Cheaper Than Dirt?

[Chogers]

I think not! They charge a butt load of money for shipping! I looked at a Kahr PM9 magazine. Price was $28 bucks. After shipping it was $43 bucks. They only cost $40 from Kahr.com. I looked at a few other items and it looks cheap initially but when you calculate shipping it is a freaking rip-off!!! Just my .02 cents for my Kahr friends. Thanks for letting me vent. :31:

[John222]

A lot of places are like that. You have to buy several items to factor down shipping. They are good for guns but not the small stuff.

[soulfixinman]

Yes it always will seems high if you only buy one item, they charged you $7 shipping. I bought a firearm from them for $345 and the shipping was only $11, that seemed very reasonable.

[mr surveyor]

I took CTD off my window shopping list a couple of years ago during the ammo shortage when they had the balls to advertise cheap Blazer Aluminum .380 acp ammo for nearly $60 per box "in limited supply". I believe in the supply and demand pricing structure, but that went to the extreme of gouging in my opinion. I have zero respect for their way of doing business.

[onegun]

CTD had the best price I could find recently on CorBon 9mm DPX and their shipping charge was quite a bit less than the tax I would have paid if I could have found any here (at anywhere near that price.) My only dealing with them so I'm not an expert on CTD.

[QuercusMax]

I think not! They charge a butt load of money for shipping!

I have a lot of actual dirt that I am willing to sell you really cheap - as many tons as you want! Should I box it up and send it by UPS, or do you want bulk delivery via one of my dump trucks? There will be a small additional "shipping and handling" charge either way. ;)

[O'Dell]

I quit doing business with them for that very reason. I ordered a mag for my new CW45 on 12/28 for $29 +$5 shipping from another company and got it on 12/30.

[Longitude Zero]

Cheaper Than Dirt = Highway Robbery = Thieves etc.

[ltxi]

My distrust of CTD goes back many years to when I bought some supposedly quality ball reload .38 range ammunition from them. Inconsistent stuff with light to no crimp that would jam up my J-frame. Bad enough I complained about it, which I rarely do, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. No recognition of the issue other than their conclusion that it obviously was my problem and not their fault. I wasn't even asking anything from them, either.

[dirtengineer]

I took CTD off my window shopping list a couple of years ago during the ammo shortage when they had the balls to advertise cheap Blazer Aluminum .380 acp ammo for nearly $60 per box "in limited supply". I believe in the supply and demand pricing structure, but that went to the extreme of gouging in my opinion. I have zero respect for their way of doing business.

A gun store in my area did that. I needed powder for a hunt and so I paid the gouge price - they maid an extra $15 in profit. Will NEVER shop there again.

[yqtszhj]

I have bought ammo from them several times when the price is right and then buy in bulk to average out that shipping. Just have to pick and choose what I get. They are high on some stuff and their shipping is .... WOW!!! That's why I never bought a mag from them too.

Cabelas is worse on price but when you catch something on deep discount and get free shipping even they are cheap (relatively speaking.) Bought a bunch of factory fresh .223 at a really good price and free shipping too. I couldn't find that deal anywhere.

[jdlott74]

CTD had the best price I could find recently on CorBon 9mm DPX and their shipping charge was quite a bit less than the tax I would have paid if I could have found any here (at anywhere near that price.) My only dealing with them so I'm not an expert on CTD.

Depending on WHERE you live in OK, you might be better to drive to CTD to their McKinney store.

[jdlott74]

We love CTD, but of course, we do live 30 min from the McKinney store and about 1 hour from the original store in Ft. Worth.

[Nocturnal_Emissions]

I have never ordered from them and I found they have the cm9 for 350 plus 10 for shipping. I just called just to see before I decided to purchase if they could tell me the sn on the gun I would be purchasing, the lady said no she was not in same building so I asked if there was any way to check and she said no, and didn't seem interested in making a sale? WTF?

[JFootin]

I have never ordered from them and I found they have the cm9 for 350 plus 10 for shipping. I just called just to see before I decided to purchase if they could tell me the sn on the gun I would be purchasing, the lady said no she was not in same building so I asked if there was any way to check and she said no, and didn't seem interested in making a sale? WTF?

They have several warehouses located in different parts of the country and there is absolutely no way that salesperson can tell you which of many CM9s is going to be yours until the sale is completed, the gun has been selected and queued for shipping at one of those warehouses. Why do you want to know that, anyway? And why in the world would you end the transaction because she couldn't answer your unreasonable question?

[Ubaldo99]

CTD's shipping costs are high. Luckily, I live about 20 miles from the CTD McKinney, Texas, retail store. That gives me the opportunity to examine their wares in person rather than relying on their catalog.

[Nocturnal_Emissions]

I don't think it was unreasonable to determine the sn I would be purchasing, I was ready to order right then if she could call and see what the sn would be. Sorry I have trust problem and I know its a CM but if it was a pm it could be a model from 05 that might have problems and I would like to know before I give them money and they have a no return policy.

