Purchasing airsoft guns online can be one of the best or worst decisions an airsoft player will ever make. There are pros, and cons involved, but one of the most important question will constantly arise.
What are some good places to buy Airsoft Guns online?
There are definitely reputable websites and infamous websites. Most bad websites will not scam you as in take your money and not give you a product, but they can be overpriced or give you a defective item without refund. There are a few things you must keep in mind when purchasing airsoft guns online, and they are the following:
First, let’s discuss pros and cons of buying Airsoft Guns online.
Pros:
-You have tools such as Google, Associatedcontent, or even various airsoft forums to look up reviews on an airsoft gun on hand, to see if others purchasing it had a good experience.
-Most online stores have coupon/promotional codes that you can enter to get 10-15% off. These can be found on the website, or just googling a promotional code (For example, try searching up “[Insert airsoft store name here] coupon codes”.
-Many airsoft online websites will offer free shipping for purchases that are above a set amount of money (Usually $100)
-Items will be in stock more often in online stores than in the actual walk-in store.
-You can compare prices online, something that would be very annoying to do with walk-in stores.
Cons:
-You cannot test fire the gun, or get a quick opinion from the store owner about the gun
-Shipping costs are generally very expensive for airsoft guns
-Believe it or not, the vast majority of Airsoft Store’s are in California, so shipping takes a while for those of us who live on the eastern US.
-Products may arrive defective, or broken. Returning items usually charges you shipping costs, in addition to an extra sum (usually 10-20% of the price) for restocking fee.
With all that understood, here are a list of good airsoft stores and bad airsoft stores, and reasons why they are good and/or bad.
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Airsoft G.I – One of my personal favorites. Their technicians know what they are talking about, for most products they have a guy named ‘Tim’ reviewing the gun, and chronoing the gun’s FPS (Measuring how fast the gun goes, on camera). They also have a huge selection, and a very organized website. They have sales events regularly, but some of their items are slightly overpriced.
Evike – Otherwise known as ‘Airsoftpost’ isn’t a terrible website. They do not have as much coupon codes as Airsoft G.I, however they do have a bunch of free stuff you can get with your gun. These include a fold out gel pen, 2 stickers, and two spring powered guns (the spring powered guns are $1.00 each). The website is a little hard to sort through and navigate through but it is alright. Evike also has a reputation for packing things poorly (no external box, just brown paper), so buying extremely fragile or delicate items off of them isn’t the best idea.
Shortyusa – Located in delaware, good for fast shipping to the eastern U.S, but has a relatively bad reputation of being overpriced. Over time the severity of the problem decreased, but Shortyusa’s reputation is scarred. There are rumors that the website/company is for sale. G
Airsplat – A general stay-away website. Many people have had terrible experiences with Airsplat, getting extremely rusty and/or completely defective products, and having them refuse a refund, or be unresponsive for a very long time. Here is an airsplat story.
Hobbytron – No major flaws with customer service or products, but they sell guns that are very low end, and are not very good, including sticking the famous ‘Sniper tag’ on springers (For example, a $12 AK-47, sticking on a fake scope and a plastic bipod and calling it an AK-47 SNIPER even though an AK-47 is not a sniper.) and false information about their products. If you order off Hobbytron, make sure to do research about the gun you are getting.
Ehobby Asia – Don’t have much personal experience on this one, but it does not stand out as a bad website, but I listed this on my list because it is relatively popular. Ehobby Asia does sell some items you would not find in U.S based retail stores, so you can find some pretty unique items on this website. (Shipping is however, very expensive)
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There are many Websites out there that sell airsoft guns, and to name and rate them all would take way too long.
A good airsoft gun website will generally:
-Have a large quantity of customer reviews. This does not include testimonials about the website, although testimonials does not make a website look BAD, nor does it make one look GOOD. They are simply not reliable.
-Not have the bulk of their airsoft guns under $30
-Sell products from many reputable brands, such as Tokyo Marui, Echo1, Classic Army, G&G;, CYMA, etc.
-Have a good reputation. If you can try really hard researching and don’t find much bad things about them, they are generally good.
-Have a professional layout. Easy to find your way around the website, look at specific categories, or find sales/daily deals.
Beware of:
Boneyard:
Many Airsoft websites will have something called a Boneyard, and they sell guns that can be defective and are not covered by warranty. People buy these guns to attempt to fix, or to salvage parts that can be used in their guns, or that can be sold separately. It is not a wise idea to purchase Boneyard items without a good knowledge of airsoft. You may even get a working gun, but chances are not guaranteed.
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Sniper tagging:
Putting the word ‘SNIPER’ on guns less than $60 you can assure in no way shape or form, this is NOT a sniper. These gun’s are weak, spring loaded guns (cock, shoot, cock, shoot) that have a non-functional scope and a plastic bipod that will most likely break.
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Bad Ammunition:
Unless your gun is less than $20, do not use .12 gram bb’s. They will break your gun! Also, only buy BB’s that are known to be good. I would list a few, but there is much controversy over what brand has the best BB’s. Biodegradable BB’s are much more expensive, and if you do choose to go Bio, make sure you do some research about what brand you are getting. You don’t want to break your gun!
*Never EVER use the BB’s that come with your gun if you spent more than $50 on the gun.*
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Pre-Order:
When you pre-order something there is absolutely no guarantee you will ever get it, so be cautious when pre-ordering.
Now you should be armored enough to make good, safe, smart airsoft purchases. Shop smart, you won’t get scammed. Good luck!
