Black Friday is now over...... I want your thoughts.

Wolverine .303 said:
So I'll be honest, hunting season all the way through winter is basically my favourite time of year. BUT, Black Friday and Christmas are my least favourite things about this time and I'll tell ya why.

My view coming from the side of things as someone whom works within retail, be it firearms or anything else is a little more shall we say blunt. It is one of the most toxic times of the year, and without going into details some interactions can be outright preposterous for no reason..... Not all mind you, we have some we speak to daily, weekly, monthly, old and new alike we have some pretty amazing customers. But this time of year brings out the worst in some.

My view as a regular guy looking to buy something cheap....I don't. I rarely buy things I don't need I'm a simple living style of person. Pretty sure the last thing I bought ( that wasn't some silly cheap $100.00 gun that comes through the door ) was a TV 4x years ago because ours finally died.. I don't really sale shop, if I need something I buy it.

Sometimes something comes up and I'm like, "dang, that's a good deal...." and I'll buy something. But I don't actively shop for deals on things I don't need. Anyways those are my views...

For anyone who was looking around this past week, what did you think?

Were sales up to your "standards"?

What do you expect from firearms retailers on Black Friday?

I am not going to go into the intricacies of working within the realm of the firearms industry, but let me tell you it is like no other. Don't get me wrong either this is not some "whah whah whining thread" I am genuinely curious as to what people's expectations are here.

Electronics, clothing, and other more "heavily-consumed" items are not even close to the same as firearms. Margins, deliveries, distributors, everything is totally different so trying to compare it may turn out to be very disappointing.

Let me know I would like to hear it.. And please keep in mind, this isn't strictly about Wolverine's sales or promotions. I am asking you a general question about the entirety of the Black Friday week you have just experienced within the firearms industry.
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I have worked retail in the past and a couple of my good friends own firearms stores. I have family that own electronic stores, so I have a good understanding of the margins. Tv’s actually have an even lower margin of profit than firearms. The problem with Black Friday sales is Canada shouldn’t even call them Black Friday sales. People see the sales across the border and expect the same here. The market isn’t the same, sales are significantly better in the United States. Our market can’t compete. The only way people are happy is basically when they get things at cost. No store can stay open doing that, the only way sales can be that good is stock that has been sitting for a long time and the retailer wants to just get the item out of their store. I never Black Friday shop, whenever I want anything I research it then shop around and buy it once I find a reasonable price.

My only pev with the firearms industry is some stores mark up items significantly more. Some businesses stay afloat by selling in volume and the little guy can’t compete with those prices.
 
Anyone in retail gets abused this time of year wether it’s Black Friday or Christmas shopping. People get ruder and less patient every year … society is going through a massive shift in expectations and standards of personal conduct. Many fewer people say thank you in an interaction than in the past and many people don’t even acknowledge, if they’ve been greeted by staff at a store. It’s a transactional interaction. Good people are still out there, but they sure stick out more nowadays. Covid, hysteria, increased anxiety, and pent up frustrations have made the last couple years particularly bad.

As far as Black Friday sales, it’s a mixed bag as I too generally wait until I need something .. it’s getting so expensive to live, so I wait longer to get a new phone or whatever. However, I wait and when I start to need something, I look around and I wait for a good price. The media said this would be a bad Black Friday, but I found many more things I needed this year than in the last few years and found many great deals. Gun stuff is a little different … what does one “need”? … one shotgun and one hunting rifle? That would suffice for most situations. I did find some firearms stuff this year, but I guess I didn’t need them …. The deal was just too good. I think someone’s financial standing may dictate their Black Friday shopping …. If you’re in a higher income bracket, maybe the top of the line stuff isn’t priced all that different, but lower priced items sure can offer some good deals and people in that price bracket often can use the savings.

Cheers and have a good holiday season and upcoming Christmas.
 
I'll preface my comments by saying that I don't really buy allot of new (gun-related) items over the course of a year, so I seldom pay allot of attention to sales. I've also become a bit jaded by some strange price changes in the weeks leading-up to Black Friday sales...where the "discount" is simply the price the item was a couple weeks prior. lol Oddly enough, I've only made 1 Black Friday "impulse" buy that I can remember, and it was on a Leupold scope...in a big box store. The deal was actually very good.

I also know that if I dig through all of the Black Friday sales/flyers/links...I fear I'll find something I hadn't realized I can live without. In those cases, better not to look I suppose. I also don't stress about it, because if I have $_____ to spend on a gun when I start looking for the best price, it's not likely that the sale price of $_____ -$50 is going to change that.

Ammo is sort of what I'm paying the most attention to these days. I don't normally buy case-qty, but climbing prices and empty shelves are shifting that a bit.
 
