one place to search gun shop inventories

[Boris]

this has been bugging me for some time now, in this day and age many gun shops post their inventory online. It's super-convenient to look for a specific item or just browse and find a gun I always wanted but never seen available at a right price. I go on GunBroker from time to time, but I'd rather pay few bucks more to support my local gunshop and just pick the gun up, rather than hassle with FFLs, shipping and faxing over forms.

The big issue with all online inventories are:
1. completely disorganized, some have a dozen pages of just listings, that's non searchable. An SKS could be under "Russian", "SKS" or "Tula".
2. I got to go every single gun site in mAss to check who got what. There is no single location that I know of where are I can search all of them and sort by distance, is there?

Am I alone here in my feelings about it? Is there some search service that would look through all gun shops for inventory?


I know that there are some services that try to sign up gun shop owners to post all their guns and I don't know how much hassle it is for them. I know that I won't find the same lists as I get from just going onto their websites, so I'm not talking about creating some new service, just looking for a search tool to sort out existing inventory already posted.

 

[Broc]

a lot of gun shops dont even have a website. Plymouth Bay Outfitters doesnt have one.

Updating inventory daily is too much of a pain in the a** for people. Even big places like Dixie Gun Works have problems with it.

 

[shootback]

I enjoy the hunt

 

[Dench]

Some gun stores have webpages on them that havent been updated for several years.

For whatever reason, massive gun stores typically dont even have well planned out websites. It just doesnt interest them enough to make one thats really kickass and maintain it.

Monsters like Four Seasons have a really basic, 1990's lay out that has information and clipart from 2008 when I started getting into the civilian gun scene. MFL, who is massive has a really basic page that hardly mentions anything about current inventory, since its geared more towards their range.

Northshore firearms updates their page sorta regularly, but has pages on it that were put in when the store was opened 4 years ago still. Northshores page is also a cluttered mess with information endlessly stacked on top of other old and outdated info.

Zero Hours is laughably out of date and looks like I stepped into AOL 3.0 land back in 98'.

Collectors forget about it.

The only time I see gun sites that I think are excellent are ones that are online only. http://www.aimsurplus.com/default.aspx has an amazing web site for instance.

 

[TWtommers]

What you're looking for would require every participating gun shop to keep a real time inventory online to a shared database. I wouldn't hold out much hope. Now, I'm not database guy but I can only see two basic ways of doing this. One is to change their POS sale system or modify it in someway to report to a central database. The other is to hire a person whose sole job is to report changes in inventory directly into the database. The details, of course, is where the devil sets up shop and it could be pretty complicated.

I think you'd have a hard time convincing gun shops that this system would be beneficial enough to them to offset the cost. However, if you want to start a business, you may be able to create such a website. You'd have to sell the idea of participation to the gun shops and/or provide them with the infrastructure for free and then figure out where your revenue comes from but it could be a profitable idea if you get creative.

 

[Boris]

well,
1. It's not about webdesign, I can care less if they got spinning or flaming logos.
2. A bunch of shops have very basic listing like this: http://www.gfaarmstec.com/gfaArmsTecWeap.html

it's just a bunch of simple html files, PITA to browse, but at least they update it somewhat periodically. There are a few other gunshops in mAss that do that. I was thinking about just scraping those pages just to make them easier to search. I'm looking for sanity, not new business ideas. I think that I may whip something real quick for myself, on my local machine and I'm looking to feel out if anyone else would be interested in having it exposed as it would require me posting on a web somewheres.

 

[Squished]

Rant on.

I said a while ago something regarding this topic. The first local gun store to actually put together a decent website will really become a leader in the area. As far as I can see, they all look like they are straight out of the late 90's and pretty boring to view. If I need to scroll more than one mouse wheel down to read content on a page, it's way too long. On top of that, all the local sites are endless amounts of text. I don't want to see text, I want to see pictures and videos. I don't want to see excel sheets with an inventory, I want to see a click-able link with a picture and a price. Not a single firearm store website in New England has a site with any sort of consistency between their pages other than they consistently suck.

