Is there not enough demand in Canada to...

Balthazar

Balthazar

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
23   0   0
...have an online store that sells many types of ammo at decent price? Pretty much all the online stores here are either "back order" or "special order" on most of their items (sometimes all of them).

Others have very limited choices with relatively high price or ridiculous shipping charges ($45 for a single box of ammo? really?).

Is the market too small for anyone to bother to open a decent online store for ammo in Canada?


*hint* If you open a decent ammo store right now, you won't have to bother about competition, because it's basically nonexistent.
 
Balthazar said:
...have an online store that sells many types of ammo at decent price? Pretty much all the online stores here are either "back order" or "special order" on most of their items (sometimes all of them).

Others have very limited choices with relatively high price or ridiculous shipping charges ($45 for a single box of ammo? really?).

Is the market too small for anyone to bother to open a decent online store for ammo in Canada?


*hint* If you open a decent ammo store right now, you won't have to bother about competition, because it's basically nonexistent.
Click to expand...

You're trolling, aren't ya?
 
Balthazar said:
...have an online store that sells many types of ammo at decent price?
Click to expand...

"decent price" LOL.... My guess is that most guys idea of a "decent price" would mean the seller would have to be giving it away...

Balthazar said:
...
Others have very limited choices with relatively high price or ridiculous shipping charges ($45 for a single box of ammo? really?).
Click to expand...

Ammos be HAZMAT.... No? B'sides it's shipping companies that decide what it'll cost to ship stuff... Not the retailer.

Balthazar said:
...
Is the market too small for anyone to bother to open a decent online store for ammo in Canada?
Click to expand...

I'll go out on a limb and without any first hand knowledge or research say... Yes. The market is too small.

Balthazar said:
...
*hint* If you open a decent ammo store right now, you won't have to bother about competition, because it's basically nonexistent.
Click to expand...

'Won't have to bother worrying about buying groceries either... :)
 
Balthazar said:
Is the market too small for anyone to bother to open a decent online store for ammo in Canada?
Click to expand...

You answered your own question, sort of: yes.

The problem is the size of market. The US is for all intents purposes the main supplier, and our market is just a side run for them.

It isn't cheap these days to bring in skids of ammo these days, and retailers have a lot of hoops to jump through.

Couple that with the fact the US market itself has been in back order a lot, and yes we have been sucking the hind tit.

That said, I'd personally like to see some specialty .45 Colt ammo (ie Buffalo Bore) someday at a store, but am not holding my breath. Thats why people handload.

To that end, if you want a cheap, reliable, high volume source of ammo, invest in some lead pouring equipment and a Dillon 1050. Problem solved.
 
667 said:
"decent price" LOL.... My guess is that most guys idea of a "decent price" would mean the seller would have to be giving it away...
Click to expand...
No. Places like theammosource.com have good prices and AFAIK, they make enough money to stay in business.

I'll go out on a limb and without any first hand knowledge or research say... Yes. The market is too small.
Click to expand...
That's a sad possibility.
 
Last edited:
Bullwhip said:
You answered your own question, sort of: yes.

The problem is the size of market. The US is for all intents purposes the main supplier, and our market is just a side run for them.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying we should have a Canadian version of Cheaper Than Dirt (yes, that would be awesome) but just a store that would sell like 2 or 3 brands of every major rifle calibers (like the top 25 hunting/plinking calibers). All in stock ready to ship.

Is that too much for our market? Honestly, I don't think so.
 
there is a way to make it possible to be able to buy a much much bigger selection of ammo , and much cheaper than what many of us are paying right now ......

but i don't think many of us would be willing to do it ....

it would involve " joining up with the states in a "union " , one curency , and a " north american security perimeter " and greatly loosening up restrictions at our border with the states ........
to me the idea is like having ### with a really really hot chick , anytime i wanted , but ..... she has aids .


in the meantime , the best thing anyone can do who wants cheap ammo , is learn to reload .
 
Coupled with the fact that US ammo manufacturers DON'T extend "lines of credit" to sellers in Canada like they do to major wholesalers in the US, the possibility of running an operation on a 2-3% profit margin would mean you'd likely work 60 hours a week, every week, and assuming all would go well, you'd be lucky to crack 40K gross margin. Pretty poor money not just to "pay" yourself, but even less so for room to expand and grow.

Also mentioned, we are a sideshow to the US: When their production goes over "X" percentage, they allow a small sliver to make its way to export market, and Canada is NOT the only one. ;)
 
Balthazar said:
...have an online store that sells many types of ammo at decent price? Pretty much all the online stores here are either "back order" or "special order" on most of their items (sometimes all of them).

Others have very limited choices with relatively high price or ridiculous shipping charges ($45 for a single box of ammo? really?).

Is the market too small for anyone to bother to open a decent online store for ammo in Canada?


*hint* If you open a decent ammo store right now, you won't have to bother about competition, because it's basically nonexistent.
Click to expand...

The problem isn't that there's not enough demand, it's that there's too much demand and not enough supply. A lot of places have popular calibres on backorder because anything that has a reasonable price tag on it is flying off the shelves. The stuff made in Canada is being sold practically before it leaves the factory, and anything coming from the US is going to be more expensive because Canadians get sloppy seconds after the gigantic US market gets first dibs.

