alterspaces
Member
Heard stories of getting cheap guns at a gun show, so I finally decided to check one out last year. I went to the SAXET gun show with the backwards Texas sign because the name is spelled backwards TEXAS.
$8 admission
Well, when I got there, it really was quite the show! So many guns, prob nothing new to you guys, but it was pretty awesome to see. All of them had an anti-theft wire running through them. I tripped one to see what would happen and an alarm rings as soon as the wire loop is opened. But I didn't see anything I wanted, and most was overpriced. I tried haggling twice and was shot down immediately. The one thing I really took note of was how expensive everything was. The cheapest thing I saw was some vintage single shot that was $150, but online I saw it going for $60. I saw Tokarev TAR tacticool shotguns that I had considered getting, but they were more expensive ($290) than online MSRP ($250 last year) and they were USED! That's pretty egregious in my opinion.
I saw a multitude of non-gun tables selling holsters, knives, hunting equipment, ammo only, fishing equipment, and homemade mini bow and arrow trinkets. There was even someone selling homemade cans, that just lacked the barrel hole so he said a gun smith or a machinist would have to bore through to the desired caliber for them to work. There were also random tables selling popcorn, jerky, candy, bags, all sorts of interesting stuff. As expected, everything was super expensive. The toothpick shooting crossbows were super cool, but they were like $30. I found a pocket holster I liked, but didn't have my carry piece with me to try it out and there was another guy melting custom holsters for your gun.
So I spent the rest of the time asking a question I was genuinely curious about - how many guns have you sold? I was not trying to tick anybody off, I was really curious about this, because tables weren't cheap, and they gotta consider their profit margins don't they? Well, very few wanted to answer me. The biggest table Americana Arms just said I don't have time to answer your question, and the small private tables would say, "no comment or something of that sort." Out of the 7 or so tables I asked, only 3 answered, which leads me to believe that:
small private tables should expect to sell 0-2 per weekend
mid-size tables with 20-30 guns may expect to sell 0-5 per weekend
large tables of gun stores expect to sell 50-100 per weekend
That being said, the only ones making a killing are the actual gun stores, like Americana Arms. Now this leads me to two questions: Why do people go to gun shows to buy guns? Why don't they go to the store directly? There's no deal or discount here. If they just went to the store, they wouldn't have to pay the $8 entrance fee, and they wouldn't have to wait until the gun show. Why are the private sellers selling at such steep prices? It seems like a waste of 2 days and table fees. Are they even trying to sell or just show off? The second time I went I saw a Kimber solo for $800 at one of the private vendors! You can easily get them on gunbroker for <$450 easily and in better condition.
So question of the day - was asking people "how many guns did you sell?" a touchy subject? Was it rude like asking a woman's age? Please educate me on this social norm, my autism may be getting the better of me. Why did people often refuse to answer?
All in all, the SAXET gunshow was a great place to take a girl on a date, but not really to buy anything.
Trip 2:
A couple months later, I went again to buy the pocket holster I liked and some ammo.
When I walked in, I presented my unloaded carry (Kimber Solo) and they zip-tied it for me. Immediately asked me - "hey are you selling?" I said maybe, and he just left off with saying: "oh that's gonna sell for sure." Maybe he was right because while walking around with the gun case, I was approached by two others asking if I were selling. Maybe Kimbers were in demand? Then I saw the $800 Kimber on someone's table and I got this idea - how about I buy a bunch of these for $400 on gunbroker and sell them at the gunshow for $600?
I found the holster table, everyone, all the same sellers were in the same exact position as last time, they seem to have all found their groove by now, must be the same sellers each and every time. He let me try all the holsters in my pocket and I finally picked one out. I asked for $5 off so he gave it to me for $20, prob still overpriced, but I needed a holster to carry.
