Target Sports Delivering Again - Megathread

No fan of taxation here, but giving the big internet companies a 6.25 % headstart on top of the economy of scale is sounding the death knell for the local retailers, and the jobs that go with them.
 
No fan of taxation here, but giving the big internet companies a 6.25 % headstart on top of the economy of scale is sounding the death knell for the local retailers, and the jobs that go with them.

Yes and no, why should out of state companies be burdened with collecting and remitting state and local taxes?

But, its not always that way. Go to Shooters Outpost. Look at Dillon reloading then go to Dillon.com. Shooters Outpost discounts. Sure, NH does not have sales tax, but surely there are local dealers in Mass that discount and said discount will far exceed the 6.25% sales tax. Quite frankly, Shooters prices for case quantity of ammo are so close to Target Sports, its just not worth it to order online. And then, there are all the odd ball calibers that Shooters has like 454 Casul, 480 Ruger, 5.7X28 etc, that I really don't need a full case of which I can buy at Shooters by the box. I buy things online that I can't get locally like Geisseles Black Friday sale with free shipping.
 
I ordered on Black Friday, thinking full well that the volume of orders would make it at least a week, if not more, before I got my 9mm & .308. Wrong - the following Monday, snowstorm Monday, my order was here.

SD v. Wayfair changed the concept of nexus for tax purposes. I‘m good with paying the sales tax.
 
Yes and no, why should out of state companies be burdened with collecting and remitting state and local taxes?

But, its not always that way. Go to Shooters Outpost. Look at Dillon reloading then go to Dillon.com. Shooters Outpost discounts. Sure, NH does not have sales tax, but surely there are local dealers in Mass that discount and said discount will far exceed the 6.25% sales tax. Quite frankly, Shooters prices for case quantity of ammo are so close to Target Sports, its just not worth it to order online. And then, there are all the odd ball calibers that Shooters has like 454 Casul, 480 Ruger, 5.7X28 etc, that I really don't need a full case of which I can buy at Shooters by the box. I buy things online that I can't get locally like Geisseles Black Friday sale with free shipping.

I agree with most of your post. What do you mean "its just not worth it to order online"? It takes like 30 seconds - and then ammo shows up at your house. What makes it not worth it
 
Yes and no, why should out of state companies be burdened with collecting and remitting state and local taxes?

But, its not always that way. Go to Shooters Outpost. Look at Dillon reloading then go to Dillon.com. Shooters Outpost discounts. Sure, NH does not have sales tax, but surely there are local dealers in Mass that discount and said discount will far exceed the 6.25% sales tax. Quite frankly, Shooters prices for case quantity of ammo are so close to Target Sports, its just not worth it to order online. And then, there are all the odd ball calibers that Shooters has like 454 Casul, 480 Ruger, 5.7X28 etc, that I really don't need a full case of which I can buy at Shooters by the box. I buy things online that I can't get locally like Geisseles Black Friday sale with free shipping.
But for those that live hours away from SO, it's not worth the gas and time when it takes less than a minute to order ammo online and have it delivered to their door. Maybe if you're spending thousands of dollars on ammo, the tax savings by driving to SO would be worth it? Not sure.
 
Yes and no, why should out of state companies be burdened with collecting and remitting state and local taxes?

But, its not always that way. Go to Shooters Outpost. Look at Dillon reloading then go to Dillon.com. Shooters Outpost discounts. Sure, NH does not have sales tax, but surely there are local dealers in Mass that discount and said discount will far exceed the 6.25% sales tax. Quite frankly, Shooters prices for case quantity of ammo are so close to Target Sports, its just not worth it to order online. And then, there are all the odd ball calibers that Shooters has like 454 Casul, 480 Ruger, 5.7X28 etc, that I really don't need a full case of which I can buy at Shooters by the box. I buy things online that I can't get locally like Geisseles Black Friday sale with free shipping.
Completely the opposite of my experience lol.
I've never seen brass 9mm for 16 cents per round in a shop. Brass .223 for 25 cents. 7.62x39 for 18 cents...never have I seen these prices in a shop (in the past 2-3 years anyway).
Then you factor in the gas and time to drive to Shooters or some other store.
Instead, I get ammo right to my door within a day or two, and with Prime it's free shipping on one box or five cases.

I cannot remember the last time I bought ammo in a store, I think it was 2.5 years ago or so.

ETA: Actually, about 1.5 years ago I bought two boxes of Tokarev ammo because a local shop had it and it was sold out on TSUSA. Otherwise, I get my "oddballs" like 303 British, Makarov, 8mm Mauser, etc. on TSUSA.
 
