John- why not address a lot of negative comments and revise the Marstar website?

You know what ive noticed... he has absolutely no problem moving products. Thats the only thing that matters...not if has a pretty website. He provides a good product at a good price if you don't like it, don't buy it....more for me.
 
I work for an online motorcycle parts distribution motorcycle parts company and I can tell you what people think is a simple case of just "change thi" or "do that" is nothing of the sort.

We just recently re-released our website and it took well over a year to plan and excite this site. Not to mention for things like stock status you would need to integrate that with your back end an inventory control system which is a whole other issue.
I agree that the site is hard to navigate and for an online retailer this is a BIG no no.

I have yet to buy from them but don't choose not to based on there website.
 
10mmauto said:
You know what ive noticed... he has absolutely no problem moving products. Thats the only thing that matters...not if has a pretty website. He provides a good product at a good price if you don't like it, don't buy it....more for me.
Click to expand...

How much more do you think he could move if people knew exactly what was available, and wouldn't have to call to ask if they have it or not? His sales reps would be faster at doing their jobs if the ambiguity was taken away. If they had an online "shopping cart" style ordering system, they could make even more money by people not having to call or send in an order.
 
I love Marstars site. It does take some getting used to, but the eye candy is worth it. John should make it easier for people to spend their cash, after all, online shopping is huge, and people tend to buy from not only where it's cheapest, but also from where it's easiest. Shopping cart checkout, and order tracking are incredible incentives to shop online, and many an impulse purchase has been done by ease of transaction.

Maybe it's a PITA, but as a business owner I would think the rewards are worth it.
 
.30/06 FTW said:
How much more do you think he could move if people knew exactly what was available, and wouldn't have to call to ask if they have it or not? His sales reps would be faster at doing their jobs if the ambiguity was taken away. If they had an online "shopping cart" style ordering system, they could make even more money by people not having to call or send in an order.
Click to expand...

While that is a valid point, I have no doubt that he has considered that and the cost of changing his system over out weighs the capital gains from an slightly widened profit margin. Also there will always be people who want to talk to a 'real' person so he has to pay them regardless. Most of his items sell them selves and the only issue is due to availability case and point: NP:29. Anyways this is all speculation from a kid who is bored in class...
 
God Damm It :mad: I just got the frackin website figuired out AND now u guys what it changed or fix. :eek:

Don't listen to them johnone they are blowing smoke up your azz :puke:

Joking aside for a tech impaired guy, marstar.ca has been one of the easier site to get around on.

All though i am sure they are sick of me calling and asking if my fax when though. ( Wifee got tried of holding my hand though fax sending,God it would so much easier if she would do it.):redface:

Thanx fer the great service i have received from marstar.
 
I hope everyone also takes the time away from criticism to also thank John for the decades of tireless service he has brought to Canadaians. From importers, wholesalers across the world, to classification issues, to cranky customers. John has done a trememndous service bringing in firearms and working towards proper classification with the dough heads at the firearms lab. If we had more people like John a long time ago we would have AK's, and SVD's here. Of course a nicer website would rock John, I don't like it either BUT I still check it weekly for deals and what's coming up.
 
i dont have a problem finding stuff, i guess the only thing i would do is add a checkout system instead of the form they use now. its not that big of a deal tho that countless threads need to be made about it. John is in the gun business not the web site design business.
 
The website isn't that bad.

Although Chewbaca behind the MG is a bit strange (I gather it's a beaver?). Also the site does sometimes seem a bit like a Yuppie garage sale. Nothing's for sale but look at all the cool stuff we have!!

But then again I know these things come in lots and they might not be for sale now, but might show up later.

That being said, I can find my way around it just fine. It does the job.
 
SHOPPING CART ON OUR SITE;
Let me put forth one point we are considering....
you place your purchases in your cart, add the total, and select shipping....

As an example you stipulate Canada Post, which would cost X....

Fine but at the present time the invoicing dept is always on the lookout for the cheapest shipping rate, would you want the computer making that decision ?

If you are ordering ammo as one client today did, the ware a spread of $750. on the shipping from the highest to lowest rate, would you want the computer making the selection ?

IF this is what our customers want, this is what we can do.... Less work for the invoicing staff....
John
 
10mmauto said:
While that is a valid point, I have no doubt that he has considered that and the cost of changing his system over out weighs the capital gains from an slightly widened profit margin. Also there will always be people who want to talk to a 'real' person so he has to pay them regardless. Most of his items sell them selves and the only issue is due to availability case and point: NP:29. Anyways this is all speculation from a kid who is bored in class...
Click to expand...

