Cheaper Than Dirt is Doing it Again

Remember during the Great Panic of 2013 after Sandy Hook when Cheaper Than Dirt was selling the basic AR-15 magazine for $100+? Well, with the ammo scare, they're profiteering again. Hell, many ammo vendors are doing that. Only a few are still being reasonable.

Spartan Arms of North Las Vegas pointed out that Cheaper Than Dirt was raising prices to high levels again, so I went to investigate.

Before I go further, I do want to say that Patrick Roberts, a former CTD employee, explained in a video I can't seem to find, that the pricing was set by computer. Basically, an algorithm saw that magazines were going fast and raised the price to slow down purchases to preserve stock. This is actually a good argument in favor of price gouging. Higher prices signal scarcity and serve to deter non-serious buyers or those who aren't willing to pay the price.

So they weren't really trying to be dicks, but kinda were. But still, it's crappy optics to see such a price increase and we think that instead of jacking up prices, which looks like profiting from a crisis, set a purchase limit instead. So for giggles and Internet outrage, let's look at the markup from January (Internet Archive site). 

Yes, we know some of you will post comments like "Ha ha, buy 'em cheap, stack 'em deep" or something equally unhelpful to people who aren't retirees with large houses. Some of us have space or financial concerns and replace our plinking ammo as we shoot it.

When things calm down, I'm gonna give my money to Spartan Arms.