If I were running an ammo business and had to make the decision to sell to 1.9 million Canadian gun owners or 80 million American gun owners, I'd know which market I'd be jumping into first, and here's a hint: it's not us.
 
The problem is that our neighbors (USA) short on supply. We just have what is leftovers. Plus we don't buy direct from supplier we pay extra for distributors. Volume wise we are just like a single state of USA. So no one bother.
Ohh we can only ship ammo by UPS so there no competition so we are stuck with high prices. Buy in bulk and you will save.
 
The manufacturers in Canada that are making ammo are producing product 3-5 weeks into the future. Meaning, what you buy today is already sold more than a month from now. I can order 1500lbs of ammo, and I'll sell 4500lbs of ammo, and be back-ordered 3000lbs of ammo, and so on.

Another issue is cash flow. To have ammo in stock all the time and to have a lead order in the pipe so you're never out of stock for all the calibers you want people to buy, you need about $100,000.00 in revolving cash flow on hand all the time just to keep in the common calibers. (9mm, 40S&W, .45ACP, .22, .223, 7.62x39, .308, etc). If you have $100,000.00 spare, I'll fill my warehouse with ammo and keep lead orders open with all my suppliers. I'll even sell it at eye popping prices. So that's another issue.

Not to insult you, but until you're on our side of the counter, you don't have a clue as to how the industry works, the costs involved to do this, and the hoops you have to jump through. I wish it was as easy to fix as you hope it would be.
 
Last edited:
Well, if you're not trolling then you're just unaware. You should really try your hand at selling ammo then seeing how there is no competition and you'd be rich. I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm actually serious. Try selling ammo via the internet in the quantities you so desire at the price you consider correct. Try to acquire the ammo and stockpile it. All them 25 common rounds. Hell, even 1. The the shipping issue will hit you like a ton of bricks. Literally. Weight is the concerning factor. Have you ever tried shipping 1000 rounds of anything? 20# can cost you $50+ unless you have a contract or business account. I can keep going on and on, but I'd rather have you figure all these things out in real life in hands on application.

Plus we all wish for a cheaperthandirt in Canada. The fact is, we are a small market place compared to the States even if our demand is way higher than our supply, especially if it's reasonable priced. Some basic economic skills are required here.

You may also notice hostile reactions. If you're wondering why, since everyone would love cheaper ammo, it's because you're coming off as ignorant. This topic has been repeated many times and serves as sore spot for many gunnutz. Plus, boasting about how easy it is to sell ammo cheap and not doing anything about it is counterproductive.
 
Our market might be small compared to the US but I wonder how it compares to most European markets?
Might be easier to bring in ammo from Europe...
Another issue is cash flow. To have ammo in stock all the time and to have a lead order in the pipe so you're never out of stock for all the calibers you want people to buy, you need about $100,000.00 in revolving cash flow on hand all the time just to keep in the common calibers. (9mm, 40S&W, .45ACP, .22, .223, 7.62x39, .308, etc). If you have $100,000.00 spare, I'll fill my warehouse with ammo and keep lead orders open with all my suppliers. I'll even sell it at eye popping prices. So that's another issue.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that for $100,000.00 float you could supply the Canadian market with eye poppingly cheap ammo?

That doesn't seem like a large investment to basiclly take over the market and dominate through price advantage....
 
Can-down said:
Our market might be small compared to the US but I wonder how it compares to most European markets?
Might be easier to bring in ammo from Europe...


Are you saying that for $100,000.00 float you could supply the Canadian market with eye poppingly cheap ammo?

That doesn't seem like a large investment to basiclly take over the market and dominate through price advantage....
Click to expand...

Until the market expands again and it's insufficient. The circle is never ending.

When the long gun registry is repealed in November, it's going to be the Wild West.
 
One additional bureaucratic item to add to the list is that ONLY ammo that has been tested and approved by NRCAN (Natural Resources Canada) can be imported/sold in Canada. It costs a thousand plus per load for approval and can take a year or two. This even applies for surplus. One of the problems is that NRCAN requires the chemical composition of powder and primer from the manufacturer, plus cooperation from the manufacturer to supply NRCAN with inspection and quality control records.

That is why you don't see custom reloaders for small batches, or specialty ammo in Canada because of the cost of approval for each different load. SOMEONE has to pay....
 
Last edited:
We need to start writing the Minister in charge of NRCAN asking why they are wasting everyone time and money testing ammo that is already approved elsewhere.
 
ki11ercane said:
Not to insult you, but until you're on our side of the counter, you don't have a clue as to how the industry works
Click to expand...

Well now I know. Thanks everyone for the replies, I didn't know it was that complicated for a store to stock ammo.


a0jc said:
You may also notice hostile reactions. If you're wondering why, since everyone would love cheaper ammo, it's because you're coming off as ignorant.
Click to expand...

I apologize if I insulted anyone with this thread, wasn't my intention.
 
Market is simply too small! Most places stock hunting ammo! Most guys going into gun shops are hunters and don`t buy that much ammo at once. You need to have a store attached to a range thats where they stock everything, because they have a reliable customer base of recreational shooters. Thats where I shop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom