Why do airsoft shops over charge for shipping?

[kev.k]

Has anyone else noticed that compared to clothes, appliance, game sites etc. Virtually every airsoft shop/site is a rip off when it comes to delivery charges. They don't even offer free shipping if you spend over £200 with them.

I can understand for heavier items (rifs etc). But the charges for mags, gloves, consumables and torches etc are ridiculous.

I was looking to buy a few accessories from different retailers the other day (as none ever have everything u want in stock). Shipping came to over £40.

I wish I had a decent shop near by. If someone opened a decent one in Manchester it would do really well, as there isn't much around.

 

[M_P]

Because the majority of UK retailers are useless.

 

[TPI]

and Rip Off Merchant's lookin to make a quick Buck at the Customer's exspense, High Cap Using wannabe Paintball Pro's

 

[kev.k]

Someone should take advantage of a huge gap in the market. The one shop I did visit was poorly stocked, didn't even have basics. Prices for what they did have were extortionate.

I get the impression most sites are run from bedrooms and use the local post office for shipping.

 

[Deva]

Shop around, they aren't all terrible. They'll reduce their prices to compete or fail to compete and no longer be around.

 

[Nickona]

The only shop I have ever had postage issues with is UKTactical and thats because they send everything next day recorded by courier who texts you when he's going to get to your house that morning..

While its nice, when you just want to buy a couple of Grimlocs its a bit OTT

 

[SheriffHD]

Opening a shop is alot of work unless you have the cash up front for stock.
I was looking at doing my own business and linkng the shop with a local field (arnt any local fields any more)
But the issue was in the fact that distrobuters left next to no room for profit margin to cover the cost of renting a store and was only really viable for online stores. and using the factories directly would require buying bulk in distrobuster quanties, which I would have trouble shifting in a store. And with no local site it meant a that local intrest died down due to no one being able to drive to the remote locations that the cloest site uses.

Alot of the sites have a mark up on postage because its how tey make alot of their profits. More so if the site is buying from a distrobuter instead of direct from the factories.

 

[kev.k]

Opening a shop is alot of work unless you have the cash up front for stock.

I was looking at doing my own business and linkng the shop with a local field (arnt any local fields any more)

But the issue was in the fact that distrobuters left next to no room for profit margin to cover the cost of renting a store and was only really viable for online stores. and using the factories directly would require buying bulk in distrobuster quanties, which I would have trouble shifting in a store. And with no local site it meant a that local intrest died down due to no one being able to drive to the remote locations that the cloest site uses.

Alot of the sites have a mark up on postage because its how tey make alot of their profits. More so if the site is buying from a distrobuter instead of direct from the factories.

I agree mate. It's not cheap setting up a shop of any type really. It seems to me a higher percentage of airsoft sites are amatuer than other retail sites.
It's a shame bigger companies don't expand into airsoft. I honestly believe its due to ukuara. Big businesses that expand into different areas would stay away from airsoft due to its restricted market. As well as the fact that they would have to do additional checks on people.

Airsoft is more difficult to get into than most hobbies due to the rules and regulations. I think it stops the sport/hobbie from reaching its full potential.

 

[Sam_G]

I'm lucky as there is several retails within 30 mins of me.

Z1

UKMCpro

Combat South

I was looking at something the other day and the postage was MORE than the item was worth. So needless to say i didnt order it! Postage is a real bug bear of mine as there is not real need for huge charges. But tend to see a flat rate for any item whihc is great for buying a RIF but that morale patch is not worth 7.50 postage!

 

[SheriffHD]

Id love to be able to set up a shop, But with no real places to set up a field near by, and the cost it would be to actually do both a site and a retail would just be insanly high. Its a shame really. Its the old tale. No one wants to open more field because the local intrest isnt there, and no one wants to buy all the gear because there isnt a local site.

Most of the games Ive been to, I've spent more money on travel, than what the day walk on fee's are. Which isnt ideal.

 

[bigshep]

Lots of shops have automated shipping costs in their online shopping cart, so the morale patch and the 100,000BB's will cost the same to ship in the shopping cart. However an e:mail to them asking to check postage and charge something else usually get a response. Z1 and socom tactical airsoft shop both do this off the top of my head.

