It was brought to my attention in comments that CTD, home of the $100 Pmag, has been called to the carpet by the Texas AG for price gouging to the tune of having to refund $400k to customers.
Some linkage:
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article242031861.html
BREAKING: Texas AG Accuses Cheaper Than Dirt of Price Gouging
I have razzed CTD for years for their computerized algorithm that raises prices to slow demand as inventory dwindles. Succinctly, as inventory levels go down, the automatic pricing raises the price to slow down the sales of inventory. The idea being that you slow down the sales of inventory so that you’ll get restocked before you run out of stuff. Problem is, in a panic buying situation the inventory is flying off the shelf so fast, and the next resupply is uncertain, that the price keeps going up up up….thats how you get $99 Pmags.
However, you also get them when someone just arbitrarily says “Quadruple the price of everything.”
Regardless, CTD just took a hit to their reputation that is going to be legendary in the gun community for years to come. I expect them to either make a statement denying the charges and saying they settled for $400k to avoid more costly litigation..or…I expect the to say nothing in hopes it all blows over.
Regardless, for those of you who never saw the earlier times CTD dropped its pants and bent the consumer over……….
ETA: I almost forgot to mention, CTD has also, during times of panic, cancelled existing orders that were already made forcing the would-be purchaser to either renew the order at the new higher prices or go elsewhere. Classy.
Price gouging? You either believe in free markets, or you don’t. A business is free to charge whatever they want. Competition is what resolves high prices, not courts.
I agree. However, I am apparently in the minority.
NoName
If they were cancelling orders to force people to reorder at a higher price, that is fraud and it’s criminal!!! This sounds like it was more about them committing fraud in breeching their sales orders than “Competition”.
Furthermore, Texas was under a disaster declaration at the time, which makes price gouging illegal unto itself. Which by the way does not prevent a business from passing on their normal cost of doing business. In normal times they are free to charge whatever they want.
I personnel will not do business with CTD any longer, because of their unethical behavior. I use to visit their store in McKinney, Texas, until they closed. They have lost a lot of business over their ethics.
So, if you agree with their ethics model of doing business, well I will leave it at that!!!
Also, last time I check we have a Constitutional right to seek justice through the courts, if we believe we have been wronged civilly and or criminally.
Well said Sir. I too went to the McKinney store one time. After seeing their prices and the don’t care if we have customers or not bad attitudes of the employees, it is no wonder why they closed. Of all the businesses in the same niche, CTD is the worst possible example of bad ethics I have seen.
Not from a legal stand-point!
I believe in free markets, a business should have a right to charge what they want.
I also believe in free speech and a buyer has a right to point out what they feel is price gouging to other consumers as a warning. This is what happened. Our community doesn’t soon forget what most of us feel was price gouging.
Just last week I was talking with a new gun owner and when she spoke of CTD and needing more AR mags,, I told her of their actions last go around and that she should shop around and buy from elsewhere even if the price was similar rather than rewarding CTD with her money. We also express our free speech with our wallets.
“This is what happened.”
Actually, no, thats not what happened. CTD was fined $400k, so its a bit more than just ‘pointing out to the community”.
NoName,
Well put.
Agreed 100%…the wonderful thing about the free market is there’s plenty of competition to give my hard earned $ to. I haven’t ordered from CTD in years.
NoName
I agree completely – price gouging is not a thing and here is a little thought experiment for those that think it is taken from a real observed situation.
A person owns a parking lot near a sports stadium. During the regular season the owner charges $10 on game day for parking. When the local team makes the playoffs, parking increases to $15 – no one notices. During the semifinals parking goes to $25. Again, no reaction. For the championship game, parking goes to $100 and a local television station runs a story about the parking lot owner claiming price gouging.
Consider the same situation but for the championship game the owner puts up a no parking sign. The owner of the lot has just made parking infinitely expensive. His price is effectively higher than the guy next door charging $100, but no one calls him a price gouger.
Also, #TaxationIsTheft
Exactly correct! In a free market, the practice of raising prices when the supply is dwindling and the demand is rising is called, “Market Rationing.” The practice ensures the last person in line has an opportunity to buy one, because panic buyers won’t pay the higher prices.
‘Price Gouging’ is a socialist construct that implies the owner of the property cannot sell what he or she owns at the price the market will bear.
I’m terribly disappointed that the Texas AG has bowed to socialist/communist definitions and influences.
Simply solution for CTD practices people don’t like: Buy elsewhere.
And that is why we should never put ourselves in the position to “need” to pay $99 for a $14 magazine or $1 or $2 for a 50 cent round of ammo. The Bible talks about putting food away in the times of plenty- we should have done that with all the things we value to sustain our lives.
Now with that said is CTD really price gouging? When I look at the prices of ammo components and ammunition I don’t think they are based on what people are bidding (true market price). However I haven’t seen $99 PMAGs.
I stopped doing business with CTD long ago – Again if you don’t want to pay $99 for a PMAG or $900 for a case of 223 then stock up in times of plenty.
