Fort Worth-based CheaperThanDirt sells to private investment firm

CheaperThanDirt.com, based in Fort Worth, was acquired by 2A Group LLC, both private companies.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to a press release, CheaperThanDirt.com's inventory of ammunition and shooting accessories will continue to be offered under that brand on its website. 2A Group has not purchased the company's firearms inventory or firearms division, so this product category is not offered on the website.

“We look forward to getting to know and serving our fellow shooters who have trusted CheaperThanDirt.com for over 25 years. Our team has years of experience providing customers with the products and customer service they deserve, and we will continue that tradition with CheaperThanDirt.com,” 2A Group CEO Jake Felde said in a statement. “The site will continue to offer a wide range of ammunition and shooting products.”

2A Group is a private investment company comprised of a portfolio of brands serving the shooting sports and law enforcement sectors.

CheaperThanDirt was founded by an entrepreneur who sold firearms and ammunition at gun shows. During one show, a consumer said retail prices were “cheaper than dirt.”

In 1993, a mail order catalog company called Cheaper Than Dirt was founded. The company was one of the first in the industry to create an online shopping website in the late 1990s.

However, the company wasn't always cheaper than dirt. In 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered the company to pay more than $402,000 in refunds to consumers in response to allegations of price gouging.

The AG's office, which identified over 4,000 sales with price gouging, had identified ammunition as a necessity during the pandemic shutdowns and argued that price increases violated the Texas Business and Commerce Code. The code prohibits companies from “exploiting a disaster” by selling “fuel, food, medicine, shelter, construction materials, construction tools, or other necessities at an exorbitant or inflated price.”

The brand will be carried into the future by Felde and a team that also manages the e-commerce brand LuckyGunner.com.