by Austin Hale

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 09, 2009

"Dun-duh-duh-duhhh" the classical elevator music has been playing while you wait on hold for three hours. Your blood starts to boil and you start looking around for something to punch. When shopping for paintball supplies online cost is one of the smaller considerations when searching for a reliable supplier.

Pricing on things like paintball guns (markers) and paintballs, specials excluded, may only differ by 5%-7% but you may end up paying 10% - 18% more for a return should you run into any problems. To make sure you are buying from the best you should take two simple steps: do some general research about the company and launch a full investigation into the warranty and return policies.

Research

A little research into an online supplier goes a long way into saving money and getting the most bang for your buck. Not to mention saving you countless hours trying to negotiate with terrible customer service. Paintball players are a passionate group that have websites and blogs specifically designed to inform players about the best places to shop.

One of the better websites for information is www.paintball.com. If you want to find a blog that you can post questions, comments, and get feedback www.paintballguns.net is a good place.

A great time saving secret is to call an online store that has a "bricks and mortar" establishment. The employees at stores like www.sakworldpaintball.com in Salem, Massachusetts or www.darkstarpaintball.com in Chandler, Arizona, are usually avid paintball players and can be very helpful when answering questions about equipment and manufacturers. However make sure you are reaching the store and not just and outsourced caller.

With just doing five minutes of research you can find online retailers such as Action Village. Action Village has a very low 7% restocking fee of new and unused items. Action Village also has a professional website, good customer feedback, a great selection of product, and a price matching policy. Paintball is just one of several alternative sports which Action Village supplies. For this reason Action Village, www.actionvillage.com, may be great for supplies or clothing, protective equipment, and paintballs, but depending on your knowledge of the sport you may consider another retailer for the purchase of any technical items. Markers, gun upgrades, and electric hoppers are some of those items. Those that specialize in paintball will normally be much more informative about the products.

Warranties

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