs and ignorant in 50% of the locations.
Last show there was a nice SP-1 Carbine listed at $2200.
I pulled out 70% and he told me to F#&K myself.Still there Sun evening and he was bitching about motel costs in Ft Smith.
cpermd
A particularly onerous number of posts I've just accumulated, wouldn't you say -- 1040? I hardly noticed when I became a senior member. It kind of flashed by.
- Life NRA Member
If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edited by - offeror on 05/16/2002 18:05:18