Help me Help you...

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

wstoldt

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2012
Messages
25
Brass by Bill LLC has just opened this month (December 2012). I wanted to ask a few questions and get some feedback that will help me curve my business towards my customers needs.

1. What features do you look for when purchasing once fired brass?

2. Would you rather buy the brass "dirty" or would you like it tumbled?

3. Would you rather buy the brass de-primed or would you rather just do it yourself in the reloading process?

4. (answer only if you answered question 3 with a Yes)Would you rather have them de-primed and sized at the same time to save you a step?

5. What kind of quantities would you be purchasing at one time of rifle and pistol brass?

6. What value would you put on a company selling once fired brass offering services such as de-priming, sizing, and tumbling (stainless steel).

Thanks in advance for any help you give me! Please keep in mind this will help me be able to sell to you my customers in a more efficient and speedy way.
 
Me personally I would like to do all the cleaning and depriming myself. For one, that way I can see the original condition of the brass prior to anything happening to it. Secondly, I don't want to pay the extra money that it'll cost me for the brass if someone else does it.

Selling lot size, I would say minimum 500 in pistol and small rifle size.

Minimum 100 for rifle for calibers over .223.

Just my .02.
 
1. What features do you look for when purchasing once fired brass?
Price and/or can you certify it's only once-fired

2. Would you rather buy the brass "dirty" or would you like it tumbled?
dirty, so i know it's condition

3. Would you rather buy the brass de-primed or would you rather just do it yourself in the reloading process?
Most reloaders started to save money. - so I'd rather do it myself

4. (answer only if you answered question 3 with a Yes)Would you rather have them de-primed and sized at the same time to save you a step?
No

5. What kind of quantities would you be purchasing at one time of rifle and pistol brass?
100 - 500

6. What value would you put on a company selling once fired brass offering services such as de-priming, sizing, and tumbling (stainless steel).
Some may want it, but not me
 
Last edited:
I prefer to buy clean brass if it isn't much more than dirty. Let someone else take their time/resources to tumble, my time is worth something.
 
Here are my answers.

1. What features do you look for when purchasing once fired brass?
Actually knowing brass was once-fired would be a feature. Knowing that the primers are not crimped (ie, 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, etc.) would be a great feature.

2. Would you rather buy the brass "dirty" or would you like it tumbled? I would rather buy dirty and save the money.

3. Would you rather buy the brass de-primed or would you rather just do it yourself in the reloading process? I would rather deprime and size myself.

5. What kind of quantities would you be purchasing at one time of rifle and pistol brass? 1000 - 5000 for common pistol brass (9mm, 40s&w, 45ACP) and 223/5.56. 100- 500 for rifle.
 
Good input so far....from what I am hearing from you guys (and other forums) it would be good of me to offer a range of prices like (for example)

9mm-1000pcs for $25 + Shipping as is or Stage 1
9mm-1000pcs for $30 + Shipping tumbled or Stage 2
9mm-1000pcs for $35 + shipping fully processed (de-primed and decapped) or Stage 3

Something like that seem too complicated?

Again thanks for all the great input!

One more thing....is there a value as a customer to have all same headstamp? If so what headstamps are worth it and which are not? This way I can offer same headstamps in one lot and throw all the "other stuff" into one lot to make up 1000
 
Last edited:
A lot of folks don't sort by headstamp for pistol. Me though, I sort all my brass pistol and rifle.

Rifle, it would definitely be nice to buy say all LC, or all Winchester etc...

Pistol, most don't care.
 
I would want clean brass. Deprimed would be nice, but not important. Resizing is also not important to me because I would resize anyway just to make sure it is done correctly.

Lot sizes would start at 500 for handgun brass. Rifle brass would start at 100.

For me, the value of the company would be based on inventory, price and USPS flat rate shipping.
 
Once-fired brass should not be "dirty", so I wouldn't pay extra for someone cleaning it
Deprimed is nice, but not necessary
I'll size the brass
500 minimum for pistol
100 minimum for rifle, except for oddball ones (which I doubt you'll be handling)
 
I think the 3 different stages would be a good idea, you would want to appeal to the largest group of customers possible. Also consider custom orders, someone may want something different and you should do all that you can for your customer. Good luck and let us know where to buy.
 
I want it just like it was collected, but not so dirty that the dirt bumps up the shipping weight by a bunch. And minus spiders. Yeah, it has happened to me.

I would probably buy only .357Mag, .44Mag, and .44SPL and rifle cases other than .223 / 5.56.
 
I don't really care about cleaned, deprimed, etc. *HOWEVER*, one thing to consider is that sometimes the cases are deformed, crushed, bent, etc., and the process of cleaning/depriming/"checking" can identify those and weed them out.

I'm not interested in paying for such deformities, and yes, it's happened from various vendors that I've used.

One other thing to note is that some ammo can have crimped primers (yes, even handgun ammo such as those used in SMGs), and anything that can be done to eliminate those from the lot that you're selling, would be a good idea.

And if you're going to sell .45acp cases, then you already know they can be either SPP or LPP, so perhaps offering a package that includes exclusively one or the other size, might be a good idea.
 