As far as the updating goes, if they don't want to keep the website up to date, they shouldn't have one. Period.
If they don't want to update a certain page, delete it.

Find a kind in high school to build a website for free, offer him store credit for when he turns 18 and can legally buy something.

Rant off.

 

[NHKevin]

Kittery Trading Post has a good one. www.ktpguns.com you can search by caliber, manufacturer or action.

 

[Dench]

Find a kind in high school to build a website for free, offer him store credit for when he turns 18 and can legally buy something.

That would require at least 10-15 minutes in writing a well thought out craigslist add. I think your expecting to much.

 

[JRyan]

a lot of gun shops dont even have a website. Plymouth Bay Outfitters doesnt have one.

Updating inventory daily is too much of a pain in the a** for people. Even big places like Dixie Gun Works have problems with it.

http://www.mmpbo.com/

It's not super useful though. I think it's a leftover from the M&M's days.

 

[glide]

Most MA gun shops are painfully lacking in many areas. This is just another one of them.

I don't even bother looking anymore. I have one shop I do all my business through and anything they don't have/can't order I get from CDNN. Done.

 

[Broc]

Kittery Trading Post has a good one. www.ktpguns.com you can search by caliber, manufacturer or action.

their website is annoying to use. But at least they have one.

if you Email them about a rifle, they will reply within a day or two and if you request additional pics, they will send a lot of them. So, their online customer service seems to be excellent. (my experience).

I like the way dixie gun works has it set up. Although be careful when looking at collectible rifles. A lot of them are out of stock.

http://www.mmpbo.com/

It's not super useful though. I think it's a leftover from the M&M's days.

my bad. I guess they do have one. It is still a crappy one.

 

[glide]

This is a great place to search. They have inventory and prices. You can also search by zip, so technically it works for MA.

http://www.davidsonsinc.com/consumers/subsites/inven_search.asp?preview=

 

[Broc]

This is a great place to search. They have inventory and prices. You can also search by zip, so technically it works for MA.

http://www.davidsonsinc.com/consumers/subsites/inven_search.asp?preview=

if you type Kingstons zip, you dont get anything. Middleborough gun shop, plymouth Bay Outfitters and Acme Armament are all less than 25 miles away.

 

[Bob's Gun & Archery Shop]

Rant on.

I said a while ago something regarding this topic. The first local gun store to actually put together a decent website will really become a leader in the area. As far as I can see, they all look like they are straight out of the late 90's and pretty boring to view. If I need to scroll more than one mouse wheel down to read content on a page, it's way too long. On top of that, all the local sites are endless amounts of text. I don't want to see text, I want to see pictures and videos. I don't want to see excel sheets with an inventory, I want to see a click-able link with a picture and a price. Not a single firearm store website in New England has a site with any sort of consistency between their pages other than they consistently suck.

As far as the updating goes, if they don't want to keep the website up to date, they shouldn't have one. Period.
If they don't want to update a certain page, delete it.

Find a kind in high school to build a website for free, offer him store credit for when he turns 18 and can legally buy something.

Rant off.

I don't know I have been working my butt off to get a website that's easier to see inventory and I keep it updated daily when I am open. I think most don't really know what goes into running a website ( its another job all together ). I just relaunched a eCommerce side of my website and have been trying to update and add new inventories everyday, I figure by October I should be done.

And by the way a high school kid is not going to have the know how to get a professional website up and running for a company. You can pay 5k for decent website or up to 250k for awsome website.

 

[Dench]

I think most don't really know what goes into running a website ( its another job all together ).

Squished got done building an intranet for his work in his spare time out of curiosity and boredom that is significantly better then any gun shop website ive seen in MA so far. Squished is not a website creator, either.

And bob, you do have a very nice site also.

