So as a new FFL I'm just trying to setup several distributors MAINLY to get the feel for who treats me the best and I get good resources from etc.

Davidsons done
Rsr done
Zander's done
Mge done
SOG done
Atlantic done
Lipseys done

Now AcuFuck  I mean AcuSport.......

I contacted them. They get back to me with their requirements. Pics. FFL copy etc. my location is a commercial location office/glass store front etc in a office strip center. Nothing new many gunshops operate from them.

So these were the only requirements I was asked for. So I didn't hear from salesperson. I email and says they contacted me and left a voicemail. I never received one. ANYWAYS

calls today and wanted to ask few more questions on how I plan to operate etc. when I'm buying displays or racks etc. I said within 2 weeks once I get a feel for the distributors and review opening order specials and what have you etc.  

And she hits me with this volume question. She's like what do you project your sales will be. (As a small business owner. With several diff past and present businesses. This question is retarded)

So I'm like look I honestly can't say. It's very competitive in our state cuz we are so gun friendly. So I was like IF I had to throw a number out there maybe $150-200k a year. That's saying like selling 20 firearms a month to start IF I can.  


Salespersons like ok. Yea we need a million dollar volume business before we establish an account.

If I could open businesses and say "yea I'm shooting for that million dollar volume right off the back" yea that would be pretty far fetched. Maybe it's possibly AFTER a year or two of establishing but wow. If she was like yea we need a minimum 250 to 300k that sounds a lot more reasonable when OPENING an account.

Any thoughts?

They don't want you.  A lot of distros are dumping smaller accounts.

That said, if Trump wins the distros will be calling you begging you to buy, because demand will fall off a cliff.

If Hillary wins good luck getting anything out of a distro as a new account unless you're spending serious coin, the demand will be insane.

They can't supply the dealers they have now so why make it worse ? Also you may have a bigger dealer near by they don't want to upset.

Give Bill Hicks a call also.

Lipsey's is a waste of time, everything allocated to bigger dealers. Unless your going to stock nothing but Taurus and Hi Point.

Davidson's prices are the highest I've found. Cheaper deals on Gunbroker.

Zanders is a good wholesaler. Have had really good service and their website is up to date. Best part nothing is allocated.

Try Williams Shooting supply and Chattanooga Shooting Supply. Hicks wouldn't even talk to me 5 years ago and haven't wasted my time trying again. Tens of thousands of dollars spent but I'm a home based which isn't good enough for Hicks. Same with RSR.

While recognizing that everyone has to start somewhere, it is not unreasonable to expect to have to provide copies of

1-Business License if locality requires
2-FFL
3-State Retail Tax Permit
4-SOT if you hold one
5-Pictures of store front.
6-Copy of yellow page ads

Not everything at Lipsey's is allocated! That a flat out lie!
Allocations of high demand products is par for the course in most industries! And, every distributor has allocations!

Many distributors have deals for those with open accounts:
Free shipping
Reduced shipping
Flat Rate shipping (Jerrys/Ellett Bros you could order from 4 different warehouses and only pay the shipping and such)

Bill Hicks pricing is high on some and great on other stuff.  And, again the more you buy the better price!

Some distributors have programs where you reach a certain threshold on an order and reduced or free shipping kicks in.

For every bad thing you hear about a distributor there are plenty of good things!

And, most certainly anyone ordering one item hear and there is not going to get tipped off the allocated stuff, that's business!

There are many smaller distributors out there
Big Rock
Crow
Sunset
Williams

Chattanooga the parent of Natchez has really good pricing on some things!

But, one has to temper pricing balanced with availability....

There are allocations on Zanders. You just don't see them on the website. If your sales rep is good you will get a daily allocation list.


I had the same run around with Accusport. Not for me.

Accusport is a large(being relative) dealer-oriented distributor - nothing new. After attending their conference in January, and hearing their business model, it makes sense.They are wanting to mirror other industries, in terms of supply/projected demand, with a larger amount of analytics to better anticipate ebbs and flows in the industry(obviously to their benefit).

Frankly, smaller FFL's(couple guns here and there a month, on the side) are often times not worth the squeeze. It's the same thing with buying groups... you need an established business with a certain level of Annual Sales.

My favorite were RSR(selection of product, ease of shipping) and Lipseys(we had a Fantastic Rep, who wound up leaving, so we started splitting our business with Acusport). All the other distributors everyone on this board seems to like I had less than pleasant experiences with, so as with anything else, YMMV.

Edit:



So you opened up a business and did not once sit down to write financial projections? Interesting.

I always liked Accusports website. Felt like it was one of he better designs out there. RSR wasn't much better and even when I worked there it was a hassle.

Really is a shame that it's so hard to find product for the little guys. It's one of the things that makes me question getting my own

For the past five years a shop I part time at has spent on average 220,000 with Acusport per year. They're our lowest volume distributor.

We've never been threatened with minimums, and were even invited to their conference earlier this year where they spent the majority of time talking up their own POS system.

I'll receive allocation emails every morning from my Lipsey's rep, and at least two phone calls a week from both RSR & Chattanooga Shooting.

I MAY hear from my Acusport rep once a month if they have something they really need to offload.

We're a 3.5 Mil a year shop.

Was that as annoying for you as it was for me?

I tried to sign up with AccuSport when my store first opened up. Obviously we met all of the licensing criteria. However, they never responded. A few months later I had a buddy of mine who owns a multi-million dollar shop call on my behalf. Still no response.

Now my shop is 2.5 years old and doing well. I may try to sign up with them again in the future but it sure would have been nice if they were with me from the beginning helping me grow my business.