Optics Planet is backordering orders in order to raise prices during current surge in prices

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Agsalaska

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I hope this is appropriate and I understand if it is not. OpticsPlanet.com is doing the exact same thing Cheaper than Dirt did in 2012 when they committed company suicide by cancelling orders to raise prices. I ordered 500 rounds of Aguila 115gr 9mm on Oct 10. It was showing available for .20c a round. They then sent me a backorder notice out to some distant date that will never happen. But in the meantime they broke all of the cases down to 50 round boxes and priced them .28c a round. Available right now. So they have it, they just won't ship it. And the kicker is they even admitted it to me over the phone two different times that they will not ship it because its worth more in 50 round boxes.

WIlling to lose a client and get a bad review over, what, $80??


Hopefully some of you read this and avoid the same issues.

Has anyone else had the same experience?
 
JDeere said:
What Hillbilly said...Ammo prices are not going up and primer prices are falling. I figured out Optics long ago and what they do. They have no warehouse with stock... no
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That may be true on a lot of inventory but I am pretty sure they warehouse most of the ammo. He even told me exactly what they did and that they did it to 250 people.

When they broke the boxes down from 500 to 50 it become a different SKU so therefore it is a different product. It was a classic warehouse manager making a customer service mistake because fixing the SKU was probably a hassle for him. I was actually quite surprised that he admitted it. And that was after the customer service rep told me the same thing.


Agree on SG ammo. Good company. There are several good ones out there.
 
I haven't bought anything from Optics Planet since the start of the pandemic. I know that in 2020 and 2021 they were notorious for showing things in stock then sending an email to you after purchase stating that your items were out of stock and back ordered.
 
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The only reason I ever used them was because our company content filtering used to classify them as "Sporting Goods, General" and I could shop them at work. The last damn system update reclassified them as evil "Guns and Ammo," so they are blocked now. Not even our customers can access them on the "Complimentary WiFi" now, lol.

So, I really have no use for them anymore. There are much better ammo distributors out there anyway.
 
Well Vista group just sold of 4 American ammo companies to a Czech company and Lake City canceled all the consumer ammo orders. So anything "ammo" will have a run on it. Who knows what that ammo availability will be with these events. We still have a shortage from Covid. So at this point I,d say get what you want if it's available. A gun with out ammo is just a expensive club. jmo.

(BRAIN) — Vista Outdoor, which is planning on spinning off its outdoor sports business unit into a separate company this year, will sell off its shooting sports businesses first in a $1.91 billion deal with Czechoslovak Group a.s. ("CSG"). CSG is acquiring four factories and the consumer brands CCI, Federal, HEVI-Shot, Remington and Speer.
 
Agsalaska said:
I hope this is appropriate and I understand if it is not. OpticsPlanet.com is doing the exact same thing Cheaper than Dirt did in 2012 when they committed company suicide by cancelling orders to raise prices. I ordered 500 rounds of Aguila 115gr 9mm on Oct 10. It was showing available for .20c a round. They then sent me a backorder notice out to some distant date that will never happen. But in the meantime they broke all of the cases down to 50 round boxes and priced them .28c a round. Available right now. So they have it, they just won't ship it. And the kicker is they even admitted it to me over the phone two different times that they will not ship it because its worth more in 50 round boxes.

WIlling to lose a client and get a bad review over, what, $80??


Hopefully some of you read this and avoid the same issues.

Has anyone else had the same experience?
Click to expand...
Its a racket. They put it in back order then try to locate it
 
Ah, yes! Good ol' Optiks Planet

OK, I ordered 3 parts from them, and I knew how to check if it's really in stock or not!

So...... 2 days later an email oh we are so sorry Sir, one of the items is illegal to ship to you Sir. So I called them, cause, the email stated I COULD call & order the suppos-ed illegal part Sir. Supposed, the part mystically went from illegal to legal, if I called...
Soooo.... during that call I said, I REALLY don't want anything illegal, just cancel the entire order and that was THE last .

Oh, for the bots, Feds, and curious, the offending illegal item was a plain ol' shotgun choke tube.... IM if I remember correctly...
 
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Agsalaska said:
I hope this is appropriate and I understand if it is not. OpticsPlanet.com is doing the exact same thing Cheaper than Dirt did in 2012 when they committed company suicide by cancelling orders to raise prices. I ordered 500 rounds of Aguila 115gr 9mm on Oct 10. It was showing available for .20c a round. They then sent me a backorder notice out to some distant date that will never happen. But in the meantime they broke all of the cases down to 50 round boxes and priced them .28c a round. Available right now. So they have it, they just won't ship it. And the kicker is they even admitted it to me over the phone two different times that they will not ship it because its worth more in 50 round boxes.

WIlling to lose a client and get a bad review over, what, $80??


Hopefully some of you read this and avoid the same issues.

