CHL products for consumers..frustrated

[1s1k52]

I live around, counting off the top of my head, 6 guns stores I can drive to with a 30 minute or less drive. Not a single one has pretty much anything for CHL holder IMO. In fact, when asked if they carried a gun belt, casual pistol belt or holsters. For the most part I get kind of starred at strangely like "huh?" then got pointed to the wall of "uncle mikes" and "black hawk" products. Have stores tried to carry other items and they just didn't sell? I have two friends thinking of getting into CC. One of which who served in the military.

When he asked where he should go to browse belts and holsters. I replied with. "No where, unless you want to get a bunch of "zombie gear" or buy a bunch of stuff that says "tactical" on the side and play swat in the back yard your out of luck" He laughed because he knows I would tell him. I just can't wrap my head around how even places carrying every budget desatis and black hawk holster can't even carry a belt to atleast get started. If I ran a business to me that would be a way to make MORE money. "Oh here Mr new guy to CC you are buying a holster? well you will need a belt"

I am seriously debating on atleast looking into getting a business going for this. People should not have to go to 800 websites to find a belt or holster. I have already thought about starting to develop a database or website for something like this. Example

You have a 1911 your a certain weight, height, built want a belt at a certain color or price, a holster to accommodate a certain position. Should be a way for someone to type that in and get provided a list of items that MAY work and be able to be sorted. The list could come from people or companies trying to push their products and people could pay to have their items listed first. If I open a store to attempt to provide this service I would allow local people to advertise their products for free to a point.

What started this all is the sheer lack of ease in shopping for this kind of crap. Not one website I know of has a decent stock of anything. Optics Planet I think carries the most of everything bundled into what they make look like one, completely stocked website. Their search feature is pretty much the same as most. I will search for something relating to a type of product then either not find it or not find it in the search and find it an hour later after shopping around. I am not sure if this is a demographic problem or just sheer stupidity on how to run a business and website.

Anyways my semester ended about an hour ago and there's my rant..

[A-R]

My guess for the simple answer: profit margin.

The well-known, respected, quality makers of belts and holsters charge a pretty penny even when ordering direct. Imagine what you as a retailer would have to price a Milt Sparks, Tucker Gunleather, or even a Comp-Tac product to make a profit.

Most noobs to concealed carry who're already forking over upwards of $250 to get the license (class + state fees etc) AND at least $500 on a decent handgun aren't likely to be easily convinced to drop $100 + on a belt or nearly $200 on a holster (assumed marked up retail prices). It's a sad, but true. Everyone tries to cut corners somewhere when they're just starting out in CHL. Takes a box full of OOPS holsters and belts before the truth sinks in.

I wish you luck - I'd love to see a better selection of carry products at LGS - just don't jump in before you know how deep the water is.

[1s1k52]

My guess for the simple answer: profit margin.

The well-known, respected, quality makers of belts and holsters charge a pretty penny even when ordering direct. Imagine what you as a retailer would have to price a Milt Sparks, Tucker Gunleather, or even a Comp-Tac product to make a profit.

Most noobs to concealed carry who're already forking over upwards of $250 to get the license (class + state fees etc) AND at least $500 on a decent handgun aren't likely to be easily convinced to drop $100 + on a belt or nearly $200 on a holster (assumed marked up retail prices). It's a sad, but true. Everyone tries to cut corners somewhere when they're just starting out in CHL. Takes a box full of OOPS holsters and belts before the truth sinks in.

I wish you luck - I'd love to see a better selection of carry products at LGS - just don't jump in before you know how deep the water is.

Oh trust me I am way ahead of you. I am fully aware and understand I would be opening not just a can, but a case of worms. I think I would more or less like to be a middle ground to a point. MY wife was telling me about a website that basically offers all of that but for baby clothes. Age, height, weight, gender etc. I had this idea prior to her informing me. This only further ignite my frustrations with searching out CC products online.

In a nutshell think about is a CC search engine. Because since helping him look for holsters and belts I have discovered half a million places non of which I have ever heard of before anywhere. What I find actually helps is going to google, click images, type a description and have it it.

The in-store idea is more of a pipe dream because lets face it at the end of the day I would be able to "play" with everything first

[Greybeard]

Someone smarter than I commented once that the leather holster isle is where high-dollar inventory goes to die.

[MadMonkey]

Have you tried GT Distributors? They have a small selection of concealment holsters and I love the 5.11 belts.

[hpcatx]

Have you tried GT Distributors? They have a small selection of concealment holsters and I love the 5.11 belts.

+1 for both GT Distributors and 5.11 belts. 5.11 has a style that looks like a regular, casual leather belt. Looks great even with dress slacks and is stiffened/reinforced enough to easy support my heaviest handgun. Ordered my last from Amazon for around $40, but I had to handle my first in person at GT in Austin.

[OldCannon]

Here's the thing. As a (very) small-time FFL that many of you in my area visit (thank you!), I'm slowly growing cognizant of the kind of purchasing decisions that people will make and what influences them opening their wallet. Hopefully, with the right growth and the good lord watching over me, I'll live long enough to open the kind of store that I've always wanted to, but I doubt it will have a huge selection of the kind of "high end" CHL gear you're speaking of. I'd LIKE to, but there's a few things that really kill the ability to make good margins (or even supplementary sales) from this kind of gear.

