Zero One is closing their shop.

[Galvatron]

Mmm, some comments in the Facebook post about punters trying out guns at retailers, and then buying online while still in the shop, without even asking for a price match.  That's a proper dick move.

That's really scummy. One thing I appreciate about bricks & mortar retail is that you can usually speak in person if something goes wrong with whatever you buy and have less chance of being ghosted with emails or phone calls with a web-only retailer.

The fact that people would "showroom" and order online on the premises without asking for a price match shows shameless contempt.

 

[Krisz]

As much as this is <oh-well-anyway.gif>, it's also a yellow flag about the state of retail and airsoft in particular in the UK.  We really don't want to have to be importing individually from Abroadland.

People are skint more than ever and airsoft is a luxury hobby plus you don't need a new RIF every week compared to bread or milk.

Brick and mortar shops are deemed to fail since amazon and other online retailers turned up. They killed high street shops nationwide. There are other reasons ofc but people are already mentioned it.

 

[Apharmd]

A shame to see it go. I've never been to the store, but I had hoped I would at least visit if I was nearby.

For a while, they had this thing on their website called the Stock Exchange. I think it was a way to get rid of old parts etc. The prices of anything on the Exchange changed every fifteen minutes. I ended up getting a G&P Patriot kit for £60 or so.

Here's hoping they do well with their new website.

 

[LMKipper]

Mmm, some comments in the Facebook post about punters trying out guns at retailers, and then buying online while still in the shop, without even asking for a price match.  That's a proper dick move.

When I worked in a bicycle shop, folks would come in to try shoes/clothing on and I'd see them scrolling online for prices while they supped our free coffee. I know everyone wants everything as cheap as they can get it (I'm the same) but I think people forget that every hour a shop is open, it's costing money.

I had one experience with ZeroOne, nearly 20 years ago. I bought an ICS MP5SD that was DOA. I sent it back and they accused me of having opened the motor housing because the wiring was bust! They repaired it (as a gesture of goodwill...) and I haven't shopped there since.

 

[GiantKiwi]

'BNIB' Mags which were muddy from them about a decade ago, never touched them again, unless they were the only option.

 

[TheFull9]

They've been one of the most consistent recipients of negative reviews that I've personally seen over the years, as far as retailers go.  Not small issues either, sometimes pretty egregious stuff.

Personally I only tend to regularly check a small number of shops, but from what I see online there's been a LOT of retailers pop up within the last decade; a few closings too ofc, but quite a lot of new ones.  I certainly don't have stats to hand by any stretch, but if I had to put a bet one way or the other, I feel like I'd say more sellers have opened than closed post-turn of the millennium.  By quite a few potentially (if I were to be bold).

As for TM, not sure what other folks see, but my observation is that it seems to be the one brand of RIF that's always just consistently selling and selling out at shops.  I'm not sure if there are any other brands (within the UK) that have businesses dedicated to them the way we have the likes of E6 (doing both sales, specific parts and tech work) but again, TM just seems to have the most of that type of thing 'orbiting' it by a long stretch; far as I can tell.  People always want more NGRS and MWS guns/mags and the various pistols/mags.  Which is a very good thing imho.

 

[Tackle]

Its TM innit, while they've not always been "THE" thing that buyers want, they've always been a sure thing for retailers, it just makes sense in the long run.

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

Always been pricey-ish, but never had an issue with them.  Bought my first rif from there and a fuck ton of their BBs (pre-discovery of Kilo 9s; and then post Brexit, post Kilo 9s...).  

Shows how experiences of a retailer differ if nothing else.

 

[MistakenMexican]

Always been pricey-ish, but never had an issue with them.  Bought my first rif from there and a fuck ton of their BBs (pre-discovery of Kilo 9s; and then post Brexit, post Kilo 9s...).  

Shows how experiences of a retailer differ if nothing else.

I think online retailing and small site shops are the way it’s going.

Lots of upgrades are specifically spec’d for TM. So selling Vorsk (for example) makes for a headache in terms of after sales. Theres a few shops around to who sell Vorsk and then TM spec upgrades… but don’t want anything to do with the problems that arise when they’ve sold both to one of their customers ?

You’ve also got retailers such as Empire who get stuff in far cheaper than Zero one or FS can get. That might be because they have lower running costs due to having no physical shop.

My local shop in Cardiff closed down and merged with their CQB site. It makes a lot of sense as most of their sales are on game days.

 

[BigAl]

The Forum was supposed to be going down for awhile whle its moved and revamped but its now showing an IONIS Page?  Is this normal or has it gone now?  much as I prefer here and Arnies, Zero In was a useful page to buy and sell, as long as you cold put up all the kids.

 

[Neptune]

The Forum was supposed to be going down for awhile whle its moved and revamped but its now showing an IONIS Page?  Is this normal or has it gone now?  much as I prefer here and Arnies, Zero In was a useful page to buy and sell, as long as you cold put up all the kids.

It's coming back. It doesn't show IONIS to me, but that might be a delayed DNS issue. IONIS are a web company, so it's completely normal to see something like that when moving servers.