FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding the AmmoSeek search engine.

Do you sell ammunition? What are your shipping rates?

We do not sell ammunition. AmmoSeek is a search engine for finding in-stock ammunition at online retailers. We do not stock or sell ammunition; therefore, we do not have shipping rates.

Why don't you show the ammo prices along with retailers' shipping rates so seekers can get a more accurate idea of the true cost of purchasing the ammo?

Some sites (e.g. gun-deals.com) purport to factor shipping charges into the price of of the product, but you will notice that not all products have shipping information added in, and the ones that do aren't necessarily accurate since shipping charges vary widely depending on whether or not other items are also purchased at the same time. Plus, some retailers offer free (or very inexpensive) shipping because they already add in the cost of shipping to the price of the product. Therefore, with such varying levels of accuracy, it makes comparison shopping much less clear than if the basic price of the item is used. (And obtaining accurate shipping charges from some retailers requires obtaining a user account on the retailer's web site, adding the product to the shopping cart, etc., making the process quite complicated for a search engine).

We may try to work around these inherent problems in the future, but for now leaving out the shipping costs is more accurate that including it for the reasons listed above.

I see a mistake or discrepancy with the data. Why?

In many cases the sites we mine for data are not sophisticated and will contain inconsistencies themselves. Our software mining engine does its very best to display valid data but there are going to be cases where it will never mine the data properly. It’s the garbage in, garbage out evil.

Also, there will be times where retailers modify their site code causing our software to fail at grabbing the proper information or any information at all. In any of these cases please feel free to contact us about it in case we may not already know that the problem exists.

How often does the AmmoSeek engine process its ammunition data?

AmmoSeek updates ammunition data about every 6 hours, except for AmmoSeek Certified Retailers whose products are updated hourly.

Hey, I thought you said all items listed are in stock. I clicked on an item and the retailer’s web site tells me it is not in stock. What gives?

Sites are processed through the AmmoSeek engine approximately every 6 hours. If an item sells out in between processing times it may appear on AmmoSeek and not actually be in stock at the retailer. The retailer (obviously) takes precedence over what AmmoSeek reports.

If that same item still shows up in the AmmoSeek results after 12 hours but is still out of stock there may be a problem with the engine and it should be reported to us immediately so we can investigate and fix the discrepancy.

Why don’t you have shotgun shells or slugs listed at AmmoSeek?

We are in the process of adding shotgun ammo to AmmoSeek. It was one of the most requested features. We hope to have it tested and ready to go very soon.

Why is my favorite caliber or online ammo retailer not listed at AmmoSeek?

We believe we have just about every caliber that is sold by our retailers listed in the AmmoSeek search engine at this time. We started with the most popular calibers and now have over 200 different calibers. If the caliber is available at any of the sites in our indexing engine then we are searching for it, with the exception of shotgun ammo (for now).

The retailers we are currently processing are listed on the left side of the main AmmoSeek page. We make an effort to put as many online ammo retailers in the engine as possible. Unfortunately, some retailers have websites that are nearly impossible to process effectively and may never be in AmmoSeek. However, we certainly take requests for new retailers and will investigate the feasibility of adding them on a case by case basis. Feel free to contact us with new retailer requests.

NOTE: Retailers do not pay AmmoSeek.com for the privilege of being listed in our search engine. We choose retailers based on popularity and ease of crawling the retailer's web site to get the necessary information. Retailers who wish to be listed in AmmoSeek's search results should provide us with a regular data feed of their in-stock products.

Why do you have advertising? I hate seeing all those banner and text ads on your site. They are an eyesore!

We agree with you, but we must fund our hosting bill and ads were the easiest method to do this without having to charge for the service directly.

In the future we may offer a premium service that would require a nominal monthly or yearly fee that would present AmmoSeek without ads and offer other premium services.

How do I find out about advertising my own product or site on AmmoSeek?

Please see the advertising information page for current rates and other detailed information.

Wow, I love this AmmoSeek thing. Can I just make a donation to show my appreciation?

Of course. You can do so from our donation page.

How do I stay up to date on the latest features, new calibers, or retailers available on AmmoSeek?

All new major features and updates on calibers and retailers will be posted to the AmmoSeek blog. Additionally, gun-related articles and information will be posted to the blog from time to time. The blog is:

http://blog.ammoseek.com/

Also, AmmoSeek has a Twitter account where updates will be made. Follow us on Twitter.

What is the best web browser to use for using the AmmoSeek engine?

Other browsers do work, and work quite well, but for an optimum experience Firefox 3.x should be used as it is the browser we use in development.

Are you affiliated with any of these ammunition retailers in any way?

Yes, some. In an effort to provide the best product data available we invite retailers to participate in the AmmoSeek Certified Retailer program. These retailers provide a product data feed to the AmmoSeek search engine resulting in more accurate data. For others, we scour the retailers' websites for product data with our indexing engine. Read more details about the AmmoSeek Certified Retailer program. However, retailers do not pay us for the privilege of appearing in our search results, and we do not give special consideration to one retailer over another. Our aim is just to find the least expensive for you.

How about adding reloading components?

That is in our future plans. Right now, however, we intend to focus on making AmmoSeek.com the best ammunition search engine on the net.