This is great! You guys are all bringing up really important issues and responses!
I have taken the shipping concerns and the ammo number requirement and come up with a policy that suits both. There will be free shipping only on purchases of 500 or more rounds (this can be mixed calibers, just 500 total). That way I don't lose money on small orders but don't discourage people from ordering if they want.
I do have an FFL 06 license, took me six months to get and our anti-firearm government's right arm (ATF) tried everything in their power to deny me it; but my LLC is licensed.
There are no restrictions with UPS on shipping ammo, in fact they won't even mark it as such so you may drop it off at my PMB box in Thornton for no charge and pick it up there once I have it completed.
The ammo can is not necessary, it's just a policy I wrote for my business. If I had to incorporate packaging costs into the ammo it would be more expensive than if I use the ammo can as a cool and safe way to transport. It also provides incentive for customers to continue to use my service.
Liability is a very important factor and I have the legal side of the business very well supported.
Brass does have a life, but as long as you aren't shooting your rounds super hot, the brass will usually outlast your wallet. I have many tools for testing brass life as well. As a customer, you won't have to worry about this too much. If you end up reloading a certain lot enough times with me that is begins to be unsafe to use, then you will be happy with the money you saved and I'll be happy with all the business you supplied me!!!
To answer BuffCyclist, the business model is solely profitable by reloading customers brass only. There is a federal excise tax on ammunition that makes ammo manufacturing almost impossible for small businesses. This is why you only see large amounts of ammo (not specialty of course) being produced by the big corporate guys like Remington and Winchester. As long as a manufacturer only reloads a customers used brass, then he is exempt from paying the excise tax. Therefor, the model I built is profitable only with reloads.
Legally I do have to charge sales tax for Colorado addresses. There's no way around this one, not even with the idea that reloads are a service not a product. Trust me, I've tired :)
As far as what I'm offering, I have a standard target load for each caliber. This is the base price. These loads are simple FMJ with a standard primer and healthy powder charge. They will function flawlessly and accurately for range use and pure practice and enjoyment. Just like buying a box of Winchester 45ACP from Walmart, they are affordable and work great.
I also allow the customer to select a heavier bullet if they have a preference for something more substantial, this is not necessary for most people and their range use.
I guess I should kind of spell out my ammo for everyone. This is not defensive ammunition. It's ammo to be shot in bulk, at the range, or wherever you go through a lot of ammo. Bullet Boy Ammo is designed as a solution to the difficulty involved these days in finding large amounts of ammo without breaking the bank. For political and economic reasons ammunition has become scarce and expensive and if you don't reload it is hard to keep shooting! My business is designed to allow the average gun owner to shoot (for sport and hobby) by making ammo "available" and "affordable". I will allow customers to contact me with special orders, so if you have a particular bullet, charge, seating depth.... I can give you a quote for a custom round (that can be for hunting or competition as well). But the majority or what I offer you don't have to worry about knowing the specifics of the round in order to order. Bullet Boy Ammo is designed to give all of you that don't have the time or money to get into reloading a way to take advantage of the low costs, availability, and better quality ammo that I have been making for myself for years.
When you add shipping and ammo-can cost into the prices I have posted, the ammo I offer is priced at the same point as your lowest end (bulk) military style factory ammo that can "occasionally" be found on the web or at gun shows. The market is one in which if people can find ammo, they buy it up, no matter the cost, so in this realm I can be fairly competitive. However, after you have an ammo-can and buy 500 or more for free shipping (or drop off), then my prices are much lower than anything out there. If you know any source to the contrary, let me know so I can adjust. But right now I've got pretty tight profit margins as is.
I think people tend to think that reloaded ammo is somehow lesser quality than new factory ammo. This is not so. Reloaded ammo is ofter produced with higher quality components and tighter lot specs. My ammo is. Even my standard handgun rounds group significantly tighter than store bought brands. You can probably (with shipping and ammo-can and tax added) find a bulk buy (1000 or 2000 rounds) out there for the same cost or just slightly more than my reloads but it's going to be military or foreign produced with cheap powder, berdan primers, and most likely non-brass casings which are very hard on your gun's internal parts (especially extractor). So I'll have to make it clear on my website that there is nothing to fear about the quality of my reloaded ammo, in fact it's the opposite, higher quality for less money. :)
BuffCyclist, I have thought about taking pictures of my work place, and it is a very clean and tidy little shop, the only problem is that the shop is my basement! :) So that might send across the opposite message like "Oh this is just some nut in his basement trying to act all bigtime!" :) I don't know, I just thought that I might want to leave that out. Bill Gates started in his garage though right? :)
Pheww... :) I hope that answered a lot of questions. You guys are bringing up good points, I'm definitely writing not only to try and answer questions but to reassure myself that this venture is a good idea!
Keep it coming though, I'd like to have most of the possible issues hammered out before I open in the next few weeks.
Also, if any of you shoot High Power Rifle and use an AR-15, I have a reload that groups less than 1/4 minute. And by less I mean I'll place 20 rounds at 200 yards within the circumference of a quarter. This is another example of how reloads can be better than store bought. When I shot for the CO team, we were required to load our own ammo because nothing out there could perform as well. I know Black Hills Ammo has some high quality 223 for competition but good luck finding any!
