We were notified today by a customer that 2A Sales in Jessup, MD were no longer accepting transfers from us. The customer had purchased an AR15 lower from us, and had wanted to send it to 2A Sales since they were already on file. Upon contacting them, he said they refused the transfer.
I personally called up 2A Sales and inquired what was going on. We weren’t sure if the customer had heard something incorrectly, or what the issue was.
Upon inquiring, we found out 2A Sales is no longer accepting orders from “Internet Clearing Houses”. They, quote, “Will not accept transfers from JoeBob’s anymore because we only want to support Mom & Pop Shops”. They didn't specify how many other "Internet Clearing Houses" they had blocked from accepting transfers, but they eluded to the fact there were no longer going to be accepting transfers from.
Hmm….
Apparently we are now an “Internet Clearinghouse”. I suppose as a business owner I should take that as a compliment? I assume they meant we are efficient and strong competition, and that we sell product online. Competition is great for the market and customers alike. It keeps service high and prices as low as the market will bear. Obviously now is a crazy time in the market, but competition keeps it as low as possible.
For the record: Our “Internet Clearinghouse” building is actually rather small for the amount of business we churn out. We have a TOTAL of 5000 sq feet at this Veteran Owned business in Hays, KS. Our local storefront, offices, shipping, and storage included. Most would consider that somewhat small. We have a total of 12 employees. 6 of which are part-time, including the Autistic individual hired to do our recycling & janitorial duties. We move inventory fast, but we are cramped at times with inventory stacked to the ceiling in some places. Blu Falcon swung by the shop recently and commented how SMALL it was. Oh the irony…
We try to provide great service, and FAIR pricing. We will never claim to be the lowest price. The first thing you learn about running a retail business is that you’ll never be the lowest price, period. There is always a guy down the street selling something for pennies less. We don’t try to operate as the lowest cost provider, as that means cutting corners elsewhere. We try to provide the best service and pricing we can, period. Sometimes we can fall short on that balance I’m sure, but that’s business. Customers will always price shop and look for the best price and service they can find.
Apparently 2A Sales feels intimated by competition, and thus has banned any transfers for our MUTUAL customers which does nothing but hurt CUSTOMERS. 2A Sales charges a transfer fee for incoming shipments, but apparently they feel that is not enough of a competitive advantage. Instead of stepping up their own game, they try to hurt our business and their local customers by blocking our transfers. The fact of the matter is that most customers will just go down the street to get a transfer. Ultimately customers want the product, not the transfer.
Transfer fees are in place to A: Protect a dealer’s inventory and B: Pay a dealer for their time for doing a background check for customers. The fee varies, typically based on how much a dealer values their time and stocking inventory. This fee makes it cost prohibitive for customers to purchase inventory online rather than local if prices are competitive, which is great. We operate on similar principles locally. If a local dealer has a transfer fee and offers a similarly priced item, why would anyone purchase that same item online and mess with the hassle?
I highly doubt 2A Sales sells many of the same high-volume SKU’s as us, such as the vast selection of AR15 lower receivers we carry. Thus many of their customers may purchase from us for products and services that 2A Sales cannot provide in the same capacity. Our markets don’t overlap much, but apparently the threat is still too high.
Out of nearly 5000 dealers we've worked with, this is the first time we’ve been “BANNED” from offering transfers to their customers. Honestly, I’m not sure if I should be pissed off or laugh at the idiocy of it.
If a dealer doesn’t want competition, or transfers, they should raise their transfer fee to a point above the local market will bear for ALL incoming transfers. They should not try to systemically weed out a dealer who has overlapping mutual customers and whom they feel threatened by. All this does is divide customer bases, and hurt the MD gun owner’s community as a whole. We are both paying sponsors on MD Shooters, but apparently we can’t play nice now? Dumb.
As of today, we are no longer offering transfers in the Jessup area to 2A Sales due to their management's decisions.
However, we do have many dealers in the area that WILL take your money, and accept transfers from us.
You can click This Link: To see what other dealers are currently on file nearest to zip code 20794.
