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Rifle Scopes 50% off a Minox scope with purchase of a M18 rifle at EO
- Thread starter MOUNTIC
- Start date
I went through the thread and found it. Basically his turrets didn’t line up perfectly and the glass would look blurry / milky at higher magnification.
The turret markings not aligning is a non-issue as that can be fixed when resetting the turret to zero.
My real issue is in the glass/prism department. You can read all about it on post 491 of this thread.
They want to help me and asked me to send it in. However, they'd have to open up the entire scope to go through each individual glass and prisms. I refused to send it in as it would have to go all the way to Germany and the turnaround time was roughly 3 weeks at the time. I decided to wait until after hunting season and will be sending it in then...
Sounds like you have a loose field lens, definitely want to send that in.
Fingers crossed that they've gotten better. Of the two guys I know who have owned one of these scopes, both had issues with tracking and sold them as soon as the replacement came back from Minox. I'll be checking mine thoroughly when I get it. I wouldn't even consider spending the full asking price for one of these but if I get a good one at the 50% price I'll be happy. If not I'll be doing as my friends did.
Does anyone have a phone number or email contact within a Blazer group. Have been trying to contact regarding receipt of the coupon as the rifle was purchased in December. They were closed through the holidays as a previous poster noted. Left messages and emails but no response. Thanks
Send n email with your phone number, she called me next day.
Can't wait for the next batch to come in
Talked with Yim today. Put my order in and expecting delivery sometime in February. They are honoring coupons through February 2020. Looking forward to getting my scope.
Got my shipping confirmation.
Now I just need rings/mount (arc or spuhr cant decide) and a gun for the second scope to go on.
I have to say I have been really impressed with Blazer. All of my dealings with Yim have been some of the best I've experienced, ever.
Now I just need rings/mount (arc or spuhr cant decide) and a gun for the second scope to go on.
I have to say I have been really impressed with Blazer. All of my dealings with Yim have been some of the best I've experienced, ever.
Y'all getting these at 50% off that think they're amazing, remember what they did to the rest of us who paid full price.
They're not as awesome as they seem. Now if they want to send me a check for the difference in value of what I paid versus what my scope is now worth in the name of selling shit rifles... might have to change my mind about them.
They're not as awesome as they seem. Now if they want to send me a check for the difference in value of what I paid versus what my scope is now worth in the name of selling shit rifles... might have to change my mind about them.
I've paid full price for a few and I'm not mad...
I bought many things like an AXMC for almost full price and two months later they dropped 2 grand. Is what it is. The ZP5 was the all the rave a few years ago and now your pissed because they arent full retail any more? Got it.
Ya don't got it, at all. I'm not pissed a scope loses value through use, wear and tear, better newer models making it obsolete, etc.
I'm pissed when a company devalues their product by 30% to sell a shit rifle that nobody including everybody here who bought one for the coupon actually wants. Most sold them immediately to better the investment on the scope.
Don't get me wrong, hell of a deal. But it does hose everybody that paid full price for one. Maybe I wanted to try something different or upgrade to a newer model?
Guess what, if I can get $2k for a $3k scope, used, I'd be doing great. Too bad for me, huh? Guess that's how the cookie crumbles.
What about the dealers who had inventory of ZP5s but no way to compete with the EO coupon that came with the rifle? Too bad for them too, I guess, right?
Fuck everybody who paid full price when they were unheard of and didn't have the reputation that made the coupon possible!
You want to spend your cash on a company that does that you go right ahead.
If your ZP5 is in decent condition, I’ll bet you can sell it for $2k fairly easily. Probably could have even while the deal was going on.
If you don’t sell it you won’t lose money. Lol
Precisely. I can sell it and take a $1k haircut or be stuck with $3k tied up in it. Awesome choices. ? But hey...
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Precisely. I can sell it and take a $1k haircut or be stuck with $3k tied up in it. Awesome choices. ? But hey...
Have you shot it in any matches?
I’m looking at it like I got a great deal on a $3,000 scope. Were you happy with it when you bought it, at least until you found out about the 50% off deal? I don’t see why you wouldn’t keep it and use it. Especially since they’re back to ~$3k now.
