I’m going to gripe for a minute.
I’ve really gotten PO’d about how the PSA website’s in-stock notices are being deliberately circumvented for the H&R Repro AR15 parts. I’ve been signed up for out-of-stock notifications at the PSA web site ever since the first H&R receivers were sold out (months), and I’ve never received an in-stock notice even though the parts have come in stock and sold out multiple times.
It seems that the H&R receivers are being restocked, and quickly sell out to people who are being given special notice that undermines the effectiveness of the PSA web site system and ends up screwing over PSA customers. I’ve figured out how this is happening, and I’m not at all pleased about what’s going on.
If you’ve been following the H&R receivers and parts, they’re never in stock. You can sign up for in-stock notices and check the PSA web site every day, and you’ll never see them in stock. In the meantime, other people are being given sweetheart deals, where they receive 24-48 hour advance notice of when the items are going to be offered for sale on the web site, so they know which day to be on the lookout. Then everything gets sold out in only a few minutes, is bought by the people who were being given special notice, while the rest of the PSA customers get screwed. It comes as no surprise that some of the parts end up being offered for sale at astronomical prices on Gun Broker.
As it turns out, signing up for back-in-stock notifications through the PSA web site has no value whatsoever. I’ve been signed up for notification and I’ve been checking the website daily. I’ve never received a notice, and I’ve never found the item in stock, even though they come in stock and sell out. The problem is that I hadn’t been following a special thread on AR15.com where the CEO of H&R is giving 24-48 hour notice before the merchandise is offered online. The special notices worked – the inventory was bought by the people who received special notice, it sold out in 13 minutes and the merchandise never had a chance to go through the process of in-stock notification by PSA. Regular PSA customers got screwed.
Here is a link to Mike_NDS’ most recent 48 hour advance notice at AR15.com on 1/4/2023:
Here’s his post on AR15.com from 1/5/23:
And someone else’s post when the parts went live on 1/6/23:
The parts sold out within 13 minutes of the last notice on AR15.com.
This is a screw job if there ever was one. The PSA site’s notification system never even sends out in-stock notices to PSA customers who have signed-up for notification. Ostensibly this is because the in-stock notices don’t go out until the system has a chance to poll the web site, find the item in-stock, and then transmit notices to users who have subscribed. What is happening is that the notices never go out, because prior notice is given a day or two in advance at AR15.com by the H&R CEO, and the merchandise is immediately consumed by people who were given advance notice – which preempts the possibility of any notifications for everyone else who relies on the PSA notification system. These sweetheart deals screw PSA customers and undermine the integrity of the PSA restock notification system.
I’ve been trying to get hold of the repro receivers, barrels, parts, etc for the better part of a year, and I’ve always thought that I’ve just had bad luck. After stumbling across the thread on AR15.com I realized that I didnt’ have bad luck – I was being cheated.
This really bothers me. I own a minty transferable A1 that is so valuable that I don’t want to shoot it. In the past year I’ve bought several new PSA uppers for it, so that I won’t waste the value of an original A1 upper in mint condition. As nice as my PSA uppers are, they just aren’t the “right” uppers for this rifle – A2, A3 and A4 uppers just don’t belong on an original A1, but a repro A1 upper would look great. So I’ve bought several temporary uppers over the past year while I wait for an authentic reproduction to become available. The only problem is that I’m never going to have a fair chance to get one of the repro A1 uppers because advance notice of the date and time that the parts go up for sale is being given to people who are “special.” This sort of preferential treatment completely undermines the value of PSA’s re-stock notification service and it has alienated me as a customer. I’ve spent thousands at PSA in the past several months and I’m really disappointed by the illusion that the in-stock notification system is actually there to help customers.
It would be helpful if signing up for an in-stock notification at the PSA web site actually provided the notification that you’re signing up for, instead of just giving you the illusion that you’ll receive a notice and have a fair chance at buying a hard to buy part. The advance notices that are being given to the special people at AR15.com completely undermine the integrity of the PSA web site’s in-stock notice system.
We need a level playing field.
