Anyone going? I normally attend, but the door price keeps going up every single show. $11 a person to get in not even counting the parking is beyond retarded.

Why do people ask for show reports but seldom write show reports? Not aimed at the OP Redarts,  but something I have noticed for awhile. We seemed to have gone from trying to make the internet a great repository of wealth to just taking what we need with seldom paying forward.

To spur the discussion about gun show prices....

Sadly the needed drop in attendance won't happen until after the election, and that is  if things go the pro gun direction of two bad options. Without that the show promoters/producers won't see any error in their ways.   Right now demand is high and they can get more so Capitalism!....      Is it too much to ask for an election where I'm voting for someone 100% without there  being a portion of I'm voting against someone...  

Plus the biggest show of affect  needed won't happen to help . Which is people won't walk away from the ticket booth/door when they hear the admission  price,  because they are already there and they'll pay the fee because they are there now and have already paid into getting to that point.   With several mental tricks clouding the judgement.

Double that loss for  multiple biasedness of    sunk cost fallacy thought pattern( also known as Irrational escalation , if they have paid 5+ bucks to park. they have already "bought in and the loss of increased door cover is viewed as $1-$2  more loss (since the $7-$9 was an expected expense)  which would actually make it a $11  door savings not loss to walk away verses going in. With the perceived  hit only losing 1-2 bucks more for the increased cover/admission.  Human brains are real tricky when it comes to loss and avoidance. There is whole large professional field devoted on the study and manipulation of this principle. Add in the Denomination Effect  ( where we  tend to spend more if in small bills). Which also has a multiplying power of  Loss Aversion. So  as the whole group and individually we are all screwed when it comes to judgement at the moment of at the ticket window for just that small bit of extra door charge loss because we already loss time and effort getting there and parking fees which are non refundable making it a bigger trap with harder to take the loss and walk away before you take even more loss.  One person walking away would not encourage/influence others it would take 10+ to help start a herd effect.....


If we look at how the movie theaters broke the $10 ticket price barrier( a long hard line they couldn't break even in new York City for years out of fear of backlash) we can see how the gun shows will do it and are doing it. It used to be going to see a movie cost  about what a minimum wage kid made for an hour's work and maybe 2 after take home pay for the popcorn and drinks but now try taking a family of four out and it is a wallet buster. Despite pricing themselves out of family budgets and families going to see multiple films, they claim piracy is hurting the ticket sales not the absurd price to get in and get concessions. Little side note projectors have all been changed out from the old carbon and copper rods "carbon arc" style projectors that needed  skilled adult professional operators to Xenon arc lamps. Relamping takes a trained person but that is about every 500+ hours(the manger can be trained or a area/regional supervisor can do it when making the rounds), forgive me my memory on lamp age verses output levels is not current. That just leaves the needed warm up and cool down procedures for lamp performance and life.

Plus they have gone from film (no more splicing reels, trailers, local theater/chain's concession advertisements footage being spliced, so deduct that skill) and  no film platter prints to rewind at the end of each showing and re-threading the projector for start of next run) that required handling skills to the now  special hard drive boxes. All plug the cables in that  any kid can do..... So the costs of showing a film labor wise has dropped. From multiple projectionists watching and adjusting projectors to a timed program running software that just has person clicking the start button. So while there was a lot of behind the scene changes that cut costs, tickets have risen with inflation and beyond to what the market will bear.  Think of how many of us will cave and pay for 3-d version of something if the 2-d version is sold out when we are at the ticket window. Notice a pattern?

In a larger scale example back about 2 decades ago when the Eagles did a reunion tour "Hell Freezes Over" and played most mid size cities for two nights(concerts only play 1 night normally) tickets were a$100.00 +and they sold out. The whole industry watched thinking they were going to bust more than flush from attendance.  Since then the concert prices have climbed substantially.  Production has become more complex but gear is cheaper for technology.


A case and point is laser effects, see this thread about one of the first AR/M-16 laser in the Retro forum  http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_123/700183_.html  you can buy a better and more powerful laser for less than say $30-50 then the close to thousand dollars I'm guessing  this cost  at the time.


I think we need to do a new ticket cost price for shows thread , since they have seemed to jump up in price lately by a minimum of several dollars the $5 of a few years ago is long gone. Gun shows are no longer becoming the place of great deals due to online options for sales and price checking. People no longer are selling at the I paid X for it new and had it and used it for so many years, so a used price would be less or no more than what I paid new. Now to the what they see the upper most prices are(that don't sell but they don't follow that posting to see the full facts). Add in dealers have been thinned out from lots of mom and pops by the BATFE.  So the just doing it for small profit verse actually supporting yourself business wise has changed. Plus table prices add into prices which some bring their store stock and mark it up to offset the costs for being at the show from table rental to hotel and meals. Most of us have seen a massive shift in shows and inventory at selection.

I think we sadly saw the end of the golden years of gun shows during the stupid Clinton's Assault Weapon ban period. The only good thing was his had a sunset clause which other presidents haven't had in theirs. As it ended online sales were starting to gain traction.  Just like the C&R golden years are at close unless we start finding massive collections in Africa and South America.

If you want show reports, it seems like there is one for this show every time it happens- it's probably the biggest in NC now.

There is definitely a thread for the show each time it happens.

I'm sort of on the fence about bothering attending. I always buy powder and primers at the show, so it's not a total waste, but last time was table after table after table of shitty tauruses, the same sig 938s and keltecs and ruger LCPs, and not much else. The Greensboro show has a reasonably low number of jerky and jewelry sellers, but the price is just too stupid at this point when I only ever buy from the same handful of vendors each time- normally lucky13 and Blue Collar Reloading.

However, I imagine that due to election panic, this and the January show will be even crazier than usual, in terms of ridiculous pricing.

Im headed there tomorrow. I need some reloading supplies for my 223. I always stop by QT and get sucked in by there great pricing on Lancers. I could use some more .308 Lancers guys so please throw a couple in the truck!  

Greensboro show 8/27 and 28......what a waste of time and money.  $11 to get in
and very low attendance.  No body had any money to spend.

were you a vendor? I attended and dropped almost a grand with several vendors getting several great deals. it was comfortably crowded Saturday mid day.

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