Well it just depends where you live for how long shipping takes. If you have a Dans Comp catalog (which they give out for free) then there's a code on the back for free shipping on orders that total at 50$ or more. I think that that's a pretty good deal since it saves you 9 bucks for shipping. And it's like getting 9$ worth of merchandise for free. It only takes 2 days for my orders from Dans to get here, and they ship in the same day you order. And probably the biggest reason I keep ordering my stuff from them is that they're really nice and have a great customer service, so I like to give them my buissness. They really put the customer first, and I like that. I've never head of Empire and I've only heard Albe's mentioned in some reviews at bmx-test.com. I'm not going to stop ordering from Dans though, I love 'em.