Slow delivery from online archery shop

Bandit

Active member
What do people consider realistic delivery of archery products ordered online? My wife recently ordered some arrow shafts and other bits from a dedicated longbow supplier on the 18th July. Still no dispatch note and they don't answer the phone. Just a mail saying they are short staffed.

I cant say we will be using them again :(
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
What do people consider realistic delivery of archery products ordered online? My wife recently ordered some arrow shafts and other bits from a dedicated longbow supplier on the 18th July. Still no dispatch note and they don't answer the phone. Just a mail saying they are short staffed.

I cant say we will be using them again :(
You can't really expect "normal" service at the moment as businesses have to work with fewer staff so they can socially distance. I've had several orders (of non archery things) take a few weeks even though one said they had caught up.
 

Bandit

Active member
You can't really expect "normal" service at the moment as businesses have to work with fewer staff so they can socially distance. I've had several orders (of non archery things) take a few weeks even though one said they had caught up.
I have no problems with Merlin Archery ( they didn't have the stock we wanted at the time) Next day dispatch is the norm. Everything from amazon is just as quick if not quicker. same goes for DIY products. Online is taking over the world, just not in this case :rolleyes:
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
I have no problems with Merlin Archery ( they didn't have the stock we wanted at the time) Next day dispatch is the norm. Everything from amazon is just as quick if not quicker. same goes for DIY products. Online is taking over the world, just not in this case :rolleyes:
True enough - much of what I order has come pretty quickly - several things I ordered needed assembled first so that took time. If there is a reason for the delay it would be reassuring to know.
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
This virus has made many retail outlets including archery take a long hard look at how they operate and sadly online is probably the direction everything is going. I say sadly because to date this has resulted in many people buying the wrong stuff and getting the wrong advice, a reason there is a buoyant archery section on eBay with many items being bought and relisted many times.

As an aside one of my neighbours is moving and their 3 year old came out shouting "Daddy I have found some more stuff for eBay", proof that times and consumer retail expectations are changing.

The Archery market is very very small and expected to get a lot smaller over the next 12 months until new archers can be introduced to the sport at the same levels as last year (we still have not got to the bottom of membership churn that plagues our sport). So any comparison to multi national organisations to me are meaningless, there is no direct comparison. Amazon probably does in a week/day? more turnover than archery does in a year.

Past models were for dealers to carry loads of stock and in all the colours/variations and actually recommend and support the products they promote and sell. But this has now become impossible because archers now have so much choice and the new stuff is so fast moving the perception of the stock on the shelf becomes obsolete in a short time period - even if that is not the reality.

At a time of falling membership numbers and a possibility of it getting a lot worse with the lack of new archers coming into the sport, but fixed costs still going up, cashflow is one of the biggest priorities, so many dealers are now operating a very small core of stocked products and everything else is bought in to order. This is not ideal but a reality and it is a brave owner to tie up cashflow when those buying in to order are more flexible on pricing, options available at the cost of a small delay in delivery.

Dealers are looking at reducing or working with less staff, which again will lead to delays on items that need making especially arrows strings bow set ups, it is a time to reflect on a businesses profitability, even this week we have seen the closure of Apps Court (Quicks). A dealer that had all the facilities including stock, proper shooting ranges indoors and out and staff that understood archery. This model of a dealer is now very expensive to operate at a time when archers are even more cost conscious - if we end up all operating online then our sport will lose any independent sources to go to for reliable support. The content online is full of contradictions, egos' and varies in accuracy even from what I would consider more trusted sources. It is hard to find the really good stuff amongst the noise - I have watched a lot of noise these past few months.

To date archers have been very understanding, but I do wonder if this new way of working will be acceptable and good for archery once this pandemic has past and what shape the archery dealer environment will look like.
 

Bandit

Active member
I understand your point, however said archery shop went mail order only in December so should be tooled up for just that. The items ordered aren’t exactly exotic or Color specific and listed as in stock. 12 arrow shafts, 12 piles, 12 nocks, 3 bags of fletchings and a longbow bag.

The only reason we didn’t use Merlin is they didn’t have the shafts in stock (they do now).

I know it’s a first world problem but other archery shops seem to be doing a great job delivering things in reasonable time.

The result is we won’t use said shop again.
 

dvd8n

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Whenever this has been raised before the consensus has been that shops need to be honest about what is in stock, honest about what the lead times are for non-stock items, and to communicate with the buyers when something goes wrong.

People can be very accommodating when they feel that they are being honestly dealt with.
 

Bandit

Active member
Whenever this has been raised before the consensus has been that shops need to be honest about what is in stock, honest about what the lead times are for non-stock items, and to communicate with the buyers when something goes wrong.

People can be very accommodating when they feel that they are being honestly dealt with.
Exactly (y) They don't even answer the phone. Just a voicemail message
 

modernlongbow

Active member
I'll see that delay, and raise you twenty. I had the misfortune to order a dozen V Tac 23 shafts made by Victory Archery on March 19th. Wilderness Archery are blameless, and Myron has promised to keep me informed. Some manufacturers in the former state of California have already started production. I said 'former' in the previous sentence. Who knows who will be at the controls when the arrows are finally shipped? Perhaps they'll arrive in time for my birthday in November. We will remember this year for all the wrong reasons.
 

malbro

Instinctive Archer
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Merlin and KG have been very quick with their deliveries in the last two weeks and Linkboy only took about two weeks from china.
 

Kernowlad

Supporter
Supporter
Do not ever mention the silly costs or delivery times with archery kit; for some reason it’s perfectly acceptable.
Despite the numerous other activities I do (surfing, wild camping, cycling, running, etc) all managing to be served by online shops that manage to do a much better job at a much lower price.
 

AJBrady

Active member
Do not ever mention the silly costs or delivery times with archery kit; for some reason it’s perfectly acceptable.
Despite the numerous other activities I do (surfing, wild camping, cycling, running, etc) all managing to be served by online shops that manage to do a much better job at a much lower price.
Excellent. So which of your online surfing, wild camping, cycling, running, etc. shops has the best price for a Shibuya Ultima II Recurve Sight?
 
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