I understand the frustration of missing out on the deal and paying more. It’s still a great scope.
I understand the frustration of missing out on the deal and paying more. It’s still a great scope.
There's the issue buddy, they'll never be "back to $3k".
Guys won't buy them at a $3k price point because it'll be viewed as buying a $2k scope for $3k. Or guys will say, I'll just wait for another sale/coupon. Or they'll be outright hostile about it and accuse the owner of trying to buy low and sell high.
Minox has forever burnt the value on the ZP5. I'm not saying it's not a good scope, or that it wasn't a good deal for anybody looking to buy one.
I'm saying it blows for everyone else who might have had aspirations of selling their Minox.
Now instead of listing it for 2800 and maybe coming down a touch in PMs I think you'd be doing well to get 2k for used and MAYBE 2200-2400 for brand new from a coupon purchase.
It's still a solid scope, but I'm never giving them my money again and you shouldn't either.
Agreed. I was about to sell my Zp5 to upgrade to a ZC right before that shit started. Now the delta is a little more than I can afford at this point. Won’t be giving them any of my money again.
Before the 50% off deal even came, used ZP5’s were selling for 2300-$2400 for MR4, yes there were outliers asking for more but doubtful they ever got it, but other reticles were selling for less, in fact, CS Tactical had a blowout of another reticle for $2300 if I’m not mistaken.
I agree that for the short term this has “de” valued Minox optics, but it doesn’t make them any less valuable, in fact, now that more shooters have them in their hands word will spread on how good they are.
What does this look like for future sales of Minox, my guess is they will only see a slight rise in sales due to the effect you mention Lawn, and maybe that after a slight drop in sales.
The biggest mistake they made was not including the dealers in this, CS Tactical used to sing the praises of the ZP5 and their competition team used these scopes, now all I hear from CS Tactical is ZCO and my guess is their team has all dumped the ZP5, not because they ceased to be good scopes but because they got the raw deal. Schmidt has also burned bridges with their dealer base by making the competition the sole distributor in the US.
If Minox does not lower MAP in the US on the ZP5 I think they will struggle to sell, so they either need to lower the price or come out with a ZP6 line designed by GSO to encourage new interest.
At $2k it is a no brainer but there is just too much competition at the $3k level. If given the choice between a $3200 ZP5 or a $3500 ZCO I would likely choose the ZCO, but I do like the MR4 reticle better than the MPCT series, but if Minox drops MAP to $2500, well that might change things a bit.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but it almost seems like where there was once dominance by European manufacturers they now seem to be struggling to figure out the high end US market.
I agree that for the short term this has “de” valued Minox optics, but it doesn’t make them any less valuable, in fact, now that more shooters have them in their hands word will spread on how good they are.
What does this look like for future sales of Minox, my guess is they will only see a slight rise in sales due to the effect you mention Lawn, and maybe that after a slight drop in sales.
The biggest mistake they made was not including the dealers in this, CS Tactical used to sing the praises of the ZP5 and their competition team used these scopes, now all I hear from CS Tactical is ZCO and my guess is their team has all dumped the ZP5, not because they ceased to be good scopes but because they got the raw deal. Schmidt has also burned bridges with their dealer base by making the competition the sole distributor in the US.
If Minox does not lower MAP in the US on the ZP5 I think they will struggle to sell, so they either need to lower the price or come out with a ZP6 line designed by GSO to encourage new interest.
At $2k it is a no brainer but there is just too much competition at the $3k level. If given the choice between a $3200 ZP5 or a $3500 ZCO I would likely choose the ZCO, but I do like the MR4 reticle better than the MPCT series, but if Minox drops MAP to $2500, well that might change things a bit.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but it almost seems like where there was once dominance by European manufacturers they now seem to be struggling to figure out the high end US market.
I understand your point and I don’t disagree with the thrust of it. You just seem so *mad* about it. This type of shit happens every day, in all different industries and markets, so I guess I don’t see what makes this situation so egregious.
And the street/advertised/listed price IS back to about $3k; whether you think anyone will buy it for that is a separate discussion.
