Grabagun.com

[Indynic]

I've bought from grabagun. They are GTG. Most everything I have bought online, was not available locally. The one occasion where a gun I had my eye on was at a local LGS, they wanted $250 more than online. They wouldn't budge one dollar and I bought online. From my experience, LGS aren't willing/able to get within reasonable price of online retailers i.e. ~$100.

My preferred LGS always gets a call before I buy online, but it has never worked out that they could get what I was looking for, until just recently. They were able to order in the next day and it was about $65 more than an online retailer.

But, on the flip side, if they don't get the sale, they get the transfer fee and I usually end up spending $100+ in accessories/ammo when I pick up the transfer. Kind of a thank you for their service.

 

[mcapo]

You are not screwing the lgs. You not eating at some restaurant doea not screw the restaurant.

Yes; going into a restaurant, sitting at a table, having the server explain the menu to you and setting the table so you can see the plates is most definitely costing the restaurant time, money and efficiency.

BUT - there is a reality that every retail business has been impacted by the internet and the big box stores (many of us remember our towns before Wal-Mart, CVS and Walgreens). My point is to be fair to the LGS. I am a regular purchaser at my LGS so if he can't get me something I "need"; we will agree to go online. I also use him for individual out of state purchases so over time he makes his profit margin off of me and I'm glad to keep that money local.

Oh....my two LGSs tell me that the $$ for the transfer are not a profit center. Without putting words in the their mouths, I'm guessing they only mess with transfers to get you in the door as a future customer.

Davidsons/Gallery of Guns (and other similar sites) is probably a model that we will see continue to develop but that's a discussion for another thread.

 

[Mattdville16]

If you go to your LGS to examine your prospective purchase, handle the gun, take the LGS clerk's time, then leave the shop and place an order with grabagun.com, you are screwing the LGS.

This is one of the things that's killing Best Buy right now. People go into Best Buy, look at those big flat screen TVs, ask the clerk questions, then leave the store and place their order with Amazon. Best Buy gets the expense of owning (or leasing) and operating a building, having merchandise on display, and staffing the store with employees, but gets none of the profit from the sale. Same with the LGS.

Maybe the local should try and be a little more competitive my local had a Glock 43 for 549!!!

 

[Mattdville16]

But on another note I have used parabellum for this exact purpose try before I buy!

 

[bb37]

Maybe the local should try and be a little more competitive my local had a Glock 43 for 549!!!

Yeah, that's not good. I bought a 43 for $420-something at Parabellum, cashed in a gift card that I had for them, and got a free half hour on the range.

But on another note I have used parabellum for this exact purpose try before I buy!

That's exactly why I keep promoting Parabellum's 9mm Smorgasbord events. Pay a fixed price, get a couple boxes of range ammo, and try any of the 9mm's they have laid out in the range. I went to one of these with a pre-conceived notion of which 9mm I wanted to buy. I left the event with a completely different notion.

 

[jimbob488]

I've purchased from grabagun. Not to bad really.

 

[Porsche911]

I have yet to buy a gun online. I have a friend that bought one from Gunbroker and had zero issues. I will probably be buying online soon.

 

[SMiller]

Bought several Colt 6920's from them, lowest price and quick shipping, A1 seller.

 

[Bfish]

In the past I've bought a few from them and was very happy. I've got a pretty good relationship with my FFL now though and he does just as well on the pricing so it's been a bit. I would still buy from them in confidence though, I've recently bought MPX mags as well as other mags and accessories from them when they've had sales and it's always been a positive experience.

 

[wildcatfan.62]

I have purchased from them when my LGS didn't have what I was looking for and couldn't give an idea when they'd have stock back in. The transaction was easy and I completed the transfer at my LGS so they got paid for the paperwork. Good luck,

 

[Mattdville16]

Bought several Colt 6920's from them, lowest price and quick shipping, A1 seller.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[sethr]

Any more, if the price plus shipping isn't much below my LGS, I just stay local. Fees around here are $35 now for ship-ins, so I let them price one first. I'd rather keep the LGS in business.

 

[WebSnyper]

The flip side of that is a LGS charges a fee to perform the transfer from Buds/Grabagun/wherever and doesn't have to carry as much inventory, which ties up capital and requires cubic feet to display/store.