1) You have to go "wide and deep." When you think of the number of people you have and their sizes, then combine that with the large number of CC firearms that exist, carrying a line of custom holsters is a sure way to tie up your inventory $$ into products that don't move. Failing to move inventory is bad. This whole conversation isn't so much about "profit margin" as it is "staying alive margin." Making a million dollars in the gun business isn't unlike making a million dollars in Vegas. First, start with two million dollars...
2) Overhead. Even if I carried the inventory, the cost of a large display area, stocking and updating, and custom sales would cause my costs to go up. This is why you find those crappy Uncle Mikes holsters at most gun shops -- you'll notice each holster fits a LOT of different guns. Heck, look at Cebelas. Their store is HUGE and their holster selection STILL lacks variety.
3) Sales tax. The sales tax factor automatically tacks 8%-ish onto your purchase. You can bypass that by purchasing from an out-of-state location. For a $40 holster, most folks won't bother (because shipping compensates), but if you're putting together a nice $250 order for a couple of leather belts and two holsters, it adds up. I continue to get people that are surprised by the fact that I have to charge sales tax, so even if I can match that awesome price they see on GunBroker, they are still put off by that "price increase" (hint: Firearm margins are often really small. Operationally, I make more on a transfer fee than on a sale, so I don't sit in the corner and cry when you choose an out-of-state "bargain"). Frankly, I'm not sure how long that free ride is going to last. The state of Washington wised up to the significantly high $$ being lost from out-of-state firearm transfers and now requires sales tax be collected at the time of transfer.

About the only way to win that game is to offer custom holster-making (and belt-making) right on-site, but that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms.

This probably wasn't the kind of post you wanted to read, was it?

[OldCannon]

Here's the Washington law on collection of "use tax" for those that might be interested:

http://dor.wa.gov/content/getaformorpub ... sfers.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As I point out to folks, you are legally required to do this in Texas as well, but the state doesn't enforce it. The transferring FFL has no role in the use tax, but the end purchaser does. Here's the law from the Texas gov site: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/use/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. "Use tax" is basically a tax you owe on an item your purchased but didn't pay the sales tax.

Fun, huh?

[Keith B]

The biggest problem is knowing what inventory to stock and the sheer volume of holsters you would have to carry to fit every gun out there. The inventory $$$ would be astronomical for the customer base you would have. The other issue is being that you had a store front you would probably have to price your items higher than mail order. While some people would buy from you, many would come in, try out the holster, then mail order it to save a few bucks and the tax. I have seen this happen numerous times to small specialty stores.

Bottom line, while I applaud your interest, it may not be a worthwhile venture due to the extreme capital investment and expense.

[Bear67]

GT stocks what I consider for my use, the best gun belt for the price. The Gould and Goodrich selection is great and wear one everyday and keep one for dress pants. I wear different IWB and usually OWB holsters and most of the time wear 2 point suspension Perry suspenders with it as I don't have much behind to hold up my britches. These belts hold up to holster and suspenders well. If can't get by the Austin store, or get my LE son to go by and pick up something, they will mail order to those of us in the hinterlands.

My definition of a safety man is "he wears both a belt and suspenders". This quote is from the old Cajun Justin Wilson who really was a safety man in real life.

[recaffeination]

That's why I do all my accessory and ammunition shopping online now.

[RKirkwood]

When Defensive & Concealed Guns in Houston first opened they had a lot of reinforced belts and IWB holsters. Last time I was in there the belts were gone and the holster stock was much less. There are great guys there but I imagine the inventory moved too slow to continue having such a selection.

[WildBill]

Here's the thing...

Spoken by a man who knows the business.

[OldCannon]

Here's the thing...

Spoken by a man who knows the business.

Aw, shucks There's other folks here that are smarter than me (mrvmax likes to lurk more than me, but he's been "in the biz" longer than me -- in fact, he was my mentor when I got started). This is all about learning lessons. Sometimes painfully expensive ones.

[JALLEN]

It would drive you crazy trying to stock all the sizes, colors, varieties etc of belts, holsters etc. Kydex, nylon, rich Corinthian leather, in several colors, left and right hand, all the different shapes of holsters. I looked all over the place out here, admittedly not the greatest LGS in the country out here, for a black kydex left handed IWB holster for a P7M8. Not many have ever seen one! A couple of places online wouldn't even make one without a several months wait, until more orders came in, I guess!

It is much easier to order online, tell them what you have, what size you are, what color you want, and pretty soon a package shows up at your door.

Comp-Tac, right there in Spring, made one and had it to me almost before I could get my credit card back in my wallet. They made one for my Sig 226 Navy as well, great service every time.

Given the volume, and the variety of products, my guess is that it would be extraordinarily inefficient to try to stock all the possibilities.

OTOH, maybe the demand would grow once the word got out. 50 or so years ago, my dad was asked to handle tuxedo rentals in our small hill country town. He had one of the larger dry cleaning/laundry businesses then. He took it on. I thought he had lost his mind. Nobody wore tuxedos back then, it turns out mainly because the only ones you could get were black double breasted coats from the '40's that reeked of moth-balls, and made you look like Frank Nitti or something. Once he was providing modern, well fitting, colorful, stylish models, it took off. He booked weddings, some Quinceañeras which rented ~150 suits, hundreds of suits every prom season. It became a lucrative sideline. You never know!