Gunsmith Business Competition

In these many articles I have constantly tried to direct you, the gunsmith, away from trouble, and toward making a good honest profit from your honest endeavors. Let’s start by classifying our major sources of competition. The first are other gunsmiths and other Federal Firearm License holders in your area. Large chain stores (Super Stores, the "SS" of the gun world) that are still selling guns and accessories fall in this as well. Your customers can just as well take their business to them as to you.

Another source are gun companies. Your customers could just as well choose to buy anew gun rather than have a current one repaired or improved. Similarly are gun part houses, gun and accessory jobbers, and local amateur or hobbyist gunsmiths. Perhaps I could stretch this another couple of listings but the above will take a couple of thousand words so let’s hold it to that. I have listed the FFL holder as the major contributor to us as a competition. Here’s why.

Unless you were the equivalent of Jack the Ripper, back when I started anybody could get an FFL for a few dollars. That has changed somewhat, however, it’s still within reach of a determined soul capable of making an application for the FFL that has a business address and hours open to the public. The application assumes you will have that place of business provided and it has a business address more plausible than an old outhouse down by the creek along with the hours you are open.

So much for that, BATFE hasn’t got the manpower, time, or, least of all, the inclination to check your adherence to what you put down to get the license. So you can do business in a location the size of a large bathroom for all they care and only be open when you damn well feel like it. With an FFL a person can buy guns, sell guns, trade guns, buy any gun part wanted from anyone, any scope, sight, mount, and whatever else. And now they’re your business competitor.

Now all the jobbers, surplus arms and ammo dealers, and anyone else in the gun-associated field will begin contacting the new FFL with lists from which they hope you to sell. An established, legitimate gunsmith shop with thousands of dollars invested in machinery, parts, and the like can start losing on all sorts of jobs because Joe has an FFL and he sold a scope and mounts or did a poor recoil pad installation in his spare time.

Multiply this out a few hundreds of thousands of FFL holders and the total business lost to them is one hell of a lot of money. The spare time FFL holder with none of your tooling pays comparatively little in overhead, fewer taxes, and beats you out of a dinner at Red Lobster, so back to Mc Donald’s you go. What do we do? Nothing is the order of the day. Unless gunsmiths become a recognized trade association or licensed profession having a voice with elected officials, this will continue.

We currently have no such voice collectively. I know, but we should have. I’m all for free trade and capitalism but the BATFE does gun owners a disservice when the qualifications to be a federally licensed dealer are so low, especially as it encourages unqualified people to claim to be gunsmiths while operating out of a shoe box and doing the public a great disservice because they don’t know what the hell they are doing except creating competition for the legitimate shop.

Sure, a lot of us started part time but we worked hard to make it full time and we did, but today we have thousands of FFLs "shooting" at us. Gun parts houses will sell any part short of a receiver to anyone, let alone an FFL holder. This is great on one hand as they have to sell parts to stay in business and should be able to sell to whomever they please.

Just remember they don’t have a special price or discount for legitimate gunsmiths but the worst thing they do is advise the customer (your customer) what the parts cost at wholesale, which cuts on the margin of a legitimate craftsman. There are too many people, gun owners included, that seem to think the total cost of a repair job should be close to wholesale cost of the parts. Even people without an FFL can buy apart and bring it and the gun in to you for installation.

That’s fine as it is a good way to play catch up but there aren’t enough of these jobs. We can’t stop this type of parts merchandising but it should be recognized and left to you to think about. I have had many a customer come in and tell me that a certain

gun parts retailer lists a particular part for so much and how much to put it in—again, this is where I get even. The gun media advises every subscriber or reader as to what every gun costs. Customers then expect you to meet that price. Well, step back and smile while thinking all the time.

You can elect to tell him you are just riot interested and gladly order it for him at the wholesale cost, provided the customer puts all the cash up front, including all shipping costs and taxes, along with your reasonable (but still profitable) FFL transfer fee.

