Parker Gun Collectors Association Forums - Why did L.C. Smith outsell Parker?

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- - Why did L.C. Smith outsell Parker? (https://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15777)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen (Post 161145)

When the first A.H. Fox Gun Co. ads appeared in sporting magazines in late 1905 and early 1906, the Parker Bros. ads near them said "135000 in sportsmen's hands". So, Parker Bros./Remington Arms Co., Inc. produced about 107,000 more guns from then to the end while A.H. Fox Gun Co./Savage Arms Corp. produced somewhere near 180,000.

I think a good part of this is the Sterlingworth. From its introduction in 1910 until after WW-I the Sterlingworth and Parker Bros.' Trojan escalated in price about the same. Then in 1922, A.H. Fox Gun Co. dropped the price of the Sterlingworth to $48, then in 1926 they really dropped the price again to $36.50, a dollar cheaper than the new NID Ithaca Field Grade which was listed at $37.50. Also, the Sterlingworth was offered in a greater variety of barrel lengths, and with the extra cost options of ejectors and the Fox-Kautzky Single Selective Trigger. Parker Bros. kept the price and the fit and finish of the Trojan high and sold about 33,000. Fox went to the lower price and eventually sold about 145,000 Sterlingworths.

Those numbers are supported by the records. Parker produced @ 130,000 over a 30 year span - 1874 to 1904; and another 106,000 over the next 30 years. A person could argue that the price drop of the Sterlingworth alone accounts for the difference in sales over that time period. You could argue that the resultant drop of 18.5% in business over that time period is what unraveled the Meriden operations. I doubt either would have survived post WWII, but is it possible Fox brought down both gun makers - themselves by not charging enough, and Parker Bros. by siphoning off their business with the more economical Sterlingworth?

Read a few hundred Parker orders and you will see what brought them down. They were giving the guns away. The jobber and the retailer were each making more money than the factory, without any investment in skill or equipment.

Maybe Harvey McMurchy was a better salesman than Arthur DuBray!! Thirty Deluxe Grade L.C. Smiths to only three Invincibles!

It's the same reason Michael Jackson has sold more records than Waylon Jennings. There's no accounting for taste.

LC Smith outsold Parker not only in the field grade categories but also the vanity grades. The field grade category success was most likely a result of a lower price, hence Smith outsold Parker by a large margin. But as a Smith Man gained economic standing he would first consider a Smith since his field grade gun had provided good service. It is the same marketing strategy General Motors used for decades. Start them on a Chevy and move them up the ladder to a Caddy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg conomos (Post 161161)

It's the same reason Michael Jackson has sold more records than Waylon Jennings. There's no accounting for taste.

You guys are harsh. Let's remember that Charles Parker also sold his soul to the Devil when he agreed to supply Grant's Army in the War of Northern Aggression.

Sporting Life reported the guns, hulls & powder used by competitors in major shoots 1895-1902. It is clear that prior to mid-1895 the choice of the "top guns" was British, thereafter a Smith, and starting with the 1898 GAH (mostly) a Parker. The great Fred Gilbert left Hunter Arms for Parker after the 1899 GAH.
https://docs.google.com/a/damascuskn...FKEyuY/preview
AND most of the American team in the 1901 Anglo-American Match were induced to use Parkers
https://docs.google.com/a/damascuskn...jEdR4j_E9l4HLw

It may be that Parker, by advertising and price, was perceived as the 'high class' gun, and there were only so many 'high class' buyers out there.

It is interesting how popular the "The Yankee Sidelock" was in the South, esp. 16g guns, as were Lefevers among the 'well heeled sportsmen'.

In 1899, Harvey McMurchy likely traveled through the West with both Col. A.G. Courtney (Remington) and S.A. Tucker

http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL3225014.pdf
Harvey McMurchy and Col. A.G. Courtney (Remington Arms), two popular gun salesmen, attended a holiday shoot at Kansas City Feb. 22. In a live-bird sweep each killed 14 out of 15. Both did well in the target events.

http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL3301014.pdf
H. McMurchy, of the Hunter Arms Co., and S.A. Tucker, of Parker Bros., are now in San Francisco working the trade in the interests of their respective firms. They took part in the club shoot of the Olympic Gun Club on March 12; McMurchy killing 12 straight and Tucker 10 out of 12. In a six-bird sweep McMurchy again made a clean score.

Now, if I were a consumer in that era and I was looking for a entry level shotgun I would have bought the Sterlingworth. Slimmer than a Trojan (although I love my Trojans), more options and cheaper. What's not to like.

Bill makes a very good point about "giving away the profit". I have the order on my 1916 DH, that was listed at $100. The ordering gun shop in Watertown, NY paid $68 after taking all 3 discounts. They had a gross profit of $32. Probably much higher than Parker's on the same gun.