I hope you'll allow me some "out of the box" comments.

Shipping can be a major expense; I suggest that you use the USPS "If it fits, it ships" plan of three sizes of shipping boxes, with a flat rate determined by the size of the box. The size of the box will also determine the number of cases in a lot. Lot size will also vary with case size.

The USPS shipping rates are attractive for these "standard" boxes - and the box is included in the cost of shipping, The United States Government will maintain your inventory of shipping materials - including the address labels!

For each caliber, you can offer a small, medium and large lot size, depending on the box size - and the shipping cost will be determined by the size of the box - the same price for anywhere in the U.S. You don't have to weigh the package; it doesn't affect the shipping cost.

To my knowledge, no other 'brass merchant operates this way - which is the main reason why you should: It's very simple, cheap and fast. :cool:
 
A friend of mine owns a business that sells fired brass (he actually has my brass sorter now) he sells clean in flat rate boxes. This last week he sold over 730,000 pieces. The last 4 pallets of it was sold mixed and dirty to a manufacturer.
 
I would rather buy it in the raw, unprimed, unsized, and dirty. As for quantities, I would buy 200 of rifle at one time, and 500 - 1000 pistol at one time.
.10 per piece of rifle brass and same for pistol in the raw.

GS
 
1. What features do you look for when purchasing once fired brass?

Price and condition.

2. Would you rather buy the brass "dirty" or would you like it tumbled?

Dirty or clean does not matter to me. I run the brass through my tumbler anyway.

3. Would you rather buy the brass de-primed or would you rather just do it yourself in the reloading process?

Depends on the price. If I see a batch that is primed and one that is unprimed that are the same price, I will get the unprimed ones just for convenience. Otherwise I will do the depriming myself.

4. (answer only if you answered question 3 with a Yes)Would you rather have them de-primed and sized at the same time to save you a step?

5. What kind of quantities would you be purchasing at one time of rifle and pistol brass?

As large as I can get/afford.
 
Thank you for all the great comments and info on this survey. This is helping us get our bearings in this market to offer a good price with great customer service.

I do sell with the flat rate option. Everything from the bubble envelope up to the large box. I always try to get the cheapest shipping possible to pass it onto the customer. This is a no-brainer in my mind as it is easy and cheap like you said!

I do believe I will probably be going with the 3 options just to be able to reach as many people as possible. This "job" I created for myself was started to help benefit a local charity financially and want to make sure that happens!

As far as where to shop...right now it is just by contacting me at [email protected]. I do hope to open a website in the future but as of right now it is a small operation.

I am currently carrying 9mm, 40sw, 38 super, and 38 special. That being said I just purchased 1400lbs of brass this week and I am still sorting through it. I have ran across 308, 223, 45 acp, 45 long colt, 357, 38 special, a couple 30-06 and so far that is only 2 buckets out of 25 total! So I will have some serious inventory soon. Hopefully will be doing business with some of you in the near future. I do have a "wish list" started for some customers. If you would like to be added to it, please send me an email to [email protected] with your name, what you are looking for, quantity, and what you would like done to it. I do use a stainless steel tumbler so keep in mind that is the "tumbled" option. However all of my brass gets dry tumbled for at least 45 min just to make sure they are ok to leave my possession and into your hands.

Furthermore since my inventory will be getting pretty big pretty soon, I will probably be looking into doing same headstamp lots also. Is there any stamp that will be "pointless" to do this with so it will make it quicker on my behalf?

Thanks again for your info and helping me help you with reloading brass needs.

Bill Stoldt
Brass by Bill LLC
[email protected]
 
1. Price, where it came from.

2. Dirty, or tumbled in corn cob, no stainless steel tumbling.

3. As is. Ne decapping or sizing.

4. Neither.

5. 500 plus for the most part. 100 for some rifle calibers.

6. None
 
For military brass, I'm sure you could do a premium service of cleaned, decapped, decrimped, and maybe even trimmed to length.
 
[QUOTE.10 per piece of rifle brass and same for pistol in the raw.
][/QUOTE]

Gamestalker,
If you pay .10 a piece for once fired pistol brass you are nuts. I'm currently paying between .03-.05 a piece depending on caliber for pistol. The op quoted 9mm and .025 a piece/k for 9mm.

I buy mine mixed and dirty. I prefer to sort them out myself and do expect to find bent shells, a few 380s mixed in with my 9mms, and some odd ball items once in a while.

At the prices your offering some of these things are to be expected. I usually do full inspection on all range brass no matter what the claim is.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
Brass
Replies
18
Views
995
testar77
T
T_Bone
  • Locked
Where to sell cleaned, de-primed range brass?
Replies
8
Views
414
Walkalong
Walkalong
Epicurean
  • Locked
Hand priming?
2
Replies
45
Views
2K
.308 Norma
.308 Norma
PCCUSNRET
  • Locked
Are Swede 6.5X55 Berdan Primers Size Same As GP-11?
Replies
0
Views
595
PCCUSNRET
PCCUSNRET
A
  • Locked
How do you wet tumble?
2 3
Replies
62
Views
3K
Kaldor
Kaldor
Back
Top