Has anyone else had the same experience?
Click to expand...
This could be a possible defense: they have been advised that their supplier won’t deliver any more 9mm for 2-3 are months. If they break the 500 rd case and limit sales to two boxes of 50, they can ensure that 25 times more customers will have a little bit of ammo.
I’m not saying this is what is happening, but it is a possibility that helps more customers.
 
I remember when Midway drug me along from September of one year to May of the next, with a backorder, then dumped it one day out of the blue. I called them and asked why and they nice lady said she had good news, they actually had them in stock but at a much higher price.

I don’t know if it was them or the vendor but they shouldn’t allow backorders if they can’t honor their prices. No telling how many thousands of dollars they have missed out of mine over the decades since. I’m just one guy though, think about how many they have to PO to tank their business. CTD lost a few stores but they are still going…
 
Speaking of Midway. I ordered a air rifle from them. When it came. The rings were missing for the scope. They wanted me to send the whole gun back. Im like i just need rings. She said no need to send the whole gun back. I told here never mind ill pickup a set.
 
jmorris said:
I remember when Midway drug me along from September of one year to May of the next, with a backorder, then dumped it one day out of the blue. I called them and asked why and they nice lady said she had good news, they actually had them in stock but at a much higher price.

I don’t know if it was them or the vendor but they shouldn’t allow backorders if they can’t honor their prices. No telling how many thousands of dollars they have missed out of mine over the decades since. I’m just one guy though, think about how many they have to PO to tank their business. CTD lost a few stores but they are still going…
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Midway was pulling shenanigans during the pandemic, I personally boycotted them for near 2 years. And when I’m in a buying mood! I spend $$$$ (so they missed out)… they are cool with me again, but I only buy Clearance stuff from them. MidSouth is my new JAM!
 
jmorris said:
I remember when Midway drug me along from September of one year to May of the next, with a backorder, then dumped it one day out of the blue. I called them and asked why and they nice lady said she had good news, they actually had them in stock but at a much higher price.

I don’t know if it was them or the vendor but they shouldn’t allow backorders if they can’t honor their prices. No telling how many thousands of dollars they have missed out of mine over the decades since. I’m just one guy though, think about how many they have to PO to tank their business. CTD lost a few stores but they are still going…
Click to expand...
as for employee of a company…. they can give two cents about custom loyalty or any sense of customer service (Wade’s EastSide … I’m calling you out, you did me wrong and laughed in my face about it)
 
I've ordered from them several times without issue.... I never been backorder from them, and if I was, I'd simply would find the next cheapest vendor. The only company that backorder me was Brownells. It took months and I litteraly forgotten I ordered it when I was randomly surprised with an unexpected box at my front door.
 
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Agsalaska said:
I hope this is appropriate and I understand if it is not. OpticsPlanet.com is doing the exact same thing Cheaper than Dirt did in 2012 when they committed company suicide by cancelling orders to raise prices.
Click to expand...
Not exactly the same.
CTD accepted orders for firearms that they didn't actually have in stock. Panic buyers, flippers and neckbearders placed orders that they thought would be fulfilled only to discover CTD didn't have those guns in stock in the first place. Orders were cancelled. When those SKU's came back in stock, CTD raised the price. That wasn't unique to CTD and happens quite often with some internet retailers. There are distributors like Davidsons that allow any kitchen table dealer with a website to show thousands of guns "in stock"......when they really aren't, they are sitting on a shelf at a Davidsons warehouse.

CTD even had different pricing depending on which "warehouse" it was sourced from. By "warehouse" CTD means another company or distributor because CTD didn't have but one warehouse in Ft Worth.



I ordered 500 rounds of Aguila 115gr 9mm on Oct 10. It was showing available for .20c a round. They then sent me a backorder notice out to some distant date that will never happen. But in the meantime they broke all of the cases down to 50 round boxes and priced them .28c a round. Available right now. So they have it, they just won't ship it. And the kicker is they even admitted it to me over the phone two different times that they will not ship it because its worth more in 50 round boxes.
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Which tells me Optics Planet knows that ammunition sku's will likely be in short supply for several months. Thats good planning and good business math.

Any business that calculates its profit based on selling price minus what they paid, isn't going to be in business very long. You base your sales price on your replacement cost. When the ammunition market experiences inventory shortages a seller sure as heck better plan on how he stays in business if he can't get inventory. THAT'S WHY Optics Planet is breaking up cases.




WIlling to lose a client and get a bad review over, what, $80??
Click to expand...
If $80 is insignificant to you, why write a bad review?
$80 per case X 1,000 cases may mean the difference between laying off a couple of employees.




Hopefully some of you read this and avoid the same issues.
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If only there were online vendors other than Optics Planet. ;)


Has anyone else had the same experience?
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With many vendors.
Sportsman's Guide first and foremost.
I'm sure my bad review nearly killed 'em.
 
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