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Its a mother fucker.....

Depends.  Location is everything, real estate goes from cheap to millions. Taxes, rent, utilities goes from cheap to a fortune.



Inventory also means something financially, are you planning on buying glocks and cheap rifles or are you stocking Barretts and a fleet of Sporting rifles?



It really depends who you are catering to and what you want out of it.   Some stores are happy with 10 rifles and a display case of hand guns but cater to transfers and small knick knacks... others are more interested in selling rifles to the general masses.  I know a guy making a great living on selling super high end hand guns from his home FFL.... but his inventory is relatively small, yet costs a small fortune. Your target audience is what you have to consider and that can greatly affect your starting costs.

I'm not sure what you're asking? The whole point of a type 1 FFL is to use it for dealing in firearms, so you can begin selling immediately upon receiving it.

Plus not to mention that if you do an indoor range, just dealing with the filtration needed due to lead concerns will give you a headache and drain your account much faster than you realize.

I work at a local gunstore here in town, and you will need to know your market, have substantial liquidity (25k+ in cash, if not more), and honestly, I'd suggest pawning firearms as well.  You can make some pretty good money each month for pawns.  And for those who forfeit those pawns, you can have some good used merchandise for sale.  Our biggest problem right now is having enough of our "bread and butter" guns to stock (Glock 19's, 42's and 43's; Shields, LC9's, LCP's; etc.)  Many of our distributors cannot keep them in stock, which means have fun trying to sell stuff that you don't have.  Transfers can mean extra cash, but keep in mind that there will always be another gun shop in the area that will do them for less, or even for free.  

If you can do it, try and get into stocking dealer programs.  You can get extra promotional materials, listings on the manufacturer's websites, and better deals than dealing with distributors.  However, it will require some major cash to do so.

And what a previous poster stated, seriously, start marketing your shop for women and younger people.  We are selling more and more firearms to younger people and to women especially.  Have a nice, well-lit, clean, pleasant looking shop.  And make sure your employees are knowledgeable, patient and polite.  You'd be surprised how word-of-mouth will bring in customers to you.  Or drive them from you.

If you do decide to do internet sales, Gunbroker.com can be a God-send for you.  Our store has a listing, and it allows us to sell some firearms that wouldn't get a second look around here.  Sometimes, it's the jam in our jelly doughnut.  Other times, it has helped save our bacon.  This means though you need product to sell online, plus the time to do listings, take NICE pictures, and deal with shipping.  Did I mention that that takes time?

And make sure you get really good POS software that is approved by the ATF if you use computers for your sales.  It's worth its weight in gold, especially when it's time for your ATF audit.  And make sure you know how to use it.

Honestly, good luck.  With all of the regulatory burden and oversight, I'd much rather work for a gunstore, than own one at this time.  Hope this helps some.

Rev_Jason

I would think you would need an indoor range, gunsmith and a bunch of accessories to hopefully make it work.

People will come in to check out a gun and then shop online for the cheapest price.

The margins on new guns is tiny, used guns fare much better.

You forgot the porn store.  THAT would be the perfect trifecta.  

$1,000,000 minimum.  The latest indoor range in my area was $4,000,000.  That one has very very deep pockets backing it and they are break even at best.

If ya wanna make a million dollars in the gun biz.....start with 2mil.  

How To Wind Up With A Million Dollars By Opening A Gun Store:



... start with 2 million dollars ....


...beat by a minute 31 sec.....  

For all the headaches and small margin and increasing govt intervention....you'd be better off opening up a hamburger or taco joint.

Seems anymore shops fall into 2 groups
Huge with 500k-1mil  in inventory and maybe a range , classes, gunsmith


Or a tiny dump with 10 guns that does transfers and makes the owner barely enough to keep the lights on

 
What happens if you get one then say "nah fuck it" and don't sell any guns.

Start with consignment selling so you can have inventory for nothing.    As in any startup, keep monthly outflows of cash to a minimum, or you are fighting an uphill battle.

 

If you want to make money, make it a range.  The memberships will generate money, to aid in the limited you'll make by selling.

Accessories are the profit, big ticket items like guns are very little.

Your battle is the internet, more specifically, anyone with a smartphone.  They will come in, look at the product and decide to buy it.  Before that, they'll pull out there phone and in a few seconds have a list of better prices, maybe even get it same day from Amazon or quickly from elsewhere.  You're better off being online only.

You can surrender the FFL, or hold on to it until you do decide to start up business.

That's what I think.  