Oh of course he'd still have to pay for sales reps, I'm just saying that they could get their work done a lot faster if they didn't have to handle the people asking if stuff on the site is in stock or not.

This is coming from a kid who is bored waiting for his next class. ;)
 
John.

I would just like to say a few good things.

When I found your site I was overwhelmedby the sheer amount of stuff you offer over everyone else, I have gotten use to the site a have spent countless hours window shopping and pricing things out for the future. Overall the site it great you have really good pictures of ALL your merchandise unlike alot of sites an great write-ups on the products as well.

An online cart would be handy, but if I want something it matters not to me how I order it so long as I get it.

John has done alot for our community and you guys should overlook the small things in light of him getting alot of really cool stuff for us.

Just my two cents, McLean

P.S. You will have my business in the future for sure John
 
johnone said:
NNTW;
"You''re the expert in the business.... as you don't hesitate to point out."
Oh my, if I'm so smart why don't I completely retire.... I'm no expert, just someone who has been around for an awful long time.... But thanks for the compliment
Click to expand...

I can attest to this... John went to school with Moses.

johnone said:
As a result we got tons of e mails, are you carrying ### any more, what happened, etc, etc....
Click to expand...

:eek: You removed the #### (###)?????:HR:
 
johnone said:
NNTW;
"You''re the expert in the business.... as you don't hesitate to point out."
Oh my, if I'm so smart why don't I completely retire.... I'm no expert, just someone who has been around for an awful long time.... But thanks for the compliment

"But it seems that there's a pretty consistent theme in a lot of would be customers' posts: the Marstar website needs work."
I agree with you, we are looking at many solutions....
Some time ago we started removing from the site items that were out of stock even if new shipments were due.... As a result we got tons of e mails, are you carrying ### any more, what happened, etc, etc....

It would seem if we leave the items on we catch hell, we take them off we receive a deluge of enquiries, if you have ideas we will gladly listen....
John
Click to expand...
Honestly what the hell is it?
A full moon!
As for you retiring...
Thatz a gaint HELL NO! Cuz I will have to end up putting up with higher prices lower quailty of service and a gaint lack of cool and exciting stuff that Marstar offers us. Plus I love using your old catilouge web page's for the welth of info that it provides me & others.
Also what is up with everyone on this site bashing Marstar?
I wouldn't at all be suprised if all of a sudden johnone stops posting and stops selling on this site. I know, I won't hold it against him. Now instead of this constant complaing why don't you cry babies man up and start coming up with solutions to your problems and take it up with the company direct.
End of RANT!
 
Half the online shopping carts I have used are great. The other half do frustrating things like rejecting PO boxes, using a shipper I don't want, not answering questions, putting in stuff I don't want etc etc...

I have a telephone.

I don't need an online shopping cart to order form Marstar.

I'm not actually scared about calling and speaking to a human and ordering a gun; I don't need to stay hidden online to do it.
 
10mmauto said:
if you don't like it, don't buy it....more for me.
Click to expand...

here's why I like dealing with retailers like CanadaAmmo (and others), they don't have the "don't like it, don't buy it" attitude. They are helpful and patient, as all business SHOULD be as we are the ones spending our money for their products.

A little constructive criticism shouldn't be looked at as complaining or whining. Just because some people "put up" with some of these website designs/layout doesn't mean that other people can't critique it.

I have dealt with Marstar before and the experience was pretty good. I do, however, think their website needs updating, and like others have pointed out, a shopping cart added :). More organization and a search function would be great. Pictures would be a bonus, but they have soo many items on their site that it might not be feasible. Having prices listed is nice.

If I could whine or complain about ANY firearms related websites, the worst website EVER EVER EVER would go to BDX. Have a look at their site and it will make you :puke:

Also have a look at Fabsports - they did an awesome job updating their website, looks very nice and clean, easy on the eyes.
 
Shopping cart:
Shipping rates isn't a difficult thing to figure out, look at the big websites (Cabelas, Wholesale sports...)

Inventory:
"In stock" section. As simple as that. People that want to buy a gun don't want to know what isn't in stock, they want to know what is available and the price. Spending 10 minutes clicking around just to find out that nothing that you want is in stock is frustrating.
 
I just placed an order with Marstar... While I would have preferred a shopping cart option at least so I would have an idea of what my order was going to cost I don't care if I can't purchase directly from the site. I see John's point with the shipping costs - but even to have an "estimate" would be helpful.

I think next time I'll just call the order in - this week was so crazy that finding time to call during business hours was impossible - but the e-mail/phone call combination I used worked if perhaps not the most efficient. Plus - he knew who I was and which order I was calling about before I even said anything... *laughing* I wonder why....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom