Powder and Primer "Scalpers" on Auction Sites
We all know that certain popular powders are very hard to find right now, and the situation for rifle primers is even worse. With increased demand from various sources, available supplies of Varget and other powders have dried up, creating incentives for some folks to resell powder and primers at windfall prices.
Recently, one 8-lb jug of Hodgdon Varget sold for $680.00 on Gunbroker.com. You read that right — SIX hundred eighty dollars. Add $35 for shipping and hazmat fees and you’re talking $715.00 for a jug of Varget, or $89.38 per pound, nearly four times the going price before the “panic buying” started.
Eighty-nine bucks for a pound of powder is crazy. We caution our readers not to get caught up in such nonsense. First, if you can’t find a particular powder, such as Varget, there are good alternatives available at reasonable prices. Norma 203B is an outstanding powder, very similar to Reloder 15, that works well in place of Varget. Grafs.com has plenty of 1-lb cans of Norma 203B in stock, Item Number: NP203B1, priced at $24.99 per pound. (That price includes shipping but not Haz Mat fees.)
We also expect the supply situation to stabilize in the next few months. Hodgdon recently received 22,000 pounds of Varget powder. Those supplies (along with other Hodgdon powders) should make their way to vendors soon, and that should relieve some of the shortages which encourage price-gouging.
As for the primer situation, things should remain tight for a while. All the primer makers are running at full capacity, but it could be some months before we see normal primer inventories at most large retailers.
This is madness, as well as nonsense indeed. That being said and agreed upon, the ONLY reason that this seller can be called a scalper is that the bidders made him one. It looks to me that the starting price is something close to normal and reasonable. I’ve seen numerous penny auctions on GB for a box of primers end up the same way — $60, $70, and sometimes over $100 for a lousy brick of primers!!
I still question if it’s real, or if some guy gets a couple of his buddies to run the price up through the roof just to make it appear that a jug of Varget is bringing close to $700. I sort of got the feeling that there is some sort of B.S. involved here.
Guilty. I was one of the ‘fools’ who bought Varget at high prices…not that high but high. I’m just getting into reloading and wanted a mix of good powders so…I paid what I had to. I did the same with primers. Now I have enough and will no longer be contributing to the panic but we really don’t know how long the shortages will last and to at least have some to play with is fun. If prices fall I’ll be the fool, if not I will definitely claim to prescient. I can afford this silliness and have tried not to be piggish. This is what happens in a free market however. At least it’s not tulip bulbs.
Mike