I specifically went for an air rifle that isn't stocked by many dealers and there aren't many dealer's close to me.
I have to drive about 50 miles to one, so around trip of a 100 miles is the norm.
Last sentence is in reference to when I order a new air rifle by the time have collected it, the shop staff have had a play it with and a number of customers have also use it. It's like buying a second hand gun but paying the full amount for a new one!
There's no reason at all for the dealer to have a new ordered out if the box before the customer collects it.
The details are on the delivery note and guns number is usually scribbled on the side of the box!
I miss buying air rifles of JS Ramsbottom!
In defence of gun shops. It's not always an easy life running a gun shop, for instance when a friend and I ran one together selling (from memory) an HW100 would give us a profit of £45, selling a Steyr LP10 Air Pistol would give us maybe £125 profit on a good day. It was the cheaper end of the market that kept us going. Generally our retail marks ups were + 10% over trade due to the competitive nature of the business (after discounting down from a higher price). I can't remember what our pricing structure for secondhand items but in this instance there can be risk involved due to lack of accredited history and the need to offer a warranty, along with buying in stock that you don't always want because you've got shelves full of guns anyway. Also as regards warranty repairs, the shop had to bear the cost of two way postage quite often.
After three months I gave up my share of the business as I realised that it was a mugs game working six hours a day and travelling 45 miles to sit in a shop and not get paid after spending an absolute fortune buying in new stock over that period.
Unfortunately if you don't like the shops buying in strategy all you can do is try elsewhere or look at selling privately. Lastly, there's only one valuation that you really want to know, that's the price that an interested buyer wants to actually pay you for the item.
Vic Thompson.
An air rifle that isn't stocked by many dealers, maybe there's a less than subliminal message in there?.
The last new rifle I bought was handed to me over the counter,no box or labels.
When I asked if I could have the box the dealer disappeared and returned with one clearly marked .22.
The gun I'd bought was a .177, oh well I'd done well enough trading in two guns.
The problem is that that your "trade in" would probably exceed his 'profit' on those two so he might well be out of pocket unless/until he sold yours,
Kral aren't exactly huge sellers when new, so I doubt he's thrilled at the idea of investing money in something used, that might sit there for weeks/months on end.
The situation would be different if you were trading a popular seller like an AA410 for a new £1500+ rifle.
"Interesting Vic, there are some businesses that operate on a 3% or even less, profit margin."
Yes there are, but only those who can turn their investment over many times a week or so.
The business that I was involved with had a gross turnover of £3000 to £12000 pw with maybe a net return of around £800 + pw on average : not a great amount to pay three peoples wages on (or maybe it is in your estimation) ?
And that includes one person who didn't get paid, ie, me.
Vic Thompson.