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I agree with most of your post. What do you mean "its just not worth it to order online"? It takes like 30 seconds - and then ammo shows up at your house. What makes it not worth it

Because UPS likes to leave things outside to get rained on or snowed on. Risk of theft is close to zero where I live but weather is a risk and ammo packed in cardboard doesn't like water. So then I need to call and complain etc, etc, etc. They seem to leave it even if the box is labled signature required. The not worth it comment was based on the risk that the ammunition may get damaged. So, if I know I'm going to be home, I might order online, otherwise I just go to my local dealer who has good prices.
 
Federal HST’s are 50% off right now. I may have missed out on the Wal-Mart sales, but $20 a box for 50 HST’s helps ease my pain.
I was bitching about them having gone up in price not too long ago too.
 
Because UPS likes to leave things outside to get rained on or snowed on. Risk of theft is close to zero where I live but weather is a risk and ammo packed in cardboard doesn't like water. So then I need to call and complain etc, etc, etc. They seem to leave it even if the box is labled signature required. The not worth it comment was based on the risk that the ammunition may get damaged. So, if I know I'm going to be home, I might order online, otherwise I just go to my local dealer who has good prices.

Every order I’ve ever placed (I don’t buy by the case, so YMMV) has been saran wrapped and then double boxed.
 
Federal HST’s are 50% off right now. I may have missed out on the Wal-Mart sales, but $20 a box for 50 HST’s helps ease my pain.
I was bitching about them having gone up in price not too long ago too.

Do you need to have the Prime (or whatever the membership is called) account? I only see $39.99 for a 50 box of HST.
 
Do you need to have the Prime (or whatever the membership is called) account? I only see $39.99 for a 50 box of HST.

This deal usually needs to have it put in your cart to see the discount. Not sure if prime is needed or not, give it a try and see if the price changes.

Update, just tried it without being logged into Prime and the discount applies when put in the cart.
 
Because UPS likes to leave things outside to get rained on or snowed on. Risk of theft is close to zero where I live but weather is a risk and ammo packed in cardboard doesn't like water. So then I need to call and complain etc, etc, etc. They seem to leave it even if the box is labled signature required. The not worth it comment was based on the risk that the ammunition may get damaged. So, if I know I'm going to be home, I might order online, otherwise I just go to my local dealer who has good prices.

I've been having the same experiences with UPS. The last ammo delivery was just before Christmas and they left the package in the snow on my lawn by some bushes over a 100' from my house. The ammo was not in any kind of plastic covering, just cardboard. If I hadn't checked the tracking info, I wouldn't have known it was delivered.

An earlier in the year delivery was left out in the rain, and I have a covered porch where they could leave packages, too. I have complained to UPS, but we all know where that will go, probably give them a good laugh over coffee.

I will check out my local guy to see how close he comes to TSUSA prices. If he is close enough in cost and inventory (or can get it quickly), I will probably give him the business to keep his shop open that much longer.
 
This deal usually needs to have it put in your cart to see the discount. Not sure if prime is needed or not, give it a try and see if the price changes.

Update, just tried it without being logged into Prime and the discount applies when put in the cart.

Thanks. This is exactly what happens. In cart it shows the discount. Nice!
 
I've been having the same experiences with UPS. The last ammo delivery was just before Christmas and they left the package in the snow on my lawn by some bushes over a 100' from my house. The ammo was not in any kind of plastic covering, just cardboard. If I hadn't checked the tracking info, I wouldn't have known it was delivered.

An earlier in the year delivery was left out in the rain, and I have a covered porch where they could leave packages, too. I have complained to UPS, but we all know where that will go, probably give them a good laugh over coffee.

I will check out my local guy to see how close he comes to TSUSA prices. If he is close enough in cost and inventory (or can get it quickly), I will probably give him the business to keep his shop open that much longer.
When TSUSA asks members next time about carriers, maybe say FedEx or someone else...they did a survey a while back (they used to use FedEx) and apparently UPS won, so they switched. My local UPS guy sucks compared to my local FedEx guy so I am unhappy about it. My UPS guy also likes to leave ammo out in the rain, a while back one of my orders was soggy and I was able to tear the cardboard apart with my hands. The amount of saran wrap protected the actual ammo, but it was annoying. The FedEx uses plastic bags to protect it.

If/when TSUSA asks for input again, I will say "go back to FedEx." Others probably have the reverse and a good UPS guy.
 
