We work firearm services not retail.  The more douchbaggery and idiocy we get from the customer, the more we profit.

Management seems to be headed in that direction too. Managers don't seem to have it in them to say "Hey dumbfuck, you are costing us a bunch of money."

I wish people realized that not just a few people, but MOST people don't want to hear their dumb fucking stories. Does it just come from a lack of people calling them on their bullshit over the years?

 
The first manager I ever had in a sales position said "Here's the first rule, never get in the way of someone trying to give you money".


That actually is great advice, there's only two jobs in sales. Convince someone they want to give you money, then take it. These fuckwits couldn't even get the easiest part right.

They tend to gravitate to people that will listen to them which are too polite to tell them to fuck off.

As I'm sure you already know, but many people may not realize, there is a greater percentage of profit in guns such as Hi-Points than there are in things like Glocks or even high-end 1911's. If you can sell a Glock for 15-20% more than you paid for it, you're doing well. Hi-Points can get you as high as a 50% margin, if you do it right. And, the actual dollar amount is pretty close, too. And, shit like high-end 1911's might get you a 5% profit, as the people generally inclined to buy those are more likely to comparison shop and have them transferred than they are to just buy one out of the counter on a whim.

I hate that shit.

"Beta" males really love when an "Alpha" male needs/wants/demands something from them......they'd rather tell you to fuck off or ignore you completely .......

sometimes it's more practical to not frequent an establishment than to attempt to assert your "Alpha" dominance....

I have sold motorcycles/cars and managed a Hobbytown

In those other environments you get a "noteworthy" customer maybe  1-2 times a month  

noteworthy means anything from slightly odd to the truly unhinged that makes one uncomfortable



In the gun biz you get one at least every other day

A signifigant % of gun people make the hardcore D&D/Magic/whatever gamers and reckless driving/riding squids/stuntaz I had to deal with in the other jobs seem tame and harmless in comparison



 

Had an Alpha male workmate that thinks we're 'friends' today ask to borrow my night vision this weekend "since he knows I'm not using it anyways".
The look on his poor alpha face was pretty pathetic when he realized that I really wasn't gonna drive home to hand him a $3K NV scope.

Silly alphas, all that fake bravado just makes for disappointment.
Go buy your own godamn scope...bro.

I had a great gunshop when I lived in TX as the owner was a family friend.  Since moving to SC my options are Big box stores, PSA, or shitty small shops.  Luckily I found a small shop just a few miles from the house.  Everyone there is friendly and they don't treat you like you don't know your ass from a hat.  Their inventory isn't great but I wouldn't hesitate to have them order for me.

Yessir.
We call those guys "5 Second's" around here. That is, In reference to interacting with some nut job for 5 seconds,
Only to confirm one's suspicions that the individual is indeed, a nut job.


Sometimes It's like working the counter at a peep show...........except everybody is armed.

After years of selling spices while not knowing anything about them....

Customer:  What do you do with this spice?
Me:  We put it small plastic bags and sell it to make money.

I'm having a blast selling guns, even though I'm making $3.25 less an hour.  @ least I know something about my product now.  Last night I spent an hour w/ a customer who came in to pick up his Carbon-15, and talked him into a less-expensive AR.  He made up the difference w/ a cheap red dot & magnifier.

The one thing that drives me batty is husbands wanting to buy their wives tiny 9x19mm & .380"s.  Had an elderly woman come in looking for a 20 ga shotgun, as she couldn't rack the slide on the tiny pistol her husband had bought her.  I handed her a 9x19mm 1911, and had her rack the slide.  Her eyes opened.

Would somebody survive / be sucessful working a gun counter if they kept the same bearing, demeanor,  bullshit tolerance, level of assertiveness, loudness, etc that they did in non gun counter retail jobs?  


 

I buy online, and have it shipped to Alpha Star Tactical.

I don't buy many guns, but I plan to use the same outfit I bought my last one from. Found it on their website, not in stock so I call. I'm told they can have it in 48hrs. I agree and they order it.

Here's the fucked up crazy part...48hrs later they call and let me know it's in. Holy fucking shit, crazy thing to do, staying on top of their shit and all...