[TriggerMan]

I don't think it was unreasonable to determine the sn I would be purchasing, I was ready to order right then if she could call and see what the sn would be. Sorry I have trust problem and I know its a CM but if it was a pm it could be a model from 05 that might have problems and I would like to know before I give them money and they have a no return policy.The gun has only been out for about5 months. CTD has been selling guns less than 2 months. How old could it be?

[jaggedx]

Fedex delivered 100 rounds (1 case) of Remington Managed Recoil 12g 00 buckshot to my work address today. The receptionist who signed for it called my desk and said "you've got a big box of bullets up here"... CTD does deliver as promised.

CTD ain't cheap, but they do have a decent selection of ammo if you're looking for something specific and you can't find it locally. JMHO.

[Scoundrel]

As with most retailers, you just have to understand the advantages and the pitfalls associated with them, and play your hand accordingly. I'll lay out a couple of CTD pluses and minuses I have experienced.

1. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to understand when purchasing from CTD is the warehouse aspect. When you look up an item, it will show you that it is available from warehouse, A, B, and/or C. You will be charged shipping from EACH warehouse. So you would do well to find the one warehouse that has all of the items you want, if possible. Most items are available from more than one warehouse, so you simply click the option to have it sent from the warehouse you want. If you get all of your items from the same warehouse, there's only one shipping charge. Otherwise, it's gonna hurt. Often the items are a slightly different price from the other warehouses, but it's not usually much, just a few pennies.

2. Sometimes when you go looking for reviews, an item will have no review when viewed at one warehouse, but when you switch to another warehouse, it has reviews.

3. One time, they were the ONLY place that had what I wanted IN STOCK. That was a shorty 10rd magazine for my M&P 15/22. Other places had it listed but did not have it in stock. Local stores did not have it, offered to order it, but exceeded CTD's price by the time shipping and tax was accounted for. I bought the magazine and added some ammo in for good measure, and I was happy with the purchase.

3. Another time, as another user mentioned, their prices were pretty good for a specific item, and I simply did the math and carted up a large quantity of ammo until the price was better than I could do anywhere else, including shipping. I was happy with that.

4. Their customer service is poor. Yep, I acknowledge that it's poor, and I still buy stuff from them. I just have to make sure that when I buy stuff from them, I know exactly what I'm buying, and it works out OK.

5. Their system is not well set up for changing your mind after clicking the "order" button and before it starts getting picked for shipment. Their call center is open 'round the clock, but their warehouses are not. Also, there is about a one hour delay from when you click an order on the web, and when the call center and/or customer service folks in the warehouse can see it and work with it. So if you place an order at 4:30pm, and the warehouse closes at 5pm, you're not going to be able to make a change to it that night. By the time you call in the morning, their automated systems have already processed the order and it's too late to make changes.

Here are the two "less than stellar" experiences I've had:

1. I ended up with a box of 50 Speer +P 38 specials I didn't want, because I ordered it, then looked up the the manual and saw that the gun MFG says not to use them. I immediately called them (after 5pm, but only 5 minutes after I placed the order) and was told that they could not work with the order for an hour. I called back an hour later and was told that the warehouse had closed and I'd have to call back in the AM. I called back in the AM and was told that it was too late as the order was being picked for shipment.

I acknowledge that I goofed by including that ammo in my order. A place with good processes and customer service would have been able to help me fix my error. CTD did not. I have learned from the experience.

2. I ordered a few different types of .22LR ammo to play with. One of them was Aguila Interceptor, which is supposed to be copper plated. It's not, it's really copper "washed". It does not look anything like the picture on the box, which makes it look jacketed. In bright sunlight, they look like bare lead. In other lighting, you can sort of detect a copper sheen. It's a REALLY light wash. Anyway, I called CTD, and they actually sent someone out to the warehouse to crack open a box and look at it. Then they told me that's just what it is, and stonewalled me when I told them I wasn't happy about it. I was hoping for at least a small coupon code or something, but I got nothing.

From that experience, I learned not to experiment with stuff from CTD unless I am prepared to throw money away. I only buy when I know what I'll be getting.

And really, looking back at these less than stellar experiences, they weren't exactly bad. One was my fault, the other was Aguila's fault for misrepresenting their crappy product, and I couldn't realistically expect CTD to blow profit margin for that.

So in summary, I feel that CTD isn't all bad, they're just mechanical and mercenary. Plan your purchases accordingly and roll with it.

[LaP]

Cheaper Than Dirt is like every other on-line business. Sometimes it gets fouled up. I can't remember doing business with any company that has a perfect track record.
Try MidWay, Natchez or any of the other large sites. It all works out to be about the same for prices, merchandise and service.

[TominCA]

I have bought stuff from them in the past - generally things to do with AR's and occasionally ammo - They have changed a lot over the years.

Recently I found they had a S&W 32 revolver in stock that is discontinued, but still on the CA approved list, that I wanted. The price was good also. But - Now they no longer ship to CA.

[BrewerGeorge]

I prefer Midway.

CTD almost never is the cheapest. The few times I have ordered from them, though, service has been fine and delivery prompt enough.