TSUSA is also receptive to feedback on delivery issues. Last time I had an issue with it being delivered to the wrong house they said they would contact the carrier and complain. Not sure if anything came of it, but it sounded like they wanted to know about issues.
 
No fan of taxation here, but giving the big internet companies a 6.25 % headstart on top of the economy of scale is sounding the death knell for the local retailers, and the jobs that go with them.

Not sure what you mean by this, the rape factor of the typical MA LGS is so big (save for about 3 or 4 gun shops in the whole state) its not like TS collecting sales tax is somehow going to level the playing field.

-Mike-
 
When TSUSA asks members next time about carriers, maybe say FedEx or someone else...they did a survey a while back (they used to use FedEx) and apparently UPS won, so they switched. My local UPS guy sucks compared to my local FedEx guy so I am unhappy about it. My UPS guy also likes to leave ammo out in the rain, a while back one of my orders was soggy and I was able to tear the cardboard apart with my hands. The amount of saran wrap protected the actual ammo, but it was annoying. The FedEx uses plastic bags to protect it.

If/when TSUSA asks for input again, I will say "go back to FedEx." Others probably have the reverse and a good UPS guy.

It’s all relative and you’re probably right that it depends on who your driver is. I will say we use FedEx and UPS at my business for regular and freight shipments alike. FedEx is generally faster, comparatively priced, but has at least 4 times as much incurred damage as UPS. That, coupled with the fact that a FedEx truck ran into and totaled my parked motorcycle are why I voted for UPS and will do so again if they ask for input. YMM(and probably does)Vary
 
When TSUSA asks members next time about carriers, maybe say FedEx or someone else...they did a survey a while back (they used to use FedEx) and apparently UPS won, so they switched. My local UPS guy sucks compared to my local FedEx guy so I am unhappy about it. My UPS guy also likes to leave ammo out in the rain, a while back one of my orders was soggy and I was able to tear the cardboard apart with my hands. The amount of saran wrap protected the actual ammo, but it was annoying. The FedEx uses plastic bags to protect it.

If/when TSUSA asks for input again, I will say "go back to FedEx." Others probably have the reverse and a good UPS guy.
Yeah I'm one of those guys. Hated when they were using FedEx. Ups is much better in my neighborhood at least. In the end it comes down to the individual driver and to some extent his supervisor. If they give a shit, you get decent service regardless of it being ups or FedEx. I have my fingers crossed they stay with ups tbh.
 
When TSUSA asks members next time about carriers, maybe say FedEx or someone else...they did a survey a while back (they used to use FedEx) and apparently UPS won, so they switched.

They used FedEx Home Delivery, also known as "some random english challenged goober in a rented truck", and they sucked hard.
Had it been actual FedEx route drivers it probably would have been OK.

🐯
 
Sure, NH does not have sales tax, but surely there are local dealers in Mass that discount and said discount will far exceed the 6.25% sales tax.

Not "surely" more like "very few". Even if you add the tax into TSUSAs price or even SOs prices, 99.9% of MA dealers aren't even going to be able to
touch those. There are a few small guys that heavy discount and if the wind blows in the right direction you might get a close price from four seasons, but everyone else is
full on rape mode. Mainly because outside of FS most of the shops arent aggressive in buying ammo or discounting.

-Mike
 
Not sure what you mean by this, the rape factor of the typical MA LGS is so big (save for about 3 or 4 gun shops in the whole state) its not like TS collecting sales tax is somehow going to level the playing field.

-Mike-
I guess my thoughts on the unfairness of the tax thing is really sort of knee jerk reaction to one of my kids owning a local independent retail store.
Perhaps posting in this thread was a poor choice...the ammo I buy I do buy from TS. Great service, selection,and terrific delivery time, as well as the price.
I don't however go into the LGS for their hard earned advice and guidance, and then go home and make my purchase online to save a few bucks.
 
FedEx is garbage. TSUSA or otherwise.

They're all kind of garbage these days, particularly this time of year. I blame Amazon putting a choke hold on delivery services for years, demanding ridiculous service cycles in order to keep contracts. That trickles down to these companies demanding ridiculous things of their drivers, which either burns out good ones or prompts the hiring of less than desirable people. Fedex might be on to something in their dropping of Amazon recently.

Still, I get my Target deliveries at work. Even if I'm not here, I know someone will be here to sign for them. I also make sure my regular UPS and Fedex drivers get a gift card for Xmas. Nothing crazy, like a D&D card for some coffee and a donut. Helps with moral and might earn slightly better service.
 
I wonder how many metric tons of ammunition has entered the state since TS-USA green-lighted sales...?
 
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