Availability being equal (which it almost never is), I consider LGS pricing and sales tax vs. online purchase cost and transfer fee as part of my value proposition. I'm happy to pay a premium to a LGS, but sometimes the delta can be north of $100.

I realize this is an older thread, but I agree with this. I've only purchased a few times online, and have had no issues so far. One of these orders with Grab a Gun and it went well, and I used USDS for my transfer.
In each case of buying online, no one locally was touching the price I got by a lot. I checked out my normal go to LGS, but he was much higher and checked out a couple of other LGS and tried to work with them on price. They didn't budge, and some tried to insinuate that the online retailer was known to deal in blemished guns, etc.

The guys at USDS were great on the transfer, had a low cost, promptly called me when it came in, etc.

I always try and give my LGS the first look, for many of the reasons folks posted here, but sometimes the differential is just too great. I will say this, the LGS that give me a straight story and don't try and disparage the other retailer, generally have good prices, and/or who handle the transfers well, and offer additional services (sight installation, cerakote, etc) are the ones that I'll support and hopefully survive.

The guys offering no real service and non competitive pricing won't.

 

[Expat]

I ordered a gun part from Grabagun. They charged my card right away. I wait almost 2 weeks and contacted them as I had not received any kind of shipping info. They then tell me that they do not have the part and would be refunding my credit card, but it might take a week or two for it to show up. That just seems really shady to me. If I hadn't contacted them, how long would it have taken for them to contact me? To me, if you don't have an item, don't charge the credit card.

 

[Biglink75]

Purchased from them with no problems

 

[WebSnyper]

I ordered a gun part from Grabagun. They charged my card right away. I wait almost 2 weeks and contacted them as I had not received any kind of shipping info. They then tell me that they do not have the part and would be refunding my credit card, but it might take a week or two for it to show up. That just seems really shady to me. If I hadn't contacted them, how long would it have taken for them to contact me? To me, if you don't have an item, don't charge the credit card.

They do seem to charge you right away. In my case, I assume the gun was in stock and it was ok as they shipped soon after, but yes, be aware, they seem to charge at the time of order.

 

[GrinderCB]

If you go to your LGS to examine your prospective purchase, handle the gun, take the LGS clerk's time, then leave the shop and place an order with grabagun.com, you are screwing the LGS.

This is one of the things that's killing Best Buy right now. People go into Best Buy, look at those big flat screen TVs, ask the clerk questions, then leave the store and place their order with Amazon. Best Buy gets the expense of owning (or leasing) and operating a building, having merchandise on display, and staffing the store with employees, but gets none of the profit from the sale. Same with the LGS.

PragerU did a video on that some time back, reasoning that you were stealing from the brick & mortar seller. Going there with NO INTENTION of buying, only to ask questions, handle the merch, etc, does actually constitute a form of thievery, but one that's not illegal. Try this sometime: Go into a store, find an item that you want to buy, get a salesman's attention, then up front tell him that you have no intention of buying it because you can get it cheaper online. See what kind of lousy service he gives you. He might smile and be polite and everything because his employer requires him to, but he'll look for the first chance to get away to help a potentially paying customer. Double down on that if he's a commissioned salesman.

On the other hand, many sellers who offer price-matching will do so if you can prove a competitor's price. For some, a smartphone opened to the seller's website is enough but they often like to have something printed so they can attach it to their copy of the invoice.

[video=youtube_share;AEMd6NDT5Z8]https://youtu.be/AEMd6NDT5Z8[/video]

 

[Expat]

Best Buy has price matched for me in the past. I just showed them on the phone a lower on line price and they marked it right down.

 

[sethr]

It took two WTF to get a part shipped. THEN they put it in UPS Mail Innovations! For $10? Might be here by Spring.

 

[ljk]

PragerU did a video on that some time back, reasoning that you were stealing from the brick & mortar seller. Going there with NO INTENTION of buying, only to ask questions, handle the merch, etc, does actually constitute a form of thievery, but one that's not illegal. Try this sometime: Go into a store, find an item that you want to buy, get a salesman's attention, then up front tell him that you have no intention of buying it because you can get it cheaper online. See what kind of lousy service he gives you. He might smile and be polite and everything because his employer requires him to, but he'll look for the first chance to get away to help a potentially paying customer.

I haven't stepped in a LGS for a year. Worked out great for them.