FX informed me this morning  that my Dealer status has been revoked (learned when inquiring why a 3 month old order that had been accepted by FX had never been filled) so Effective immediately I will no longer be able to get FX Guns, Parts or accessories. The requirements for dealer status with FX are now beyond what I can meet, given my remote location, lack of a physical storefront for the same reason and lack of customers since I am not near any population centers.  No way a part time airgun dealer can continue to sell FX.

Jon (head of FX-USA formerly of AGD) told me in a telephone conversation when they were starting up that small dealers would be treated just as good as large dealers. Well I can tell you that did and does not happen. The entire minimum plan is forcing out ALL small dealers who do not focus on FX sales as their primary business. I have to say that Precision Airgun Distribution (AOA the former importer who FX removed from their dealer list as soon as they (FX-USA) had set up their operation) had a far better model suited to true small dealers with no minimum yearly purchase or minimum order amounts of of FX Items. I was happily buying FX products from them and reselling them until FX-USA took over. All dealers had to requalify when FX-USA came on the scene. No dealer was “grandfathered in”. For large dealers it was no issue but was a great financial burden on the little guys. There were delays in providing me product (see paragraph 1), erred order fulfillment (guns promised and in stock one day were suddenly out of stock when my order was filled), attempted double billing, quality issues on every gun in the initial shipment (these issues are now corrected), repair times of 3 to 6 months (also corrected) and alienation of my customers because of these delays and quality problems are but a few of the issues that effectively put me out of business. I had been promised that I could buy FX Parts and accessories (evidenced in a news message posted here in Summer 2019)  without minimums but that word of mouth promise was also broken with the revolking of my dealer status.

I have NEVER done even 1/3 of the dollar amount of business per year on ALL brands that FX demands for their brand alone due to reasons outlined in the first paragraph of this posting. IMHO FX needs to take care of their small dealers as they promised in the beginning! The current meaning of “taking care of” is more in line with wiping them out rather than nurturing their relationship and business with FX-USA! 🙁

Will I ever sell FX again. I will answer a resounding NO as long as their current business model in in place. I have also probably killed any chance I would have by airing my issues if I were ever wanting to reverse my decision ! I simply cannot live with their business model even though their products are certainly innovative and in high demand.

Will I still shoot FX Guns? You bet I really wanted to make a go of selling them but it was just a BAD EXPENSIVE dream unfortunately.

Is FX alone in the injustices to small dealers? By no means. Another major small dealer supplier Air Venturi competes directly with it’s dealers via its two retail outlets: Pyramyd Air and Air Gun Depot.

Hatsan could not be bothered to even answer an inquiry into dealing their guns.

Umarex-USA could not provide what they promised in a timely manner either (Hammer).

Also the companies that offer discounts to various airgun forum members (Pyramyd mostly) just cuts the dealers throat as the 10% or so discount they offer if matched by an independent dealer leaves the dealer at 0% margin on many items. I enjoy this industry but I cannot live on 0% and bet others cannot either.

I don’t want to leave AirForce out here. They will not sell to dealers who have no physical storefront, I spoke to John M. who owns AirForce at the TPWD Commission Meeting in the Summer of 2019 when we were trying to get AirGun hunting legalized for Texas. I explained my location and lack of population to support a store here. He told me he would look into the policy of storefront required. As you might guess I never received any further contact about it!

Even PAD competes with dealers through their retail outlet you know as AOA! Don’t get me wrong I am still a PAD Dealer and they have treated me more fairly (and continue to do so) than all the rest  but they do sell the same items retail. Jared Clark who handles dealer sales at PAD is tops in my book. Interactions with him show me he values my business no matter how small it is!

Lets not forget the one item that all these folks have in common, It is called MAP pricing. That means that they will sell you the product BUT you may not advertise it via the internet, auction sites such as EBay etc. including email at a price below the MAP price THEY set . Word of mouth is the only exception to this rule. That is why you see the same prices on all the various websites.

Make no mistake about it the Airgun Industry is FILLED with politics, GREED, LIES, Broken Promises, good old boy behind the scenes you rub my back and I’ll rub yours and under the table deals just like most of corporate America.

So why did I spill the beans so to speak? Hopefully my experiences and losses will prevent another person from seeing Airgun Dealership as anything but a tough dog eat dog business with little to no profit margins, If your in a major city with a large population it is possible but without those two requirements it just can’t work.

 

Update 27 March 2020: Jon reached out to me after I commented concerning my issues on the latest AEAC 2 Hour FX Airguns Video via YouTube. I will be in touch with FX-USA Monday 30 March 2020  to see if there can be a solution worked out for tiny dealers such as me! Kudos to Him and FX Airguns for this action!

Update 02 April 2020: FX Made a reasonable offer but I still cannot come up with the funds to reup my dealership nor possibly make the yearly minimums so as it stands I am out of the FX Dealer Business.

This document has been edited to remove any dealer requirement details at FX-USA request.

Anyone need a Daystate, Brocock, BSA, Uragan, AirForce etc ………… contact me please.