Hazmat fees

Savage30L said:
Our locals are Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse. No discount over internet prices but I don't have to pay shipping or hazmat for powder I buy there. But it's a crap shoot, as to whether or not they'll have what I want.

A couple of weeks ago I looked at the Cabela's web site and it said my local had Win 231. I drove the 18 miles to the store, only to be told that they didn't have it.
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Know the feeling. After same experience, as I was IN Cabelas, I used the online check inventory function with Dept mgr standing next to me. It showed in stock but shelves were empty. He actually said well somebody in here has it in their cart then. I called BS and said let’s go find them. He declined.

Mine is a 35 mile trip one way
 
Link please? Have you received it yet?

I bough Vihtavuori 310 from American Reloading for $125 delivered for 4 pounds. They just delivered it this morning by FedEx. I don’t know what they have left, but get on their mailing list. I’ve recently bought a 1000 rounds of primed brass in both .38 Special and .380 ACP for less than $100 delivered. It’s like getting the brass for free.
 
June2020-October 2021, I didn’t care!

Most times I bought way more than I wanted just to spread out the HazMat fee. I had powders I wanted disappear (OOS) because I was trying to maximize the HazMat fee.

When you get to a certain point, you can factor price (s) in. I’m there now.

But for a long time (2 years) I bought what I could get.

Now I have some powders I may never use. They were the best I could get at the time, but not the best I can get now.

That said, they are newly manufactured (less than 3 years) so they’ll last my lifetime. If I use them, fine. If not, I’m sure they’ll be in some post on THR about some great “estate sale.”
 
kalielkslayer said:
June2020-October 2021, I didn’t care!

Most times I bought way more than I wanted just to spread out the HazMat fee. I had powders I wanted disappear (OOS) because I was trying to maximize the HazMat fee.

When you get to a certain point, you can factor price (s) in. I’m there now.

But for a long time (2 years) I bought what I could get.

Now I have some powders I may never use. They were the best I could get at the time, but not the best I can get now.

That said, they are newly manufactured (less than 3 years) so they’ll last my lifetime. If I use them, fine. If not, I’m sure they’ll be in some post on THR about some great “estate sale.”
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I could’ve written that!
 
rperyam said:
Link please? Have you received it yet?

I bough Vihtavuori 310 from American Reloading for $125 delivered for 4 pounds. They just delivered it this morning by FedEx. I don’t know what they have left, but get on their mailing list. I’ve recently bought a 1000 rounds of primed brass in both .38 Special and .380 ACP for less than $100 delivered. It’s like getting the brass for free.
Click to expand...
Holy Crap!!
 
I started reloading shotshells over 50 years ago, and even then, it was pretty rare to find local stores that stocked reloading supplies. Common factory loaded ammo available everywhere, but not reloading supplies. It was 100 miles one way to find a retail store that stocked powder, shot, primers and reloading equipment and supplies. So when you made that trip, you stocked up. And if you wanted it, you made the trip, as online didn't exist yet. As recent as 1990, Midway was a dinky little one man gun shop in Midway, which is nothing more than a wide spot in the road. Speed limit doesn't change when you go thru Midway.

Have been looking for some hard to find brass for past few months. Called a reloading retail shop a couple weeks back and they had it. Key word being retail. They don't ship. So off I go.......3 hours round trip. But as large as they are, even being a dedicated retail shop, what they have in stock is dwarfed by the inventory of a Midway, Brownells' or Grafs. That shop is about the size of my garage. MidwayUSA building might cover 20 acres.

So that is a double edged sword. The big online retailers have it, but most are so far away, it only makes sense to have them ship it. But either way, driving or shipping, best way to mitigate haz mat fee is to buy in bulk. When you order online, make it count.
 
I also try to buy local, even if it is a bit of a drive it is worth it to save the hazmat fees. You might also try gunshows, the entry will pay for the fees, only reason I go to gunshows.
 
hso said:
Some sellers just don't tell you you are paying it and others itemize it, but they're all paying it and passing it along.
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Yes, this is where the “stick it to business” mantra falls apart. However most people just don’t think of the obvious solution…pass it on to the customers.

Easiest to see on goods on Amazon and eBay, the “free shipping” prices for goods are higher than ones that calculate it when ordered.
 
