Ammo Site - Can I get some honest opinions?

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Rcp-90

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Hey guys (and gals?), for the past few months I've been working on a site, www.ammunitionalert.com, that will make it super easy and convenient for those interested in finding ammo deals online.

So basically a visitor would go to the site, opt-in using the form, selecting which caliber of ammo they would want to be notified about, and as soon as a new deal was available, the would be emailed about it.

As of now we're in the initial stages of growing the list of people interested before we lock down any agreements with suppliers so if you do sign up, don't expect to receive any emails right away.

That is partially why I'm here, to get the word out about the site, but also in hopes of getting some input, feedback, advice, criticisms. I'm very passionate about this as I genuinely feel this will be a great service to those looking for deals on ammunition, and the companies that will eventually be involved, so any comments that may help to improve this would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Russ
 
1) Most people (I think) don't buy ammo cross border. If you are targeting the sites towards Canadians, you need make that much more obvious. If you aren't targeting Canadians, then you shouldn't be posting here.

2) Your list of calibres is hard to scan. Alphabetical left-to-right requires a LOT more eye movement than up-and-down.

3) I didn't see 38S&W. I know it is a rare calibre, but that's what your site is for, right?

4) Your homepage has testimonials on it. But your post has admitted that you really aren't up and running yet. That seems dishonest to me. Maybe it isn't illegal. But if you aren't going to run an honest business, I don't want to do business with you.

5) I suggest letting people search for ammo by more than just calibre. There is the type of gun (most sites go with rimfire, rifle, pistol, and shotgun). There is the type and weight of bullet. Manufacturer is also a major search criteria. And since the site is all about looking for deals, you should allow the users to specify a maximum price so they only receive alerts if the price falls below a certain amount.
 
Thanks for the input dontshow, I appreciate it, and thank you for bring to my attention about the testimonials. It was a feature that came with the theme for the website that hadn't been turned off, but now is.

The site isn't going to be solely for Canadians, but for anyone who buys ammo online, as I'm sure there are many Canadians who do.

The list is hard to scan now that you mention it, I'm trying to fix it as I write this, and you're also very correct on your last point as well. I know there is a lot of choice on the form as it is so I didn't want to get much too specific, but perhaps that's exactly what's needed.

Thanks again!
 
haha I respect your opinion, perhaps a few of the pictures do look a little tacky, I'll see what I can do about that.
 
Ditch the stock photography.

Darken the site. The green + stock photography (especially the 'Simplicity" and "Dedicated Team') photo's look unprofessional.

There's no mission statement on the front page, and no fast way to identify what it is you do. I'd ditch the "Home / Get Free Alerts / Blog / Contacts " part on the right side of the screen and do a statement;

Ammunition Alert - The smarter way to monitor for ammunition sales. Let us find your savings!


A "blog" should follow, with the actual mission statement, similar to what you have now. Lose the stock photography of the six rounds, put a suit on and have a head shot taken. Left third of page, your photo, with the words underneath.


.............
web_Mark_Dowell-220x275.jpg


"Time is precious, and we all could use more hours
in the day. That's why we built Ammunition Alert.
Every staff member is a shooter, and we understand
your passion. Our goal is simple - Find you the best
price available for the ammunition you need.
Opting-in to Ammunition Alert is simple, and you
select what calibers or gauges you want notifications
for. And we never, EVER, sell your private
information. Our search engines continuously
monitor dozens of suppliers for updates, saving you
hours of searching only to find you've missed out.
As soon as a sale goes up, you're notified by priority email.

Robert Smith, President"

Something like that. Along the right side I'd have pictures and links to recent deals found by Ammunition Alert, hopefully linking to supporting members here. Sort of like a scrolling listings you see on fleabay, but vertically. "Glock 17 + 880 rounds of Norinco 9mm, just $849" Enter promo code 'AmmoAlert' and link to the online store. Of course a live feed from other sources would be excellent, but I don't know anything about coding sites anymore so I don't know if it's even feasible. And it's 1am so I might be full of crap right now :)

I like the idea, but let me throw this at you too;

Suppose you have a site that lets you enter your caliber by dropdown menus and the site searches multiple suppliers sites for that caliber & specifics, returning the relevant data?