 

[AK47frizzle]

wonderland models jack up the price of their airsoft guns alot.... It's a shame my parents' won't buy ammo for me on the internet and i have to resort to buying overpriced ammo at wonderland models

 

[remus]

yea to succesfully open a shop, ideally you need to really be a farmer/own a farm, why? A, land to have a feild/enough ground to have a playable airsoft site on, preferably away from other property. B sheds, seriously, for not only possibly playing in, but gun range, stock storage, players changing in, but also to have a room to sell stuff from. also because airsoft probably wont make enough money on its1/2day week game days the farms other fact that it can make crops etc(obv not using the airsoft feild to keep livestock on etc) to support the farmer/airsoft owner. cause i overheard a asite owner talking costs, and insurance alone for a site takes up a huge amount of a sites income, gun sales etc help mitigate that a bit, but by the time they take costs into effect(especially rentals, whch are nessiary to get people interested/ukarad, site improvements, electricity for indoor use) into the game, aswell as they are likely lucky to see a 30% discount from whomever they buy from(sounds great but from a retail perspective its quite poor) and in the midst of those running an online retail unit, competing with everyone out there, specially those whom can sell it for less than you can buy it... yea well if everything dosent work right on time as planned you will go bust. suprising how many actually succed at running sites....

and ukara is better than getting the sport banned, which afaik was the alternative...

 

[TPI]

No it wasn't the alternative to having the Hobby banned...

 

[SheriffHD]

Yeah, what remus said.

After start up costs, It would take a fair few years before you started becoming profitable. Which is a issue. Unless you have prime location, such as an area that has high airsoft interest plus suport form local sites.

Otherwise you find that you end up having to fund both retail and field to insure that either make money.

The best way to go about doing shops these days, is to be come an online retail unit first. then if that is propifitable enough, then you can look at doing a retail unit. or getting a site which you can use as a field/retail.

 

[kev.k]

First and only offer free shipping on any order over £50. Other retailers should follow suit.

If people refuse to pay the stupidly over priced postage fees, they will have no choice.

 

[remus]

No it wasn't the alternative to having the Hobby banned...

well not quite what i meant, the alternative that i think iread on ukara was to bann selling realistic imitation firearms and allow us to continue to buy the unrealistic brightly coloured imitation firearms, if ukara wasn't accepted.

problem is for shipping that the system isnt great for sizing etc. a company i used to work for used to find that some sites they sold through had set shipping charges, based on size or weight, which dosent always wok out when you go to the dispatch place, and website templats have quite often the wrong settings for thses prices. i dont quite care about shipping on big /bulky stuff, just when it ends up costing more than the item itself... thats just not right(yes im looking at you silly patches, grrr....)

 

[M_P]

No it wasn't. We were allowed to continue to buy them so long as we had a valid defence (a good reason for ownership)

Ukara was made solely as a way for retailers to protect themselves.

UKARA was not brought about to enable us to sell and buy, it just aids retailers.

 

[kev.k]

No it wasn't. We were allowed to continue to buy them so long as we had a valid defence (a good reason for ownership)

Ukara was made solely as a way for retailers to protect themselves.

UKARA was not brought about to enable us to sell and buy, it just aids retailers.

And it puts people off getting into airsoft.
When I put wanted rif ads up on different forums, the amount of condescending idiots who posted on my threads asking, "how old are you", "have you got your UKARA", "so what if you've got a site membership" etc, nearly put me off getting into the hobbie. They come across like geeky, self important sad b******s. I didn't respond to any of them.

I didn't buy new because of UKARA (the main reason big retailers have no interest in airsoft guns), I didn't want a bright orange gun and I'm more than happy with what I've got second hand.

UKARA is a threat to airsoft as it stops the sport growing, which inturn makes it easier to ban if they decide they want too.

 

[M_P]

A site membership is more than enough to purchase a gun from a good retailer.

I don't see why it would put people off? If you are getting into a hobby that makes use of extremely realistic looking guns, some regulations are the least you can expect.

If you assumed you can just get a realistic looking gun then it's not the system at fault. People wanting to protect themselves in a transaction for a rif is natural, I don't see the issue in that- no matter how annoying it can be.