So I go in that afternoon and write a check/fill out a form, and I walk out with exactly what I wanted at the agreed upon price in 15 minutes.

I'll be a customer for life because they know how to use a phone, follow up with an order, and accept payment. That is how high the bar is in the gun retail business

Vances is my goto shop and I have "a guy" there.

 

I get his attention and when he's done with his current customer he comes and gets me while I browse the store.


I have bought several from him and he knows it's not a waste of time.

You don't say.......

       Looks liken those salesmen need a visit from this guy.
 

I hear ya.

I met a sales manager Friday night, he was selling me a safe. I told him (it was closing time) I'd get the cash and see him tomorrow. He gave me his card and encouraged me to bring HIM the cash (commission no doubt).

I call him Saturday morning, I'm on my way!

I get there and wait in line 10 minutes and he walked out and offers to help the dude BEHIND me.

Me: "Am I not standing here, blocking that guy out from the sun, holding the $800 wad of 20s we talked about?"

Dude: "Sorry son, is there something I can help you with?"

Me: .    [img]http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_dissapprove.gif[/


Sales people don't want to sell anymore, there is no passion for the experience.

Anyone get badgered and harassed by the owner of a their LGS to name off the Ten Commandments, while you are trying to shop and spend money in his store?  

I buy my guns through a long time Arfcommer. He's a bullshitter. I'm a bullshitter. If we're bullshitting and another customer comes in, I have a seat off to the side and quietly sip on my Coke that he gave me and wait till they're done and we go back to bullshitting.
 Nothing wrong with sitting around bullshitting about a subject you love but business is business.

Waiting 40 minutes with that few customers in the store is crazy. Good riddance to them I say. I can't remember the last time I bought anything at a gunstore,its all online now.

As a owner of a small pawn and gun shop that is less than a year old it is tough to read all of this. It is just my wife and I who run the store. We both do our best to make sure customers are served quickly and thoroughly. However, reading all of your bad experiences will make me second guess myself. I guess it never hurts to read stuff that will make you stay on your toes and not get complacent.

This is spot on.

i'm mentally cross-referencing this story with the 'douche at the apartment gym' story.  FWIW, here is my read...

i suspect you're a lot like my brother.  he and i both come from the bar business, and are very conscious of--almost obsessed with--the obligations of a service provider.  not just the transaction, but how service dynamics are supposed to work.  now, my brother expects that people will do the right thing.  he's tolerant, but he mentally compares what they do with what he would do.  since he's a courteous and thoughtful guy, they usually come up a bit short, but he doesn't care as long as they are making an effort.

however, if the effort isn't there, his fuse starts burning.  the funny part is that he still won't do anything.  instead, he mentally says "all right fucker, let's see just how far this is going to go."  it's like a sociological experiment for him, except that he's getting angrier and angrier.  after all, he would be bending over backwards to do things right, so a counter guy ignoring him is basically a big "fuck you".  so he'll wait and wait and wait, until finally the guy comes over.  at that point, my brother will uncork on the poor bastard with the verbal equivalent of an L-shaped ambush, after which we'll leave and have to find another store/bar/whatever.


me?  i used to be like that, but now i have a simple policy: put fingerprints on the glass.  while my brother is seething, i'll just walk up and lean on the display case, getting handprints everywhere.  guaranteed instant interruption, without having to say a word.  counter guys hate windexing those things (i suspect it makes them feel like menials instead of apex predators), and i swear they can smell it like pheromones.  they'll drop whatever they're doing, and instantly come over to chastise you.  i just pre-empt them with a big dumb grin, and ask whatever it is that i need to ask.  3 minutes later, i'm done, and we leave while my brother is still muttering.

you didn't post this asking for advice, and i'm not trying to tell you what you ought to do.  i just got a chuckle out of reading the OP, because you and my brother together could make the whole retail industry cry.  counter guys would need therapy and shit.

and i want video.

Genius.

At one LGS they look at me like I'm interrupting their private club when I walk in. The other place in town is friendlier but last time I was there they were selling Bushmasters for $1000. Fuck that noise. I haven't made a local purchase in a decade.

