Site Idea - would love your opinion...Cartridge Price Tracker

[DoubleBarrelledDon]

As has already been mentioned theres not a vast amount in it for retailers when it comes to shells especially when compared to clothing and other gear but I do hear a lot of people in the trade tell me about people who drive 100 miles just to save £5 a thousand...where is the sense in that!!! Yes, by all means post your own local knowledge but theres already a price war going on in cartridges as it is......

 

[Fuzrat]

Interesting, You are the second person Ive heard mention a cartridge price war. Any idea when this war will result in lower prices to the consumer or is it just the dealers benefitting

 

[DoubleBarrelledDon]

theyre just cutting margins.....in a market like this everyone want s to protect market share...I know this isnt a popular thing to say but in real terms they are still cheap....we just got lulled into a sense of security when they didnt go up for the best part of 20 years

 

[Fuzrat]

True, your post about starshot when mars bars were 15p as an example. Back then it was about 7p a bang now its around 16p a bang for lower end shells. Mars bar now is about 60p

 

[DoubleBarrelledDon]

You see my point.....we had zero inflation on them for ages....its only going to go one way now ......

 

[Will Hewland]

Cartridges have gone up about 60% in the last 6 years. I wonder if this is totally justified, or have material increases been slightly exaggerated? Has anybody looked at company accounts for Hull, Eley, Express? Might be a clue if you can find the 2005 accounts also..

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[DoubleBarrelledDon]

I couldnt say but oil and therefore plastic has gone through the roof, lead has been unstable and currency fluctuations havent helped when you consider how many componenets are bought in from europe, remember the good old days when it was One Euro sixty cents to the pound?.....

 

[ExSCA]

Those were the days - I think I got married in France when the exchange rate was 1.6 - wouldn't do it now.

 

[Will Hewland]

Why, did you have to buy her? )))

 

[tiptop]

Ian Coley sells cartridges £7-£9 a thousand cheaper than Just cartridges.I drive past Just cartriges on way home from work so makes no sense to drive 40 odd miles each way to buy cartridges.It's a good idea though to see what the price difference is between different areas of the country. As people have said though gun shops may sell slightly cheaper hoping people may buy something else while they are there, Just cartridges are just that cartridges.

 

[ExSCA]

Why, did you have to buy her? )))

Naaaah - just wouldn't bother again

 

[Will Hewland]

We are unfortunate that our sport/hobby requires a consumable that can't be economically delivered. It just makes Internet shopping pointless. These days fuel costs are so crazy that you will only get a good overall deal if you don't have to travel far to buy them.. The best deal is to collect from a shooting ground that you will be going to anyway.. EJC don't stock what I use, but will order them in for me.

Clever cartridges are, incredibly, imported from Italy to Scotland! Then shipped half way back again for use by us southerners. Crazy.

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[Fuzrat]

Ian Coley sells cartridges £7-£9 a thousand cheaper than Just cartridges.I drive past Just cartriges on way home from work so makes no sense to drive 40 odd miles each way to buy cartridges.It's a good idea though to see what the price difference is between different areas of the country. As people have said though gun shops may sell slightly cheaper hoping people may buy something else while they are there, Just cartridges are just that cartridges.

Does make you wonder how a specialist retailer who only sells cartridges and must buy in much bigger bulk is nearly a tenner more expensive :huh:

 

[ExSCA]

Does make you wonder how a specialist retailer who only sells cartridges and must buy in much bigger bulk is nearly a tenner more expensive :huh:

Answer in the question really 'specialist retailer' - that attracts people, it did me at the beginning - and then i realised I was paying a premium for a big room with variety.

 

[tiptop]

Probably shooting grounds can sell them at near cost price knowing that your likely to go and loose 100 off on a 100 practice while your there so they get your money for the carts and the cost for practice so you've just spent £200+.

 

[psych4shooting]

Matt it is a great idea to publish the prices, some kind of comparethemarket, but as with all things & I have read the thread with interest, it is not like using an online retailer and getting free delivery, plus supporting your local gunshop means they will be there in the long run, when you need some accessories, a gun repair, a new gun, some old fashion service. At Ian Coley`s we happily show our cartridge prices, we do compare to one of the direct sellers of cartridges, but there is certainly not a cartel that is for sure. There is very little margin in cartridges, of course there is a margin, business is built on margin. but the number of shells we have to stock, the floor space it takes up and margin, it is hard to justify giving them away. If you look at it from a pure business perspective, the margin is non existent, because of storage cost - if you factored that in. From an Ian Coley perspective happy to give you the monthly cartridge prices we offer, some will be cheaper, some won`t - most people know we are there or there abouts with price, but service and range of other stock, plus having a shooting school onsite, all add to the experience. I suppose it is like food shopping in some ways, Waitrose sells Kelloggs around the same price as Tesco`s, but Lidl own brand corn flakes are far cheaper... Be interested where this goes Matt, but we are happy to support and give you the prices openly.

 

[Salopian]

I think that if we keep the information flowing it will be to our benefit.

Some very good points have been made regarding margins, floor space stock etc.,

BUT I think what pee's us all off is the constant drip drip drip of increase nearly every month.

I have to disagree with the 'Oh we've had it good for years ' attitude. There is such a thing as fair trading. I also know as we all do that the manufacturers have a tier discount system dependant on loyalty and volume of sales. That really is the crux. If they have the component cost, the manufacturing and storage capacity, get manufacturing and get your product out to the customer at a fair and realistic price. If they can trade sell to Ian Coley at one price that should be the same price they should be selling to Justrobbery. It is a National sport let's have a National price, I would rather drive anywhere to get service, a smile, and a fair price than to be ripped off by profiteering. I have found two Farm stores on the Welsh border who want to buy big quantities of cartridges, I contacted the sales department of a cartridge company, and they cannot be bothered to visit the stores. I had a ground that wanted to stock a brand, but the manufacturer did not want to compete with other manufacturers on price and was considerably dearer.

 

[Will Hewland]

Going back to my earlier point, retailers dont make enough out of cartridges; but I suspect the manufacturers do.. Rather like car fuel. Garages dont do well on it, but oil companies and the government have a `nice` share.

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[Fuzrat]

Didn't someone say on another thread that the new shop in little Marlow is not allowed to stock certain brands due to its proximity to churchills and Oxford gun? That smacks of a manufacturer cartel to me!

 

[TobyM]

IIRC retailers make around 6% - hardly a massive margin. I don't know about the manufacturers