Markup on a local gunstore shotgun?

[Jcustis]

What is a ballpark figure for the markup on a Mossy 500 wing gun these days? Or what would a ballpark figure be on any given day? The market is in central Florida and the shop is a small outfit. Might move 30-40 firearms a month, by my rough guess.

To make a long story short, I had a family member purchase it at a local shop when I asked for a Mossy 500, but I was out of the country and panic buying was already in full swing. I failed to provide more coordinating instruction than that and ended up with the duck gun. As soon as I returned to the U.S., I came into an 870 and I want to sell the Mossy back to the LGS, minus half of what their profit was when I bought it. My situation has changed rapidly and I need to sell it by week’s end.

I figure that’s fair and everyone makes out, but I have no idea what the profit margin might be.

 

[Mike G]

Do you have a model number, the specific manufacturers number that is listed on the box?

Lots of different variables. Have you tried calling the shop and asking what they will give you for it? Most stores will say, "no returns on guns" and offer to buy it from you like any other used gun which is anywhere from 20-50% off new depending on what they think they can get for it and how long they think it will sit on the shelf. If the store is tactical focused and you want them to take back a special order bird gun they are probably going to low ball you because it isn't in their normal market space so fewer customers would come in looking for that gun at that store. If that is the case you could try talking to a store that is more focused at that style of gun and see what they would give you for it. If the gun you have is inline with the original store's market and not a special order item or impacted by some kind of seasonality they may give you more for it because they know they can move it quickly.

I may be able to look the gun up for you if you can give me the model number and give you the cost from one distributor so you can compare to what you paid. That doesn't mean that is what the dealer paid for that gun but will give you some idea. They may have paid more or less because pricing can vary significantly between distributors on some stuff, other stuff is pretty consistent across the board. I was the purchasing manager for a large independent retailer for a while and I have one account for my business that lets me see gun prices despite not having an FFL, other distributors restrict my view on those products so I can't check multiple sources.

 

[Jcustis]

Thank you. I’ll pull the info tomorrow and DM it to you,

The crazy thing is, these guys don’t know what they are doing. They took it off the shelf and sold it without the shell stops in. Five seconds into a functions check with dummy ammo, I could tell. I went back, their armored remediated the issue and I left. There was nothing but crap on the shelves.

 

[Mike G]

I wont make excuses for the shop but the market is rough right now, not a lot of quality inventory available in comparison to the demand and some places are just buying whatever they can to put something in front of the customer. I've also seen a trend with gun shops that they may know one type of guns but not all types and they often aren't good at the basics of business.