Oh the $$$$....

[Dairyboy]

I haven't bought any high end guns new in 2 and a half years. Great deals to be had on used airguns from great guys on here. My Taipan Vets are one of the best value in airguns I got. All in with both my Long and Short I'm at $850 a piece which had accessories. Now there are quite a few with crazy prices but as can be seen they don't sell. I feel like used prices have come down on some guns. In the classifieds it seems like a buyers market more than a sellers. Ones that seem to sell are discounted quite a bit, feel like more so than used to be. Maybe I'm wrong. But yeah I can't see myself buying a new gun anymore at the prices that they are. I'll take someone's loss and buy it used if I'm really interested lol. But again I don't see myself spending anymore than 1k anymore on guns. Too many nice used ones I can find there that can do what I need them to do.

 

[Duckfish]

What I've always wondered is how some of the dirt cheap Chinese products manufacturers managed to stay profitable. Remember the $20 B3's and Fast Deers? There were thousands of similarly priced products out there 25 years ago and even with a low exchange rate and subsidized shipping there was no way they should have been profitable.

What you haven’t seen the tear stains on the stocks and barrels from the under paid little children ?

 

[Cody01]

As a small dealer prices are always a challenge. I sell airguns, compressors, and pellets mainly so I can get local people into the hobby because I feel it is something people need to see and try in person before they realize what they want. Unfortunately by the time product lands in my hands I don't have much room for profit. Guys will come look at my poop in person and then 3 weeks scouring the internet for any better deal. They will call me and say hey some place has a discount code and is X amount less. I am not screwing people. Small bisinesses make the least profit.

 

[Chief Ten-Beers]

The Children are too busy mining Lithium for "Green Batteries".

 

[Sawney Bean]

I am not an economist nor am I in a position to speculate on the business practices of airgun manufacturers. What I can say is that when I am ready to put down my cash for an airgun, I go with the best I can afford. I do not have a vast collection and I don't need one, but I value what I have more than what I do not have.
Sure, I'd love me a really expensive, top shelf airgun. Just like I'd love to have a sweet a$$ Lamborghini Countach. But that's a dream for a day far in the future and it certainly does not fall in the "need to have" category. For now, I stick with what I have, take care of them and enjoy what I've managed to accumulate. Putting these things first goes a long way toward not being drawn in by marketing hype that wants me to believe that the things I already own are inferior in any way to the latest newest shiniest thing that comes to market. If I can't afford it, I don't need it. No matter what the marketing department wants me to believe.

Watch a few review videos on the Lamborghini Countach sometime. It's one of the best looking cars ever made and perhaps the worst car ever in terms of ergonomics. The windows don't roll down all the way and you have to open the door and hang out sideways to drive in reverse.

 

[Chief Ten-Beers]

I see that propaganda in the media. I experienced similar things first hand and that is all just that, propaganda lies. I can expand in great detail on that but it is against the rules of this forum.

Unlike Lamestream Media. Video doesn't Lie.

 

[Bedrock Bob]

The Children are too busy mining Lithium for "Green Batteries".

FYI lithium is mined by circulation. It is a soluble mineral found in sediments. They mine it like potash with a series of injection and extraction wells.

It's big business in the west these days. Lots of tradesmen and engineers make their living in this and other extraction industries. Hardworking guys that weld, drive trucks, wire circuits and shoot air rifles.

I worked on a lithium project not too many months ago. They were in the development phase. I didn't see any kids only tradesmen. I guess they hadn't brought the children in that would run the operation yet.

 

[Chief Ten-Beers]

Yes... and our wages went up %25 like the Groceries did.

 

[Duckfish]

What little children?

It’s a joke,

 

[Vetmx]

That propaganda I mentioned was video. It was back in the 70's and you can't believe how they manipulate everything to make it look real. Video can lie more than anything else.

Yes, we get lied to with most of the airgun videos that guys watch daily. Things can definitely be manipulated. That’s why nowadays if I’m not standing there in person to witness something or see it on live video, I’m not all in on believing it’s the truth.

 

[Bedrock Bob]

Yes... and our wages went up %25 like the Groceries did.

Wages have increased more than inflation on the average. The ones on the lower end of the scale have seen big wage increases.

This means more folks at the lower end of the economic spectrum can afford an air rifle. It has proven to be very profitable for the airgun industry. It's booming!

 

[Stubbers]

Airgun manufacturers must hate me..

I'm still supremely content with the Maruader I bought in 2016, and then highly customized, heck I just transitioned it to pilot valve in 2023, and then added a quarter turn adjuster for tp choke in 2024...and then thee second one I built from all the original ones spare parts. I have no itch to scratch this immediate moment, because nothing has come to market that will help me hit the bull better than I do now. I do have 1 spot I'd like to fill (15" barreled mini carbine with folding stock), however, patience is my virtue and the next gun I buy will have to tick a LOT of boxes, and if within 5 years if it doesn't come to market, I'll just build it off an existing platform, maybe...because again, I don't really need it, just kinda want it.

