I have bought four guns and a ton of ammo from them without any issues. Y last order was fall 2024. I trust them and have been able to reach them by phone in the past. Actually they called me on my first order when the gun that I ordered in the finish I wanted was out of stock. The other option was more $ and they weren't negotiating any discounts or anything but at least they called to fix the order.

Never had any issues with split or slow shipments. They've been neither fast nor slow...just fine.

I did look into their gift cards once. People (including me) were trying to find a workaround to use PayPal on their site (PayPal won't pay for guns or ammo). The answer some gave was that you could call them and buy gift cards over the phone via PayPal. I never did try it though. I don't remember where I found it but I had a phone # for them that went straight to a person.

 

Their prices are not good enough for me to mess with their "idiosyncrasies".
They often don't have the item I want in stock.
IMO, their "cash discount" is nonsense for an outfit that size.
(just a clever way of saying "we up-charge for using a credit card)

 

As someone who takes CC, they suck and I hate them. It's a substantial additional cost when you look at it at the end of the year.

 

My three go-tos for Net sales are Kygunco (they don't charge state sales tax -- a big deal in TX and NM), Grabagun in Coppel, TX, and Bud's. I have never messed with ammo or gift cards with these guys.

 

I can add, I've had pretty good luck with them; always use the cash price option; no gift cards; good communication and updates. I too thought they were a smallish single shop - just higher volume like maybe Keith's here - only online.
I honestly can't say either way BUT my last purchase, I asked a very specific question on a listed firearm that had a recent 'new year/new model' manufacturer modification; the modification was not noted on the Buds website description and I was fearful that being high-volume seller, they had a warehouse backlog of 'older' units predating the manufacturer change. I emailed them and got a response within the hour - however, they could not confirm nor deny the detail of the question and only noted that being an online retailer with warehouse/factory direct shipping, they could only go by the descriptions provided by the manufacturer [meaning to me, they couldn't walk out the case and take a look at it]. I rolled the dice because though I liked the modification, it was not a deal breaker. Everything came through and the factory modification was in place so win-win.
Oh and it was a unit that had the 'Make Offer' option - which was not very well explained but basically instant; saved another 2-ish percent off the cash number which was lower than I found anywhere else. Even with transfer/background I came out ahead of any other advertised prices - local or online.
I was not aware of any of the 'community' aspects of your OP. Have not purchased any extraneous bits/pieces from them. I've found they are not always the lowest option, but worthy of a look whilst shopping around.

As a side note, I have NEVER had good luck with gift/prepaid cards and online purchases. Never. I don't even try any more.