 

[Squished]

I don't know I have been working my butt off to get a website that's easier to see inventory and I keep it updated daily when I am open. I think most don't really know what goes into running a website ( its another job all together ). I just relaunched a eCommerce side of my website and have been trying to update and and new inventories everyday, I figure by October I should be done.

Having never seen your website until I just clicked it in your sig line, yours easily is a decade(no joke) ahead of the rest around here. Good work.

I realize websites are a lot of work, but in my eyes no website is better than a crappy website. It's the equivalent of spray painting your company name on the side of your truck instead of having professional cut vinyl decals applied.

No one is going to hire you with a spray painted truck, so why do it on the internet too?

 

[Boris]

small business websites always suck, it's not related to guns, just low budget to do so. Hiring kids to do web design is what gets them into trouble. Web design is not as easy as people think when it comes to large sites that are easy to use and to update.

back on topic. I was going to put together a script to get gun inventory from wherever I can in mAss. Anyone wants that? Otherwise, I won't bother finding a place to host it.

 

[Dench]

small business websites always suck, it's not related to guns, just low budget to do so. Hiring kids to do web design is what gets them into trouble. Web design is not as easy as people think when it comes to large sites that are easy to use and to update.

Your right. Hard work is potentially required to have a polished, easy to navigate and clear web site that will show how professional your store is, its inventory and what is has to offer. Why would a business want to put a page together of information thats well done? Only the entire globe has access to it.

 

[Boris]

Your right. Hard work is potentially required to have a polished, easy to navigate and clear web site that will show how professional your store is, its inventory and what is has to offer. Why would a business want to put a page together of information thats well done? Only the entire globe has access to it.

Gun shops in mAss do most business in store, not on internet. Most people come to check 1. hours 2. inventory. All I care is that shopkeeper has enough time to talk to me and is not a complete d-head. There are some shops that are close to me, that's where I go, but they don't always have what I'd consider buying. I'm mostly opportunist, so if I see something I like and have cash for it, bingo!

The thing with web-design, people who are good at it, most of the time charge good money or work somewhere where they are paid well. $500 for a gunshop is a good chunk of change, for a big corp that's lunch money.

 

[Broc]

small business websites always suck, it's not related to guns, just low budget to do so. Hiring kids to do web design is what gets them into trouble. Web design is not as easy as people think when it comes to large sites that are easy to use and to update.

back on topic. I was going to put together a script to get gun inventory from wherever I can in mAss. Anyone wants that? Otherwise, I won't bother finding a place to host it.

if you can get something together and then provide gun stores with a software, so every time they get a rifle or sell a rifle it adds it or takes it off of inventory and that gets automatically updated to your site, then you could potentially make some money off of that site.

For example: if i am looking for a remington 700, within 50miles of zipcode: 02364, then the website could give me a list of stores, together with links and phone numbers, that have a remington 700 in stock.

Since a lot of people would be looking at your webstie (eventually), you could add banners and links to other websites that would pay you.

once you get 5 or 6 gun stores, then it would be easier to get others to jump on board, since they would be able to see how it works and see the benefits. And eventually you could go beyond New England.

it seems like a lot of work, but a cool idea. if that was your idea and i ddint miss understand you.

The thing with web-design, people who are good at it, most of the time charge good money or work somewhere where they are paid well. $500 for a gunshop is a good chunk of change, for a big corp that's lunch money.

yeah, thats not even close to toilet paper expense for a big corporation.


EDIT: see if you can get a couple of college kids. they have plenty of time and they would probably love to use that on their resumee.

 

[Bob's Gun & Archery Shop]

The thing with web-design, people who are good at it, most of the time charge good money or work somewhere where they are paid well. $500 for a gunshop is a good chunk of change, for a big corp that's lunch money.

your missing a zero at the end of the $500

 

[Dench]

$500 for a gunshop is a good chunk of change, for a big corp that's lunch money.

