Suppressor profit margin GA vs MD

rsideout · May 31, 2016

ericoak said:
Not sure, I bet you can tell me, zipcode is 30324. I was just guessing that it can't be less than places in suburban and rural MD.

No I can't. It can vary greatly in the same zip code depending upon the location and daily traffic numbers. Some locations may be comparable to Atlanta, but others could be much higher. I have a shopping center in VA where we are getting $65+/sqft. + $7 in CAM. No gun shop could pay that freight and stay in business. Parts of MoCo and HoCo are probably getting similar rents. But I agree, rents in rural MD would be lower. As would rents in more light industrial and 2nd/3rd tier retail locations.

rob-cubed · May 31, 2016

ericoak said:
I'm not trying to attack anyone, just trying to figure out why they can charge so much less for the same product.

If that came across the wrong way, apologies.

Supply and demand.

Look at housing or gas or food prices. Identical products with radically different valuation based on simple geography. Except in those cases high demand drives scarcity and prices.

In this case the environment in MD has created some major suppressive market pressures (no pun intended) where dealers will charge whatever they think the market will bear to offset other costs. I don't get the sense in talking to dealers that they are happy to be marking up product, but that they feel they have no choice.

Between the HQL and ban on most of the popular long arms, MD dealers really took a kick in the nuts. The financial stability of a shop is tied directly to arms and not the suppressors they (also happen) to sell.

dontpanic · May 31, 2016

vgplayer said:
https://www.atf.gov/about/docs/report/2015-report-firearms-commerce-us/download

2015 ATF Report - page 16
Total NFA Registered as of 2015:
Maryland 94,619
Georgia 168,162

Silencers
Maryland 10,822
Georgia 59,942

That's pretty interesting.

But the population of Geogia is 10mil and Maryland is 6 million. We are pretty close on all NFA items but definately lagging in suppressors.

ericoak · May 31, 2016

dontpanic said:
That's pretty interesting.

But the population of Geogia is 10mil and Maryland is 6 million. We are pretty close on all NFA items but definately lagging in suppressors.

Probably a ton of flashbangs registered in the DC area.

ericoak · May 31, 2016

rob-cubed said:
If that came across the wrong way, apologies.

Supply and demand.

Look at housing or gas or food prices. Identical products with radically different valuation based on simple geography. Except in those cases high demand drives scarcity and prices.

In this case the environment in MD has created some major suppressive market pressures (no pun intended) where dealers will charge whatever they think the market will bear to offset other costs. I don't get the sense in talking to dealers that they are happy to be marking up product, but that they feel they have no choice.

Between the HQL and ban on most of the popular long arms, MD dealers really took a kick in the nuts. The financial stability of a shop is tied directly to arms and not the suppressors they (also happen) to sell.

No I didn't take it that way, I wasn't sure you were interpreting my post that way.

There are also a lot more gun shops in the area to meet the higher demand, which I guess reduces prices here.

ericoak · May 31, 2016

rsideout said:
No I can't. It can vary greatly in the same zip code depending upon the location and daily traffic numbers. Some locations may be comparable to Atlanta, but others could be much higher. I have a shopping center in VA where we are getting $65+/sqft. + $7 in CAM. No gun shop could pay that freight and stay in business. Parts of MoCo and HoCo are probably getting similar rents. But I agree, rents in rural MD would be lower. As would rents in more light industrial and 2nd/3rd tier retail locations.

Yea that is what I was thinking. I guess there is less density out there so lower costs but lower volume of sales.

fabsroman · May 31, 2016

ericoak said:
That makes sense right there, since lower sales means each one has to cover a larger portion of the fees associated with an SOT.

It does not really make sense. The higher you price an item, the less likely it is to sell. There are two ways to make money. You can either be a boutique store that offers better service than others or you can win the price game. I think the bigger culprit in Maryland is that there aren't as many gun shops around. There really isn't that much to choose from and those that you can choose from do not have a huge inventory on hand. That might be the first place to look. What is the level of competition in Georgia versus Maryland.

If a gun shop is the only shop in a 50 mile radius, then it gets to charge a little more than normal. At least what a 50 mile drive would cost.

fabsroman · May 31, 2016

rsideout said:
No I can't. It can vary greatly in the same zip code depending upon the location and daily traffic numbers. Some locations may be comparable to Atlanta, but others could be much higher. I have a shopping center in VA where we are getting $65+/sqft. + $7 in CAM. No gun shop could pay that freight and stay in business. Parts of MoCo and HoCo are probably getting similar rents. But I agree, rents in rural MD would be lower. As would rents in more light industrial and 2nd/3rd tier retail locations.

A client of mine is paying $59/sf about 4 miles outside of downtown Silver Spring. The shopping center is 10 years old and we just renegotiated her lease last year.

Last I checked, real estate in Atlanta was cheaper than in the DC suburbs, but location is really what matters.

ericoak · May 31, 2016

fabsroman said:
It does not really make sense. The higher you price an item, the less likely it is to sell. There are two ways to make money. You can either be a boutique store that offers better service than others or you can win the price game. I think the bigger culprit in Maryland is that there aren't as many gun shops around. There really isn't that much to choose from and those that you can choose from do not have a huge inventory on hand. That might be the first place to look. What is the level of competition in Georgia versus Maryland.

If a gun shop is the only shop in a 50 mile radius, then it gets to charge a little more than normal. At least what a 50 mile drive would cost.

I was thinking of it as the more volume you have the smaller you can make your margins which will increase sales even more. If you only sell 15 suppressors and you paid $500 for your license, you need to make more per can than a guy who sells 10 a day to make it worth your while.

Melnic · May 31, 2016

OrbitalEllipses said:
I remember when 93 octane was ~$0.30/gal higher than 87 octane; now it's $0.60-0.80/gal more across the board.

I believe that is because those who use 93 have cars that require it. I have 2 Waverunners that require 91 and these will be the last ones that do. Will be paying more attention to that next time. Its 50 cents more where I buy it.

Suppressor profit margin GA vs MD

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

rsideout

Senior Member

rob-cubed

In need of moderation

dontpanic

Ultimate Member

ericoak

don't drop Aboma on me

ericoak

don't drop Aboma on me

ericoak

don't drop Aboma on me

fabsroman

Ultimate Member

fabsroman

Ultimate Member

ericoak

don't drop Aboma on me

Melnic

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page