Q: I see items listed as 'IN STOCK'. Do you actually have these at your location, or do you drop-ship from a distributor's warehouse?
A: We understand the concern behind this question. It has become
more and more common for internet-based companies to run retail
operations while having little (or no) physical inventory on hand. They
rely on inventory status relayed to them from a variety of
distributors. Websites are populated to appear that everything is
on-hand and ready to ship to you. This often works out just fine, but
there are a handful of issues that can (and do) arise from this model.
One problem is that the people you order from may not have any
real-world knowledge of the products they are selling you. Your order
is simply a product SKU that comes into their system, and they forward
it on to a distributor to fill and ship. This 'third-party' method
creates a buffer between the customer and the folks actually fulfilling
the order. This often leads to an inability to get clear answers on
which shipping carrier and method will be used, what product variables
exist on the specific item you wish to order, why orders are delayed in
shipment, and the list goes on and on. The drop-ship method can be a
very low-cost way to run a webstore, but it does not lend itself to
being a very customer-oriented operation.
Anything that we list as 'IN STOCK' is in our possession. We can
put hands on the merchandise, and answer questions that you may have
concerning the products. We can tell you how it will ship, and we send
tracking information to you.
We do not have as many items labeled 'IN STOCK' as the mega online
gun retailers do, but we actually have what the site says. With that
being said, 95% of the products that we have listed on our site are
available to us from our wholesalers. If we do not have something that
you want in stock, we can order it in for you. This typically only
takes two or three days. From there, we would ship the order out for
you. Often, this takes the same amount of time that a drop-ship order
takes to process and ship. The difference is that you'll actually be
able to speak to the folks responsible for packing and shipping your
order when you deal with a shop that doesn't drop-ship. For us,
customer service is priority #1, and efficiency is #2- NOT the other way
around.
Q: When will my order ship?
A: It depends on the items ordered, and what time you send it to us.
Handguns, long guns and ammunition all have specific shipping
requirements. We ship handguns USPS Priority, and those shipments leave
our shop at 3:30pm EST, Monday through Friday, and 9am on Saturday.
99% of the time, if an order is placed for a handgun, and we have the
receiving dealer's FFL by 3:00pm, the order will ship out that day. If
it is received after 3:00pm, it will ship out the following day.
Handgun orders placed after 7am Saturday will be shipped out on Monday.
Long guns and ammunition ship Fedex or UPS ground. These
carriers pick up from us Monday through Friday, at varying times. If we
have the order and FFL 1/2 hour before the trucks arrive, we will have
your order out that day. If it is after the daily pick-up, it will go
out the next weekday.
Accessory orders ship any of the methods mentioned, as determined
by the carriers regulations, and our discretion. The vast majority of
accessory orders will ship USPS with the same ship-out timeline as
handguns. Heavy or bulky accessory orders will likely ship Fedex or
UPS.
Q: Will I get tracking information?
A: If your order will be shipping with USPS, you will receive an
email from them as soon as we create the shipment label. If your order
will be shipping Fedex or UPS, you will receive an email from them as
soon as they take possession of the package. This means that if you
place an ammunition order on Friday evening, we may pack and label it
Friday night, but you may not receive tracking until it is loaded onto
the Fedex/UPS truck on Monday afternoon. On the other hand, if you are
ordering a trigger assembly, you will receive USPS tracking info as soon
as we create the label, even though it won't be in transit until our
next batch goes to the post office. When they scan it into their
possession, you will receive an updated tracking email letting you know
they have it on the way.