People often get bored with what they already have, which to me, pcp's are kind of boring after awhile, so they chase the next thrill via a new purchase, rinse and repeat, until they have a collection well beyond their means to shoot them all or maintain them all, because they usually end up back at square one, bored.. These consumers imho plague the industry, because it enables manufacturers to rapid release new products knowing these type of people will fold. This trend only really began shortly after I started in the hobby, prior to 2018, it was slim pickens, and only 1 fx impact version, now you have 4 new versions released since ~2018, and about 100 other options to consider. For the 500$ market at the time, my options were 3 or 4, now, you have 30 or 40, which is both good and bad.

The market is far too over-saturated, way to many rinse and repeats, way too many clones of clones of clones. We went from a shortage of options, to an abundance of options in under a decade, many of which end up discontinued and parts/support falls off in very short time. While I applaud some of the efforts, I can't help but shake my head at many as well, from existing manufacturers to new ones, both often using consumers as beta testers, because often they don't even know what consumers want, they just want them to spend. They know the market, its small, its niche, so new customer acquisition is far more difficult than repeat sales to the same customers, via a new bell or new whistle. It's an algorithm as old as the Model T.


-Matt

 

[rcarlisle]

Watch a few review videos on the Lamborghini Countach sometime. It's one of the best looking cars ever made and perhaps the worst car ever in terms of ergonomics. The windows don't roll down all the way and you have to open the door and hang out sideways to drive in reverse.

Kinda my point. And if I could afford one, I might not care too much about it. I mean, what's another $100K in modifications to make it work right and keep it running? Waaay too rich for my blood. I'll stick with my Honda Civic. It runs reliably, everything works and when it doesn't, I can fix most problems myself.

 

[Just Zack 2]

As a hobby, airguns can get very expensive... Hobby "toys" with all sorts of bells and whistles will cost more than something with no frills. Most folks here are hobbyists to some degree. Sometimes it's good to get out of a hobbyist mindset for a fresh perspective and look at airguns as tools. What tasks does one need to accomplish? How reliable is the said product? Will the manufacturer stand behind their products? Will parts and/or repair services be offered after time passes?

In total I've spent a fair bit of money on airguns, because I wanted to. Truthfully, I'd be perfectly well off with my old Daisy 880. Does everything an airgun NEEDS to do, maybe not as well as something that costs a fair bit more but still gets the job done at the end of the day. If someone has the means to buy a $3K airgun, that's fantastic. Nothing wrong with splurging if you got it. For those who don't, luckily there are options for everyone and every budget.

 

[Vetmx]

Today I didn’t go practice on my MX bike. I decided to listen to the football game and monitor the power line and my 131 yard feeder. Guys can bash or maybe not see a reason for an expensive gun. But they do have a purpose. With some of them it’s a shame what you have to do and spend to meet your expectations. But a lot of cheap guns just won’t do it. Here is an example of way too much money spent and way too much time spent on the lathe experimenting. Could buy a lot of essential things with the dollar amount that’s sitting here.

 

[Vetmx]

But here’s the first shot of the day. Gun hasn’t been shot for I have no clue how long. I’ve been hunting with other Impacts the last two weeks. This is the satisfaction that makes the money and time spent on a good gun easily forgotten.

 

[Vetmx]

Here is the slug about to land exactly where I was aiming. Since around 2016 I’ve tried to get some less expensive guns to land slugs exactly where I aim all the time at extended distances. They just didn’t have the engine that gave me a wide enough berth to explore every possible solution. So we have to spend more money on a gun that gives a better foundation for longer distance testing and hopefully success. But this is not the biggest percentage of the hobby so I still embrace the less expensive pellet gun setup for normal stress free enjoyment of the hobby.

 

[delooper]

Agree with most of what you said-more expensive doesn't always mean better. If someone wants to charge a higher price for their goods or services, then that has to be warranted by reputation of success from prior business then they have that reputation of "getting the job done" and then that validates the money spent. Just saying that upfront without the history of proof is going to be a hard sell to anyone with common sense. Some folks are worth every penny that you pay them, so it is buyer beware.

My dad had a career as an engineer. He would do the occasional consulting job, but mostly preferred to work his regular day job.

He didn't love consulting though. So what he did was charge $10k/hr for consulting. That way he knew if someone tried to hire him they were really looking for him and his expertise. Not just some joe-average engineer.

Perhaps on the high end products its a little like that, too. If you can make your living cranking out low volume that probably eliminates a lot of potential troubles. You can afford to give excellent product support because you have a small fraction of the customer base of most other companies, etc.

 

[Sawney Bean]

One thing I will say in defense of the cost of being an airgunner, airguns do tend to hold their value better than other hobby related equipment. If you buy good airguns 30 years from now you’ll likely get back most of what you spent on them and they don’t take up a lot of space. Most other hobbies in comparison are just a complete money pit. You’ll spend thousands on a cutting edge bicycle only to find its worth maybe 20% of what you paid for it in 20 years.

If you buy used or collectible airguns you can reasonably expect to lose very little when all is said and done.

 

[Vana2]

Interesting that people FEEL that a product costs TOO MUCH but typically have no idea of what it costs to run a business that produces the item.