What’s with Midway USA?

[OldState]

For years Midway USA was my go to place to buy gun related anything. I always checked there first. They always had a great selection, the best price, had great promos, and fast shipping.

Now after a 5 year break from shooting, I go on their website and the selection is terrible. Prices are higher than Brownells (the opposite used to be the case) and I haven’t received a promo code email in a very long time.

So I order a SBA3 brace from them because I had a GC from Xmas and they charged for shipping and it took 8 days. Long for modern times. I used to get stuff from them faster and very nicely packaged. Today I get the brace and it’s in a white plastic envelope....not a box. The actual box for the brace is trashed. Luckily the brace seems ok.

Brownells on the other hand seems to have stepped it up big time.
55602

[Doc Safari]

Don't get me wrong. I love MidwayUSA. I've never had one single problem with any order I've placed with them, and I've ordered plenty.

But I will say that there's a running joke among some of my buddies that they should change their motto to "Just about everything.....backordered."

:jester:

[diving dave]

I order from them alot, only issue I've ever had was a box of 6.5x47 Lapua brass. The bottom of the box was smashed, and about 13 cases had the mouths all dented in. I'm pretty sure it happened in transit, as the plastic box was shipped in an envelope. I was going to send it back, but after running them through the die the expander ball smoothed them out. The only time I've used their customer service was for 2 mag extenders I ordered for my M&P. They were total crap. I returned them no problem.

[soulezoo]

I've ordered a lot from Midway. I've dealt with more than one lengthy back order on bullets of varying flavors. Everything else however was shipped almost by the time I went to log off... ok, maybe not that fast, but pretty close. On the whole, no complaints about them.

[SomeOtherGuy]

For years Midway USA was my go to place to buy gun related anything. I always checked there first. They always had a great selection, the best price, had great promos, and fast shipping.

Now after a 5 year break from shooting, I go on their website and the selection is terrible. Prices are higher than Brownells (the opposite used to be the case) and I haven’t received a promo code email in a very long time.
***
Brownells on the other hand seems to have stepped it up big time.
55602

I've been a regular customer of Midway for 12+ years now, no hiatus, and I've seen exactly the changes you describe. Prices up, selection way down. They radically curtailed their product selection about 2-3 years ago, FYI. All I buy from them now is either clearance or the few items where they have the best price. Very few items in that category. I've also noticed lately that some of their highly promoted "special sales" feature prices at or above the normal price at 5-10 other retailers.

Likewise, I never used to buy from Brownells due to MSRP+ pricing and high shipping, but they have fixed both and it is far more competitive now. And I get free shipping and/or 10% off offers from Brownells every week by email.

[Lincoln7]

I've also noticed that Midway's shipping is taking notably longer that it used to. As long as I'm in no rush, no issues. I've found Brownells' shipping to remain quite fast, but using their website is not nearly as easy to navigate as Midway's.

[sundance435]

I think it's just the state of retail in the U.S. - way less merchandise on hand anywhere.

[pinzgauer]

Last order from them was a box of Lapua Grendel brass. Was put in an unpadded envelope, arrived with plastic box smashed. They sent 2 replacement Frankfort arms cartridge boxes. Ok, but I'd have preferred the Lapua box.

They seem to have up and down periods.

[officerX]

I definitely do most of my ordering from Brownell's. They give me an LE discount and then just about always have a coupon code going on top of that.

[OldState]

I've been a regular customer of Midway for 12+ years now, no hiatus, and I've seen exactly the changes you describe. Prices up, selection way down. They radically curtailed their product selection about 2-3 years ago, FYI. All I buy from them now is either clearance or the few items where they have the best price. Very few items in that category. I've also noticed lately that some of their highly promoted "special sales" feature prices at or above the normal price at 5-10 other retailers.

Likewise, I never used to buy from Brownells due to MSRP+ pricing and high shipping, but they have fixed both and it is far more competitive now. And I get free shipping and/or 10% off offers from Brownells every week by email.

100% agreed. Brownells is now what Midway once was but even better.

[markm]

Wow. I've not ordered in quite some time too... That's too bad. I loved their bullet sales for reloading. Used to get great deals from Midway.

[scottryan]

I quit ordering from them. Tired of stuff showing up in padded envelopes trashed.

[OldState]

I quit ordering from them. Tired of stuff showing up in padded envelopes trashed.

This was a shock. I actually ordered so many thing from them in the past that I have tons of stuff stored in the old boxes. Couldn’t believe how this brace showed up. I don’t know of many similar examples of such great companies falling from grace like this.

I actually sent a email through their customer service link. I’ve done this maybe twice ever. Just got a response. Sounds generic.

Thank for your email regarding a recent order. I apologize for the condition in which your package has arrived. Furthermore, I am sorry that you are not satisfied with our current product selection. We appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve the customer experience.

If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-243-3220. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST. You may also email us at customerservice@midwayusa.com.


Thanks for Your Business!

Nichole
MidwayUSA Customer Support

[Business_Casual]

Sounds like they have a cash flow problem and/or are using temporary help to fill gaps.

[HKGuns]

I've ordered a lot from Midway. I've dealt with more than one lengthy back order on bullets of varying flavors. Everything else however was shipped almost by the time I went to log off... ok, maybe not that fast, but pretty close. On the whole, no complaints about them.

My experience pretty much mirrors this one. I’ve never had an issue and I’ve ordered lots from them.

[MountainRaven]

I've never had an issue ordering from MidwayUSA, but I have definitely started ordering way more from Brownell's, lately.

I have had things come from MidwayUSA in the padded envelopes and also find it annoying, but since nothing but the packaging has been damaged, I haven't really had a problem with it - and the packaging usually gets binned. My understanding is that the use of padded envelopes is part of the cost of MidwayUSA's cheaper (than it was five-plus years ago) shipping.

Brownell's has gotten waaay better than they were, say, ten years ago or even five years ago: Things are cheaper, they ship faster, shipping is cheaper, and the constant barrage of 10% off coupons is nice. Plus Brownell's supports C&Rsenal, Forgotten Weapons, and InRangeTV. And their warranty/return policy is awesome.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Sounds like they have a cash flow problem and/or are using temporary help to fill gaps.

Not seeing any sign of either one. I think that Larry Potterfield just decided he wanted to maximize income regardless of other factors and this is his strategy. Pretty common that a well-regarded successful business shifts to a profit focus at some point and the fundamentals of its success deteriorate. At one time Sears was THE place to buy tools, ya know.