As always, we appreciate all the business from MD Shooters forum members and we apologize if the business decisions made outside of our control affect anyone's outstanding or future order plans.
I personally called up 2A Sales and inquired what was going on. We weren’t sure if the customer had heard something incorrectly, or what the issue was.
Upon inquiring, we found out 2A Sales is no longer accepting orders from “Internet Clearing Houses”. They, quote, “Will not accept transfers from JoeBob’s anymore because we only want to support Mom & Pop Shops”. They didn't specify how many other "Internet Clearing Houses" they had blocked from accepting transfers, but they eluded to the fact there were no longer going to be accepting transfers from.
Hmm….
Apparently we are now an “Internet Clearinghouse”. I suppose as a business owner I should take that as a compliment? I assume they meant we are efficient and strong competition, and that we sell product online. Competition is great for the market and customers alike. It keeps service high and prices as low as the market will bear. Obviously now is a crazy time in the market, but competition keeps it as low as possible.
For the record: Our “Internet Clearinghouse” building is actually rather small for the amount of business we churn out. We have a TOTAL of 5000 sq feet at this Veteran Owned business in Hays, KS. Our local storefront, offices, shipping, and storage included. Most would consider that somewhat small. We have a total of 12 employees. 6 of which are part-time, including the Autistic individual hired to do our recycling & janitorial duties. We move inventory fast, but we are cramped at times with inventory stacked to the ceiling in some places. Blu Falcon swung by the shop recently and commented how SMALL it was. Oh the irony…
We try to provide great service, and FAIR pricing. We will never claim to be the lowest price. The first thing you learn about running a retail business is that you’ll never be the lowest price, period. There is always a guy down the street selling something for pennies less. We don’t try to operate as the lowest cost provider, as that means cutting corners elsewhere. We try to provide the best service and pricing we can, period. Sometimes we can fall short on that balance I’m sure, but that’s business. Customers will always price shop and look for the best price and service they can find.
Apparently 2A Sales feels intimated by competition, and thus has banned any transfers for our MUTUAL customers which does nothing but hurt CUSTOMERS. 2A Sales charges a transfer fee for incoming shipments, but apparently they feel that is not enough of a competitive advantage. Instead of stepping up their own game, they try to hurt our business and their local customers by blocking our transfers. The fact of the matter is that most customers will just go down the street to get a transfer. Ultimately customers want the product, not the transfer.
Transfer fees are in place to A: Protect a dealer’s inventory and B: Pay a dealer for their time for doing a background check for customers. The fee varies, typically based on how much a dealer values their time and stocking inventory. This fee makes it cost prohibitive for customers to purchase inventory online rather than local if prices are competitive, which is great. We operate on similar principles locally. If a local dealer has a transfer fee and offers a similarly priced item, why would anyone purchase that same item online and mess with the hassle?
I highly doubt 2A Sales sells many of the same high-volume SKU’s as us, such as the vast selection of AR15 lower receivers we carry. Thus many of their customers may purchase from us for products and services that 2A Sales cannot provide in the same capacity. Our markets don’t overlap much, but apparently the threat is still too high.
Out of nearly 5000 dealers we've worked with, this is the first time we’ve been “BANNED” from offering transfers to their customers. Honestly, I’m not sure if I should be pissed off or laugh at the idiocy of it.
If a dealer doesn’t want competition, or transfers, they should raise their transfer fee to a point above the local market will bear for ALL incoming transfers. They should not try to systemically weed out a dealer who has overlapping mutual customers and whom they feel threatened by. All this does is divide customer bases, and hurt the MD gun owner’s community as a whole. We are both paying sponsors on MD Shooters, but apparently we can’t play nice now? Dumb.
As of today, we are no longer offering transfers in the Jessup area to 2A Sales due to their management's decisions.
However, we do have many dealers in the area that WILL take your money, and accept transfers from us.
You can click This Link: To see what other dealers are currently on file nearest to zip code 20794.
As always, we appreciate all the business from MD Shooters forum members and we apologize if the business decisions made outside of our control affect anyone's outstanding or future order plans.
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