What? It was only $200 more in his shop.

I was so ready for you to reply, "It rhymes with prances."

The store the OP described is EXACTLY like the LGS I go in occasionally.

I go there to check the used racks and check the " Feel and Fit " of something new I like and if it is a go I go home, find an online dealer with the price point I want, (Usually about 100$ less than the LGS) order it, have it shipped to my FFL, do my 10$ transfer and leave happy.

No muss........no fuss......

Gun stores are weird places, but I haven't been to any good ones like Rainier Arms. Im just annoyed that I had $75 of taxes to pay on my G43 i bought this week

That sucks OP.

I would have not been as nice as you were.

I remember a clerk, let's call him Justin, who was not acknowledging me in fairly the same way years ago............I have a big mouth and he did acknowledge me after I kinda went off like a little bitch.

Funny part is he always liked me after that.

Equal parts this, and certainly the counter guys were dumbasses.  Sounds like they aren't paid on commission.  

 

for the most part the job is the same as any other sales

only real difference is in guns you do actively turn away people that make you nervous or talk about illegal shit  

whereas for most unregulated products you just smile and nod at the nut and plod on with the sale



In the other jobs I can only recall kicking out one extremely disgusting smelling homeless person

whereas in the gun shop every couple of months you tell someone you will not sell them anything and they need to leave



 

I have seen some LGS that are horrible to deal with, but usually there are a couple that aren't bad.  If you were in Trumbull or Mahoning county I could point you to some decent ones, I think you're further south in the state right?

Who does your transfers?  If that person is good enough to do the 4473 why not just buy from there?  Bud's prices can be hard to beat though.

 

I've worked at a GM while going to school and it sucked. That said, EVERY OTHER shop I've been to sucks just as bad.



 

Me too.

A local gun shop here charges $25 + 10% of the price of the gun .

Bud's is one of my customers. Been on their servers a few times. You're helping my bonus when you patronize them.

PSA is also one of my customers as well. Spend your money there too, please!

I do!!

Nope.  Other end of the state.  

 

Yes please!

Fin Feather Fur?
Vance's?
Cleland's?
Target World?

I am just lucky as hell.  I have a friend who owns a dog grooming shop, and loved to shoot.  About 20 years back he got his FFL and sells guns after noon while he is waiting for folks to pick up their dogs.  Doesn't really have any inventory, but will order anything you want for a transfer fee.  Great guy, very knowledgeable, and very personable.

I haven't had to venture into a gun store in 20 years or so.

I did go into one about 10 years ago to get some 10mm ammo.  And it simply reinforced the fact that will never do that again.  As what happened to you, I practically had to choke the asshole behind to counter to get his attention to take my money.

All these types or problems are the owner/managers fault. Most couldn't run a register at Wal Mart which has the worst CS I've ever seen.

Btw, I'd would have asked the fatty where he hunted elk in Ohio.  

so, you waited at least 40 minutes before you blew up and left?

I have no problem interrupting BSing salespeople with "hey, I want to buy this item right now".

I used to work with a guy who had an FFL as he was the president of the local gun club.
he used to drop off the sales fliers ( like a Shotgun News ) when he got a new one. I'd place the order over the phone, and he'd bring the gun to work when it arrived.
I'd do the paperwork at my desk and pick the gun up in the parking lot.

I bought a lot of stuff in those 2 years...

My Cabela's story, this was about ten years ago and I have never bought a firearm from them. Smart enough to walk in early A.M. on a mid-week day, the place was a ghost town. I walk up to the former Navy Seal working at the counter and made an inquiry about something I saw in the glass case.

FNS: Do you have a number?

Me: Number? (politely)

FNS: Yes, what is your number?

Me: Looking perplexed

FNS: You have to go get a number from the number machine at the end of the counter.

Keep in mind there were zero customers at the counter besides me and him.

Keep in mind that Cabela's is about the size of a small airport terminal so I had to walk about 100 + feet to pull a number and walk back.

By this time I already decided fuck it, I wasn't buying any firearms, ever, from Cabela's.