What the hell is with Midway and their shipping costs??????

eganx · Sep 15, 2012

Its been a while since I have ordered anything from Midway, mainly due to funds going to life expenses instead of hobbies. But I need to finish a few rifles with Gunkote so I looked to see if the manufacturer had a better price than Midway. Both Midway and KG sell the pints for the same price, but Midway wants $15 for shipping. Really!?!?!?!? I know they sell a very high volume of product, so they get a very large discount on shipping with their preferred carrier............so they recoup money by jacking you on shipping????? KG wants $10 for shipping so they get my business, simple as that. Ok, I'm done ranting.....sorry for wasting your time - Egan

Greenbug · Sep 15, 2012

Remember back when shipping was free from Midway..... Those were the days!

Sgt Nambu · Sep 15, 2012

Yeah but Larry Potterfield still has that big smile for us! LOL!!!

timac · Sep 15, 2012

Try Brownells, type code DSR for free shipping

Burt Gummer · Sep 15, 2012

I love Midway, but have to agree. The only worse abuser has to be Amazon. Sometimes the shipping is great, even free. But then if you get careless and want to whip through the checkout and not pay attention, you'll really get bent over.

$55 for a box of peanuts and snacks to be shipped that probably weigh ten lbs at most.

Reminds me of Ebay also. That is why when I am looking for something and there are multiple choices I select "free shipping' on the left so everyone is on an even playing field price wise.

PX4WA · Sep 15, 2012

Midway always has some coupons for 10 off 100 and occasionally 10 off 50...

Offsets the cost a bit..

Sorry for my ignorance, who is KG?

As for amazon my sister paid for a prime membership and apparently it can be shared to 3 others... So i get mostly free 2 day shipping with amazon prime...

eganx · Sep 15, 2012

KG is the manufacturer of Gunkote. The coupons are nice, but I just want $30 worth of gunkote, which turns to $45 with shipping........

Unfortunately Brownells only has Gunkote in their aerosol cans.....and the only other people to get it from are Midway or KG.

timber crasher · Sep 15, 2012

I've been ordering from Midway lately, and have also noticed the excessive shipping charges for the small items I ordered.Thought I might try just asking my local gunshop.It probably wouldn't take any longer.

M1357 · Sep 15, 2012

I've seen the same thing. Most of my riders have been through Brownell's when they offer free shipping. Also, I've found several items available on Botach.com and even amazon, both offering free shipping (amazon with their Amazon Prime annual pass)

SIXGUNRUGER · Sep 15, 2012

I've always been pleased with the shipping rates at Midway. You can choose what carrier you want and the speed most of the time. I've ordered a few light or small items like replacement screws or magazines and paid less than $4.00 for First Class shipping. Most places have a flat rate. I like using them. :s0155:

jonn5335 · Sep 15, 2012

I really like midway but have to agree on high shipping costs I usually put a few orders in a year for $500-1000 to save on shipping and wait for everything to come off backorder so I don't get hit up for shipping everytime a product comes in and wait for the bullseye coupons to come out $50 off $500 If I'm dropping a few hundred or more they should be able to eat the shipping I wish midway had retail stores

gaijinsamurai · Sep 16, 2012

I tend to order a lot from Midway, and find it advantageous if my order will be for multiple items. For a single 20/50 rd. box of ammo or something small, it isn't worth it.

nubus · Sep 16, 2012

Being in the industry I can tell you first hand, the boxes, packaging and labor to wrap then are not free and have escalated in price a lot in the past few years. I actually give Midway an A+ for shipping because they offer the priority mail flat rate for heavy items like bullets. I got a 40 lb. box of bullets shipped for $18.00. Everyone has lowered they're prices to be Internet competitive and when you only make $3-5 on $20 dollar product the $1-2 you spend on the box and the tape kinda kills your profit.

Natty Bumpo · Sep 16, 2012

jonn5335 said:
I really like midway but have to agree on high shipping costs I usually put a few orders in a year for $500-1000 to save on shipping and wait for everything to come off backorder so I don't get hit up for shipping everytime a product comes in and wait for the bullseye coupons to come out $50 off $500 If I'm dropping a few hundred or more they should be able to eat the shipping I wish midway had retail stores

It looks like backorders at Midway are now subject to a separate shipping charge. This looks to me like they are assessed charges as if they were new orders.

From their site:

Backorder Shipping
All backorders ship upon arrival and incur a regular shipping charge.

I try not to get too upset about their shipping, but rather factor those costs into the total price and then compare. More than once I have failed to press the "send" button on an entire order after seeing their charges.

While I do like the range of shipping options they offer, I like better the more simpler methods that most other retailers use.

blitz · Sep 16, 2012

gaijinsamurai said:
I tend to order a lot from Midway, and find it advantageous if my order will be for multiple items. For a single 20/50 rd. box of ammo or something small, it isn't worth it.

same here, there is always something else you need. just throw a few more small things in the cart. pins,springs, firing pins and so on. its good to have spare parts. there are plenty of other things midway has to offer as well to help even it out.

i always order from midway, if they have it....

motoman98 · Sep 16, 2012

I've been a loyal customer of Midway for years. However, there is competition in the market, so why not look around?
I like to check at www. grafs.com as they have a flat add on for shipping and really shine on small orders.

GTeye · Sep 16, 2012

nubus said:
Being in the industry I can tell you first hand, the boxes, packaging and labor to wrap then are not free and have escalated in price a lot in the past few years. I actually give Midway an A+ for shipping because they offer the priority mail flat rate for heavy items like bullets. I got a 40 lb. box of bullets shipped for $18.00. Everyone has lowered they're prices to be Internet competitive and when you only make $3-5 on $20 dollar product the $1-2 you spend on the box and the tape kinda kills your profit.

Shipping rates, as well as equipment to ship, can all be negotiated with the perspective carriers (FedEx, UPS, LTL carriers), the only one that doesn't apply to is USPS (Imagine that....)

The problem is that many companies look to shipping charges as a source of revenue when the reality is that they often get 20%-60% off of the standard rates due to the volume of shipping that they do but many still charge the customer the non discounted rates. I don't just say this out of thin air, i work for a company who writes shipping software that is certified yearly through every major carrier from small parcel to full trucks loads.

No doubt, the cost of certain things, such as boxes, shipping materials, etc have to factor in but those, when bought in large bulk quantities, cut the cost drastically. People who are peforming the packing and shipping also have to be paid, so that has to be factored in as well.

Personally I agree, Midway has gone a bit nuts on the shipping side, as has many companies, which is why they probably see a spike in sales of a few hundred percent when they offer free shipping specials.

Grunwald · Sep 16, 2012

Few months ago they had some blem bullets on sale. I was going to order a bunch, but did not due to their shipping costs. Another 2 vendors I have used in the past used the USPS flat rate boxes and shipped 2000 bullets in a box, while Midway was going to ship only 1000 for that cost. Sorry, but I am not going to pay double for shipping, especially when that means another $100 plus to my cost.

I did however by FAL compliance parts and the shipping was reasonable enough.
I guess you just have to always keep it in mind and look at the total cost.

DoubleTapDrew · Sep 17, 2012

I used to order mainly from Midway but finally got fed up with their shipping rates. Shipping rates have gone up, but not 300% (and my company does ship quite a bit). They have good prices until you factor in shipping. They are starting to remind me of ebay. Sell an item for $1.99 then charge $39.99 for the shipping.