Or look elsewhere…….
I USED to buy at CTD, but quit. Living in Texas where CTD is based in, I had to pay the sales tax (8.25%) so the sale price was considerably less ‘shiny’. That was main reason why I quit shopping there.
I also recall during rimfire ammo drought some years back, CTD was pretty relentless on price of ammunition. A lot of people got seriously hacked for that one too.
Moving up to now, I’m not surprised to hear this news.
“Cheaper Than Dirt” is not and never has been. They were accused MANY times of gouging back when the Disgrace was POTUS.
With so many competitors, why shop there?
After Sandy Hook is when CTD started this. I personally have bought anything from them in decades.
Bigus – BINGO – that was when I realized what they were doing and while some may claim that it is just the marketplace reflecting supply and demand – NOPE. They took advantage of folks who were affluent enough to be willing to pay exorbitant prices while us mere mortals were shut out. Well at least those who didn’t plan ahead………………
Bought from them one time, before the gouging, — never again.
$99.00 p mag? jeez– I thought $29.00 was stupid high.
So, they were increasing prices during the actual transactions in real-time. How many people would put up with going to the grocery story to buy food and find out the price marked on the shelf is not honor when you reached checkout. I bet not many including those who say it is just “Competition”.
From the court filing:
“Making these manual ‘real-time’ price changes caused confusion for consumers because the prices consumers saw on the website pages when selecting items for purchase were different from the prices that appeared in the final check-out cart,” the AG’s office said in court documents.”
Having a higher price on the checkout page than the item listing where the customer decided to add it to the cart is fraud not price gouging. Many people might not have noticed it, particularly if they selected multiple items for purchase. I’m glad they got caught.
More than likely the fine won’t hurt them nearly as much as the hit to their reputation and the resulting drop in sales.
Some dirt is cheaper than other.
The price of an item, however, is always “whatever the market will bear”.
When the price is so high no one will buy it, you’ve answered the question.
Going back to when Og traded Thag furs for a better club.
Anyone who doesn’t get this is an idiot, a communist, or both.
Including the TX AG.
But at least in TX, the AG recognizes weapons magazines as a necessary commodity, like water, milk, bread, or eggs, whether he meant to or not.
Thank God for texas.
🙂
The cure for high prices is high prices always has been always will be
Wait, they still had a reputation to hit?
Pretty crazy when, even now, CTDs price for a Gen 2 Pmag is $19.97 and Cabelas is $12.99.
CTD means Cheaper Than Diamonds. A great place to shop if you fancy getting hosed.
I gave up on Cheaper Than Dirt back I think it was after Sandy Hook because this is their standard MO. I don’t care that they do it because I have the right to go where I want to shop and I just stopped shopping with them period. Stop complaining and vote with your wallet and move on. If it is about just their outrageous prices let the fools pay the price. If there is something actually illegal then let the legal beagles worry about it.
The most important lesson is if you haven’t stocked up on all the basic essentials long ago when prices were reasonable then shame on you and you deserve to face higher prices. We replace stocked items as used if prices are reasonable and usually double the order amount to go back into stock and that is on everything beans, band aides and bullets. If prices are too high we live off ample on hand stock and then replace immediately when prices become reasonable.
It was super crazy back after Sandy Hook in 2012 for those that can remember. I understand the free market and the laws of supply and demand so what they did is extremely libertarian, that said I would rather companies limit the maximum number people can purchase and keep the price lower but that’s just me. People that want to pay as much as needed to buy as many as needed can do it on the secondary market like gunbroker.com and those of us that know to stock up in times of plenty can sit back and watch it all. By the way your blog has inspired me to top off all my magazine stocks.
I dumped their thieving ass the last 22 rimfire go around.
I don’t shop at CTD because even in good times their prices are high…and when I looked in the past, they often didn’t have what I wanted.
Last time I ordered from them was because they had a great price listed for a case of magnum shotgun shells – turns out it was because they meant a box, not a case! But their customer service was good; they refunded my money and let me keep the ammo
Bought one or 2 item from them way back. But after Zero pointed out mag price gouging I never bought from them again. I agree that as a private company in a supposedly free market economy they can charge whatever they want for any item in their inventory. But doesn’t mean I’m buying any of it. As several posters pointed out hopefully being a prepper you stocked up on essentials way before their was a shortage or panic buying. That’s called awareness folks, and this is a something we all need to do in the next several years. Particularly with the new administration coming into power that is not exactly 2A friendly in all regards.
I’m surprised the Texas AG went overboard like this. Usually, companies caught gauging people get economically straightened out pretty quick. What happens is the 1 to 10 rule of business comes into play. The 1 to 10 rule goes like this: when a person gets (or feels like they have been) screwed over by a business, that person will tell 10 friends and so on. In this age of social media, gauging clients is a sure way to lose business.
I agree with the earlier post. The article title is inaccurate. The Texas AG is busting them for price switching. The other commentary about price gouging is just to make them look like a bad actor in the article.