Welcome!! We are glad to have you here.
Several collectors new to the AGM site have been asking about how things work around here, which reminded me that the last time we had an article about that was 2009, and it's a bit outdated. No time like the present to remedy that.
This is not an auction. The price is set. AGM catalog operates a lot like the old Oklahoma Land Rush. First-come, first-serve. If you see it, you want it, and you press the button first, it's yours.
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| * We do not sell anything from the catalog prior to opening time (3:00 pm US central time) on the announced day. |
| This policy is known as our 'First Dibs Guarantee', and is explained in mind-numbing detail here, should you feel that more 'splainin' is required. |
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* Register and make sure you can log in to your account well before opening time.
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This gives you plenty of time to sort out any issues with your password, etc. We do always get a few emails: "I know my password is correct, but it isn't working!" Normally it turns out that the user is inadvertently putting a space at the end of their password or email address, they have several email addresses and forgot which one they used on the AGM site, or any number of anomalies that we could not possibly diagnose in an accurate or timely manner without actually sitting in a chair next to them and observing first-hand while they work their keyboard. The solution to all of these ills is utilizing the "forgot password" link on the login page. Collect your new temporary password from your email, hunt it down in your spam folder if you didn't get the email within a moment or two, and off you go, problem solved. Easy to do with plenty of time for calm, logical thought. Not as easy for a passionate collector with seconds left on the catalog opening countdown clock. Right before opening time, we're also usually too busy putting out our own fires to walk people through the password recovery process. It's easy, though - just make sure everything is square ahead of time and you're golden.
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* Insider Subscribers have access to a preview, normally at 9:00 am on opening day (subject to alternative scheduling as needed)
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First Dibs Guarantee still applies; nobody can purchase anything until we open at 3:00. However, using the preview, Insider members can casually browse, make notes, study and prioritize which items they will try to reserve once the catalog is open for sales. This was introduced a few years ago after internet customers expressed concern that people with print catalog subscriptions had an advantage over them. Of course those who received their Monday postal mail in the afternoon were also upset that some of their competitors receive theirs earlier in the morning, etc. We no longer have print catalogs, but the preview was popular, so we have kept it. IF for some reason there is ever a hiccup with the print preview Monday at 9:00, no worries - it has happened before, and we normally have it fixed in a few minutes. For more information on the Insider Preview, click here. Can you successfully shop the AGM catalog without becoming an 'Insider'?? Absolutely! Only about 10% of our customers are Insider subscribers.
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* Entrance to the catalog is via the big button on the left on the home page: www.advanceguardmilitaria.com
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On the AGM home page, there is a giant button representing the current catalog. Prior to a new catalog opening, this represents the cover of the (old printed) catalog, covered in partially torn wrapping paper. This is the gateway to the AGM Catalog. Below it there is a clock counting down to the scheduled opening time for the new catalog. If you haven't been to the website in a while, you might want to refresh your browser to make sure that the countdown clock is current. We placed that there out of selfishness; got tired of explaining that just because it is 3:00 in New Jersey doesn't mean that it is also 3:00 in Missouri. Why 3:00? here
If you attempt to enter the catalog before it is open, it will simply take you to a page telling you that it is not open yet, and reminding you when it does open.
Once the countdown reaches 0:00, the brown paper wrapper disappears, the new catalog cover is revealed, and you can click on it to enter.
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Once the countdown reaches 0:00, the brown paper wrapper disappears, the new catalog cover is revealed, and you can click on it to enter. Depending on what browser (and which update version of that browser) you are using, sometimes it will 'stick' at zero. If that happens, just hit your browser's refresh button.
Also, please do use the front entrance. Some customers have cleverly bookmarked obscure pages deep within the site in an attempt to be able to view items prior to the catalog opening. It doesn't work, then they get left in the dust when it actually does open.
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| * 3:00:01, and the catalog is OPEN! Now what? |
| Assuming you took care of the registration, login, and personal account management stuff earlier, you enter the catalog to find this menu page. To speed browsing, the catalog is broken up into segments. For the first few days of a new catalog, ALL of the NEW STUFF is in the special category which is (very mysteriously) entitled "NEW LISTINGS". Everything else is in it's normal category: two US sections divided by time periods, Imperial German, WWII German, two Other Nations sections divided by country, etc. There are also several specialized categories which are sometimes in use, and sometimes not, depending on the catalog contents. General Interest & Reference contains both published and new-old-stock reference books. Emancipated Militaria contains items that were reserved by customers who now apparently only exist as a photo on a milk carton. Oddly enough, right after we introduced this category, the need for it abruptly fell away, but there are still always a few gems to be found in there, and it makes me happy, so we kept it. After the opening rush of the catalog has died down a bit (normally 2-3 days), and depending on our schedule, at some point we eliminate the "New Listings" category, and everything is consolidated into their normal categories. |
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Within each category, you can choose whether to browse via gallery pages with thumbnail photos of the items, or scroll through the item list. When you see an item that you wish to examine in more detail, click on it, and you are brought to the individual item page with the full description and photos. This page will also tell you if the item is still available or has been sold as of the moment that you pulled up that item. Is it still available? Click "Refresh Availability" to find out. We used to have this as a real-time, live status, which can change right before your eyes if someone else buys the item while you are looking at it. However, depending on the browser, sometimes this live availability status check makes the screen 'jump' when it updates every few seconds. As the browsers were changed over time, this became a more universally unacceptable problem, so as cool as it was, we ended up ditching the feature.
