Market manipulation

[sparker]

Hey, remember a year ago when gasoline was inching towards $5 a gallon? Wow a year later and we're at less than half that price. It seemed then that there was clear market manipulation on the supply side much like there was with electricity in California 8 years earlier. I for one do not believe that the primer manufacturers are making as many as they can. Granted people are scared and hoarding. I do not believe that this forum should be used for usury in any form. So while I do believe in the free marketplace. I was also under the impression that shooting and reloading were the pursuits of sporting gentlemen. This crass practice of exploiting people's fear of scarcity in order to turn a high profit is conduct unbecoming in my opinion. It has no place in this ongoing discussion of accuracy.

To make sure that the context of what I am saying does not get twisted, please allow me to elaborate. I have no problems with gun trading, equipment swapping, or component trading. The guns and equipment have either blue book values or reference values to guide pricing and buying. Until very recently components were also being traded at fair market value. IE. near msrp. For people to hoard and then sell at several times the normal value is inflammatory.

It is one thing to make a product that is superior and to charge the moon for it, for the value is in the design and execution. It is quite another to speculate on fear and fuel that fear by creating scarcity where there was none. That quite frankly is evil. For any shooting clubs that I belong to, I will work feverishly to get members who engage in this practice expelled.

Scott Parker

 

[Ackman]

Perhaps you don't remember but I do....we had a primer shortage maybe 10-12yrs ago. Very much like this one, nobody had them. Back then it wasn't market manipulation and I don't think that has anything to do with what's happening today. It's the scalpers who've caused prices to go up. As I understand it the Clinton administration cut back on military spending and didn't maintain weapon/ammunition reserves. They became seriously depleted. Production of components has been going to the war and also rebuilding stockpiles. Then..... fear of what the monkey and his band of idiots might do has created a 'get all you can' mentality. It all adds up to a shortage.

 

[dreever]

It depends where you buy, and how bad you want them. Gander Mountain is getting $50.00 a thousand for primers, the price per 100 is what you pay regardless if you buy 100 or 10,000. They are also getting $30.00 a pound for powder and there are people who are paying it. I know a dealer who is selling Varget for $160.00 for 8 pounds plus tax, and most guys I talk to say that's a fair price. So I suppose it's who you end up talking to. Brass is at a premium right now, so are bullets, and there are people who have it and are selling it for twice it's worth. Heck, can you blame them? If you were thinking about selling your second car because you don't use it anymore and some guy walks up and tells you he'll pay double what it's worth do you refuse and tell him just give me half that? In year 2000 I bought 1000 rounds of .223 for $165.00 The price is still on the box. That same 1000 rounds today is over $400.00!!!!!!
So if a seller gets what he's asking and the buyers happy, well that's the way it is. The only thing that will stabalize prices is a drop in demand, or demand leveling off. Even then I doubt we'll see prices coming back down anytime soon.

Danny

 

[Hammerhead]

I agree the prices are through the roof.
For whatever the reason, it is what it is.
I do believe in free trade and if you don't like the price of something YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY IT.
The only reason the prices are where they are is because people are paying these astronomical prices.

Hammerhead

 

[Alycidon]

This side of the water we have only seen maybe a 10% reduction in the cost of petrol in the last year. We are currently paying around £1 per litre, of £4.25 per US gallon. I recon thats about $6.50 depending on exchange rate. Yesterday our government increased taxes on it again, the UK tax take per gallon is around 80% of the pump price.

I love coming over to Florida and filling for what we consider to be nothing !!.

Home heating oil on the other hand has dropped from around 50p a litre to around 35p.

A

 

[olympian]

Let's call it the 'primer bubble'.

In the early 90s primer shortage, I was working at a sporting goods retailer part time. I remember a box of 1000 Remington Large Rifle primers with a pricing sticker of $86.00 on it. At that time, we could not get many primers and what we did were very expensive,for whatever reason). Several years later, I bought that box when the price was back down to the $18-20/1000 area,with the same $86 sticker on it) just to get it off the shelf.

Prices change......eventually demand will be affected and prices will recede. The entire shooting industry should be mindful of this situation. If components and ammo get too expensive, demand for everything else in the industry will plummet.