Then I went looking for ammo. Cheap ammo was nowhere to be seen, I did not expect it to be so hard to find. Anyway, I found the first table, I was looking for bulk 9mm (1000 rds). This table was selling for $285 cash, and I said, could you do $270, and he said the dumbest thing ever, "Ok, but I'll have to charge tax", to which I countered, but that would make it almost $300, even more than $285. He just said "I know." Next.
Second table I found was selling the cheapest for $255, but with tax would be about $276 so I passed.
Last table was just a random small private table selling some jerky and had a couple boxes of ammo. $280. I asked if we could lower it to $250, and the guy at the table said, "they're not mine, I'm just helping a friend sell." I told him to call his friend. On the phone, he asked for $250, friend said no and then he hung up. Wow what a goof, didn't bother to ask 260 or 270. So he had to call again, and reask, and the friend really didn't want to lower the price. So I asked, "how many boxes have you sold this weekend?" none "There's only 2 hours left until this place closes and it's Sunday." They agreed, and I only got it down to $270. I really didn't want to leave empty-handed because I had no ammo left at home so I took it for $270... $13.50/box, not great, but better than $16/box minimum at any of the gun stores like Sharpshooter or pawn shops.
So I got this homemade bulk ammo that came in a bag and I picked up used boxes at the range to organize them by 50s. I got 500x 115 gr and 500x 124 gr. It was the first time I ever experienced jams haha, Had about 16 jams in 750 rds so far, 10 of them from the jammomatic Kimber solo. I don't think I'll get this again. I'll let them continue failing to sell until they finally lower the price.
At the end, I went to get my zip tie cut off and free my gun, and the police officer sitting at that front table noticed my 1000 rds that I just bought. He recommended I check out Nichol's and gave me a 1-hr pass. Maybe paying the $8 entrance fee to get a free coupon to Nichol's each time is not a bad idea!
Takeaways:
-hard (if not impossible) to haggle
-everything overpriced, did not find any slick deals, I think I'd rather just buy online, the FTF is still cheaper.
-cool customized holsters
-people don't like talking about what they've sold
-great place to window shop, not really buy anything
That said, all welcome to check out the SAXET gunshow this weekend on Mar 16-17 in Robstown.
$8 admission
Well, when I got there, it really was quite the show! So many guns, prob nothing new to you guys, but it was pretty awesome to see. All of them had an anti-theft wire running through them. I tripped one to see what would happen and an alarm rings as soon as the wire loop is opened. But I didn't see anything I wanted, and most was overpriced. I tried haggling twice and was shot down immediately. The one thing I really took note of was how expensive everything was. The cheapest thing I saw was some vintage single shot that was $150, but online I saw it going for $60. I saw Tokarev TAR tacticool shotguns that I had considered getting, but they were more expensive ($290) than online MSRP ($250 last year) and they were USED! That's pretty egregious in my opinion.
I saw a multitude of non-gun tables selling holsters, knives, hunting equipment, ammo only, fishing equipment, and homemade mini bow and arrow trinkets. There was even someone selling homemade cans, that just lacked the barrel hole so he said a gun smith or a machinist would have to bore through to the desired caliber for them to work. There were also random tables selling popcorn, jerky, candy, bags, all sorts of interesting stuff. As expected, everything was super expensive. The toothpick shooting crossbows were super cool, but they were like $30. I found a pocket holster I liked, but didn't have my carry piece with me to try it out and there was another guy melting custom holsters for your gun.
So I spent the rest of the time asking a question I was genuinely curious about - how many guns have you sold? I was not trying to tick anybody off, I was really curious about this, because tables weren't cheap, and they gotta consider their profit margins don't they? Well, very few wanted to answer me. The biggest table Americana Arms just said I don't have time to answer your question, and the small private tables would say, "no comment or something of that sort." Out of the 7 or so tables I asked, only 3 answered, which leads me to believe that:
small private tables should expect to sell 0-2 per weekend
mid-size tables with 20-30 guns may expect to sell 0-5 per weekend
large tables of gun stores expect to sell 50-100 per weekend
That being said, the only ones making a killing are the actual gun stores, like Americana Arms. Now this leads me to two questions: Why do people go to gun shows to buy guns? Why don't they go to the store directly? There's no deal or discount here. If they just went to the store, they wouldn't have to pay the $8 entrance fee, and they wouldn't have to wait until the gun show. Why are the private sellers selling at such steep prices? It seems like a waste of 2 days and table fees. Are they even trying to sell or just show off? The second time I went I saw a Kimber solo for $800 at one of the private vendors! You can easily get them on gunbroker for <$450 easily and in better condition.
