Every firearm distributor knows its own stock and your price for every item. The question for a dealer is how to get that information out of the distributor and into your own tools: your website, your point of sale, your GunBroker listings or a simple spreadsheet. The answer is a data feed or an API, and each distributor does it a little differently.
This guide explains the two ways distributors share inventory and pricing, what each major distributor actually uses, and exactly what to ask your sales rep for so you are not stuck in an email loop for two weeks.
Feed or API: what is the difference?
A data feed is a file the distributor publishes on a schedule, usually a CSV or text file on an FTP or SFTP server, or behind a private link. You (or your software) download the file and read it. Feeds are simple and reliable, but they are only as fresh as the last time the distributor rebuilt the file.
An API is a live connection. Your software asks the distributor's system a question ("what is my price and quantity on this item right now?") and gets an answer back immediately. APIs are fresher, but they usually need extra setup on the distributor's side, such as switching on API access for your account or approving the internet address your software connects from.
Either way, the data is tied to your dealer account. The prices you get back are your negotiated cost, not a public price, which is why every distributor asks for credentials that belong to you.
What each distributor uses, and what to ask for
| Distributor | How data is delivered | What to ask your rep for |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson's | FTP feed | Your dealer feed FTP username and password (different from your davidsonsinc.com login) |
| Sports South | Web services (API) | Your Web Services Password; your customer number is also your API username |
| RSR Group | Live API | Ask RSR to enable Live API access on your account; then your normal rsrgroup.com login works |
| Lipsey's | API | A drop-ship-enabled dealer account, plus approval of the internet address your software connects from |
| Zanders | API | API passcodes, one pair for firearms and one for accessories (not your website login) |
| Chattanooga Shooting Supplies | REST API | Your SID and Token from the Developer Portal, and your software's internet address added to Authorized IP Addresses |
| Camfour | Private feed link | Your Camfour API key (the value in your product feed link) |
| Crow Shooting Supply | Private feed link | Your Inventory Feed ID from the feed generator |
| Bill Hicks & Co | FTP feed | Dealer pricing feed credentials from their IT team (include your customer number) |
| Hicks Inc | FTP feed | Your FTP username and password |
| 2nd Amendment Wholesale | API token | Nothing: generate a token yourself under My Account, API Integrations |
| Gun Accessory Supply | API | API access switched on for your dealer account |
| MSR Distribution | API | An API user created for your account |
A few details that trip dealers up:
- Your website login is often not your data login. Davidson's, Sports South and Zanders all issue separate credentials for data access. Asking for "my login" gets you the wrong thing.
- Some APIs are off until the distributor turns them on. RSR, Gun Accessory Supply and MSR all switch API access on per account. Ask for it by name.
- Some APIs only answer approved addresses. Lipsey's and Chattanooga reject connections from any internet address that is not on your account's approved list. Whoever runs your software will give you the address to send to the distributor.
- Lipsey's needs the right account type. Pricing access requires a drop-ship-enabled dealer account. If you see a Dropship Sales section on your lipseys.com dashboard, you have one; if not, ask your rep.
- A feed link is a password. Camfour's key and Crow's feed ID grant access on their own. Keep them private the same way you would a login.
A request email that gets answered
Reps handle a lot of email. A short, specific request gets a faster reply. Something like:
"Hi, this is [name] at [shop], customer number [number]. I want to pull my pricing and inventory into my own software. Can you set me up with [the item from the table above] for my account? Thanks."
Name the exact thing you need from the table. "Can I get API access?" with no account number is the email that sits in a queue.
What to do with the data once you have it
- Keep your website stock honest. Feeding real distributor quantities to your store stops you selling items nobody has.
- Price from your real cost. Your feed carries your negotiated cost, so your markup rules work from real numbers. See dealer cost vs MAP vs MSRP for how the three prices relate.
- Compare before you order. The same item often sits at several distributors at different costs and quantities. Checking them side by side before every order is where the savings come from.
Doing it without building anything
Connecting one distributor is a small project. Connecting ten, keeping every login current and turning ten different file formats into one view is a job. That is what FirearmDistributors.com does: you enter the credentials from the table above once, and every search shows each connected distributor's stock, quantity and your cost side by side, with restock alerts across all of them. Developers who want the data in their own systems can use the FD Bulk API, which returns one combined catalog instead of twenty separate ones.
If you want to see it with your own accounts, start a 14-day free trial.
Quick answers
Do I need an FFL to get a distributor's data feed?
You need an approved dealer account with that distributor, and the feed or API returns that account's pricing. Opening the account is the step that requires your license; see our guides for RSR Group, Sports South and Davidson's.
Is an API better than an FTP feed?
An API is fresher because it answers live. A feed is simpler and only as current as its last update. Which one you get is the distributor's choice, not yours.
Why is my API returning nothing?
The most common causes are API access not yet switched on for your account, using your website login instead of the data credentials, or (for Lipsey's and Chattanooga) the connecting internet address not being approved.
Can I place orders through these connections?
Some distributors support it and some do not. Davidson's, for example, handles orders on its own website rather than through the feed. Check with each distributor.