Why doesnt the price of alloy drop?

[snowwolfe]

Alloys from places like Buffalo Arms (not picking on them,just using them as an example) are running from approximately $2.50 to $2.92 a pound and pure lead is $2.09.
Yet today the price of lead closed at $.43 a pound:
http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/

Why isnt the the price of alloys and lead dropping?

[jdgabbard]

Probably because those companies sell lead to profit. They don't sell a lot of it, so the price probably stays up there to help cover the cost of the hassle of selling small amounts of lead. Having to keep it in stock, ect. Just a guess, feel free to chime in or correct.

[Railbuggy]

I bought some at a scrapyard yesterday at 20 cents a lb.I had to melt and clean it thou.

[jack19512]

Greed :neutral:

[fishhawk]

i woudn't say greed. but would you sell some thing you had to buy for customers for less than half what you bought it for? you cant stay in bussness long doing that! i would rather sit on it myself than basicly "give" it away. just bacic bussness sence. steve k

[monadnock#5]

You can only charge what the market will bear. If you charge more or less, you won't be in business long. The exception to the rule is a cornered market. No competition for popular goods and or services. Ouch!

[jhrosier]

I think that BA only carries the lead for the convenience of their customers. Their prices on lead were quite high even before the metal prices went nuts.
If someone is only adding a pound or two to an existing order, the extra cost wouldn't be a huge deal.
It is a lot like buying bread and milk at a higher price from the local stop-and-rob, in stead of driving to the supermarket.

Jack

[HeavyMetal]

bear in mind they also purchased during the "high" of metal pricing!

Now the price of metals is down but guys that bought before the price "turned" still have it on the books for more than it's worth right now!

Anything my parts guy bought two months ago, like batteries and chargers, is less money today than it was then.

We will see a lot of "higher" prices until the old stock is sold off and that will be for a lot of companies not just BA.

[rbstern]

Prices will fall. Everyone is cutting back on expenditures. People are losing jobs. You won't sell overpriced stuff to people who don't have money to spend.

During the peak of the commodity price hikes, lead shot at our local Bass Pro Shops spiked to $64/bag. Now, it just sits there on the shelf at that price, since it can be had elsewhere for less than half that amount. I call this the "big stupid retailer" syndrome. They're so busy selling $10 Chinese-made baseball hats and pocket knives, they don't realize that the folks (like me) who used to be repeat customers for reloading supplies, have gone elsewhere.

[Heavy lead]

Bad timing, and them not needing the shelve space. After it sets a while the bean counters will order it sold. Or given away, with a p and l writeoff.

[snowwolfe]

All good points. Thank you. I would like to lay in another big supply before the prices go back up.

[Tom Herman]

If you buy high and get stuck with it when the prices drop, you need to sell at a loss to keep the merchandise moving.
Locally, the gas stations lost as much as 30 cents a gallon just to move it out. If they didn't, most people wouldn't stop at the store and buy other convenience items. That's where they make the money. Keep the prices highg, no one stops, and you're out of business.
I suspect that the big retailers really don't care about dropping the lead prices, as they are a small part of their business, and it wouldn't even be a blip on their radar if they never sold anymore.
Like wise, the scrapyards are giving maybe 5 cents a pound for scrap lead and wheel weights, but charge 40 cents a pound. They need that 35 cent a pound margain to keep the doors open. Without it, they'd be out of business, as this is their bread and butter.
I will start asking local plumbers and contractors to sell to me direct: If I offer ten or fifteen cents a pound, and come to them, it makes no sense for them to sell lead to the scrap yards. I'll take it off their hands for more money, and save them all the hassle. It's a win-win, and I get the stuff cheaper.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[jack19512]

i woudn't say greed. but would you sell some thing you had to buy for customers for less than half what you bought it for? you cant stay in bussness long doing that! i would rather sit on it myself than basicly "give" it away. just bacic bussness sence. steve k








That will be the day when greed disappears from businesses. I'm not saying greed is the only reason, just one of the better ones. That's why when you go to a gas station and fill up only to go down the road a mile and find it 10 cents cheaper a gallon.

In my own town I have seen such huge price differences between stores for the exact same item. You can call it good business if you want to, I'll call it greed.

Try this, notice the price of a gallon of gas when you have two gas stations side by side or across the road from each other. Then notice what the price of a gallon of gas is at a station that is by itself with no competition. It's called greed my friend.