Yeah, I anticipate they’ll be coming out with a ZP-6 fairly soon. It’ll do a nice job of shoveling kitty litter over the top of past sins........
I’ve gotten over most of it........
I am comforted in the knowledge/conviction that I will never buy any of their products, ever again.........
To be fair to Blaser/Minox, when they came up with this 50% coupon deal, they envisioned people buying their rifle(M18or M12) and then buying an equivalently priced scope at 50% off to put on the rifle. They sure as hell did not expect this "thread" to go viral and folks like us to take advantage of them by buying the cheapest rifles for around $400, then using the coupon to buy a $3600 scope at 50% off.
They could have easily shut the program down(or disallow ZP5s in the coupon program), but they decided to honor the deal and even went above and beyond to manufacture additional batches of ZP5 MR4s.
Their original "intention" was to help sell some rifles, with no intention of screwing anyone over. Who would have thought that a bunch of us on this site would take advantage of this deal and go to town with it?
With no disrespect intended toward you.........
I have zero interest in what is fair to Minox/Blazer.........that ship has long since sailed.
Remember when Bushnell did something similar a year or so ago? They put out a coupon then back tracked on their higher end scopes. They ended up honoring it for *some* but not all.
The first tier 1 scope I bought was a Steiner. This was one of the original M series scopes where the MSR center cross was a little thick. I literally didn’t get it mounted before Steiner announced the new T5xi. They were going to fix the center cross on this new scope, it had the same glass, scope production and support were going to be here in the US, and the best part... it was UNDER $2000! Not great for those of us that bought at nearly 3k. I called Steiner to ask why on earth they undercut their existing customers without even so much as an option to swap our reticles? The guy obtusely pretended to not understand why anyone would be upset. I immediately listed it in the PX for something like $400 less than I paid and sold it quickly. Less than a two weeks after buying, I had already sold for a tidy loss.
I decided to go ahead and reinvest in a Kahles Gen2 with MSR-K. Those had been out for a while, and the Gen2 was a recent upgrade. I liked a lot about the scope. I probably only owned that scope for a matter of a couple months before the Gen3 was trotted out. I kept that scope and used it for years rather than take another bath. I figured it wouldn’t go much lower than the $1900 it fell to overnight, and I liked the scope. When I did sell it, I got the same $1900. I kid you not, my next scope purchase after the Kahles was a $1500 LRHS. Wow.
I decided to go ahead and reinvest in a Kahles Gen2 with MSR-K. Those had been out for a while, and the Gen2 was a recent upgrade. I liked a lot about the scope. I probably only owned that scope for a matter of a couple months before the Gen3 was trotted out. I kept that scope and used it for years rather than take another bath. I figured it wouldn’t go much lower than the $1900 it fell to overnight, and I liked the scope. When I did sell it, I got the same $1900. I kid you not, my next scope purchase after the Kahles was a $1500 LRHS. Wow.
While I've not partaken in this deal they have made adding to the collection more affordable.
Have checked out all but the ZCO and strangely I haven't lost any points not having the newest
hotness...
The MR4 is my fav reticle and these old eyes get by.
YMMV
R
Have checked out all but the ZCO and strangely I haven't lost any points not having the newest
hotness...
The MR4 is my fav reticle and these old eyes get by.
YMMV
R
My initial take on the Minox was that consistency was all over the place from scope to scope. Some had tactile turrets, others didn't. Image quality was also somewhat hit or miss, with some good ones and some that didn't seem to have the same resolution. Some turrets didn't line up, others did. The newer ones appear to be much more consistent though. I just shot my first match with the 5-25 MR4, and despite not having much time behind it (less than 100 rounds prior to the match), it was easy to get used to and by the end of the match I was questioning if I liked it or my Schmidts better. I still think $2500-2700 is a fair price for them, if you consider that NF, Schmidt, etc are that price or higher. If people want to give them away for $2000 or less, that's their own fault...
