MidwayUSA best retail website EVER?

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R.W.Dale

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Not just in the realm of firearms but it it me or is MidwayUSA.com the absolute best retail website for finding and ordering things in the history of the internet. I've been using them for years and I'm always amazed at how little time it takes to find the most obscure products from a variety of manufacturers, with pics no less. I just love reading the various reviews written for different products as well.

Brownells on the other hand has got to have the worst web page in the history of the interweb. I have yet to find anything I'm actually looking for on their website. It's easier to skip the whole mess and use Google to find what you want.
 
I don't know about Midway being the best, but they are pretty good. And Brownells is definitely close to the bottom. I can't find anything on there.
 
I can excuse their limited selection (which isn't actually all that limited if you count the products), as I am in retail, and understand that some products simply don't sell, so you don't carry them.
I don't know if they're the best ever, but they are certainly the most efficient, organized, fastest shipping, best customer service, and excellent priced websites out there currently. A lot of companies could look to them on how internet and mail-order sales should be done.

The closest company I can think of to their level is NewEgg.com, a computer parts company. They used to have unbelievable (order Sunday night, on my porch 9AM Wednsday morning with the least costly) shipping through Fed-Ex, then they switched to UPS and blew it. Then their site was re-designed and made more difficult to search within. I still buy from them, but not as much. At least not since my gun-habit formed :evil:
 
I like Midway and have adjusted to Brownells - both have excellent service. The worst website that I have encountered for gun stuff is Wideners - horrible at best.
 
Cabelas is pretty close, IMHO. Their prices are higher, but their coupons and other discounts are generous and frequent, and the customer service is the best there is.

Midwayusa is a little easier to find stuff, is usually cheaper, and their customer service is also good.

I also like Midsouthshootersupply. And I've never had to use their customer service dept.
 
I like midway for search/browse capability and the ability to search within the previous results.

I also like the rating system.

The product selection isn't bad, but I am left looking elsewhere at times.

My biggest complaint is that it's as slow as mud.

The layout could be also better. Things jump around when I enforce a reasonable minimum font size.

Certainly not the 'best of the best'.
 
Midway does sort of set the bar for firearms related e-commerce. They have an excellent search engine, the site is well organized and they have clickable schematics. They have good, zoomable pics of everything(something many sites do poorly). They have a good review/rating system, a workable wishlist, you can organize searches by price, manufacturer, etc. I like how you can tag something out of stock, and they will email you when it's available. It can be kinda slow though.

Brownell's website isn't too bad really. They are pretty well organized. They have good descriptions, they have a nicer customizable wishlist than Midway's, their order history is very good and they have some good info and newsletters. Their only problem is they have a terrible search engine. Not only does it have limited usability, but it gives many false positives. It's frustrating to try and narrow your search since it only allows you to pick certain brand names (this appears to be a bug though, it only started recently).

Natchez is another site that's almost there, but has some real usability problems and doesn't have good pics of the merchandise. They've made some improvements to their search engine recently though.

Cabella's site is pretty good actually. I've never had too much trouble finding stuff. It certainly looks very professional.

Sportsmans Guide also has a really good website. For some reason it reminds me of JC Penny's.

Overall though, those sites are much, much better than many firearms e-commerce sites.
 
So, MidwayUSA the best? Mmmmm...I don't know. Here's my experience with them for the past 13 years or so....

1. Countless orders from $50 to $800 at a time from them. NOT ONE order has been delivered to me later than stated. Actually, I have my order usually in 3 days, not 5.

2. Fair and honest shipping. No handling charges over $40. Gotta like that. However, I know that the competition against Midway such as Cabela's offers a flat rate on shipping on bullets. Midway may come short on this, but I can accept their policy.

3. I've had a couple of items that were obviously broken during shipping in the past (ammo boxes). I called them up and they immediately shipped replacements with no questions asked and didn't even request the broken one.

4. Their prices are very competitive. They may not ALWAYS have the absolute lowest price on everything, but with the service and quality of products they sell, they earn my business. I'm never concerned on saving 2 bucks on a $100 order to risk buying elsewhere and not getting good service.

5. Technical service is above average.

6. Always polite to me when calling.

7. Website is easy to navigate and provides customers to place reviews on the products they sell.

8. Family owned business.

Need I say more to preach to the choir?....:cool:

4.
 
I like and use Midway for alot of my gun parts and supplies buying. When I use Brownell's, I look it up in the catalogue first, then go to the website and order it with the parts number. When I look it up online, I can never find anything.
 
You do have a good point, Dan. I don't see very many places to order off of a website that can beat a local suppliers' price when it comes to Haz-mat stuff such as powder, primers, etc...

So, my business goes to my local gunshops for these items...
 
