Price increase chart from 2005 - 2010

[Dead-On]

I posted this information because many in our sport have been concerned about how much the costs of airguns have gone up over the years. Let's discuss this in an ADULT manor. Factors like inflation, the devaluation of the dollar, product availability and supply/demand all play a part in these increases. But PLEASE don't turn this into a political debate, personal attack or dealer bashing post.

Five year increase on airguns... 2005 - 2010. These percentages reflect how much these particular guns have increased in this five year period. Many of these guns I've owned or thought of owning. The prices chosen were not from any specific dealer. What I mean by that is the price chosen was the cheapest price offered at the time by whoever was selling it. Here is an example. In 2005 the cheapest you could buy an AA S200T was $495 at Straight Shooters. The cheapest you can get one now is $675 at either Straight Shooters or TGAG. That calculates to a 36.3% increase from 2005 till now.



Cost of living at 3% per year times five years =15.9%





This chart is the percentage increase for each of these guns bought five years ago v.s. todays prices.


Rws 34..................................... 3.0%

AA TX200 III Walnut......................... 3.3%

Daystate Air Wolf........................... 4.5%

TheobenEvolution Beech...................... 5.1%

Theoben Evolution Walnut.................... 5.8%

RWS 54...................................... 5.9%

Theoben Rapid12............................. 6.6%

AA EV2...................................... 8.8%

AF Talon SS.................................. 10.6%

Crosman Quest................................ 11.0%

HW 30s....................................... 11.2%

HW 50s....................................... 11.9%



============= 15.9% cost of living adjustment from 2005 - 2010 ===============



Beeman P1................................... 17.4%

Beeman R9.................................. *17.5% without mounts or *33.2% with mounts.

AATX200 III Beech............................ 18.8%

Crosman 2240................................. 19.0%

Beeman R7................................... *20% calculated without mounts or *40% with mounts.

HW 80........................................ 24.7%

Beeman HW 97................................. 28%

AA S200T..................................... 36.3%

Twinmaster TOP............................... 39%

Twinmaster Action............................ 40%

Izh 46M...................................... 40%

BSA Lightning XL............................. 41%

Daisy Avanti 747............................. 53.8%

FX Cyclone Walnut............................ 79.2%



* These two Beeman models are now offered with mounts. In 2005 the mounts were not part of the price. In order to calculate a correct percentage I subtracted $50 for the mounts on the newer models to reflect a more accurate representation of the actual percentage increase.



Criteria for data collection. I chose common and popular guns that haven't changed in the five year span. Calculation of these prices were from data collected from the sponsors on the top of the Yellow forum, no where else. The prices used for calculating these figures reflect the every day price of these items. The prices were not chosen from a special, sale or used page. 2005 prices were for the first half of 2005 (Feb-July 2005)

[HappyCamper]

Impressive research, Dead-on! Thanks! As most of us know, getting down to the business side of a hobby (aka sport) isn't always sexy. I'd blame the bean-counters @Air Arms, Weihrauch, RWS, etc..:~) Kevin and Craig could be independently rich, and I doubt they could make a killing (no pun intended) selling AG's...I just feel lucky that those fine companies can still stick around and keep us addicted...HC

[KevinG]

Dead-On
Nice research but it only covers price not the reason for it. For instance, all R series rifles from Beeman have received upgraded beech stocks. While beech is beech, the cost of adding long forearms and checkering results in a higher cost of production. Metal prices, which I don't pretend to understand, have risen drastically according to some of our customers in the raw metal business. There are a host of those things that have taken place. However, one thing that hasn't changed (which I DO know) is the profit to the dealer. Craig and I (and other dealers) are making just about the same profit now as we did in 2000 or 2001. Our costs go up, just like the retail but there is a limit to how much we can charge for a gun because on the internet there is always some part-time dealer that is willing to sell a gun for $15 profit. If our pricing isn't somewhat close to those guys, we'd never sell a gun. So it isn't like store selling where ALL the big chains keep their margins high and yet all remain close to each other in price.
Let me give you an example. We just got the new Hawke scope pricing for 2010 just before we left for the Shot Show. Our cost on the scopes had gone up but the retail end was decreased by $10-$20 depending on the model. Hawke, of course, is dealing with an international market and prices accordingly but what that did to us was to raise our cost on the bottom end and lower price at the top (good for you, not us) thereby shrinking our dealer profit by a large percentage. It wasn't intentional on their part to cause us a problem because as I say, they are dealing with an international market with currencies all over the place. In our case, though, it wasn't a good thing. So by your research you would see that the Hawke Sidewinders (Tactical and Standard) went up in price by X% but what you wouldn't see if that our profit actually went down. There are no rich airgun dealers. In fact, there are no businesses in stores in America that would work for the margins that we make on adult airguns. That's why you don't see a lot of adult airgun stores. There isn't enough profit in them to make a decent living. In fact, no living at all is possible without internet sales. So while your research doesn't look good in some cases, there isn't any extra money going to dealers.
Kevin
Straight Shooters

[Jay in VA]

In 2005, a rough average exchange rate was $1.25/euro. Today, we're at appx $1.40/euro. That drives our price for European imports up by 12% over the last 5 years.

[mcmike]

I love the fact that the FX Cyclone has increasd the most... I still have the price list from the current distributor that shows the price advance they took after FX gave all the other US dealers of their rifles the shaft...

Sorry, I'll try to manage my sour grapes/bitter beer face going forward.

Mike

[Mumpig]

The good and bad of a market economy. I prefer it to having the government deciding how much an airgun should go for!

[Dead-On]

The good and bad of a market economy. I prefer it to having the government deciding how much an airgun should go for!

Sometimes the Gov't does good... I said sometimes. If they were doing their job in this situation the FX Cyclone would be cheaper. If you look at the list carefuly you will see a corelation with availibility/supply and price increase.

Definition of a Monopoly: Exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.