Ouch, I too remember when the LRHS's were up there, then GAP starts selling them for $750, now you can't get that scope (LHRS has been discontinued) but essentially the same scope is the LRTS which has also been over $1000, I'd be curious what the current resale value of these scopes are. Vortex has dropped their price on the Razor Gen II's, they used to sell for $2500 now they are at $1700.
My guess with Minox is that if ZP5 sales struggle this year (which I expect to happen for new sales in the US) then it's quite likely we might see some new scopes next year, or it's entirely possible that Minox realizes they will always struggle with gaining ground in the US market and may choose to abandon the market here, or decide that their scopes aren't worth what they thought they were (in the US market) and drop prices across the board. But I'm speculating and we may be completely surprised and Minox doesn't do anything for quite some time. I think the biggest negative impact the 50% off deal will have moving forward is the nervousness of future "new" buyers as there will always be the thought, "if I pay $3k for this scope, and Minox does another 50% off deal tomorrow, that will suck" and I think that trepidation is what will cause future buyers hesitation. We usually see manufacturers doing these types of deals right before new scopes are released, I am hoping for a ZP6 line, but I'm not holding my breath as there has been no indication this is happening anytime soon.
I understand some of the frustrations some have regarding the 50% off deal and I realize that, for some, you do not want to purchase anything else from Minox and that is your prerogative; however, how you feel about this situation does not detract from the fact that the ZP5's are great scopes and offered a great value even before the 50% off deal. If Tangent Theta were to do the same (offer 50% off all their scopes) it might really upset a lot of people who paid full price, but would it mean the scopes no longer performed as alpha scopes? When Schmidt and Bender dropped their US prices considerably a few years ago, how many decided "I will never buy from Schmidt again" because they had paid full price before the announcement? Manufacturer's make decisions, sometimes stupid decisions, because of fear which is usually brought on by lack of sales. For foreign manufacturers it must be even worse because they are often delayed in understanding trends in those foreign markets and end up "missing the boat" and finally bring out their top tier product only to find that five other manufacturer's did the same.
One final situation and I'll get off my soapbox
Kahles- in 2018 Kahles announced their new K318i and K525i scopes, as we all know Kahles has a huge fanbase on the Hide and many swore by (and some swore at) their K624i's so when Kahles announced these new 5x erector scopes a bunch took notice, including myself. Because of my obsession with Ultra Shorts and my disappointment with the Leupold Mark 5 3.6-18x44, I decided to buy the Kahles K318i which absolutely crushed the Leupold with regard to overall IQ, in fact, it even beat out my Schmidt Ultra Short 3-20's in IQ. While I never owned the K525i I watched and listened to others and the trend soon revealed itself that these scopes struggle optically above 20x and have a narrow FOV compared to the competition. While the K318i is a stunning optical performer, it too suffers from narrow DOF which was made evident when I had the opportunity to review the Schmidt US scopes, the ZCO ZC420, the Kahles K318i and the Minox ZP5 3-15. While the Kahles kept up optically with the other alpha class scopes IMO, it struggled mightily with FOV and even though the scope had served me well for over a year, I decided it was time to sell (yes, to try something new). When these scopes were new they listed at $3200 and deals were few and far between, but when I went to sell I had to settle for $2300, $900 less than when new. The K525i's seem to suffer from the same fate with very low resale value (compared to the K624i). Part of the issue is the market has been flooded with excellent scope options and folks are willing to sell at such losses to get the next new hotness. We should not be looking at our scopes as investment opportunities, but more like commodities used to push the limits of our gear and skills. If we decide we want to get another scope, then we are going to lose some money, some scopes more than others yes, but rarely will we ever make money on the sale of a used scope (especially if we bought it new). So, to sum this all up, Minox was selling the ZP5 5-25 for $3k and Kahles K525i for $3k (give or take for both), before the 50% off deal used ZP5's were selling for around $2300-$2400, during the deal they dropped to about $2000 - $2200 depending on condition, the Kahles K525i has had a similar hit and they didn't offer any 50% off deal. So has the ZP5 really lost that much value compared to pre-50% off deal, it certainly doesn't seem that way, maybe $200 on average which I expect to slowly climb back up now that the deal is over and most likely level off in the $2300 range (with some going for less and others going for more).
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