Posted: 8/6/2010 2:48:53 PM EDT
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A friend of mine and I have been kicking around the idea of opening a gun
shop in St Pete Florida.....been looking at store location and just got the pack from ATF for FFL licence plan on doing a full line of tactical rifles and handguns as well has hunting rifles and gear .... just looking for feedback and thoughts on what to expect I just have been thinking about the saying "do something you love and you will never work a day in you life" thanks |
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VERY HARD to compete against on-line vendors who have little to no overhead. I had my FFL for years but just could not compete.
Perhaps you can make good $$ in the transfer business... seems most FFL holders think their license is made of gold when it comes to transfer fees  . My local hook-up only charges $15.00, which is LESS than fair. BUT... I have a hard enough time MAKING him take my $15.00 let alone more.
Good luck... ETA: Just think of this... you have to make the folowing in profit each month just to stay even: Rent/Electric/Insurance/Phone/Alarm/Payroll/Advertising... the list is long |
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Quoted:
VERY HARD to compete against on-line vendors who have little to no overhead. I had my FFL for years but just could not compete. Perhaps you can make good $$ in the transfer business... seems most FFL holders think their license is made of gold when it comes to transfer fees . My local hook-up only charges $15.00, which is LESS than fair. BUT... I have a hard enough time MAKING him take my $15.00 let alone more.
Good luck... ETA: Just think of this... you have to make the folowing in profit each month just to stay even: Rent/Electric/Insurance/Phone/Alarm/Payroll/Advertising... the list is long It's very hard to compete with online vendors because of tax savings and much lower prices due to lack of overhead/expenses, BUT if you capitalize on the internet, such as this forum and others it'll make life much easier. I currently have a retail boutique, and alot of it's success is because of the online presence & social networks. I have also been pondering getting into the brd realm (already have atf/ffl paperwork done) and utilizing my current space to sell brd accessories and what not, but I know I will need to have an online store/presence before introducing it to the actual public. If you do what you love, it definitely won't feel like work and is definitely worth it, but you must be prepared to live more frugally and stay on top of the internet game. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
VERY HARD to compete against on-line vendors who have little to no overhead. I had my FFL for years but just could not compete. Perhaps you can make good $$ in the transfer business... seems most FFL holders think their license is made of gold when it comes to transfer fees . My local hook-up only charges $15.00, which is LESS than fair. BUT... I have a hard enough time MAKING him take my $15.00 let alone more.
Good luck... ETA: Just think of this... you have to make the folowing in profit each month just to stay even: Rent/Electric/Insurance/Phone/Alarm/Payroll/Advertising... the list is long It's very hard to compete with online vendors because of tax savings and much lower prices due to lack of overhead/expenses, BUT if you capitalize on the internet, such as this forum and others it'll make life much easier. I currently have a retail boutique, and alot of it's success is because of the online presence & social networks. I have also been pondering getting into the brd realm (already have atf/ffl paperwork done) and utilizing my current space to sell brd accessories and what not, but I know I will need to have an online store/presence before introducing it to the actual public. If you do what you love, it definitely won't feel like work and is definitely worth it, but you must be prepared to live more frugally and stay on top of the internet game. I agree. The "net" will open up a much larger customer base. Takes time to build a loyal customer following. But this day in age... you have to MOVE a lot of product to support an actual store front, unless you own the building outright. |
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A friend and I really considered doing this, but after realizing what the startup costs would be and then running it and competing with these big name online guys, we decided against it.