Barnaul 7.62x54r is $22-$24 locally. FOC had it for $14.95 so I stocked up. If its something I'm going to be buying either way, id rather pay $15 now instead of $22+ in the future even if I don't end up needing it all for a while.
 
so i bought a new gun this weekend.

no sale price, no free shipping.

i would rather see a fair price all year then have to wait for a sale to get the item at the price around what other vendors are selling at anyways.
if a company is always having sales i make the assumption that their regular price is a ripoff. and if those sale prices are regularly right above dealer cost i assume that company is struggling and probably going out of business and i should be wary.

bigest thing for me is finding a vendor that has everything i want in stock.



i was actually pissed i had to order mags from one vendor and the gun from the other side of the country...
because one vendor mis represented his stock on the rifle and it took 2 weeks to see the money back, and the other with both had website issues and i lost the rifle to someone else.


i like wolverine days.... it more of an event then a sale i think its the right aproach. i would rather see some raffles for charity and some door prize deals
then random %5 off flash sales on a tuesday on items i dont need or want.
 
LordEvilPepper said:
i like wolverine days.... it more of an event then a sale i think its the right aproach. i would rather see some raffles for charity and some door prize deals
then random %5 off flash sales on a tuesday on items i dont need or want.
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One day, we will do it again. t will never really be the same as the moment has been really hit, but if we are ever able to again we will be doing it bigger and better than ever.
 
The hours looking and driving around wasted to find a good deal negates most savings.
Best is to already have a list of things you already want and can wait on it (loaded in cart). Then pull the trigger when the prices come down during sales.
 
I hate Black Friday because it has no meaning in Canada. It is an American thing to push sales. I didn’t want anything major this year so I didn’t get anything. Also this behaviour of waiting for sales is ridiculous. Just have low prices all year and get rid of this stupid baiting and the need to raise prices then artificially drop them (not saying you do it but that’s the stuff that happens). I hate it all.
 
I live in a northern somewhat remote community with a very limited selection of shooting supplies. The majority of my shopping and research is online. I, like many people on here I try to spend wisely and stay informed. I subscribe to newsletters from many retailers including Wolverine which are very helpful and informative. This past week saw my inbox overflowing with Black Friday and all the associated sales propaganda. This resulted in me making two significant purchases of items I was shopping for but probably would have bought closer to spring. One was a rifle and some accessories that was advertised at 15% off plus free shipping, the other was ammunition at nice discount and affordable shipping. Total about $3000 spent at privately owned businesses. So to answer Wolverine's question, yes Black Friday sales influenced my decision of when and where I spent my money but not what I spent it on. I hope that helps.
 
To answer the original question and speaking in general, some people are just bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. You can't please them all and I wouldn't bother trying. If you can't afford it full retail price, then you shouldn't buy it in the first place.
 
Slightly off topic. What I would like to see when I buy ammunition is a quick check whether it can actually be shipped to me. Slot for your postal code with a yes or no we can’t ship to you
 
Jmcc said:
1) People, in general, have gotten a lot less friendly in the last 2yrs. Sorry for anyone that works the front lines and has to deal with that
2) The economic recovery has not been a V shape like normal it has been a K shape. Some people recovered fine and others are still struggling. Money is still tight for a lot of us.
3) we have been conditioned to expect free shipping for pretty much anything over $100. Now that shipping costs have gone up it doesn't make sense for you to eat that but some big places still can. Its hard for me to change my expectation quickly.
4) i have firearms fatigue. with all these incoming ban scares and availability shortages I've been buying everything I can afford every month. i don't have a coffee can with cash like i usually did.
5) inflation/USD conversion. The price of everything has been going up a lot recently. this isn't just on you, it's everywhere. but my paycheque is the same.
6) The sales- your actual question. Most of the sale prices I saw (at all retailers) were basically the regular sticker price from 18 months ago. It's hard to get excited for that. I bought some ammo but that was about it. There were some hot items that were marked down but no door crashers that would justify me going into debt to have.


I completely understand that your business model doesn't give you the same kinds of margin on firearms as you have on accessories/merchandise.

I don't have any suggestions on what you could do differently? I think the market will struggle for a while. Hopeful you will continue to be successful!
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Pretty much this. I was mainly looking for reloading supplies but the "sale" prices were not good enough to make me burn up the credit card.
 
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I bought some lights for a few guns to try out because they were fairly deeply discounted and I likely would not have bought otherwise.

The thing I wanted to buy the most was reloading components but due to the current state of affairs shipping costs are too steep for me to justify buying even with discounted prices on the components so I will probably buy all my powder and primers locally and pay a bit more up front and have to deal with a much smaller selection and available quantities.
 
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