Timonium Fairgrounds October 3 & 4

[-Z/28-]

I do know of 2 vendors that were told they were not welcome at the show because they were compitition for some vendors at the show.

That just makes me wish the promoter would go under and out of business even more. With all due respect to you guys(the vendors), that kind of shit is just pathetic and childish.

 

[FFBWMD]

That just makes me wish the promoter would go under and out of business even more. With all due respect to you guys(the vendors), that kind of shit is just pathetic and childish.

Yeah it was pretty crappy what he did but it's his show.

 

[-Z/28-]

Yeah it was pretty crappy what he did but it's his show.

So not to be a jerk, but why do the rest of you guys keep selling at his shows? Why not let him go under? There are other promoters around.

 

[FFBWMD]

Like others you are missing the point of trade shows.....they are all about building your business....and to that effort, every business at the show should have some items they can sell at break even or even at a loss.

It's clear these folks are not much interested in building their businesses....just interested in how much can they make at the show.....

And as more and more folks recognize that as well as get the word that dealers with better prices are not allowed.....folks say heck with it, let the shows bite the dust.....

This is ridiculous, I dont come to a show to sell stuff and leave empty handed. I know all about trade shows, probably more than you think. I dont know what you do for a living and dont really care, if you own a company do you sell your product at a loss to the customer the first time? If you work for a company do they give you away to customers to use without getting paid?

 

[FFBWMD]

So not to be a jerk, but why do the rest of you guys keep selling at his shows? Why not let him go under? There are other promoters around.

I will say while i may not agree with his actions, business is business and I have to make a profit to keep the lights on. While this show might go under there are some bigger ones this promoter does that will probably be around awhile.

 

[protegeV]

Why do I feel like this happens to every gun show thread?

 

[FFBWMD]

Why do I feel like this happens to every gun show thread?

LOL, have to agree here. Unfortunately MD gun shows are pretty lame, I have to agree with that. They have been going down hill for years. I will be at one of the largest gun shows East of the Mississippi this coming weekend. It would make most people here head's spin. More stuff than you can shake a stick at.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

The gun show conundrum goes a lot deeper than retail sales and credit cards.

Good gun shows used to be about much, much more than that. Again we're going back in time and very few remember the old shows. They used to be about the gun "Culture".

What I miss, are the tables full of parts. Parts for every type of gun imaginable. Bin after bin and drawer after drawer just overflowing with goodies. Reasonably priced goodies too. It was a gun tinkerers dream. If you could build a gun in your mind, you could find the parts at a show to assemble it.

Those days have been gone forever. At least ten years now and probably much more. And as soon as the parts guys disappeared, the tube socks, dried meat, and throwing star guys appeared.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the Ikea and Wal-Mart philosophy. Cheap and now. Just my opinion, but I think tinkerers are a dying breed. And the parts guys figured it out way before I wanted them too.

The quality of shows has never fallen to the buyer. Always to the sellers and the promoters. Maybe some folks can brainstorm and try to bring back some nostalgia from the good old days.

Until that happens, I think shows will continue to decline. Which is not a good thing for the gun "Culture".

.02

Please know I'm not LGS bashing. There is enough blame on all sides to go around.

 

[protegeV]

LOL, have to agree here. Unfortunately MD gun shows are pretty lame, I have to agree with that. They have been going down hill for years. I will be at one of the largest gun shows East of the Mississippi this coming weekend. It would make most people here head's spin. More stuff than you can shake a stick at.

Seriously though, which show? I take it that is why you're closed this week.

 

[FFBWMD]

Seriously though, which show? I take it that is why you're closed this week.

That's correct, I will be at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot and show this weekend. Over 900 tables just in the pole barn, probably another 400-500 in the outlying buildings. Gun parts and accessories for almost anything imaginable especially old military guns, ammo and components and of course lots of Class 3 for sale. Not to mention you can watch us shooters on the line firing anything from semiauto rifles to an M134 Minigun

 

[FFBWMD]

The gun show conundrum goes a lot deeper than retail sales and credit cards.

Good gun shows used to be about much, much more than that. Again we're going back in time and very few remember the old shows. They used to be about the gun "Culture".

What I miss, are the tables full of parts. Parts for every type of gun imaginable. Bin after bin and drawer after drawer just overflowing with goodies. Reasonably priced goodies too. It was a gun tinkerers dream. If you could build a gun in your mind, you could find the parts at a show to assemble it.

Those days have been gone forever. At least ten years now and probably much more. And as soon as the parts guys disappeared, the tube socks, dried meat, and throwing star guys appeared.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the Ikea and Wal-Mart philosophy. Cheap and now. Just my opinion, but I think tinkerers are a dying breed. And the parts guys figured it out way before I wanted them too.

The quality of shows has never fallen to the buyer. Always to the sellers and the promoters. Maybe some folks can brainstorm and try to bring back some nostalgia from the good old days.

Until that happens, I think shows will continue to decline. Which is not a good thing for the gun "Culture".

.02

Please know I'm not LGS bashing. There is enough blame on all sides to go around.

Yes I remember those days, it is sad that they are gone

 

[bama47]

A lot of good points but I'm afraid I'm just too jaded and it will take a lot for me to try them again.

 

[FFBWMD]

A lot of good points but I'm afraid I'm just too jaded and it will take a lot for me to try them again.

And that's your choice to, I totally understand.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Lou45]

Nope.....in my mind a good show price would be $325....regardless of payment method.