As a small time gun shop, there is almost no margin in the guns themselves, and the bigger stores like Academy will have bulk discount based price points.  You also will be the ass end of any distributors priority list.  All of which will put you at a competitive disadvantage during normal times, and a significant supply disadvantage during upset periods.  There is something to be made off the legally required transfer fee's, for those gunbroker warriors.  But any transfer fee over $25 is going to result in crickets.  Service, in general not something customers value any more.  If they can get the same $1000 gun for $999 across the street, that's what they are going to do.  Accessories traditionally are the margin-makers for retail stores, but in the age of Amazon, that has nose-dived.  The one thing that customers have limited access to in almost every setting though, is a reliable place to shoot.  If you are able to tie this to a shooting range, coupled with non-abusive rules and policies, then that is your route to steady traffic and revenue, that will enable your gun-shop to continue sales.  Be aware that the range will be your primary business and time sink and will almost certainly require hiring someone to help out with.

In my opinion, if you skip the gun range, and just want to open a small gun-shop that you run by yourself, you're pretty much doomed.  Unless you happen to be the only option around for many many miles.

You don't make money on new guns. You make money on used guns and accessories.

New one in Farmington just opened up late last year.  They're already turning a profit.  Of course, they're in a location that had 2 gun shops close, and well, Arfcom is no longer around the corner.



 

If the average cost of the guns are 300 you are looking at stocking high points and various wonder 9's. There is almost zero money to be made on them.

Also we sell 10x as many firearms at gun shows than at the shop.

We keep our prices reasonable, and try to stock things other dealers don't carry. We don't carry a lot of glocks, mp's, or anything like that. mostly carry pistols, ak's with upgraded furniture, and mid level 1911's.

It's a hobby, I wouldn't want to do it full time. If my father in law did not have the building available to share with another venture it wouldn't be worth it.

OP, good luck with your dream. Whatever you do, do NOT put chairs or stools in the showroom.

I have an FFL and work out of our other family business. I have made a business plan to open a shop/range and it would not be easy. To do it right you need to have a range attached to the gun store. To have a range is very expensive due to insurance and air filtration. A small range will run in the $250,000 range.

 
Rainier Arms has a couch in theirs iirc. They seem to be doing ok...

This with topless women.   It would be a neckbeard gold mine.

The margins are low. The profit comes with volume . The store i go to opens at 9am. if you get there after 9:30 the lines are so long you won't be checked out until sometime after 1:30. No point in going there after noon because they will close before you get to the head of the line. But they sell thousands of guns a day, usually more than one at a time to each customer.

People want to do it as a hobby so the market is really competitive, your inventory is pretty expensive and the margins are low.  Many stores are closer to hobbies than businesses.    I think you can get a storage container for about $2k or so, almost 70% of the container is behind the counter in the gunsmith area.  I could see 100 various guns being $50k (average of $500/each) and another $50k in ammo and accessories, your startup costs would mostly tied to how can floor plan (finance) your inventory and the basic business startup costs getting the location ready.

We have a local dealer that runs his (Class III - I use him for nfa transfers) out of a storage container.  Most of the space is for his gunsmith work and the retail space goes in about 6 feet.  He had two employees there when I picked up my suppressor.  I had to listen to the customer next to me get 15+ minutes of hunting advise, and then try to talk the owner down on a shooting stick he quoted that he had to order..., that (according to the customer) was already cheaper than what Walmart sold them for, but they were on closeout from Natchez.

No you don't. I have an acquaintance who's done  this for three years and makes 300-500 a month. Now he has a small inventory.

This is me.


I live right smack dab in the middle of some of the best whittail, turkey, and upland bird hunting in the WORLD>

Rich guys come from all over the place to hunt here, especially deer and pheasant.

There is not a single gun store for 40 miles and I can't understand why?


There is a walmart here but they don't sell guns, which blows my fucking mind.


This would be the perfect place to open a brick and mortar store, especially if you specialize in fud guns and hunting gear.

Wow, did not know, thank you!

If you choose to move forward with a storefront, do not sign a lease unless someone who understands commercial leasing looks at it first. You can mess yourself up bad if you don't know what you're looking at. Before you even get started.

I disagree.

Maybe you're only thinking about new guns - I'm not. I'm thinking that there will be a lot of pump shotguns and bolt-action rifles coming through the doors for sale, and the vast majority of those would be guns I'd offer $250 or so on.

I just got my FFL, and have been working on my shop. I am a Full time farmer, and plan or running the store on down time. I already own the building, that i was using as storage.  I live in the middle of nowhere, and the closest Walmart is 30 miles away.  I will be getting my Class3 to do NFA transfers and a few silencers and SBR.  I would like to deal in used guns mostly, but I'll carry a few new guns.  Planning on Carrying around 25-30k of inventory.  Using gunshows to acquire good used inventory.   Who knows how it's going to go, but nothing ventured nothing gained.




 

I've been looking into opening a gun store myself so started.  I'm taking business classes and started up an LLC to sell accessories and training systems at gun shows and on the internet to learn how to run a business.  I see many obstacles now that I'm doing it.  Taxes, credit card processing fees, advertising, web page hosting, etc each take up small chunks of the profit margin.  Even worse is sometimes I can buy things on amazon.com cheaper than I can get from my distributor.  My average margin comes out to about 20% before expenses which is okay but difficult to survive on.