[fishhawk]

so jack your saying that if a person or busness has higher overhead and needs to sell at a higher price just to break even thats greed? do you get a wage increes to keep up with inflation? if so i guess thats greed, greed is to stong a term. steve k

[jack19512]

No, that is not what I am saying. If a gas station pays the same price per gallon that the station pays 1/2 mile down the road but his gas is 10 cents more per gallon chances are it's not because of overhead, and I would suspect his other merchandise is higher also, if it is overhead then maybe he just doesn't know how to run a business. I suspect it's just a matter of greed. I find this in a lot of the gun shops I frequent also. Very bid difference in the price of firearms.

[Seafarer12]

Well it it is a specialty alloy, low volume and low total order volume. When your talking about market price that is different. Look at what cattle prices are on the hoof compared to what it goes for in the store.

[jack19512]

do you get a wage increes to keep up with inflation? if so i guess thats greed, greed is to stong a term. steve k






Actually it's more the opposite, I find my family working for less pay and less benefits each year. Each year that goes by my family has to pay more and more for our health insurance while losing more and more of our benefits. Greed is just a word to describe something, just like rape, robbery, and murder. It's not the word that scares me.

[jack19512]

I'll give you a perfect example. I have one local gun shop but I cannot do business with them. I can drive 2 hours to another shop and get much better prices on any firearm that I am interested in purchasing.

I know this guy that owns the shop locally and I like him, I just can't do business with him. Let me say I won't do business with him. He owns the property and building where his business is located and it is not a real big place. He hires one other person to help him, so it's just him and one employee.

I know I will have to spend money for this extra drive and what ever but the wife and I just make a day of it and enjoy ourselves. Now, can I not do business with this guy because of his overhead or is it just greed because he knows he is the only game in town? I know this doesn't apply to all business but I have met my share where it does apply.

[MT Gianni]

Jack, In the 70's in Pocatello there was a small gun shop that was $10-15 higher on all his pistols. If you bought one there he threw in a used holster and a box of ammo. Who was getting the better deal? You know your shops but sometimes the higher price can be a better deal.
A bud in the heating business told me Lennox advised him to never get a big ad in the phone book. You overpay and generally interest the kind of customer that is only interested in the rock bottom price. The kind of customer you want is the ones that appreciate the extra's you do and tell your friends. Another boss advised me once asking what it took to make it in the plumbing business. I answered "good work and on time service". He told me I was wrong that plenty of people had gone broke doing just that. His philosophy was pay your suppliers on time to get all discounts and collect your bills on time. Some businesses are so poorly managed they can't see a way out other than what they have always done.

[crabo]

I think it is a little ridiculas to say that "greed" is behind all desire to make a decent profit and improve your standard of living. Who are we to decide for another person what their invest of time and money is worth? That's what free markets are all about.

Just my 4 1/2 cents, adjusted up for inflation and overhead.

[barrysuperhawk]

so jack your saying that if a person or busness has higher overhead and needs to sell at a higher price just to break even thats greed? do you get a wage increes to keep up with inflation? if so i guess thats greed, greed is to stong a term. steve k

Actually, no, I do not get wage increases. The only way for me to practically increase my rate is to switch jobs...

Oh, sorry for the hi-jack, nevermind...

[jack19512]

I think it is a little ridiculas to say that "greed" is behind all desire to make a decent profit and improve your standard of living. Who are we to decide for another person what their invest of time and money is worth? That's what free markets are all about.

Just my 4 1/2 cents, adjusted up for inflation and overhead.






If you go back and reread my posts I don't think you will find that at any time did I insinuate that "greed" is behind all desire to make a decent profit and improve your standard of living."

It is just one reason, and if you don't think greed isn't alive and doing well then you should pay whatever someone asks and not complain when you later feel you way overpaid for something.

Greed is just one reason I prefer to be more particular about where I spend my hard earned money regardless of how ridiculas, I mean ridiculous my thinking may be.

[jack19512]

Jack, In the 70's in Pocatello there was a small gun shop that was $10-15 higher on all his pistols. If you bought one there he threw in a used holster and a box of ammo. Who was getting the better deal? You know your shops but sometimes the higher price can be a better deal.






Well I can't argue the point that if my local shop would treat me a little better I would be happy to do business with him instead of incurring the extra cost and time involved going somewhere else. But that just isn't the case with me.

It's just a matter of principal, not just monetary. If it was something that I just had to have and couldn't get any place else I would have no other choice but luckily I and most everyone else do have other options. After all That's what free markets are all about.