Had an interesting e-mail discourse with Amy Bruno of Bruno's Shooting Supply. I tried to present the consumer side in relationship to their pricing on components, which is, in my opinion substantially higher than everyone else.
The gist of the correspondence was basically her idea is if they have it and no one else does, they will sell it. I tried to explain to the (and cited examples) of the price difference between them and basically everyone else. I didn't get anywhere. She's steadfast in her opinion that they will sell powder and primers at their pricing, which they probably do. However, I also explained that by setting their pricing substantially above everyone else, they were ****ing off their customer base and at some point will alienate them from their customers.
The example I used was I compared Natchez to them for H380 which, BTW, I bought 16 pounds of from Natchez last week. Bruno is a solid $28.00 higher than Natchez on an 8 pound jug and $9.00 higher (per box) on Federal primers.
Her comment to me was I'd love to have your business (I buy a lot of components), I use a lot of components. My comment to her was why would I pay 28 bucks more a jug for powder when their competition was selling 28 bucks below them.
She countered with their ship costs are less and I countered with ship costs are based on geographic location and the Haz-Mat charges are the same across the board.
I understand her reasoning to a point and that point is, if they have it and no one else does, they will sell it. Thats not the case. If you are prudent you can find what you need. Maybe not immediately but you can, if you exhibit patience and diligence.
What they are doing basically is eliminating their business because an informed buyer won't forget and at some point, supply will catch demand and everyone will either have to be competitive or cease doing business.
Thats how it works.