I wish the best of luck to you though, just remember us fellow FL ARFcommers when you make it big :) |
| Another thing you may consider is really pushing a business plan where you're borderline pawn shop. The FFL I use for my transfers still sells new guns at retail but functions almost like a pawn shop on used guns. He doesn't loan any money on them so he doesn't need a pawn broker FFL but he buys used guns (cheap) from people in need of cash and sells them exclusively on gun broker. He doesn't even display them or offer them in the shop. He will however notify some better customers if he gets something good before going to auction. He will also take in used guns and sell on consignment. He does only no reserve auctions starting at a penny. If nobody else is doing it in your area you can make some good money off of shear volume. He averages about 20 guns a week on auction. |
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Speaking from experience:
You need a range. You can succeed without one, but you are making your task far more difficult. I can't count how many horribly slow days were saved by range traffic. Range traffic means you can teach classes. Your instructor gets a percentage of the class fees and you get the rest. You need a classroom to really make this work. The best thing I've ever seen is two smaller ranges instead of one very large one. You can put a class in one of the small ranges and keep the other one open for the rest of your customers. This way, your classes can shoot in front of the firing line and move while shooting. You can also run matches and private events in one range and leave the other one open. Your customers will tell you what to stock. It doesn't matter how much you love AR type rifles, or Nighthawk pistols, or Fabrizi over/unders, or Glocks, or whatever: Your customers will pull out their wallets when they want something. If they don't pull out their wallets, they don't want it. No matter what you charge, you will lose money on transfers. Know your competition. No matter how much you're going after the same customers, you're in the same business and there will be times you can help each other. Further, know what your competition is selling and what they charge. Know why they sell it. They've been doing this for a while and they've learned from their experiences. If all the other shops in the area stock 25 Whoopies and 2 Yahoos, think twice before you decide to corner the market on Yahoos. There's a reason nobody else sells them. Make sure you can evaluate used guns. You'll make more on good, used guns than you will on new ones. Be ready to make deals. |
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Quoted:
Speaking from experience: No matter what you charge, you will lose money on transfers. . How so? I would think letting the customer do the work and front the $$ while you charge a fee for 15 minutes of paperwork and a NICS check would be a winning system for an FFL? You would need volume though. |
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You will lose money on transfers because you are not the one selling the gun for a certain mark up.
If you wanted to start one up in say July or august of '08 you would have gotten yourself a nice little nest egg to tide you over however right now at least in my experience gun sales are down and we have a lot of people trying to sell us guns. Things have picked up slightly but like said above the fact that we have an Indoor range has helped us in more ways than one. The range also helps us sell guns as we offer a 30 day range pass with any gun we sell. That being said some people can't see the nose in front of their face and will always buy at the cheapest possible price and then come to pay and use our range. even if that price is only 15-20 dollars cheaper there will always be those types of consumers. Another reason a range will help Classes. Customers would like to learn how to use their gun or even get a concealed weapons permit. Without an onsite range or one nearby that's money going to someone else. People that don't buy on the internet also like the convenience of a one stop shop. People also like to assume that guns are like used cars and should always be haggled over no matter what the sticker price is. Have fun with that. In this day and age Customer service is more important than ever because while there are those customers that want the rock bottom price there are also those who look for excellent customer service and are willing to pay that extra dollar for someone who knows what the differences between a Colt and Bushmaster AR-15 are. and why they should pay twice the price of a Kimber for a Nighthawk etc. Keeping stuff in stock requires a high overhead... Internet sales would also mean a full time employee dedicating their time to it if you expect to get a decent amount of business from them. You also have to have a very secure place to store these items because it's not that hard to bust down a front door and run in and get some high priced guns. Good help is hard to find. the list goes on. Bottom line what can you offer that no one within driving radius offers. Best prices? range? Friendly knowledgeable staff? Those Niche items you just don't find anywhere else? |
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Quoted:
Speaking from experience: You need a range. You can succeed without one, but you are making your task far more difficult. I can't count how many horribly slow days were saved by range traffic. Range traffic means you can teach classes. Your instructor gets a percentage of the class fees and you get the rest. You need a classroom to really make this work. The best thing I've ever seen is two smaller ranges instead of one very large one. You can put a class in one of the small ranges and keep the other one open for the rest of your customers. This way, your classes can shoot in front of the firing line and move while shooting. You can also run matches and private events in one range and leave the other one open. Your customers will tell you what to stock. It doesn't matter how much you love AR type rifles, or Nighthawk pistols, or Fabrizi over/unders, or Glocks, or whatever: Your customers will pull out their wallets when they want something. If they don't pull out their wallets, they don't want it. No matter what you charge, you will lose money on transfers. Know your competition. No matter how much you're going after the same customers, you're in the same business and there will be times you can help each other. Further, know what your competition is selling and what they charge. Know why they sell it. They've been doing this for a while and they've learned from their experiences. If all the other shops in the area stock 25 Whoopies and 2 Yahoos, think twice before you decide to corner the market on Yahoos. There's a reason nobody else sells them. Make sure you can evaluate used guns. You'll make more on good, used guns than you will on new ones. Be ready to make deals. thanks |