A brief arcticle on who (or who not) to buy "x" from

[Shifty]

Since this question has long been asked, and long have these answers been difficult to give, I've started thinking that maybe we should put together an FAQ of sorts. Personally, I'll never understand why people seem to go out of their way to locate obscure hole-in-the-wall stores when local stores have giant banners at the top of the screen. Most of the time, these stores they are asking about either don't stock quality equipment, or aren't any cheaper than their local counter parts. With this in mind, I'd like to put together a list of stores that people have dealt with that we can point new people too should they wish to see who is go or no go.

Think of this is a Mini-BBB. Post a list of stores you have *personally* dealt with along with a rating, and a brief description of your dealings with them.

For example

Excellent: 2 Points
Good: 1 Point
Neutral: 0 points
Bad: -1 Point
Horrible: -2 Points

So if 5 people rated a retailer as a Excellent, Excellent, Neutral, Bad, Good, the score would be: 2, 2, 0, -1, 1 . Averaged out this would be a score of:
.8, which would result in a rating of Neutral/Good.

Here are a few examples that I have written out:

airsoftarms.com (Excellent) (Average rating of 2)
-Owners post on this board. Fast shipping and fair prices. Excellent communication and product support. Wide selection of products.

airsoftsmith.com (Excellent) (Average rating of 2)
-Employees post on this board. Fast shipping and fair prices. Excellent communication and product support. Carries a lot of the new high-speed airsoft guns right after they are released.

combatdepot.com (Excellent) (Average rating of 2)
-Owner posts on this board. Fast shipping and fair prices. Excellent communication and product support. Extremely helpful when it comes to locating some obscure part or gun you want/need.

redwolfairsoft.com (Good) (Average rating of 1)
-Good prices provided you buy in bulk, because shipping costs start at somewhere around the $30 range. Ships fast. Returns can be difficult, as this retailer is located in HK. Mediocre communication via email.

wgcshop.com (Bad) (Average rating of -1)
-Good prices provided you buy in bulk, because shipping costs start at somewhere around the $30 range. Ship slowly. Returns can be difficult, as this retailer is located in HK. Poor communication via email. Quote system is poor and they can take days to get back to you after you've sent a request in.

As of right now, this might seem as though it's in the wrong forum, and I tend to agree with this theory, but since I almost never check the retailers forum (and therefore assume that others likely don't as well), I wanted to increase the number of people seeing this post to give it some validity, it will be moved at a later date.

To clarify a bit. All you really need to do is post how you thought the transaction went (IE Excellent/Neurtal/Bad etc) along with a brief description on WHY it went bad/good, I'll take care of the points. If no description of likes/dislikes is posted, it will be assumed that you are trying to troll the system, and your rating will be ignored. So this can be kept simply and scanned through easily, an overall rating is all that will be kept. I simply don't have the time to assign ratings for different categories, and besides, this isn't the BBB, just a quick reference for people.

[Texx]

OK, If Loki thinks it can be done, I'll Give it a shot.

Something to note on my ratings. I rarely ask retailers questions about their products. most of it is within regards to whether or not an item has shipped. Usually, I expect up to a week (7 days) to recieve items after placing the order if its listed as 'in stock.'

airsoftarms.com (Excellent) Website is extremely organized, user-friendly. Emails are responded to in a short amount of time. Inventory on the website is very reliable. One of the handful of sites that I check on a regular basis. All-around good service and support. Trusted Retailer.

airsoftatlanta.com (Excellent) Website is not as well organized, but simplified. Have never needed to email regarding products. Inventory on website is fairly reliable. One of the few places I have been able to find enough G&P midcaps to place a fairly large bulk order of mags from a retailer having them listed as In Stock. Again, one of the handful of sites I check on a regular basis. Trusted Retailer.

airsoftbattlezone.com (Excellent) Website is very primitive, due to the use of a buggy Shopping Cart program. Business is mostly specializing in repair services and running games at their field. Specializes in "Clone guns" and sells them with durability upgrades. Does sell high end guns on Special Order only. Trusted Retailer.

airsoftextreme.com (Good) Website is nice looking but does not always keep inventory listings current. I have had alot of back ordered items with no notification it was back ordered until the items arrive. This has been my biggest gripe with this retailer. Emails regarding backordered items, they do offer to exchange items or refund.

