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HadEmAll wrote:Those $225 .45 Shields can't possibly be as good as my bought-a-week-before-the-rebate-started $375 .45 Shield , but enjoy them anyway. Great little pistol.

OUCH!! Call Smith and see if they'll give you the rebate. They just might do it.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

HadEmAll wrote:Those $225 .45 Shields can't possibly be as good as my bought-a-week-before-the-rebate-started $375 .45 Shield , but enjoy them anyway. Great little pistol.

OUCH!! Call Smith and see if they'll give you the rebate. They just might do it.

Chas.

I definitely think this is worth an inquiry.

Excaliber wrote:The 9mm no safety version is now $289 before rebate at PSA.

Just a couple of years ago that gun went for $469.

That's into no brainer territory now.

That's into need to buy it even if it just sits in the safe pricing territory. Absolutely crazy.

Zoti wrote:I'm in Plano. Called two stores and both refused to price match online prices.

I don't understand the logic of this at all. Surely the stores can get some type of discount from retail, and they have no FFL fees to pay. Even if they are making a minimal amount on the deal, you would think they would welcome a potential future customer coming through their doors.

I use Boyert shooting center for most of my FFL transfers because I get 2 free per month with my range membership. They are always super nice and friendly, asking me what I got this month, etc. The retail manager mentioned to me that they are willing to match any online prices (but I would need to pay sales tax), but other than that, they have made no comments whatsoever when I pick up guns that they sell, and some that they don't.

I always make a point of looking around their showroom when I go there to pick up a gun. So when I saw they had a sale on a Nighthawk that I had been wanting, it was a no brainer to spend the $3,000+ (incl tax) with them. I have a relationship with their retail folks because I go in there for the FFL transfers where they make hardly anything. That ultimately led to more business for them.

In this case, you are offering to go into a person's store, take a look at what they have to offer, talk guns with them, and give them the chance to impress, and develop a relationship with, a potential customer. At most, this will cost the store a bit of their time (ordering the gun, filling out paperwork, etc.). And they might even make $10 or so for their trouble. If I owned a gun store I would pay for the opportunity to develop a relationship like that, and I would jump at the chance to do it for free.

Picked for Shield .45 up today and have already filled out the online rebate.

I got an email today and it is coming tomorrow.

Some people have reported that the .45 is out of stock at Palmetto. If so, I must have gotten one of the last ones. My daily carry is a Shield 9mm, and think it is a perfect size for CC, in width and length. Looking forward to seeing how the .45 shoots.

skeathley wrote:Some people have reported that the .45 is out of stock at Palmetto. If so, I must have gotten one of the last ones. My daily carry is a Shield 9mm, and think it is a perfect size for CC, in width and length. Looking forward to seeing how the .45 shoots.

You're in for a treat. You'll be very pleased. ]

Soccerdad1995 wrote:

Zoti wrote:I'm in Plano. Called two stores and both refused to price match online prices.

I don't understand the logic of this at all. Surely the stores can get some type of discount from retail, and they have no FFL fees to pay. Even if they are making a minimal amount on the deal, you would think they would welcome a potential future customer coming through their doors.

I use Boyert shooting center for most of my FFL transfers because I get 2 free per month with my range membership. They are always super nice and friendly, asking me what I got this month, etc. The retail manager mentioned to me that they are willing to match any online prices (but I would need to pay sales tax), but other than that, they have made no comments whatsoever when I pick up guns that they sell, and some that they don't.

I always make a point of looking around their showroom when I go there to pick up a gun. So when I saw they had a sale on a Nighthawk that I had been wanting, it was a no brainer to spend the $3,000+ (incl tax) with them. I have a relationship with their retail folks because I go in there for the FFL transfers where they make hardly anything. That ultimately led to more business for them.

In this case, you are offering to go into a person's store, take a look at what they have to offer, talk guns with them, and give them the chance to impress, and develop a relationship with, a potential customer. At most, this will cost the store a bit of their time (ordering the gun, filling out paperwork, etc.). And they might even make $10 or so for their trouble. If I owned a gun store I would pay for the opportunity to develop a relationship like that, and I would jump at the chance to do it for free.

I think the logic is that small stores don't get anywhere near the bulk discounts that online sellers do. Likely the online price is below their cost, not just at a discount. On the other hand, the smaller stores are usually happy to take a reasonable transfer fee.

If you know of brick and mortar stores that you can work well with, that can be a good thing.

MechAg94 wrote: If you know of brick and mortar stores that you can work well with, that can be a good thing.

I do not own a gun store, so I may just be ignorant on the specifics. But, if the online price is below the retailer's cost, couldn't they just sell you the gun that is sitting in their display case and then immediately order it from that same online retailer to restock their inventory? Net effect, they still have the same quantity of that gun in their inventory, and there is no cost to them other than the time needed to complete the paperwork, etc. I am assuming that they would still charge the consumer all of the sales tax, and the price match would include any shipping costs.

For my fellow accountants out there, I understand that they would likely have an accounting loss, depending on the inventory method they use (FIFO vs LIFO), but that is not a real economic loss, and if anything, the tax loss would be beneficial.

And yes, I agree that for the consumer, it can be very worthwhile to have good relationships with a couple B&M retailers. I am just questioning why the retailers are not interested in investing 15 minutes of their time to develop a relationship. I am certainly willing to invest that amount of time on my end as the consumer.

I think there are a lot of small B&M retailers (of all types) out there who are struggling to cope with the shift toward internet based commerce. B&M locations need to add value above and beyond merely providing something that can easily be ordered online. It makes sense for them to start by thinking about things that you cannot get online, or where the online cost is prohibitive for some reason. For firearms, this might be a shooting range, rental guns, gunsmithing services (cost of shipping a gun to somewhere out of town is crazy), training, etc. We are quickly getting to the point where a small B&M retailer is not going to be able to survive by merely providing common goods for sale.

I tend to get a little frustrated at the smaller Brick and Mortars. The problem is the prices and models aren't obvious to a casual shopper. The long guns are typically mounted on a wall and the product information and pricing is on a tiny tag that is unreadable from the front side of the counter. Even the handguns behind the glass can be hard to read the information. The big box stores are a little better because you can see what they are selling online.

Good news- both safety and non-safety are back in stock for $299.99:

http://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-m-p4 ... 11531.html

http://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-m-p- ... afety.html

Got mine today.

bblhd672 wrote:Good news- both safety and non-safety are back in stock for $299.99:

http://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-m-p4 ... 11531.html

http://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-m-p- ... afety.html

Thanks, ordered this time before they sold out.
Now to find a way to go to the ffl and get it home without the wife finding out

put 100 rounds thru this morning. a little stout for my small asian hand lol but, manageable. definitely will get lots of time in the rotation! yes it's wearing a blood red holster in case you didn't notice!