I really didn’t want to believe that this was a real picture, but apparently this kind of stuff is becoming more and more common. I talked a little about how distributors are completely out of stock and the shortage is making prices on every model of firearm spike. But at that point I still had some hope that normality would be returned shortly. And then one of my buddies noted that we’re about to steam full speed ahead into the perfect storm . . .
Inventories are already low. Prices are already sky high or getting there fast. Heck, I just sold an AK that I bought about 4 weeks ago for a 100% profit. The political rhetoric is heating up, things are starting to get hairy, and people who weren’t “panic buying” before the weekend are starting to consider it now.
But the one thing that’s keeping most of the buyers out of the market is price — the majority of people don’t have $1,800 laying around to drop on a new AR-15 right now. One gun store even admitted as much, saying that the high prices are merely an attempt to put some brakes on the sales:
Price increase is designed to slow down sales so half of my staff does not quit… Many of us worked Xmas eve and Xmas day. Everyone is tired and wants time off to spend with their families for the holidays. In order to keep production flowing based on current demand, we have to offer bonus and overtime which costs money. My suggestion is to not buy them at the inflated current price and wait until things settle down and they go back to what we consider a normal price. However, at the higher price, they will hopefully stay in stock and anyone that “has to have one” will have that ability.
Not many people have that kind of cash sitting around. But they will in about a month.
We’re heading into tax season, which means people who have over-withheld will be soon be seeing a big fat check in the mail. A check that will give them some disposable income to buy that AR-15 they’re lusting after.
The only reason we see AR-15s on the market at all right now is because they’ve been priced too high for the average Joe. But an average Joe with a tax refund is a different animal. I get the feeling that this run on AR-15s and other potentially targeted firearms will get a lot worse before it gets any better.
Put it another way: buy low, sell high.
[image via Reddit with permission]