As some of you may know, I write the website myself. Unfortunately, with all the change that has gone on around here in the last year, my time for writing the website has been limited at best. But I have still managed to sneak in some time to do a long overdue rewrite of the website, probably my last. I just need to tie up some loose ends and I will have it up and running by mid-May.
But right now, I want your input. What would you like to see? What stinks now? What would be the first thing you change?
So give me your comments below and I will see what I can add in the new reincarnation. I can’t promise anything, but I will do what I can.
Tags: website
I would dearly love to see you get back into some fishing gear. Braided lines especially. You have at least a couple of customers in Australia desperate for the return, just a small range would be great.
As for the website more photgraphs of products or links to product descriptions. from what I can see of the new look it looks great.
Trying to find ammo is nuts lately. Being able to search or drill down by caliber (in addition to manufacturer) would be nice. And definitely keep the sort for “In Stock” only.
I would like to have the website refresh quicker. Whenever I click on any of the links often time I have difficulty getting the information I wanted. For example; if I want to view ammo I sometimes get a message that Valor does no longer has that product.
I’m working on a firearms search and ammo search which should be available soon after the launch of the new site which will allow you to drill down with many choices.
I would also like to see a return of fishing tackle. That was a bummer
. The 3% cash discount kinda stinks. I know that times are tough but c’mon it was cheesy when the gas stations started doing it cuz who pays by cash anymore?
Other then that I have no complaints. The shipping times have improved 100000000% and I hope that continues.
Sorry, but we’re out of fishing for good.
I would like to see more product pics. I would also love to see you get back into fishing equiptment. I like the instock only search.
Hi Ben,
You’ve made a lot of good changes to the website and to Valor overall over the last few years. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
I would like to see the checkout process get streamlined a little. Less clicks to add new Ship To addresses and complete checkout. Would be nice if all shipping options were presented on the checkout page rather than having to click to a different page to update the shipping selection… things along those lines.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the current site, and as stated previously, I’m VERY happy with the turn-around on shipping orders out. Keep up the great work!
Rick
It’s been a while since I changed the checkout page. I will look into that. I have many more options to choose from since I originally wrote that.
And I know we don’t have enough images. We have someone taking photos almost full time. Problem always is the photos we are adding this week or this month may not be anything you are ever looking at.
I hope our tags won’t be erased.
Your tags are safe.
I, too, have a problem with the 3% cash discount. First it is just a work around because the credit card companies don’t allow a surcharge for the credit cards. This makes it a bit dishonest, IMO.
Second, 3% is outrageous. If you’re paying 3% for your credit card processing, you need to fire whoever signed that contract.
I also don’t understand why drop shippers only pay $1.00 for a handling charge while those who buy items for stock pay $2.50. Can I drop ship to my address and save myself the $1.50?
Between these two items, I find that I’m able to buy most of the items I previously purchased from Valor from other vendors and save money.
Cash discounts are standard in our industry. Most of our competitors have been doing it for as long as I can remember. I realize there are some people that don’t, but their prices are usually higher.
As for the fee, most of our drop shippers we have now do 10 -40 orders a day. So it’s not just $1 handling to them, it’s $10 to $40. We have many very successful drop shippers using us. We offer Net 7 terms for dropshipping if you qualify, so you can get the cash discount.
We have really steered away from the drop shipping anyhow. We give, I believe, a great drop shipping service to our current customers, but we are not adding new customers now that just drop ship without qualifying them. They were coming out of the wood work and it wasn’t fair to our current customer base and to our vendors to add these people as customers. But that’s another post.
What I’m really looking for here is suggestions for the website itself.
Okay. I agree that the credit card surcharge dodge known as “cash discount” is fairly common. However, a 3% fee is the highest I have ever seen. Obviously, you are trying to recoup the fee you pay the credit card companies, but as I said before, if you are paying 3% on your credit card transactions, you are getting royally screwed. Even PayPal doesn’t charge 3%. And if you aren’t paying 3%, then we the customers using a credit card are getting screwed. Remember, too, that you have to pay someone to invoice and process payments on the Net 7 customers, so there is overhead there as well.
Right now, my primary supplier is charging a 2% surcharge and their prices are generally competitive with Valor’s and their shipping charges are less even tho they are further away.
As far as the handling charge goes, we were told when you started it that it was to cover the costs involved with the actual packaging process. Guess what? Whether the item is being drop shipped or the item is being sent to the dealer, the overhead is exactly the same. Is it any wonder that it feels like we’re getting screwed on the handling?
The fact that drop shippers send out multiple items per day isn’t supposed to be the issue. The issue was supposed to be that Valor needed to cover the costs involved with shipping.
But you’re right. You were looking for suggestions to the web site. We used to discuss other issues on the forum, but the forum appears to have died.
I do have a suggestion, tho. If you are going to charge a surcharge for credit card use, how about setting up a toggle so that dealers can select that they will be paying with a credit card and the prices will automatically reflect the surcharged price. Makes it easier to compare prices with other vendors who have similar setups or vendors who don’t charge the surcharge. They do exist and at least one we use also offers free shipping. Prices are higher, but the lack of a surcharge and the free shipping often means the prices are competitive or lower.
look at Zanders theirs is the easiest to navigate,, they don’t have any guns but a nice web site,,, easiest, quick loading, not overdone, user-friendly… Gzanders.com