So question of the day - was asking people "how many guns did you sell?" a touchy subject? Was it rude like asking a woman's age? Please educate me on this social norm, my autism may be getting the better of me. Why did people often refuse to answer?
All in all, the SAXET gunshow was a great place to take a girl on a date, but not really to buy anything.
Trip 2:
A couple months later, I went again to buy the pocket holster I liked and some ammo.
When I walked in, I presented my unloaded carry (Kimber Solo) and they zip-tied it for me. Immediately asked me - "hey are you selling?" I said maybe, and he just left off with saying: "oh that's gonna sell for sure." Maybe he was right because while walking around with the gun case, I was approached by two others asking if I were selling. Maybe Kimbers were in demand? Then I saw the $800 Kimber on someone's table and I got this idea - how about I buy a bunch of these for $400 on gunbroker and sell them at the gunshow for $600?
I found the holster table, everyone, all the same sellers were in the same exact position as last time, they seem to have all found their groove by now, must be the same sellers each and every time. He let me try all the holsters in my pocket and I finally picked one out. I asked for $5 off so he gave it to me for $20, prob still overpriced, but I needed a holster to carry.
Then I went looking for ammo. Cheap ammo was nowhere to be seen, I did not expect it to be so hard to find. Anyway, I found the first table, I was looking for bulk 9mm (1000 rds). This table was selling for $285 cash, and I said, could you do $270, and he said the dumbest thing ever, "Ok, but I'll have to charge tax", to which I countered, but that would make it almost $300, even more than $285. He just said "I know." Next.
Second table I found was selling the cheapest for $255, but with tax would be about $276 so I passed.
Last table was just a random small private table selling some jerky and had a couple boxes of ammo. $280. I asked if we could lower it to $250, and the guy at the table said, "they're not mine, I'm just helping a friend sell." I told him to call his friend. On the phone, he asked for $250, friend said no and then he hung up. Wow what a goof, didn't bother to ask 260 or 270. So he had to call again, and reask, and the friend really didn't want to lower the price. So I asked, "how many boxes have you sold this weekend?" none "There's only 2 hours left until this place closes and it's Sunday." They agreed, and I only got it down to $270. I really didn't want to leave empty-handed because I had no ammo left at home so I took it for $270... $13.50/box, not great, but better than $16/box minimum at any of the gun stores like Sharpshooter or pawn shops.
So I got this homemade bulk ammo that came in a bag and I picked up used boxes at the range to organize them by 50s. I got 500x 115 gr and 500x 124 gr. It was the first time I ever experienced jams haha, Had about 16 jams in 750 rds so far, 10 of them from the jammomatic Kimber solo. I don't think I'll get this again. I'll let them continue failing to sell until they finally lower the price.
At the end, I went to get my zip tie cut off and free my gun, and the police officer sitting at that front table noticed my 1000 rds that I just bought. He recommended I check out Nichol's and gave me a 1-hr pass. Maybe paying the $8 entrance fee to get a free coupon to Nichol's each time is not a bad idea!
Takeaways:
-hard (if not impossible) to haggle
-everything overpriced, did not find any slick deals, I think I'd rather just buy online, the FTF is still cheaper.
-cool customized holsters
-people don't like talking about what they've sold
-great place to window shop, not really buy anything
That said, all welcome to check out the SAXET gunshow this weekend on Mar 16-17 in Robstown.
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