So who would be left to actually do the FFL transfer?
The way I see it, this industry still has some major problems on both sides. There are those that are stuck in the past, who lack much of the business and customer service acumen the modern consumer now demands in this day and age. When you are in an industry and especially a geographical area where you might effectively have a monopoly on the market with very little competition, it's easy to get lazy, simply not care, and to become downright hostile to your customer base. There are plenty of these businesses that are still in business for the single reason that they are the only option in their particular area. Eventually, those types will breed themselves out of this industry, but I wouldn't hold my breath. They tend to be persistent and survivors.
On the flip side, one of the downsides with the easy and expansive E-commerce now available in this industry is that many consumers have become obsessed with the penny and with instant gratification to the point of probably hurting their local economy. I understand being price conscious and saving money. I price shop a bit too, as I'm not made of money either, but there's a certain point where I draw the line and just go local (as long as there's not an outrageous price difference). I remember a few years ago helping a customer find a handgun. I probably spent 20-30min talking to the guy, because he seemed really interested and I wanted to make sure he found something that would work for him and he'd be happy with. While we were talking he looked up prices on his phone, saw that we were ~$10-15 higher than another store on the opposite side of town, he left and drove across to the other side of Austin and made his purchase at another store. Later on he came back in to shoot at the range, and relayed all of this to us to rub it in our faces. Over $20 or less... Funny, considering he probably paid that price difference in gas to drive across Austin and back.
I have worked the retail side as well as the wholesale side. I've helped new gun stores open. I've also helped small independent individuals try to get their gun retail businesses off the ground. After all that I've seen, I never really care to own a gun store. Talk about working a thankless job, with a not so insignificant percentage of customer base which will not give you their business over a mere $20, with products of extremely low profit margins, and entire groups of millions of people which look at your business with utter contempt and would actively try to put you out of business based on ill-informed assumptions backed by complete fallacies (gun control nuts). No thanks. Those that are able to do it and survive such an aggressive and predatory market have my respect.
But Academy's prices actually aren't that bad, and Gander's selection is pretty damn extensive. I too like to handle the exact firearm I'm paying for; I don't like waiting for shipping (or thumb twiddling, like in TAVM's unfortunate case with Buds). To save me from those headaches, I will gladly pay the premium they sometimes ask for their guns.