I dont agree with that. Only small operations would have difficulty paying that.

 

[Acme.Armament]

small business websites always suck, it's not related to guns, just low budget to do so. Hiring kids to do web design is what gets them into trouble. Web design is not as easy as people think when it comes to large sites that are easy to use and to update.

back on topic. I was going to put together a script to get gun inventory from wherever I can in mAss. Anyone wants that? Otherwise, I won't bother finding a place to host it.

Thank you. Most folks like ours, http://www.acmearmament.com, which we try and update every Saturday morning.

EDIT: see if you can get a couple of college kids. they have plenty of time and they would probably love to use that on their resumee.

Good idea, but it's the updating a website that can kill a shop. The updating is like a regular maitenance cost and like dusting the shelves, it may get overlooked.

your missing a zero at the end of the $500

Not always true. I traded a Karma for our website. MaxStravinsky here did it and it is what she does for living.

I dont agree with that. Only small operations would have difficulty paying that.

Small stores would have a problem paying the regular maintenance costs if they chose to keep the site up to date. I am lucky in that my employee does the updating for me . Keeping online inventory may or may not be adventageous for a store, as customers will not see something they like. If online inventory is not up to date and the customers go into the shop, there is a better chance to sell them something.

 

[Broc]

Good idea, but it's the updating a website that can kill a shop. The updating is like a regular maitenance cost and like dusting the shelves, it may get overlooked.

yes, i know that.

If you just keep an Excel file with all your inventory, and as you buy more or sell you just update the excell file, then you can just publish it to your website. making updating that much easier and on a daily basis.

But, thats jsut the easy way. You wont get any nice looking pictures.

 

[Boris]

Small stores would have a problem paying the regular maintenance costs if they chose to keep the site up to date. I am lucky in that my employee does the updating for me . Keeping online inventory may or may not be adventageous for a store, as customers will not see something they like. If online inventory is not up to date and the customers go into the shop, there is a better chance to sell them something.

not to me, if I'm going to the store, I know what I'm buying, unless it's a trivial little thingie. Fool me twice, and I'd rather go to shops that keep their list in synch and I'm not wasting gas. Most gunshops in mass as small enough, so that if I don't see what I was looking for, chances are slim that I'll find something else I may like. That, plus having a kid, wife and a couple of jobs makes my time valuable to me.

what I am putting together does not require gunstores to do anything beyond just keeping their inventory somewhere in some format, on their sites. I'll scrape and present that and make it actually searchable.

 

[Dench]

Small stores would have a problem paying the regular maintenance costs if they chose to keep the site up to date. I am lucky in that my employee does the updating for me . Keeping online inventory may or may not be adventageous for a store, as customers will not see something they like. If online inventory is not up to date and the customers go into the shop, there is a better chance to sell them something.

Adam, when I used to work at a local store, we would get phone calls from all over the world literally about gun sales in shipping firearms. From Iceland, to a few African Countries to the Caribbean to far off states like CA. Usually we would be unable to help them due to the laws, but in some cases non firearm/ammo sales could be made.

I'm very confident that if the site was better, they would be able to have much more people outside of MA call in and order things via the phone.

A good website is an investment, and if done properly will easily pay for itself.

 

[Acme.Armament]

A good website is an investment, and if done properly will easily pay for itself.

Yes it is. We have put a firearm up on the website and had call/email the same day or the next.

 

[drgrant]

I find such inventory listings only marginally useful. You still have to call up the dealer to find out whether or not the gun still exists anyways. A lot of sites a poorly maintained. Aggregating data from different gun dealers is a dumb idea unless they actually bother to maintain the accuracy of the data.

-Mike

 

[M1911]

A number of years back, after the state started enforcing the "consumer protection" regulations, I was perusing Collector's web site and saw that they had a used Wilson Combat 1911 in stock. I quickly ran off to the store with a great wad of cash...