heypete
Member
Greetings all,
I've been pondering setting up a price finder website, sort of like GasBuddy.com...but for ammo, not gas.
There's a sticky thread at AR15.com that's updated frequently and shows the prices for various 5.56mm/.223 Rem ammo types available at a small number of online vendors. I find this to be incredibly useful, but at the same time it's a bit limited in many respects (needing to be manually updated by the admin, small selection of types and calibers of ammo, only a few stores, etc.).
I'm envisioning a site where one can locate their town (either by entering their postal/ZIP code, or navigating from Country-->State-->County-->City...with adjustments made for various countries, like "Province" instead of "State") and search for local vendors and their current selection and pricing. That, and being able to search online vendors and their prices.
Users would be able to limit their searches by different criteria: caliber, price, distance, etc. and be shown any requests that match their search.
Additionally, the information would be user-writable like GasBuddy -- users (or vendors/site owners) would be able to update the pricing at various locations so as to share this information with other users. Listings would "expire" after a certain timeframe, say a week or month, so old prices won't be displayed.
To limit erroneous listings, users would be prompted to enter various information about the ammo they're listing: manufacturer, caliber, bullet weight, etc. If known, a manufacturer's ID code for that product (like Federal's "XM193", or Winchester "Q-3131A") could be entered. Other information (like if the price is a regular or sale price, how long such a sale will last, number of cartridges available for that price, any vendor fees [like CTD's $3 ammo fee], etc.) could also be entered.
I have the resources to host and administer the site at a gun-friendly host, but don't have the knowledge of PHP and MySQL to get it setup myself. If there's anyone on THR who might be able to help out, I'd be much obliged if you could contact me privately.
For everyone else: If there's a specific feature you'd like such a site to have, please let me know in this thread. While I can't promise I can include it immediately, I'll definitely keep all comments in mind.
Cheers!
-Pete
I've been pondering setting up a price finder website, sort of like GasBuddy.com...but for ammo, not gas.
There's a sticky thread at AR15.com that's updated frequently and shows the prices for various 5.56mm/.223 Rem ammo types available at a small number of online vendors. I find this to be incredibly useful, but at the same time it's a bit limited in many respects (needing to be manually updated by the admin, small selection of types and calibers of ammo, only a few stores, etc.).
I'm envisioning a site where one can locate their town (either by entering their postal/ZIP code, or navigating from Country-->State-->County-->City...with adjustments made for various countries, like "Province" instead of "State") and search for local vendors and their current selection and pricing. That, and being able to search online vendors and their prices.
Users would be able to limit their searches by different criteria: caliber, price, distance, etc. and be shown any requests that match their search.
Additionally, the information would be user-writable like GasBuddy -- users (or vendors/site owners) would be able to update the pricing at various locations so as to share this information with other users. Listings would "expire" after a certain timeframe, say a week or month, so old prices won't be displayed.
To limit erroneous listings, users would be prompted to enter various information about the ammo they're listing: manufacturer, caliber, bullet weight, etc. If known, a manufacturer's ID code for that product (like Federal's "XM193", or Winchester "Q-3131A") could be entered. Other information (like if the price is a regular or sale price, how long such a sale will last, number of cartridges available for that price, any vendor fees [like CTD's $3 ammo fee], etc.) could also be entered.
I have the resources to host and administer the site at a gun-friendly host, but don't have the knowledge of PHP and MySQL to get it setup myself. If there's anyone on THR who might be able to help out, I'd be much obliged if you could contact me privately.
For everyone else: If there's a specific feature you'd like such a site to have, please let me know in this thread. While I can't promise I can include it immediately, I'll definitely keep all comments in mind.
Cheers!
-Pete
Most good ad networks won't touch gun sites, leaving you looking for your own funding. IMO you won't find many vendors willing to sponsor your site because the only purpose of the site is to compare prices of their competitors. It's a hobby for me and fun when people like the site. That's why I do it. Making back the hosting money through donations is all I ask for.