I'd suggest looking into holding firearms classes.  Classes bring in good margins and bring in new people to buy stuff from your store and encourages current customers to buy more stuff.  Have classroom space.

Business plan and market research, not gut feelings.

Having Smiting/Factory Armorer's Certifications+a bit of experience
certainly helps.

You might find that Transfers and Special orders will take a secondary seat.

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

ETA: On a more serious note, I suggest you think long and hard about what you're getting into.

<<-------- pawnbroker/FFL (small shop with just one employee beside myself)

First, it's not about guns. A lot of guys go into the gun business because they like working with guns. What they fail to understand is that the guns don't bring you any money -- PEOPLE do. You have to deal with PEOPLE in order to sell guns. The gun business is a people business and gun people are a very special breed of people indeed. "Derp" does not begin to describe it. Until you've worked a while behind a gun counter you have no idea. Get ready. If you don't have a huge amount of tolerance and true joy in dealing with people, forget it.

Secondly, the gun business is first and foremost a business. The business decisions are much more important than the gun decisions. You better do your homework. Don't even think about doing it until you've written a business plan . . . a REAL business plan. Go to the Small Business Administration's website to learn what should be in your business plan. This is your opportunity to think it all out  and consider all the challenges before you invest your money. Make the most of it. A good business plan will provide a foundation for success . . . or, more likely, it will show you the folly of your idea.

Thirdly, the small shop is at a serious disadvantage. The mass merchandisers will eat your lunch on the popular long guns. You'll look like a robber if you try to make any money on the common stuff. The online sellers set the bar for handgun sales. You'll sell handguns at 15 to 20 percent profit margins but you'll lose a lot of sales to the Internet. You have no hope of being competitive on accessories. Your only hope is to serve the "gotta feel it", "gotta have it today" crowd.

Fourth, shortages and supply issues are a huge problem. Sure, demand is high after Obama opens his trap or some nutjob shoots up a school. Customers fly through the door to buy guns. You better have some inventory because pretty quickly your distributors are going to be sold out of everything your customers are clamoring for. You, as a small-volume shop, will be near the bottom of the supply totem pole. You get the dregs. There's nothing worse than being in the business of selling things you can't get.

Finally, that one-man operation thing is not all it's cracked up to be. Forget vacations. Even going to the doctor or running errands is a hassle. It's worse in my case since as a pawnbroker customers expect me to be there when they need a loan or want to redeem their shit but even a regular retail store is going to piss off customers if they're closed when they expect them to be open. I'm here to tell you that 60 hours a week gets old eventually. You're basically creating a shitty, low-paying job for yourself.

So, again, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Are their up-sides, pleasures and benefits? Sure. You bet. I love what I do. But it ain't easy sometimes and there are certainly a bunch of sacrifices required.

Good info, Thanks.  I see your from the show me state, as am I.  I live in the Northwest part of MO.  You have a website or Facebook page to check out?

I'll send you that information by PM.

BTW, that raises an interesting point. If you talk about selling guns on your website, Google won't sell you Google Adwords Advertising.

BTW, a fella who decided to open a gun shop right now would have a tough time finding desirable firearms to sell. He could get all the Beretta 92 and Browning Hi-Power pistols he wanted but he'd have to search long and hard to find a Glock 19 (much less model 43) or a 9mm S&W Shield to buy. Ruger LCP and Kel-tec P3AT? Forget about it. Everything is sold out.

Around here, nearly all "gun stores" merely sell guns as a side business to what actually makes them money, which is ammo & range fees.

Over the last ten or twenty years, those that have opened with a range have succeeded.  The few that did not have a range have  gone under.

Where is this shop and what is the name?

Publicize consignment used guns?

This is very true.  I closed my Pawn/ Gun shop about a year ago.  I ran it for 5 years, with myself and 2 part time employees.

60 hour weeks, closed on Sundays, got old.   I did not have any vacation or days off except for the occasional holiday.  

I loved every day at work in spite of the Derp that was a nearly daily occurrence.  Margins on new guns is 10-12%.  Accessories are always available online for less than my wholesale cost.   If I did not have the pawn side of the business, I would not have made it past the first year.

I did 10+  transfers a week, but at $20 a pop, they are lunch money at best.  Certainly will not pay the rent on most commercial buildings.

Good luck if you decide to go into the business.

No you would not.

"But they sell thousands of guns a day.." .................and its a retail operation?
Call me skeptical.

Bud's and Kentucky GunCo do that volume, but its from their internet side, not retail storefront sales.

I am also skeptical.   If they are doing this level of sales, I wanted to study their business model.

Can you imagine the line of FedEx trucks lined up outside?

The insurance for a commercial range must be insane.    Outdoors is not really a complete option,  in yankee land it's not used in the winter and maybe the same in the south for the summer.  So your smart money is an indoor climate controlled range which brings in OSHA and a lot of expensive air handling.