In some cases, I might agree with you, jadams951, but there comes a point when you are just throwing money away for piece of mind...and if you are charging via a credit card, that is totally unnecessary.
Right now, most of my ammo is provided by
www.natchezss.com . Their prices do not include shipping. Shipping on 1000 rounds of .45 acp, however, runs about $25. I know this, knew it before my first order was completed. I did not the total bill and there were no surprises.
For example, I can get Blazer for $7.30 per box, or about $170 per 1000 rounds. The stuff feeds fine and since I don't reload, there is no reason to pay for brass for someone else to reload.
Or, I could go with S&B if I wanted brass. They are running $8.29 per box right now, or $166 per case, plus S&H, about $190.
The cheapest bassed ammo right now at Ammoman is running $219, shipped. So, for brassed ammo, I could pay $30 more per 1000? That just does not make good sense. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that I don't need brass so I can get good ammo that does not deposit lacquer in my barrel (like Wolf) for $50 cheaper than what Ammoman has to offer. That is hugely significant.
If you do want Wolf, it will run $180 per 1000 from Ammoman. For me at Natchez, it is $7.10, or $142 per case of 1000, about $167 after shipping, a savings of $13.00.
Take Hydrashok Premium in .45 acp. Ammoman has it for $29 per box of 50 and he wants you to mix or match a miniumum of 5 boxes of Hydrashok ammo or there is a $5 freight fee. I can get the same box of ammo from Cheaper than Dirt (
www.cheaperthandirt.com) for $16.99, about $20 shipping to my place, and only one box is required. So, Ammoman's price would be $34 for one box versus $20. That is hugely different.
Natchez and CTD have never done me wrong either. There isn't another bit of ammo that I would order from CTD, but for Hydrashok in .45 acp, they seem to be the way to go.
Remember that suppliers such as these that I have mentioned count on customer loyalty. There is an oxymoron or sorts. Why should a customer be loyal to a company that doesn't provide the best price and offers no other actual advantage over the competition? Loyalty is a two way street when it comes to money. Eric the Ammoman and the other dealers don't know me from Jack Sprat. I have never actually met any of them either. Loyalty should have nothing to do with it since this is nothing but pure business.
If you get piece of mind by spending $20 extra for the same product that is delivered reliably, that is great, but as in the cases noted above, it is not a sound business decision. Those people are in business and that is all there is to it.
Now if Eric and I were buddies, or maybe our kids went to school together and were friends, I might be inclined to do more business with him at higher prices because I actually knew the guy and had some sort of non-business relationship, but that ain't happening, at least not yet.
Think Eric might fly me up to his place to watch the Superbowl?