Jason Carter
New member
What kind of discounts are you guys seeing?
Is now the best time to buy ski gear?
- Thread starter Jason Carter
- Start date
Bad seasons usually yield deals in the spring, and typically earlier than usual. Especially notable were Liz' Blizzard Sambas purchased at a shop in Reno for 1/3 of retail price in March 2014. I would not speculate that this trend continues into the summer. I think most sellers want to clear out their inventory in spring in preparation for the upcoming season.
EMSC
Well-known member
Lots of factors goes into gear sales. What region you are in. Chain of stores vs Independant, etc... in Colo any deals will start roughly labor day weekend and are usually concentrated at one location for each of the major chains with much less at smaller independent shops. Typical is only a couple weeks of sales of last year's stuff followed by a very quick shift to high priced this year's gear.
YMMV in other regions and stores.
YMMV in other regions and stores.
EMSC
Well-known member
I'm sure they must have, but even with that, in a normal season with more skiers and skierdays they still always have leftovers and run significant sales around Labor Day. I can only imagine that fewer people visiting and terrible snow both dampened sales volume/enthusiasm even with fire sales in the spring. Most shops do secondary stuff once past about mid-April anyway so unsold gear sits in a storage warehouse most of spring/summer. Christy's Sports for example sells outdoor furniture from mid-Apr to Aug (at outrageous prices I might add). Most ski shops do hiking/camping/climbing/kayaking or etc.. gear from mid-April till Sept.
Both Vail Inc's shops and Christy Sports for example have a multi-decade history in Colorado at least of pooling all the leftovers from their dozens of stores to one Denver metro area location and having a big sale on last years stuff for a couple weeks starting labor Day weekend. Then they bring out the new years stuff at top prices after that.
ChrisC
Well-known member
When Vail owned Telluride Sports (Gart Sports branded for a ski town), the big clearance sale of physical goods was Labor Day.
My brother's employees/friends would hide merchandise in the store ceilings, only to discover it in August for inventory closeouts.
An unwritten job benefit.
I'm dating myself; however in a perfect world, we'd be getting close to SNIAGRAB!
I’m way out of the loop on this topic. In SoCal the shop sales would typically start in late February or March but in the bad years it could be late January. But after the Sport Chalet chain went belly-up in 2015 there are hardly any specialty ski shops left here.
Since then my purchases have generally been online or at Mammoth.
Since then my purchases have generally been online or at Mammoth.
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Very regional. I usually find the best combination of sales and selection in late winter. Whatever doesn’t sell stays discounted until October. However, availability through the summer varies on the store. Many put it in storage for a while, but it may also be available online.
EMSC
Well-known member
Died 10 years ago unfortunately. Was a huge sales event while it existed at the sports castle in downtown Denver.
I just looked and Christy's is dropping all in person events and simply continuing to sell patio furniture this year. Weird.
Wasn't SNIAGRAB the promotion for Gart Brothers?
EMSC
Well-known member
Originally. Then Gart got bought out by Sports Authority which kept the tradition alive for another 10ish years until they went bankrupt somewhere around 2015 or so.
Russell Miles
New member
I think it depends on what you're looking for. Regular ski gear probably has a ton of discounts this time of year, but the stuff I've been eyeing never seems to go on sale.
Jason Carter
New member
Some of my ski buddies have scored boots for like 50% off, but the thing I've been watching — it's kind of a small piece of gear — never goes on sale.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I assume you want to buy an avalanche transceiver/beacon.
I can pro-deal most big-ticket items through my brother's industry connections/work (primarily skis and jackets). Boots - maybe, depends what level of fitting.
I have only seen industry deals on closeouts of transceivers/discontinuation. Often due to important technology benefits..
BCA Tracker 2, 3, 4, etc
This model is cheap $30 on eBay
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Transceivers are rarely if ever on sale. I got mine via a ski patroller who was eligible for pro-deals. I have never seen them listed among ski journalist pro-deals.
Jason Carter
New member
What are you looking at, anyway? I feel like the more niche the gear, the less it goes on sale, right?
Jason Carter
New member
Haha, not that one — that's way too advanced for me, I'm still very much a beginner. The thing I'm looking at is more of a functional accessory, honestly. Most people probably wouldn't even guess it. What do you think? haha
Jason Carter
New member
Right now I'm basically skiing at indoor resorts or small outdoor mountains, nothing too big, so there's really no scenario where I'd need a beacon. Haha, that's way too advanced for me. Maybe once my skills level up I'll be able to put one to use.