Anybody here a successful dealer?

[stanginthe11s]

LLC= limited liability. if you want to remove that liability, go INC. yes it cost a bit more but if it makes you feel safe then its worth it. something i learned a long time ago is the thought of something is always scarier than the reality of it. you have a higher chance of getting sued every time you get in your car. to further cover yourself, you simply print an invoice with fine print removing you from any liability other than the quality of your work. for goods, they receive and sign it with the item. for services, they sign it before you do the work so they are aware of terms and price.

as for why manufactures dont answer back, there are 2 main reasons. the first pertains to the current market. most companies are struggling to supply their current dealers, so it makes no sense to take on new clients that they will be unable to handle. the second is simply too many BS emails. I get plenty of calls and emails from people asking me to make them something, only to find out they are just bored and like to waste peoples time. its hard to know who is serious, so if you are then keep at it and they will answer you.
anyone who wants to start a business, go for it. it is as easy or hard as you make it, and the cost is what you make.

 

[Reg Creep]

Thank you everyone for commenting in this. Turns out my biggest problem doing an air rifle business is getting liability insurance. I have yet to hear back from any lawyers but I a bit of looking into this myself. Problem is that insurance companies are trying to charge me for being a full on firearms shop and I just can't justify paying that rate. After doing some reading I found that if I typed up a contract for buyers to sign off on that I have educated them on the safe usage of the products as well as encouraged the reading of instructions it would basically in 99% of cases remove the ability for someone to sue me for negligence in a court room. There is a chance they could have a great lawyer or the judge could be a real prick and screw me over. As a result I have decided not to pursue this business any longer due to the associated risk for such low margins. This venture not only got me into PCP but also somw people I know. We enjoy it a lot but I don't want the extra high insurance rate and risk of being sued so I am now just a consumer again.

I used to be an insurance broker. I was approached a number of times for firearms shop ins. As you inducate it was expensive in the open marketplace. That said there were a couple of specialized insurers and I think the NRA had an option as well. These few markets offered competitive rates. Still far from free but you get what you need. That's for liability insurance.

For property insurance you want your agent to help you here and reclassify to a sporting goods shop. Since we're only talking property a good agent should be able to make this argument to an Ins Co.

You will definitely need to shop around and learn along the way. But this is part for the course of business operation.

 

[Cody01]

I used to be an insurance broker. I was approached a number of times for firearms shop ins. As you inducate it was expensive in the open marketplace. That said there were a couple of specialized insurers and I think the NRA had an option as well. These few markets offered competitive rates. Still far from free but you get what you need. That's for liability insurance.

For property insurance you want your agent to help you here and reclassify to a sporting goods shop. Since we're only talking property a good agent should be able to make this argument to an Ins Co.

You will definitely need to shop around and learn along the way. But this is part for the course of business operation.

I have arrived on the lowest price policy I csn possibly get in the country. With that said I will need substantially higher sales numbers before I can swing it. Liability is all I am trying to insure for.

 

[Airgun-Revisions]

Mine is doing very well. The key is you need to do EVERYTHING AIRGUN!! If you only do one part like retail guns your going to have a hard time. If you’re not an all-around business forget it. I’ll also add that I’m doing this with no credit because of a recent divorce and no large investment. It’s purely methodical. I’ve been building myself for years and just to go in with guns a blazing is suicide. I’ve explained a lot of it to Tyler P because also I’ve been watching why and how some businesses were going under. Kind of the do’s and don’t. Justin did it because he had the capitol and the smarts from other family businesses, and being on his game every day to make the smartest moves. Bottom line is the Airgun industry in the US is not lucrative as most disposable or everyday items people would buy so wrangling that market and getting the word out is super tough for a beginner.

 

[Smitty911]

I did look into that and you can still be personally sued. An LLC alone won't protect you.

Make it a C Corp. Check with you're tax person first.

Smitty

 

[Ricochet]

What gets me is all the “pre order” in this industry, Its like they use their customer base as their bank, instead of going to the bank and bringing ready to sell product to market. Always alway waiting on something that they've advertised the hell out of..

 

[Cody01]

What gets me is all the “pre order” in this industry, Its like they use their customer base as their bank, instead of going to the bank and bringing ready to sell product to market. Always alway waiting on something that they've advertised the hell out of..

Well I tell you one thing I dont like that I have seen is if a product has relative popularity the lead distributor raises the price to the dealers. Chicken chit in my opinion since they have already given the years pricing but raise it no notice just because its an item that actually moves. Meanwhile I had already quoted it to several people at the old price.

 

[FarmPlinker]

Don't know if this has been asked, but what airguns are you wanting to sell? In terms of relative availability, ordering some of the Chinese knockoffs might be your best option.

 

[Cody01]

Don't know if this has been asked, but what airguns are you wanting to sell? In terms of relative availability, ordering some of the Chinese knockoffs might be your best option.

I dont know anythinf about the knockoff guns. I see some on facebook and inquired with airmaks but was told they aten't settinf anyone else up.