This should also include agreement to the terms of your pick up policy in writing which states that they will pay a stocking fee if the firearm is unclaimed after 30 days of being notified it is ready for pick up and that they surrender it to your shop if left unclaimed after 60 days. I would like to handle 100 deals a day like this and have no clue why some shops have oddly restrictive policies on the use of their FFL.

Any prepaid item sent to my shop is like having inventory paid for with someone else’s money that I’m all but guaranteed will move within a week of arrival. It’s a rare customer that won’t promptly come back in to pick up an item they wanted and already paid for and in the unlikely event they don’t, I end up with inventory that, again, I didn’t have to pay for. Should your customer tell you he has a friend who has an FFL and he will do it for free, smile at him and say, "Great! I suggest you do that.

It’s a good deal." Just remember this when you go to renew your subscription to whatever newspaper or magazine he got the information from and when he needs it fixed, get even, but do so with good service and a smile. Competition with other gunsmiths in your area can be handled in an easy way. First off, a competing gunsmith in your area is automatically a skilled craftsman and a nice fellow. Make sure you keep saying so for in this way he can’t run you down.

If he does, the person who has heard you say complimentary things will question the competitor trying to give you a bad name. This assumes those uncomplimentary statements by a competing gunsmith have no basis in reality. Just say he is also a good gunsmith, just that you area different kind of gunsmith and let your customer decide. Hell, you are the best (right?) so why worry about this one? Get a custom job or blue job into your customer’s hands. Ask him, "Isn’t that nice?

That’s the kind of work I do." If you truly area good gunsmith, no more need be said. Gun companies are also your competition. This might seem odd as a gunsmith because if they didn’t make guns we wouldn’t have anything to repair or modify. Like gun parts stores, gun companies will also sell parts to anyone with few exceptions. The trend is to publish an authorized repair station list but more than likely you are not on it.

A list of names of gunsmiths and their qualifications are put out by organizations such as the American Custom Gunmakers Guild and American Pistolsmiths Guild but most of the gun buying public knows nothing of it. The SS among us (Super Stores) are the huge businesses with chains of stores. These stores may have a gunsmith on staff that can mount any sight, swivel, recoil pad, etc. bought there.

Now, this isn’t a bad thing, especially when you realize that these stores are taking the graduates of the various gunsmithing schools out of your hair, competition wise, as well as purveyors of questionable capabilities (in spite of a diploma) off the streets where in the SS they can continue to screw things up so that you get the corrective work. Remember one thing: these stores don’t really want a gunsmith on duty.

It is a low profit operation for them and they have him only to keep their customer from having to go elsewhere. They are not going to pay for the best, seasoned gunsmith they can find. Instead, they will hire the guy that yesterday couldn’t spell the word gunsmith but today he are one. The graduates of the "Become a Gun Expert in 60 days" can find homes there. Finally, is the local amateur or hobbyist gunsmith. Now, every experienced gunsmith used to be an inexperienced one.

The only way to get good at anything is to do it. The problem is when this leads the unapprenticed hobbyist to decide they’re "ready" and branch out into business. If you’re a good gunsmith and a good businessman (and you need to be both) you’ve learned to price your services based on the value your experience and skill provides for the work you do. The newbie that just threw out a shingle reading "Gunsmith" written in still undried paint can’t know those things.

They’ll likely price things to bait new customers while remaining unaware of how much time, effort, and costa given job is likely to be. As discussed above, you’re best bet is to not speak ill of competition, however, unlike the experienced gunsmith that is always a fine fellow, you can honestly say, "I’m not familiar with his work" of the freshly-shingled hobbyist. Your potential customers that decide they’d rather bite on a "deal" to save a few dollars can have their guns serve as the new guy’s test subjects.

This could end up driving more business back to you in the long run. The only way an independent gunsmith can successfully compete is to be fully qualified. This takes constant study and practice. The more competent you are, the more you prosper and get the business. Recognize where competition for your customers is coming from. If you are truly the real deal, it should become obvious to all of your customers that you really don’t have valid competition. AG