Outrageous online ammo shipping prices

AcidManager0

AcidManager0

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I am a frequenter of AmmoSeek and recently I have noticed really good prices per round on 9mm and 5.56 but at checkout the shipping can be $50-$70 or more! When I last bought ammo online the shipping was nothing near that, I think less than $20. I think ammo prices haven't gone down and the shipping costs are artificially inflated to offset the actual cost of the ammo.

Anyone else notice this or have an idea why shipping has gone through the roof?
 
Bereli.com is all I gots …

Oh, and there is also this CFF.com “Best 9mm Ammo Deal of the Day” thread which often turns up pure golden deals - I simply “Watch” this thread and set it up so I get emailed when new deals are posted:
https://carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/today’s-best-9mm-ammo-online-deal.67287/page-29
 
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I have noticed that for a while. I think companies are trying to skew the metrics to get at the top of the list. To their credit ammo seek has recently updated the shipping scoring.
From an industry standpoint SG ammo and Outdoor Limited has not changed shipping prices dramatically.
 
Saw that a coupla days ago lookin at some well priced 5.56. Shipping was $50..
I usually just end up back at SGammo cause they're a "known quantity"
and shipping is included in their pricing.
Used to frequent Ammoman but the prices there have been higher than SG of late..
 
Shipping costs are exploding everywhere. And generally speaking it is NOT retailers inflating to pad their margins. I deal with small/mid companies and their inventory movement every day, typically shipping costs are just being 'passed through', or are being marked up just a couple %.
 
Tim said:
Shipping costs are exploding everywhere. And generally speaking it is NOT retailers inflating to pad their margins. I deal with small/mid companies and their inventory movement every day, typically shipping costs are just being 'passed through', or are being marked up just a couple %.
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Yeah most smaller places are adding enough % to cover the cost of packaging and the labor to box it up, label it etc... UPS, USPS and FedEx are all going up in price and that is passed directly to the consumer. The big guys have contracts which allow them a flat shipping rate within size & weight perimeters. I would guess anyone who offers "Free Shipping" on ammo has that type of contract so they are not killed by the weight.
 
Tim said:
Shipping costs are exploding everywhere. And generally speaking it is NOT retailers inflating to pad their margins. I deal with small/mid companies and their inventory movement every day, typically shipping costs are just being 'passed through', or are being marked up just a couple %.
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This is true for a lot of items, but i think @keepcalmandcarryon may be right about the ammo companies trying to get their cost per round down to get to the top of the list, and mark up the shipping to make up for it.
 
I use Ammoseek and have noticed that shipping costs can vary a lot from vendor to vendor. Fortunately Ammoseek has a graphical representation on their website that indicates from high to low how much the vendor charges for shipping.

Sometimes I'll buy ammo that is priced slightly higher than a lower cost vendor because the shipping is cheaper (and it's thus less expensive overall).

For instance, Outdoor Limited is rated as a 7 for shipping costs on 9mm ammo (higher is better), versus many of the lower priced vendors who are rated a 2.
 
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papa_smurf said:
This is true for a lot of items, but i think @keepcalmandcarryon may be right about the ammo companies trying to get their cost per round down to get to the top of the list, and mark up the shipping to make up for it.
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AcidManager0 said:
I am a frequenter of AmmoSeek and recently I have noticed really good prices per round on 9mm and 5.56 but at checkout the shipping can be $50-$70 or more! When I last bought ammo online the shipping was nothing near that, I think less than $20. I think ammo prices haven't gone down and the shipping costs are artificially inflated to offset the actual cost of the ammo.

Anyone else notice this or have an idea why shipping has gone through the roof?
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Yes @papa_smurf on AmmoSeek a lot of retailers reduce the price of the ammo in order to appear as the lowest cost per round and then make it up in the shipping. It is a slight of hand trick that borders on a bait and switch. When I see that I simply skip over that vendor. You have to look at the to the door cost which includes the product, shipping and tax.
 
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Tim said:
Shipping costs are exploding everywhere. And generally speaking it is NOT retailers inflating to pad their margins. I deal with small/mid companies and their inventory movement every day, typically shipping costs are just being 'passed through', or are being marked up just a couple %.
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Good to know.
It just looks bad, the companies on ammoseek have shipping that makes their ammo more expensive than on SGammo, maybe its just to get to the top of AmmoSeek.
 
Scsmith42 said:
I use Ammoseek and have noticed that shipping costs can vary a lot from vendor to vendor. Fortunately Ammoseek has a graphical representation on their website that indicates from high to low how much the vendor charges for shipping.

Sometimes I'll buy ammo that is priced slightly higher than a lower cost vendor because the shipping is cheaper (and it's thus less expensive overall).

For instance, Outdoor Limited is rated as a 7 for shipping costs on 9mm ammo (higher is better), versus many of the lower priced vendors who are rated a 2.
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Whether UPS or Fedex, corporate shipping rates are negotiable, depends on the volume and how bad they want your business. A good negotiator can pit one company against the other to a degree. We did it at a company with annual sales of only $2.5-3.0mil.

.
 
A little trick I do on Ammoseek is after I select a vendor with good prices, I then select "Add To Cart", then select "Checkout", and when it asks for card number, the shipping charge will usually appear, I then edit cart, and remove item from the cart, by then I know exactly what the total cost will be
 
That's what I do too. I hate having to go and unsubscribe from a half dozen mailing lists every time I do it, though.
 
Tim said:
Shipping costs are exploding everywhere. And generally speaking it is NOT retailers inflating to pad their margins. I deal with small/mid companies and their inventory movement every day, typically shipping costs are just being 'passed through', or are being marked up just a couple %.
Click to expand...
Actually, shipping costs are dropping significantly since November. Everything skyrocketed in 2021 into 2022 and have come down but not to pre-C19 levels of course.
Ocean rates have come down from their wild $10k+/container to ~$2k. LTL and Truck load rates have come down about 10%. Negotiated parcel (UPS/FedEx) rates are just under 10% down. The retail parcel rates are going up slightly and I suspect a lot of these small businesses aren’t having success in negotiating or aren’t trying.
 
45/70fan said:
Rogers has good prices and awesome sales at times. Free shipping at $99.
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^Spot on^ Rogers is another that bears checking twice a week or so for some occasionally crazy low prices!

Example: $20 / box of Federal AE 38Spl w free shipping >$99 is lowest I’ve seen in a long while …: https://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/Clearance/clearance-ammunition

9mm Federal AE 28-cents ppr: https://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/Clearance/clearance-ammunition/caliber/9MM-LUGER
 
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