Midway is great, but I typically find myself ordering from Brownells more often. It might be that Brownells has a better C&R discount on the accessories I'm often looking for. Brownells also gets stuff to me very quickly, but that's probably because they're about 4 hours away from here.

Midway is great though. I enjoy their spots on the gun oriented TV shows, with product demonstrations and general firearms trivia, and they have a lot of educational material on their website. And it's definitely admirable that it's a family owned company.
 
Just placed an order from them tonight. They are my goto supplier for things shooting. I try to buy from my local guys though, when they have what I want in stock. I'll even pay more and not gripe about it for the convenience of buying locally unless I feel like I'm getting bent over.

Scott
 
I order from Brownells more frequently as well. Brownells' C&R discount has been significantly better for the items I've purchased. Midway is in desperate need of better web hosting, I hate how sluggish their site is.
 
The WORST website is www.patsreloading.com. Everything is on one page and poorly organized.

Midway is one of the better firearms sites, much much better than Brownell's and Natchez.

2. Fair and honest shipping. No handling charges over $40. Gotta like that. However, I know that the competition against Midway such as Cabela's offers a flat rate on shipping on bullets. Midway may come short on this, but I can accept their policy.
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I recently order 5000 bullets from them, ran me almost $400, and shipping was over $40. Still, it was worth it as the bullets were dirt cheap.
 
My first order from Midway was for over $200, so they sent me their Master Catalog for free.

You folks remember the Sears "Wish Book?"

The Midway catalog is just like that.

I especially like the fact that it has exploded views of many firearms, so I don't look like an idiot by calling it the little capturey thingie that's surrounded by the big spring in the front part of the 1911 behind the little almost-screw-type gadget that holds the bullet-comes-out-of-tube in the gun.

Come to think of it, I have to order one of those little almost-screw-type gadgets that hold the bullet-comes-out-of-tube in the gun.
 
http://www.nrapublications.org/TAR/Midway.asp

a good arcticle on the history and behind the scenes look at Midway as seen in a recent American Rifleman.



I have ordered an embarrasing amount of stuff over the last decade, and like shaner, have never had a late shipment, wrong item, or basically any other problem. The customer service is top notch, the shipping is fair, and they do offer "free" shipping on bulk bullets. The hazmat fee on powder and primers is $20 per order, and charged universally, most other vendors just roll it into the prices, or shipping. They have probably the best selection of stuff around, the most user friendly web site, and the prices are good. Get a C&R and you get a dealer discount to "save" :evil: a decent ammount of money. You can also set up an automatic e-mail to tell you when out of stock stuff comes in.

Dixiegunworks.com is also a cool place for BP fans to look at

I occasionally order accesories from cheaper than dir when midway doesn't have something, they are ok, don't have as much stuff as brownells or midway, and have an average web site. For a $10 holster, genuine bulgarian leg warmers, or a polish gas mask, this is the place:D As a bonus, random item sometimes get thrown in with your order, I have recieved a couple lighters, a pair of barbed wire pliers, mystery magazine and an SKS parts kitin this way.
 
Midway the best? Its the best I've used to date.

Word of warning on Cheaper than Dirt: They have two warehouses. If you make an order that draws from both warehouses, you get charged twice for shipping.
 
The worst website that I have encountered for gun stuff is Wideners - horrible at best.
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I think this is too harsh. It is not as polished as MidwayUSA, but then it doesn't need to be, because it carries far, far less inventory. I don't know that I've ever used a "search" function at Wideners, because I don't need one. The site is simple enough to navigate, and is laid out sufficiently intuitively, that it is easy to find everything. In contrast, with MidwayUSA, it is so vast that a good search engine is essential, and they do have a good one.

If I were to select a site that I think has a poor format and search engine, it would be Natchezss. The have a huge choice of items, like MidwayUSA, but it is very hard to effectively or efficiently search their site.

More in the vein of Wideners, another vendor with a very plain web site, but which is adequate for the purpose, it Powdervalley.

Don't judge the website by how glitzy it is. Judge it by how easy it is to use. I don't find Wideners hard at all to use, and buy from them on a regular basis.
 
Midway is no way unless nobody else has it

I ordered one part from Midway yesterday. Part $4.25. After shipping and handling to USA address, the cheapest way, $10.28. I already knew this was going to be the gig before I ordered since I had called to ask a question before finding out if anybody else had it. I went online to make it simple having been fully informed, I thought. Online, add another $3.00 to the order. So went back to the phone, guy on the phone said the extra $3.00 online was for special shipping.What special shipping? The site only showed the cheapest as total $16.28 for the $4.25 part. And to top it off they wanted me to round off the total to the next highest dollar amount to ...donate to the NRA..... as did the guy on the phone.
 
Got to agree that Brownwell's search engine is not that great. However, their service is wonderful. Also, they'll do special shipping if you're just ordering a few screws or some small parts. I think they'll send them in an envelope if needed.
 
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