Airsplat.com (Neutral) Website is ok. They seem to list items by class rather than splitting up by manufacturer. I have actually gotten lost on their website. I have had mostly billing issues with this company. Once I began paying via credit card, those issues disappeard. Most of my orders have been for parts or accessories. Communications on the orders paid by money order or check were difficult. I didn't have to contact them for the orders I placed with a credit card.

Blazingtoys.com (Good) Website is similar to other smaller retailers out there. I found this site while looking for ICS parts. They have one of the most complete listings of ICS parts I have ever seen. All of my questions about ICS (that I didn't point to Airsoft Arms first) have been answered quickly. They advertise including Free BBs with every order. You should probably just throw them away.

combatdepot.com (Excellent) Website has gone through several "upgrades" in the last few years. :D Current site being the best one yet. I have never had a single issue with this site. Communication has always been immediate. The site does seem to maintain a low inventory, requiring Special Order of items. It does seem to specialize in upgrade and replacement parts, making this site the first I check when looking for parts. Owner is French Canadian, which almost gave it a "Good" rating. Make sure to leave an interesting comment about Blade when placing an order. Trusted Retailer.

DenTrinity.com (Good) Website is not very well organized and huge. This was the second airsoft retailer I visited, the first being shorty usa. They have had slow communications pre-order, but during the order, they replied in a reasonable amount of time. They used to be one of my first stops looking for parts. But I grew tired of trying to navigate their massive site. Now I only go to them when looking for stock Marui parts the others don't have. Overseas shipping seems higher when compared to other HK retailers.

eHobby Asia (Excellent) This is an eBay Store. From what I understand, they ship from HK and a warehouse in California. The average time of order is 7-9 days from the time the order is placed. Email response is fairly quick, but prepare fro broken Engrish. Trusted Retailer.

Kapowwe (Horrible) I see these guys pop up all over various N00b boards and then they turn right around and post questions about them on the regular airsoft boards. I had all around poor experience with them on every single order I placed. I usually give retailers a chance, even if they screw up. Every order I placed was simply tossed in a box with no padding. Every order something was damaged. Not only did they refuse to accept returned items, they even disputed with UPS that the package was poorly packaged. On one occasion they substituted a used part for one that should have been in retail packaging and accused me of trying to scam them. Trying to work this out was impossible. Avoid these people at all costs.

redwolfairsoft.com (Bad) This was another of the first retailers I ran across when I started out. I ordered from them when looking for parts. Then I began hearing about horrible custom work being performed on guns. Then I saw this first hand - they had substituted high end parts for shop modified stock parts, even when the customer had ordered and paid for the high end parts. During this time, I heard several similar complaints from all over the airsoft community. This went on for another year or so. Then came the horror stories trying to get the problems resolved. I no longer even browse their website and I make a point to warn people away from having custom work done by their shops. I will not give them any more of my business as they followed a consistent patterns of poor workmanship and outright fraud. Avoid their custom shop and upgrades.

ShortyUSA.com (Neutral) This is the first site I found with airsoft guns, when I first go into airsoft. This site specializes in Low - Midgrade guns and accessories. If you are looking for UTG parts or accessories, this is a good place to go. I have had excellent service from them. They do showcase their products quite well with picture and the occasional videos. The reviews on the site are mixed - there are some good reviewers on the site who update regularly. Unfortunately, alot of idiot noobs abuse the review system, making the rating systems almost worthless. This is similar with most other sites that offer reviews from customers in this fashion. Emails were responded to quickly. Stock of items seems to shift wildly from week to week. Because of these points, it was hard to give them a "Good" rating.

