Before, any gun under $600 was listed without pictures and did not show up when using the search feature.
I am seeing guns under $600 now with pictures. This is good. Cabelas often mis-identifies or under values some guns.
Most guns I saw had multiple photos that could be enlarged and zoomed.
The search feature is gone. Not good. It was easy to search for "damascus", "greener", etc and quickly locate guns of interest.
Their current category system is screwed up. This is because it depends on human input. If I choose "European Shotguns" it has a sub-category, "Belgian". When I choose that, it does not show the very nice Dumoulin sidelock they have. While it does show a Christophe. The Dumoulin has a picture of the proofs, the Christophe does not. The Dumoulin description says it has 2 3/4 chambers, the proof marks say 65mm.
When I choose "English Shotguns" and narrow by "Misc", I get Harper, Wilkes, Golden, Lisle and Garden.
Now, none of this is really that important. Except they end up burying $23,000 worth of guns under "Misc". Not a smart move if you live by selling guns. So, in the end, I do not see this as an improvement, but more of the same from Cabelas. Just wish they had left the "Search" alone.
If they want to "fix" their gun libary, they need to start with the people who describe the guns.
They need a standard form that must be filled out. One that has things like "Country of Origin" so it does not matter if some one describes the gun as "London", "Birmingham" or "English".
They need a standard set of photos. Any stamping, trade marks, or proof marks, should be photographed and made available. A collector can usually tell more than their staff from these. That Dumoulin was made in 1930 which is not in description.
The problem is internal to their company. Sales should be driving this. They need some one internally with enough gun smarts to write the requirements. I am sure they have already thrown a lot of cash into this redo. They just did not start with the right people. If they want to do it right. They should contact collectors and let them view, play with and comment on a beta version. Then incorporate the recommendations.
Pete