LoneRanger, what is your idea of an average fair profit percentage should a licensed firearms dealer with a retail store with semi regular to regular hours with stocking inventory that's doing this for a living should be (I'm wondering if the answer is going to be reasonable or ridiculous)??? Just remember, we have to make a living and pay for our benefits in full; we don't have an employer to pay most of the benefits for us.

So in your eyes I should only make $8.23 profit on the sale of this gun to you, WOW THANKS. Thats all I would have made on that rifle had I sold it to you at $325 paying with a CC. I think the deeper problem is YOU

Uuugghhh, I didn't know what the wholesale was on this gun or I would've slammed him up against the wall on this earlier.

Thanks for backing me Lou, I think you and I are the cheapest dealers at the shows.

I know how ya' operate and it's pretty close to almost jus' like me. A sale paid by plastic can easily reduce our profit percentage by 50% up to as much as 75 to 80%.

Remember people, "Money talks, ******** walks, put your money where your mouth is, cash is king".

So the end result being the same, you really just want to FEEL better about it?

Next time I'll give him a lollypop.

As I said earlier, in my eyes you should be using trade shows to build your customer base. That means making me want to do business with you. That means maybe sacrificing some profit today hoping to make up for it in the future when I visit your brick & mortar location on a regular basis.

And if I got a great deal I would certainly spread the word. Instead every gun show thread these days ends up like this one with folks spreading the word that the shows basically are not worth the bother.

If you think I am the problem then you really don't understand your market and all the folks that USED to walk through the doors of shows like the Timonium show.

Now since you brought up the "past", I'll go into the past with you. The MAIN two reasons the shows in Md have gone down hill over the years is first and foremost, Maryland laws and the stranglehold they have placed on licensed gun dealers in this state and making it VERY UNPLEASANT for any outta' state dealers to visit and do a gun show in MD. Y'alls gotta' go outta' state to get your happy sticks (high cap mags) and this existed before 2013 as you couldn't get your 30 round AR or AK mags here either as all mags over 20 rd capacity were illegal to xfer in this state. And don't forget the purchasing public en mass getting off of their pocketbooks in a very large way in 2013 before the hatchet fell; some of those people haven't recovered financially yet.

The other reason is the MAJOR LACK of current importation of nice condition milsurp guns at bargain prices in the recent decade shy of a few such as some Swiss ShitRubins and a few models of the Moist 'N Nasties (Mosin Nagants).

Oooppps , somehow I dupped the post.

 

[Lou45]

Nope.....in my mind a good show price would be $325....regardless of payment method.

LoneRanger, what is your idea of an average fair profit percentage should a licensed firearms dealer with a retail store with semi regular to regular hours with stocking inventory that's doing this for a living should be (I'm wondering if the answer is going to be reasonable or ridiculous)??? Just remember, we have to make a living and pay for our benefits in full; we don't have an employer to pay most of the benefits for us.

So in your eyes I should only make $8.23 profit on the sale of this gun to you, WOW THANKS. Thats all I would have made on that rifle had I sold it to you at $325 paying with a CC. I think the deeper problem is YOU

Uuugghhh, I didn't know what the wholesale was on this gun or I would've slammed him up against the wall on this earlier.

Thanks for backing me Lou, I think you and I are the cheapest dealers at the shows.

I know how ya' operate and it's pretty close to almost jus' like me. A sale paid by plastic can easily reduce our profit percentage by 50% up to as much as 75 to 80%.

Remember people, "Money talks, ******** walks, put your money where your mouth is, cash is king".

So the end result being the same, you really just want to FEEL better about it?

Next time I'll give him a lollypop.

As I said earlier, in my eyes you should be using trade shows to build your customer base. That means making me want to do business with you. That means maybe sacrificing some profit today hoping to make up for it in the future when I visit your brick & mortar location on a regular basis.

And if I got a great deal I would certainly spread the word. Instead every gun show thread these days ends up like this one with folks spreading the word that the shows basically are not worth the bother.

If you think I am the problem then you really don't understand your market and all the folks that USED to walk through the doors of shows like the Timonium show.

Now since you brought up the "past", I'll go into the past with you. The MAIN two reasons the shows in Md have gone down hill over the years is first and foremost, Maryland laws and the stranglehold they have placed on licensed gun dealers in this state and making it VERY UNPLEASANT for any outta' state dealers to visit and do a gun show in MD. Y'alls gotta' go outta' state to get your happy sticks (high cap mags) and this existed before 2013 as you couldn't get your 30 round AR or AK mags here either as all mags over 20 rd capacity were illegal to xfer in this state. And don't forget the purchasing public en mass getting off of their pocketbooks in a very large way in 2013 before the hatchet fell; some of those people haven't recovered financially yet.

The other reason is the MAJOR LACK of current importation of nice condition milsurp guns at bargain prices in the recent decade shy of a few such as some Swiss ShitRubins and a few models of the Moist 'N Nasties (Mosin Nagants).

Oh BTW, IBTL.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

Moist-N-Nasties.

Coated in a mixture of sand, cosmoline, and commie spuge soaked rust.

 

[Art3]

You called that one!

 

[Mr H]

I do know of 2 vendors that were told they were not welcome at the show because they were compitition for some vendors at the show.

I've been hearing that about Appalachian for better than a year...

 

[bama47]

The real question is why that every time there is a Timonium show thread, it turns into the same argument(s) every time.

Amen!

 

[Sundazes]

A lot of good points but I'm afraid I'm just too jaded and it will take a lot for me to try them again.

There was silver for sale there.