Warther's Original (Good) I found this guy while looking for Classic Army parts on eBay. The best way I can explain this guy is just to say he buys new Classic Army guns, strips them down to individual components or assemblies and then sells them at a fairly low price. He usually lists exactly what you are getting in the assembly so MAKE SURE you read the full description. Average time to recieve items is 7-9 days, but I've had items take longer. This is likely because it was back ordered. You usually won't get an update if it is back ordered, so assume that everything listed could potentially take a month to get to you. I no longer buy through eBay with this guy, I email a request to him directly and just follow up on Paypal. He is usually pretty good about responding this way. I see he now has a website with a person number listed. I have recommended him to others in the past, but have gotten a few complaints about him. My last order had similar problems. Otherwise, I have had good luck with him. If you're looking for Classic Army parts, he is a good alternative to buying the parts from a normal retailer.

wgcshop.com (Good) This place is my first stop when looking for parts and browsing prices to get an idea for market value. I have placed several orders with this place and I can verify higher shipping and poor email communications. I seem to have best luck with Paypal as direct credit card or money order can hassle the ordering porocess. Still, I like their organization of products, even if Invetory is not updated as quickly as others. They are one of the Major Players, so I cut them a little slack on that side. It is kind of annoying to see products listed there from five years ago as being out of Stock. It might be nicer to just remove them or at least hide them. Still, they earned a permanent place in my bookmarks.

These are the retailers I hit up on a regular basis. I shop all over the net - new guys, old guys, and some that I hit up if I find them on Google. This can sometimes help you find the lowest prices, some killer deals, and some blatantly bad retailers. Do you homework! Chances are, if no one has heard of the retailer, they are either a new retailer or just very bad. Alot of airsoft business is based on word of mouth or in the case of forums word of mouth this guy I know said and I'm now typing.

[fps_mikey]

Well I haven't been much of a huge buyer from many different places but I would just like to say something about airsoftarms.com.

I recently placed an order with them as my first AEG buy. I looked through a few other websites before I came about to airsoftarms, when I saw they were even local I thought it was too good to be true. So I placed my order and waited anxiously for a package or e-mail response. Sadly I received an e-mail response telling me that the product I ordered was out-of-stock even though it said in-stock when I ordered it. (Glitch #1) So I they told me they could maybe get a shipment of the product in a couple weeks, I waited about 4 before replying back to them asking if it was coming or not. At about 6 weeks total after the placement of my order I finally called with inquiry about it and they said that they had it in-stock and it would be shipped in the next few days. (Although they had to fix a glitch in their system to fill my order, Glitch #2).

Another week and a half went by and nothing came so I asked about it again and then they told me my order was finally cancelled. So I asked for a refund and received it rightfully so. Its safe to say that I won't be ordering anything from them for a long time.

(-2)

[Shifty]

Well I haven't been much of a huge buyer from many different places but I would just like to say something about airsoftarms.com.

I recently placed an order with them as my first AEG buy. I looked through a few other websites before I came about to airsoftarms, when I saw they were even local I thought it was too good to be true. So I placed my order and waited anxiously for a package or e-mail response. Sadly I received an e-mail response telling me that the product I ordered was out-of-stock even though it said in-stock when I ordered it. (Glitch #1) So I they told me they could maybe get a shipment of the product in a couple weeks, I waited about 4 before replying back to them asking if it was coming or not. At about 6 weeks total after the placement of my order I finally called with inquiry about it and they said that they had it in-stock and it would be shipped in the next few days. (Although they had to fix a glitch in their system to fill my order, Glitch #2).

Another week and a half went by and nothing came so I asked about it again and then they told me my order was finally cancelled. So I asked for a refund and received it rightfully so. Its safe to say that I won't be ordering anything from them for a long time.