Has anyone ever figured out what the shipper does to justify a $35 Hazmat fee other than put a sticker on the box and write the box number on a sheet?
 
jmorris said:
Yes, this is where the “stick it to business” mantra falls apart. However most people just don’t think of the obvious solution…pass it on to the customers.

Easiest to see on goods on Amazon and eBay, the “free shipping” prices for goods are higher than ones that calculate it when ordered.
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It’s part of the business. There’s a couple of interesting methods for getting business: loss-leader sales and opportunity cost management. Selling or giving away stock at a loss to attract customers is how the phrase TANSTAAFL came into being. Related but not identical is selling at or below cost to deprive the competition of a sale and build up a customer base. The old adage, “We can make it up in volume,” is an accounting trick to explain how both ideas work - or fail. Depends on who you ask.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
It’s part of the business. There’s a couple of interesting methods for getting business: loss-leader sales and opportunity cost management. Selling or giving away stock at a loss to attract customers is how the phrase TANSTAAFL came into being. Related but not identical is selling at or below cost to deprive the competition of a sale and build up a customer base. The old adage, “We can make it up in volume,” is an accounting trick to explain how both ideas work - or fail. Depends on who you ask.
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That’s what Simon Roth said, “It’s only bidness” and “This is the bidness we have chosen.”
 
Best trick I was able to pull off, when powder was almost impossible to find, late one night I stumbled across some Bullseye on Bass Pro website. One of the choices was "pick up at local store" so that's what I clicked. Result, Bass Pro shipped to a store (no cost to me) not too far from me and I went out a few days later. Honestly, I was paranoid that someone in the receiving store was going to hijack it.
 
The only way I have found to eliminate or lessen the hazmat fee is to make bigger purchases by getting buddies to buy with you in one order, or buy in person & not have to ship the purchase. It just another thing we accepted to be able to reload.
 
Like AK hunter and others have said , go with big orders for yourself or try to do a group buy if you know another reloader in your area. I usually buy a powder, from a local source, that I want to try. Then make a large purchase online. Watch for sales or free hazmat deals.
 
I just checked and the same concept still works. Going to Bass Pro website, if they have the powder some where they will ship it free to a store near you. On the final checkout page the system will automatically show ship to your address (with fees) but you can click ship to the store you designate as your store and the fees disappear. There is a note that says it may take up to seven days and they will email you when it arrives
and ready for you to pick up. I'm guessing the same thing would work for Cabelas but don't know for sure.
 
jag22 said:
I just checked and the same concept still works. Going to Bass Pro website, if they have the powder some where they will ship it free to a store near you. On the final checkout page the system will automatically show ship to your address (with fees) but you can click ship to the store you designate as your store and the fees disappear. There is a note that says it may take up to seven days and they will email you when it arrives
and ready for you to pick up. I'm guessing the same thing would work for Cabelas but don't know for sure.
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Yes cabelas too. Used it half dozen times up until early 2021 when they stopped temporarily for powder & primers.
 
I used to use BP for powder & primers but availability has not been good for a long time. Ship to store is great if the products are available.
 
9mmepiphany said:
When you consider the price of gas for a round trip, doing the math would be a good idea...obviously YMMV :p
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Lets see, lets say gas is $4 a gallon for easy math, here it is currently 3.65 when I filled up at lunch. My average hazmat fee is $30 something. Lets keep the numbers easy and say that buys 7 gallons of gas.. But what about the cost to get in, ok $10 to get in, that will cut my available gas down from 7 gal to 5, again using round numbers. Now how far will my car go on a gallon? Well being one of those goof balls that records every fill up the miles traveled on that tank, the date I filled, the cost per gal and the MPG the car "thinks" it got (usually it shoots a bit low) I have a record from the first tank. Baring the tank when the torque converter failed causing it to not lockup I get 26.7 MPG on a regular basis, sometimes 27.x but usually over 26.5. So lets say 25 MPG again for easy. How far will 5 gallons take me at 25mpg 125 miles, cut in half for the trip both ways 62 miles one way. That is quite the haul for a gun show. I am sure some make long drives to these shows but I am not one of them.

This math is almost as much fun as calculating reloading costs when people say "doing the math would be a good idea". Your right it is a good idea to do the math.
 
You forgot to count the cost of your time, like some reloaders do when it comes to the cost of reloading ammo, like they miss work to reload. ;)
 
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