If the item says "available" and you want it, click the "Buy Now" button. A pop-up window then appears, requiring you to confirm that yes, you really do want to buy this item and aren't just pushing buttons to see what they do.
Please note - it is absolutely possible that between the time that you pressed "buy now" and "yes, I really want to buy it", someone else might complete the same process just a bit faster. When this happens, instead of seeing a congratulations message, you will see one indicating that the item had been sold to a faster buyer. The first hour or two of a catalog opening is normally when activity is heaviest, and thus when something like this is more likely to occur, though I have seen customers attempt to order the same item within seconds of one another even several days after a catalog first opens. |
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* After you reserve your item(s):
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Assuming that you successfully beat everybody to the punch on the
ordering process, the site will send you an automated email letting you
know that you have reserved the item, and advising you that invoices are
posted at intervals during the first few days of a catalog, then once
per day in the weeks that follow that. As you continue shopping (and
hopefully buying each and every bit of militaria that strikes your
fancy), we are receiving the orders on our end, and building the
invoices. That evening, when things have calmed down a bit, we assign
postage based on the combined total of the invoice. Those invoices are
posted to the website under your account, and we send you an email
letting you know that the site is updated, and your invoice is ready.
If you wish to add more items (again, encouraged) - by all means do so,
and we simply add them to your invoice, with the current version then
available after the next website update. Continental US orders over
$1000, shipping via UPS ground service have the benefit of FREE
shipping, with the exception of a $25 shipping charge for each firearm, regardless of invoice total.
Why is the postage applied by hand and not automated by the website? Because of the material that we sell. If someone orders a book, or a helmet.. sure - there are shipping plug-ins for sites that can calculate that easily. When someone orders two books, a glass stein, an oil painting, one cavalry lance, and three cannonballs... not so much. More often than not, the orders placed on our site would require human intervention on the shipping charges anyway, so the automated system is one wall that we have never bothered to bash our heads against.
Some of the order confirmation emails seem to
disappear into the ether of spam filters. This is why we built the
online invoice and payment system. If you go to the site, click the
USER CP link, and from there "View / Pay My Invoice". Even if you did
not receive the email, you still have access to your invoice,
information on when the site was last updated (so you can judge if this
is your current invoice), and a link to the payment options. |
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* Luddite service is available
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Trying to stay one step ahead of the NSA? Tech-challenged? If for whatever real or imagined reason you don't want to register and use the online ordering system, that's not a problem. We still accept phone orders, and you can still browse the catalog online without registering. On the login page, the left side is to login as a registered user. The right side allows you to login and browse anonymously, as a guest. The downside is that you will need to call in and have us reserve items items manually on your behalf. Some of our customers think this is a shortcut, a way to get to the items faster. It is very much the opposite of that. But it does work, and if you need to do things that way, we're absolutely happy to help. Just call our order line 1-800-233-1918, listen to a bit of irreverent hold music, and eventually you will get to someone who will fix you up.
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| * PAYMENT |
| We accept the major credit cards, checks, money orders, etc. We can no longer accept PayPal. Their choice, not ours. Short version - in 2020 they discovered that we are federally licensed firearms dealers. Based on that, they closed our accounts, looted and kept thousands of dollars, and then kindly declared us "banned for life". It was actually quite an adventure. If you are bored and want the full story, you can find that here. |
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| * SHIPPING |
The shipping service that we use depends on the type and size of the item, and the customer's preferences. Generally speaking it is much less expensive to send very small parcels through the US Postal Service, and most other parcels are much better to send through UPS. We will pick the service that we feel best suited to the order, but if you have specific preferences, just let us know. The only service that we will not use under any circumstance is FedEX Ground.
For international shipping, UPS is now a viable option for large or very valuable shipments. This is a new thing; they used to be far too expensive, but we arranged a very nice deal with them as of November 2020, and now it is something to consider. If it is close, or something we think might be best handled by UPS, we will calculate both prices and then you can pick which you prefer. |
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More questions? Check out or FAQ Page, or feel free to email me. agm6@advanceguardmilitaria.com
Thanks for signing up - we really are happy to have you here!
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