Caliber; .223 REM

Canada Ammo;
Norinco .223 55gr $8.99
American Eagle .233 55gr $11.99
Remington .223 62gr $11.99
Remington .223 .65gr Match $23.99
CLICK HERE FOR Canada Ammo, and enter AmmoAlert in the discount bar

SFRC;
Seller .223 55gr $9.99
American Eagle .223 $11.00
CLICK HERE for SFRC, and enter Ammo Alert in the discount bar.

Wow, that was long. Sorry :) Anyway, with a site like that you'd become a go-to site for easy searching for the best price on a specific caliber. You could network with existing dealers, get your discount code for your customers, so the suppliers know they're getting traffic from you. (I think there's referal stuff when someone clicks the link straight from your site too?)

PS; I stole the headshot photo from phototalk.ca. I don't know who that is.
 
Yeah brybenn, I don't know why I haven't included that already to be honest..

Notlz: Thanks for the lengthy reply, a lot of what you said made perfect sense. It's going to take a lot of work to implement some of the ideas you brought up, but they're worth the time and effort if it will improve the user experience. Seeing as how you seem to know what you're talking about, I may send you a pm in the future to do some talking if that's fine with you?
 
Rcp-90 said:
Yeah brybenn, I don't know why I haven't included that already to be honest..

Notlz: Thanks for the lengthy reply, a lot of what you said made perfect sense. It's going to take a lot of work to implement some of the ideas you brought up, but they're worth the time and effort if it will improve the user experience. Seeing as how you seem to know what you're talking about, I may send you a pm in the future to do some talking if that's fine with you?
Click to expand...

Sure. I'm on a few times a week at least. Happy to help.
 
Rcp-90 said:
The site isn't going to be solely for Canadians, but for anyone who buys ammo online, as I'm sure there are many Canadians who do.
Click to expand...

If you are going to target several different countries, you may want to add an FAQ with some info about ordering from other countries. I don't know much about it, but I thought it generally wasn't worth the hassle.

I know I'd want to filter my results to only show Canadian companies.
 
Missing calibres

Couldnt help but notice your list is missing a couple fairly common calibres such as .375 h&h (375 ruger too), .257 weatherby, .300 weatherby (h&h as well). I roll my own 338-06, but would love to find a deal on Norma brass. I realize the calibre list could get quite long, but these are fairly common, and most would love to find a deal on Weatherby branded ammo.
 
Importing ammo from the US is pretty tricky. You have to get the Canadian paperwork correct and then you have to get the US government to release it. If you screw up you may end up in court or even getting investigated. This to save a few pennies. I don't think it is worth the risk.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

I've made some changes as per the feedback I've gotten, I think it looks better. I've included different sections for Shotgun, Handgun, and Rifle which makes things simpler and easier (what I'm going for).

For now I'm still debating whether to include ammo reloading components or not, so for now I haven't included it.

I'm also considering adding a page for those who aren't aware of the laws that apply to them when buying ammo online. I assume anywhere that they could buy it from would provide this info, but in case they don't, a bit of info could go a long way.

Thanks again for checking out the site guys
Russ
 
I think you should definitely include footnotes on the vendors that offer free shipping - Knowing that SFRC is $0.03/round cheaper than Frontier, but that Frontier offers $15 flat-rate shipping would be very important to the type of frugal individual likely to frequent your site.
 
Opinions are good, but if you ask everyone, you're probably not going to end up with anything. I think you site is fine. I have yet to turn down a good deal because i did not like the graphics on the box or the tacky/cheap bag they came in, or the disgusted attitude of a salesperson. Once you start making profit you can maybe put in some web-wizardry... but a guy like me is going to sail past all the drama and check to see if that brick of 22lr is cheaper than the brick at my local store, and if it is... then you have my business. Good luck and get this baby going. I hope there is some money in there for you and some good deals in there for me.

also i took a look at the website. I would think you could put all the ammo types on one page. this way a guy can subscribe at the same time to both rifle/shotgun and pistol ammo. instead of having to go to a different page and re-enter their email.
 
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