Zanders Live Feed is NOW on GunsAmerica.com!
Brick & Mortar gunshops are starting to understand the importance and usefulness of the internet when it comes to in-store face to face sales. Transfer fees are becoming a thing of the past as customers learn that their best bet, even purely on price, is to buy the gun from their local stocking gun dealer.
Toward that end, GunsAmerica.com, the oldest name in online gun sales (1997), has introduced a new program called Customer Connect for all of the gun industry manufacturers. It enables the manufacturers, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Savage, Glock, etc., to drive customers from their own website to a local stocking dealer, to buy in-hand inventory. If the gun isn’t available in-hand locally, customers may still buy the through distributor feeds. It is called 48 Hour Guns.
Log into your GunsAmerica account and go to the Dashboard and Add Suppliers.
Zanders Sporting Goods has recently joined the list of distributors in choices for the 48 Hour Guns feed.
If you are currently enrolled in GunsAmerica 48 Hour Guns, log into your GunsAmerica account, go to the Dashboard/48 Hour Guns, and Add Suppliers. Zanders (Z) is at the bottom. You will then be asked for a percentage of markup (not margin), and that percentage will be used to determine the front facing price to the customer. If you are signed up for Zanders feed, even if the lowest overall price is from a different percentage/distributor, if Zanders has the item in stock you will be sent an email with our availability and price as well.
This is the Customer Connect map on SCCY Firearms. It is driven by inventory and location, so if you have it and you are closest to the buyer, you come up first. It is completely FREE.
To see the Customer Connect program in action, check out the SCCY Firearms Website. Their product pages have an inventory locator map, powered by GunsAmerica Customer Connect.
To get on that map, you must list in-hand SCCY firearms for sale on GunsAmerica, and/or sign up for 48 Hour Guns for SCCY. You also must get a free access code from SCCY, which we can get you if you have purchased SCCY firearms through us. To get on all of the maps as they come online (they will be released industry-wide), GunsAmerica has a $99/mo or $199/mo Customer Connect package that gives you access to all partner maps, and the GunsAmerica map, which is seen by 1-5 million buyers per month. Otherwise you will be able to get a free code from each of the manufacturers for the firearms you carry. You will also be able to sign up for 48 Hour Guns for free for each of the manufacturer websites for which you have a code, if you choose the free option.
The 48 Hour Guns distributor feed is also available as a resource for your website. GunsAmerica offers fully automated, no instructions required websites for as little as $39.95 per month, and there are no additional fees for sales.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can Zanders drop ship guns for me? – This is primarily a local program, to build foot traffic at your brick and mortar store. On the maps, if there is a seller within 50 miles, the map does not expand further. That is how GunsAmerica can keep the system free for gunshops that don’t want aftersale fees on national sales.
- What if I sell an item I post to a buyer outside of 50 miles? – Then you would have to pay the standard GunsAmerica aftersale fees. A lot of stocking dealers also sell extensively online, and the system is built to give you the most value for your effort. The Customer Connect maps are mostly only going to drive local sales face to face.
- Can I link to my website instead of GunsAmerica? – Not unless you are using GunsAmerica Live Storefront automated websites. You may already have a pretty good inventory component on your site, including distributor fees, but there is no way to link up the matches to the map. Live Storefronts are completely integrated, and are most likely better overall than what you have now, for much less cost.
- I hate the internet! Can I just show my phone number and directions to the store? – Yes, there is an option called “brochure mode.” But it is limited to those who have purchased at least the $99/mo Customer Connect package.
- I only use Zanders as my distributor now. Do I have to pick the other distributors? – The maps are entirely inventory driven. If you have selected Zanders only and we have it in stock, you will show up on the map.
- This sounds like a bait and switch! What’s the catch? What are hidden fees? – There are actually no hidden fees at all. GunsAmerica sells millions of dollars per year in their own website banner ads for most of the major manufacturers. Customer Connect is a way for those ads to turn into direct sales through real, stocking gunshops, thereby preventing sales being stolen by the internet bottomfeeder websites and tabletop dealers taking transfer fees. GunsAmerica is committed to building the long term health of the firearm industry, and there is no better way to do that than by sending buying customers into their local stocking dealer to buy their gun face to face.
If you don’t have a GunsAmerica Account
If you have never used GunsAmerica, you will first need to fill out a full online registration, which will include your store and billing addresses, and you have to add a credit card. Again, there are no hidden charges. Your card will be authorized for one dollar but it will not be taken.
Once you register as an FFL dealer, you will be sent a long instruction email for all the other pieces. Also remember to contact Zanders or SCCY for your free map access code.
If you have any questions, please contact Austin at GunsAmerica Dealer Services! ([email protected]) – Customer Connect is a technology revolution for the gun industry and Zanders if proud to be one of a handful of early distributors to embrace the potential. There is a learning curve and GunsAmerica will be happy to help you through it.