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SteveM · Member

This last weekend I ordered a new Beeman HW97 from Cobra Airguns. I received a short note from them today saying that they have canceled the order as Beeman has been sold out and the new company has place all order on hold.

I did a quick Google search on Beeman and did not find any information confirming this. Does anyone know what's going on?

donec · Senior Member

I found this....
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/thread/1259872419/1259877092/Has+the++Beeman+Airgun+Co.++been+sold+-

T191032 · Veteran Member

Beeman Precision Airguns was sold out a while back, and S/R Industries picked it up from Dr. and Mrs. Beeman. Guess you could always contact Beeman and find out - Beeman Precision Airguns

5454 Argosy Drive
Huntington Beach, California 92649
Phone: 714-890-4800 Fax 714-890-4808

Customer Service hours M-F 8:30 - 4:00 PST
(closed 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm for lunch)

SteveM · Member

I found a couple of references to the sale of Beeman. One announced a sale several years back, then another said the sale was off. My post is based upon the e-mail that I received from a supplier. The contents of the e-mail were as follows:

"in reference to your order with us, beeman has been bought out by another corporation, who had put all of their inventory on hold. we do not know when their items will be bavk in stock so i am cancelling and crediting your order.
very sorry for the inconvenience
happy new year

Tara
Customer Service
Cobra Outdoor sports
http://www.airgunsbbguns.com"

Please note that this correspondence was dated today.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

The posts quoted were from December of 2009- i.e. recent. The original sale of the Robert Beeman Company to SR Industries was way back in 1992 or 1993 (don't recall exact year offhand).

Beeman has not shipped anything to its largest distributors since at least October. This would likely indicate they had large cash-flow problems- as soon as you can't fulfill orders, even on the smallest items- you've got one foot in the grave and you're teetering so much a slight breeze will push you all the way in.

So, let's assume Beeman had cash-flow problems. How could this be? As mentioned, the current economy dried up credit financing except on the most solid companies/accounts. The economy probably didn't affect Beeman's potential sales, because as it turns out- even in this economy, people did not slow down spending on "recreational" equipment- one of the very very few market spaces that have not been radically affected like most businesses (I guess when someone feels bad, they either drink or buy something they can enjoy- i.e. not too expensive recreational stuff). But, depending on how finance was controlled within Beeman- which, if it is as is typical of most modern corporations- they relied heavily on bank credit to move from month-to-month with the "owners" or shareholders bleeding everything off so the company would have little cash in reserve.

Anyways, to move on, what, if the basic premise is correct, likely caused cash flow problems? Either the Chinese products ("Marksman" stuff) sold mainly by big box retailers had been squeezed- i.e. bad economy, Wal-Mart and such says "we won't pay in 60 days like we have now that our overall sales are down, we will pay in 90 or 120 days- take it or leave it"- putting the squeeze on Beeman's receivables (banks consider overdue receivables older than 90 days to be essentially non-collectible for the purposes of loan collateral)- and without adequate cash reserves- they run out of money, waiting for the big-boxes to pay- with even the most minor of hiccups in the payment schedule being epic for Beeman. So- what do they do? They go to a "factoring" company- i.e. a short-term loan/finance organization- which is what it appears they did with "Summit Financing". The problem? Interest rates compared to bank rates are sky-high (when I worked for a larger company forced to finance this way, the interest rate was roughly 3 times the regular bank rate- its like credit-card financing for companies). The problem with this also is that the finance company doesn't hold just the product/inventory as collateral on the loan(s)- it holds the company itself as collateral- i.e. Summit probably didn't "buy" Beeman- they probably had the sheriff seize it to cover debts not being repaid on schedule.

The other possibility- going back to the Marksman line-up- big-box retailers weren't getting a price reduction to cover "warranty" (i.e. the price is reduced 5% at the time of purchase and there is no warranty provided by the manufacturer- if a product comes back under warranty- the big box store would just throw it away and take a tax concession- the manufacturer would not see it ever again)- so they were expecting to get replacement product for all warranty claim items. The problem is that a big box chain doesn't ship back defective items one-by-one, it accumulates them until they fill a truck and send them all back at once. If the manufacturer is not expecting this or has grossly mis-estimated the number of warranty returns- they will be flooded with stuff that can only be repaired and then repackaged as "rebuilt" or such- which the big box stores don't want. So, perhaps Beeman received a few truckloads of returned stuff from a couple big-box stores, could not provide product replacement quickly- had to borrow from the finance company (a bank won't loan money out for warranty issues- there is no incoming cash-flow or "receivables" generated- i.e. no collateral to hold) to finance more product, and then got stuck with a pile of broken crap or rebuilt stuff nobody wanted in the volumes they were accumulating- i.e. they were now throwing money out the window because of bad forecasting and/or poor deals with the big boxes.

In any event- if this is all true and this "Summit Financing" now holds Beeman- they will try to find a proper buyer ASAP- they are in the finance business- not the manufacturing or distribution business. If they can't find one- they will dismantle everything to try and extract cash.

Bottom line at this point if the info that's been put up elsewhere is correct- Beeman may be a lost cause.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

That would be unfortunate. I'm new to "adult" air rifles, but from what I've read, Beeman has made some respectable guns. Are Beeman's line of pellets made by them, or are they a rebrand? Hopefully they'll still be available event if the worst happens.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Beeman never made any guns, they were mostly rebatches of one of the finest German airgun manufacturers. Same goes for pellets. It's just that they now rebatch Chinese airguns as well.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Virtually all the 'proper' Beeman guns- the "HW" and "R" lines are made by Weihrauch in Germany.

Most of the pellets,excluding the cheaper ones they came out with earlier this year, are made by H&N, also in Germany.

Virtually all of the cheaper/lower end Beeman-labeled products are made in China (i.e. 'Marksman' product)- i.e. rifles costing less than $400, pistols less than $250 and pellets that are less than $9.00 a tin.

If Beeman dissolves, someone else will pick up the Weihrauch line in the U.S., and H&N pellets are already widely available. There will be a lag on the Weihrauch product line I would imagine- I think Beeman holds an agreement with Weihrauch that they are to be the only US importer- so it may take some time for Beeman to completely dissolve and/or Weihrauch to cancel the agreement if product is not shipping.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

Well then, I suppose aside from being an annoyance for US customers wanting a Weihrauch soon, and the loss of some jobs, it wouldn't be a huge disaster.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Doesn't anyone ever buy used? Neutral

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

Personally I think Beeman engineered it own demise, any company that sells Chinese crap alongside a prestige company’s products like Weihrauch then it’s asking for trouble, also I surprised that Weihrauch allowed it?

Al

Slavia · Moderator

SteveM · Member

Well, last night I placed an order with Straight Shooters online. I called this morning and was told that they indeed have a gun for me in stock and that there were only two left when they got my order. He said that the last one had sold just bore I called.

Someone above asked about buying used. I've bought many used guns. In this case I wanted to start with a clean slate, new rifle. Perhaps I could have gotten a better deal with a new one, but then again I could have gotten a gun that someone was dumping because it had a problem of some sort.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

Just like anything, buying used comes with a degree of risk. Unless I trust the person selling, or have seen and used it first hand, I just buy new. And, doesn't the joy of opening a brand spankin' new toy count for something? Smile

SteveM · Member

Is there no way to edit posts on this forum? Of course, above I meant "used one."