Unofficial Question: Would you join a "Marstar Monthly/Quarterly Ammo Club"?

[avroe]

Out of curiosity, I ask this in no way sanctioned by Marstar;

If they offered a club, where you could select a specific Calibre (or Calibres), and once per month (or quarter) they simply automatically billed your credit card and shipped you the same quantity of ammo in the calibre, at the same monthly/quarterly price as last time.

Manufacturer might change from shipment to shipment, but quantity and calibre will remain constant. (You'd be trusting "the club" to maintain a generally consistent level of quality and not include "####ty" ammo)

If they would ever establish something like this, would you sign up?

Assume you had to agree to either 6 months or 12 months to be included? (But you are only billed monthly/quarterly as the ammo actually ships to you)

Your price is only "locked in" for the 6 or 12 month period you choose, the renewal would reflect the new "market rate" for the next period, as set by "the club". You'd have to quickly "one click" "opt-in" to the renewal when its up, via a web-link automatically emailed to you.

Could something like this ever work?

[RageStation]

Problem I see here is "manufacturer might change"; it's not that I don't trust the group to choose good manufacturers, it's that this will have LARGE impact on price point per month. Nothing is more annoying than a bill that continuously changes.

I see you said "same monthly/quarterly" price as last time; but I just don't see it being effective to keep the price the same if the manufacture is always changing.

Another concern would be growing stockpiles, club membership "terms", canceling "club membership" fees, etc etc.

Basically I read what you posted and saw all the same problems I have with Insurance and Phone companies; only the service is to provide ammo in this case. And that alone is a scary notion that would have to seriously be hammered out before even thinking of "joining".

[silen]

Unfortunately...no.. simply stated plain and simple >> others offer free shipping<<
The end

(I like Marstar and they have great deals and buy from when they have what I am looking for gladly!!)

But..
1. They are a business not my friend
2. Try to always Get the most for my money
3. They are not local to me

Great concept though ....very interesting

[Avalonthas]

A bullet club may be a bit more practical for specific calibers with a wide range like .308, they could order a bucket of specialty stuff and send a few dozen to each person to try some loads with. .BUT cost prohibitive.

If shipping wasnt a scam in this country it could work.

[stevelarry]

Why lock myself into a 1 year agreement to buy ammo that usually is always in-stock at the same price? Would you lock yourself into a one year contact to buy a bag of apples every month? Supply for common ammo is not an issue. The stores are flooded with 556/7.62/9/45 ect ect.

So this would only work for rare ammo where supply is an issue. And here comes this problem, if you sign up, I have to hold onto your ammo for you for 1 year since you only take one a month. During that time, I can't sell it to anyone else since I have to set it aside for you. Now I'm sitting on dead inventory and have holding costs. No advantage to the business. Why would I not sell the ammo to the first guy that puts in an order through the website? I collect the $300 now, which I can use to pay bills or buy inventory instead of damning myself to collect in 30 days...

Within a 1 year time span the cost of ammo does not change much. I'd rather take my money and put it into a low-risk investment and buy ammo when I need it. The savings here are moot.

There is literally no advantage.

[Stevebot-7]

I would think they'd garner more interest with a "preferred member" club, when you sign up for first picks of new stock and product updates and stuff like that.

Sort of like how I've seen some dealers bring in new stuff, and post it here days before the outside world sees it.

[Dexter Morgan]

Marstar has a real problem with having stuff out of stock.
Seriously; when was the last time they restocked MecGar magazines?

No way in hell anyone wants to sign a long-term contract with a company with such a long history of not having any supply.

They are fine for the occasional item that they might happen to have in stock. But not place to be counted on for continuous restocking.

[stripperclipper]

I'd prefer jelly of the month club. That's the gift that keeps on giving, Clark.

[haha49]

Well....

1) Ammo prices go up and down mostly up same with cost (they mark up a certain percentage)
2) They might not be able to get certain ammo in as suppliers run out
3) Most shooters don't use x amount of ammo per month it can change over time so auto billing can be a pain in the rear if you don't need it
4) suppliers that sell them the ammo buy yearly and order what they think they will need for the whole year so if they sell 1 million boxes they will order 1 million and 1 for next year that's how it works. The problem is when they sell and then don't have anything and lose sales because of it and it doesn't always work the best that way but that's how it works for most companys.

It's an interesting idea but I don't see it happening. No I wouldn't join I buy ammo depending on what I shoot and when I run low ie 1 or 2 boxes I buy more then repeat. I have 1 crate of ammo per caliber I shoot and that's 9mm, 45acp, 308 win, 22lr, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r. Crate runs low buy another one repeat.


Why wouldn't a shooter just save up buy all the ammo they use in 1 year as a bulk crate ie save a little per box and then sit on it and use it through the whole year run low buy another. That's what I do buy 1 crate shoot till it's low order another one.

[donkSTRIKER]

the shipping would likely kill any savings, unfortunately.

better to just order a bunch up front and moderate yourself with a monthy "ammo ration"!