(-2)


You can't give a negative 2 for a single transaction, no more than you can give a positive 2. So at worst the transaction is a (-1).

Edited original post to reflect that.

[Red]

AirsoftSmith: Excellent

I've dealt with Airsoftsmith numerous times, and never have I been disappointed. I highly recommend their services (Repairing, upgrading, purchasing). Excellent customer service, very personable. Way to be, AS staff/employees.

Redwolf Airsoft: Neutral

I've dealt with Redwolf on two orders. They both took forever, but it was expected. If you can't find anywhere state-side to order from, go ahead and order from Redwolf. They're trusted, I've never heard anything really bad about them, and I've yet to experience anything truly bad with them. The only problem that I've had is the amount of time it takes to get a product from them. The shipping can get pricey, too (as Loki stated in his original post).

Not entirely sure if this one will help all that much, but I thought I'd throw it in...

Airsoft Arms: Good

From what I had experienced with the Airsoft Arms Columbus location, it was a good store to buy from. I never ordered online with them, I simply stopped by and picked up what I needed. Friendly service, knowledgeable staff. I've never had an experience with the Airsoft Arms Milford store, but if its anything close to (and I assume it is) the Airsoft Arms Columbus location, it's got a positive vote from me.

[Dead_Pool]

Wgc Shop
I've ordered several parts from them because they typically carry items that are hard to find in the states. Shipping was expensive as Loki said. Customer service was minimal. Arrival times have varied between 1 week and 3 weeks different times I've ordered. Ordering takes at least a day since they send you a quote first, it is very annoying.

Precision Airsoft
They didn't demolish trademarks on any guns I've ordered. Customer service was good. Order arrived in under a week.

Airsoft Atlanta
Great customer service,Will call you if there is a problem. Fast shipping and product always arrives in a week or less.


Evike
The website isn't updated regularly, so items it says are in stock may not be. Customer service is good, they will call you if there is a problem . Arrival of you order may take over 3 weeks if it was out of stock.

Redwolf Airsoft
I've ordered from them many times with no problems. Good customer service. My orders always arrived in under a week. Shipping is expensive.
They did not destroy the trademarks on the guns I've ordered (they used rubber cement that looked alot like it had been dremel attacked.)
Ordering using a credit card seems a bit glitchy from time to time, you may not get the screen that shows your receipt .

Airsoft GI
Great customer service, Fast shipping. I've never had a problem when ordering through them.

Airsoft Smith
Good customer service, and you have the option to buy it online and drive to the store to pick up your order . If you have them ship your order it arrives in under a week. No problems.

[British]

Airsoft Smith (Excellent)- i've bought from here once and had them repair my gun twice, both times i was very impressed with the service. They are one of the best companies i have ever dealt with. as a side note i've been to the store everytime i'm in columbus, it's very nicely set up and neat.

Airsoft Arms (Neutral)- i've shopped here once and been to the westerville location when it existed. i personally was not all to impressed with it as the time i went there was close to the end of it's life span. i'm giving it a neutral just because i don't think it's fair to ding it's rep because of the timing of my visit there. i have one thing to say though... i went to the store twice and both times the workers were 2+ hours late to open the store.

Shorty USA.com (Good)- they shipped fast and had good service but they are a little bit pricy, at least i think so. made the mistake of buying a UTG shotty for $40 there when i could have gotten it for $16 elsewhere.

Pointact.com (excellent)- If you are buying a lot of stuff, go here. you have to make an order of at least $100 but it's all wholesale prices. they ship very fast, about a day slower than smith. they have a pretty good selection of stuff, no high end guns though, at least when i went there.

Evike (good)- customer service is iffy but they ship pretty well considering they are out in california. they have pretty good priceing and a large selection. the search function on the webpage needs to be refined a bit it's turned up a few weird things for me. A few of my things came up on backorder but wasn't listed as such on the website but it got to me 2 days after the first shipment so no complaint really.