doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What is Bass Pro Shop thinking?

If you really want to get pi$$ed, try selling a gun to either place. I have a buddie that had some very nice miltary guns and a couple of mid range doubles that he offered to Crapbelas.He asked me to help him price some of the items, which we priced at 70% of similar items from there website. The buyer was traveling from Dallas to KC and was to meet in Tulsa for a viewing, that is until he found out the asking prices...... no dice....he didn't feel he could put that much money in the guns.He made no offer and did not want to look at the guns. I figure that there after 100% markup...minimum. BPS is just plain wack.....there is no reasoning behind there pricing. I've had several guys tell me they are using the old bait and switch tactic on shotgun shells at the local store.

I bought a Winchester 1895 rifle off a fella who was trying to sell it to the local Cabelas in MI two years ago. I was browsing the gun library at the time. I saw what was going on and kinda stayed close but out of sight so i could hear what they were telling the guy. Typical BS to pay little for the gun. They went on and on about how the condition was poor, the caliber was odd, and nobody really wanted Winchesters anymore so they felt $500 as a fair offer. I took the guy aside when he got off by himself and gave him the skinny on what his rifle was more likely worth. He was pissed at Cabelas 'cause i guess he'd come down there special to make that deal. He was so pissed in fact that he sold it to me for $500 cash because he wanted enough to buy a new pump shotgun. The the manager of the gun library got mad at me for ruining thier deal and told me never to come back, Long story short, i got a $1500 Winchester M95 in VG+ condition in a rare caliber because the guys at Cabelas were total goons!

I've been back several times! The prices are still outrageous. I was there two weeks ago and they had a rusty repro brown bess musket that got touched by 1000 customers at least and never oiled but they still wanted $995 for it! Beat up trashed military M1 Garands for over $1200, and junk sporting rifles missing so much wood from the stock you could cook a campfire meal for two. If they dropped thier prices by 25% you'd only be paying twice what its worth.

On the upside they do have a very cool fish tank in the store!

We have a new BPS in Rancho Cucamonga (way east of Los Angeles) and I dropped in on the way to a dove hunt a few weeks ago. The physical plant is just spectacular, and someone has to pay for that facility, but it probably won't be me. The gun room was antiseptic and overpriced. The ammo selection was dicey and overpriced. The help had a hard time finding items that were advertised in the fall hunting mailer. Lots of neat stuff in the store, but nothing that I can't get elsewhere, faster and cheaper.

Anyone want a used 98% CZ Ringneck (Huglu) for a mere $1,899.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores...mp;mode=viewGun

A gander mountain just opened near me, they have a 28ga ringneck in a "special" glass case for the great price of 1750.00. The pimple faced kid heard me laughing about it to my friend and he said that is what those guns are going for in 28ga. I said I have one i bought brand new in a box for 900.00. He was like "yeah right" I think they are brainwashed into stupidity..

I have sold a few guns to Cabela's in Hazelwood Missouri. When I decided to "focus" on L.C. Smiths, to finance some higher grade and higher condition guns I decided to sell off my "off" brands. I took a complete set of Fox Model B shotguns there, I had one of every gauge. I told myself I had to make a little or I would not do the deal.

The guy in the gun room looked them all over, took them apart, did the barrel ring test on them. On one of the guns, there was a little bit of noise and he said out loud that there was big problems with this gun. I told him the noise he heard was an ejector and that if he turned the barrels over and hung them by the lug, it wouldn't make that noise. He was holding with two fingers the barrels at the muzzle end. His two fingers were pinching the rib area...I almost laughed to be honest.

At any rate, after this "in depth" inspection, he broke down the offers on the guns. Some were higher than what I had in them, some lower, but as a whole, I made a few bucks. He flat out told me they mark up 15%. They have a policy that on guns they buy, if the amount is higher than $2000.00 they have to write a check, lower than that, they will give you cash right there in the store. So he had to write out a check to me. I was in there a few days later and took a special trip over to see the rack where these guns would be at. I was curious about their new price. The 15% mark up statment was a lie...the lowest percent mark up was 30% and the worst was the .410 Model B I sold them. I sold it to them for $850 and the price tag on it was $1400.00, that is just over a 60% mark up. This gun was not in high condition, a WELL used Model B at best. I DID laugh out loud this time.

Only other gun I sold them was a very nice Winchester Model 24 16g. This thing was in super condition. The guy who looked it over (different than the MOdel B inspector) said the gun was very nice and that it had been restored correctly. I told him the gun was original as I had bought it from someone I knew, and they never did anything to the gun. He went on to "school" me on how he could tell it had been worked on. His main reason for thinking it was restored was it's high state of condition! He said you just don't find Model 24's like that. I just waited for the offer. He paid me $200 more than what I had in it, so I didn't much care what he thought about the gun.

Last point, this Cabela's is new this year. One of the gun guys there I have spoke with on several ocassions. He told me prior to this stores opening, he was in training at one of the stores in Texas to learn the "gun" business. He spent his time there learning the art of fine guns. I would guess that most of these "fine gun" rooms don't have guys running them that are very educated in fine guns, but I am sure there are some. Best advice is the seller should know what he has and what its worth, and for sure if your buying...know what your doing.

The Bass Pro Shop here is run by a guy many of you might know who had his own gunroom. He is knowledgable enough to know that gun was crap worth about $400. Outside the "Fine Gun Room" they have several racks of other used firearms. Now I don't care what they charge because I am not buying there, but when I see old used up LeFauceaux doubles being sold as suitable for modern ammo someone needs to hand them a summons before the unsuspecting are hurt.

Sounds like it is not the place to buy guns but for we poor, neglected hunting minority in the UK, a visit to Bass Pro was nothing short of amazing! Rock bottom prices- everything imaginable - realtree beer holders and cammo thongs???!!!!

What a treasure trove of everything you never knew you needed.

The only downside - I bought a pair of realy neat looking Browning hunting boots for £49 and thought that was great value -until the sole separated after three days and they let in water like blotting paper despite being labelled 'Waterproof'. I guess yu get what you pay for - but my realtree beer holder is still going strong!

The son of my hunting buddy worked in firearms at the Cabelas in Rogers, MN. According to him they typically mark up used guns 100%.

You have to watch Cabelas. They either way overprice or way underprice most of their guns. It depends on who is doing the pricing.

I talked to a guy that did fine guns for BassPro for a while and he quit because of their attitude. They waned to make 30% in 30 days. If the gun sat longer than 30 days it was a failure. That's not how the fine gun business works as you all know. Sometimes the high end stuff has to percolate for a while so folks can mull it over.

DH