Best time to buy skis???

I was told to wait till the end of march.
He has 30something pair of ski's. I'm gonna take a shot in the dark that he knows when to buy. haha.

March through October is the best time to buy skis. I'm going to say that the prices and deals are best for eBay and Craigslist in mid summer when few buyers are looking. The best retail deals can be found on October clearances, but the selection is pretty limited by then-hence the rock bottom prices. The selection is better during the clearance sales that run Feb thru March and the prices are pretty good.

Two ways to look at it.
Spring sales: Dealers want to clear out the stock. Sizes are limited.
Fall sales: Any leftover stock will be cheaper but sizes are more limited. Also dealers may have purchased discontinued model closeouts that they can sell at uber cheap prices and make good margins.

Take your pick.

Dennis

Spring sales on eBay can be very good...also check the "Special Deals for EpicSki Members" forum for one of the sponsoring dealers unloading good stuff at a good price. Contact them for skis that suit your needs if they only list high end stuff. Don't forget the "Gear Swap - Buy & Sell Gear" forum as well. I've only seen grossly overpriced old fashioned gear on Craig's List, but there might be good stuff at a bargain.

In this region, the September sales are the best. In Canada, October's Thanksgiving sales might be best. You'll have to inquire about your region.

Regarding researching skis, have you looked at Peter Keelty's $20 subscription site for ski reviews?. I feel that these are the best reviews I've seen anywhere, and the $20 is money very well spent.

You already have Just Right boots, don't you? Boots that are just right for you and fit just right are more important than skis.

Best time to buy skis

When you need them/have to ski them ...NOW. No time like the present. Do you know what you want; brand, model, size?
If so what are you waiting for? There are good deals out there right now. Post on here what you want on this thread and maybe somebody knows where your can get that ski at a good price.

A lot of deals and discounts out there right now. Put what you want in Ski Gear sale/wanted forum here on Epic. 2 years ago my wife wanted Atomic MEX in 153, I put wanted herre on Epic and a Bear in Colorodo had a brand new pair he won and I bought for a good price.

Put what you want on Epic NOW and see what happens.

What he said...

In the age of the internet you can find good deals on just about any model of ski at any time of the year.

vterp, if you want the skis put in Wanted to Buy here on Epic.  PM me.

I've noticed that the skis I bought on eBay in December are now $30-40 cheaper from a few vendors there...but, the quantities available are clearly dropping. Playing the waiting game may get you a great price, but maybe not on what you want...prices online look pretty darned good to me now, to be honest.

If you're willing to deal with lightly used stuff, late fall ski ski swaps can yield great prices...more likely from individuals selling than from dealers. But, who knows what you're going to find there.

When someone wants to sell them more than you want to buy them.

Yes, now is the time since you're asking.

go here:

http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/80172/ski-sale-2009-up-to-60-percent-off-from-dawgcatching#post_1054844

For Big Sales.  Just call and discuss, you've done enough research.

Yes I know this is an old thread but...

 

Now is the best time.  Definitely August.  Many of the shops are starting to open.  Monday a friend in I went in a local shop that made a big purchase of last years gear.  Tuesday he picked up his FIS race skis with race binding mounted for less than he could find the same skis on the internet.

 

Granted the shop knows us and he, more than I, has been a long time customer so that weighed in to the price he paid, but because of that, he saved a ton.  He had been searching the internet for a deal and was getting ready to pull the trigger when I reminded him the local shop opens the first week of August each year.  Buying local saved him an additional $150.

 

The things that brought the price down:

 

Buying in August

Knowing what he wanted

Buying last years model

He also gets Racer discount (this usually isn't applied when items are so steeply discounted)

Has a good relationship with the shop

 

The bolded items had a bigger influence (IMO).

 

Ken

 

I love to try new gear, and as I don't live near any decent shops or demo facilities, I do this by swapping gear online, so I feel well qualified to chime in.  There are two 'best' times to buy.  The first starts in late April and runs through May.  This time of year, retailers are in a frantic push to off their inventory instead of having to sit on it till next season, when model changes, etc.  make it less valuable.  It is not uncommon to pick stuff up at wholesale cost or less if you watch the sales in late spring.  Focus your searching on larger retailers, e.g. Evogear, Bent Gate, Mammoth Mountaineering, etc.  The second 'best' time to buy is....NOW!  Late summer sees a lot of people trying to sell their gear from the previous winter, usually because they want to fund some other gear purchase.  Because the used gear market is utterly saturated at this point in the season, usually they either won't be able to sell it at a reasonable price, or they will cut you an insane deal.  Case in point, I picked up some DPS Wailer 95 Carbons with Dynafit STs in pristine shape for 500.00 a few weeks ago.  Retail, that setup would be more like 1500.00.  Also, in late summer/early fall, check out the botique manufacturers, they often have good 'pre-sale' deals on their products.  You can save 150.00 just by buying now, not in a month from manufacturers like ON3P and Bluehouse. 

 

I think there is some promise in checking your local shops, but most of the best deals I have found tend to be online.  Seriously, saving 150 at your local shop is kind of crappy, compared to most of the deals I have been seeing online lately.  Cheers!

Just to be clear, the $150 (actually $173) my friend saved was on top of the best deal he could get on line.

 

Online and in the store the skis and bindings would have been $798 plus mounting and shipping.  He picked the skis up, bindings mounted (no shipping required) for $625.  Last year the ski alone was $1200 (MSRP) and I believe the binding lists for $350 or $400.

 

Had my friend not have had such a good relationship with the shop he would have probably only saved shipping and mounting from the online price; maybe a little more.

 

I just want to make sure that folks know that without much effort, you can get as good as or even better, deals by buying local.

 

YMMV,

 

Ken

Hey Ken,

 

That does sound like a good deal.  It sounds like the key was the good relationship with the shop.  If you are lucky enough to have a good shop near you that can offer competitive pricing, support em!  I almost never see better deals at local shops than online, hence my emphasis on online shopping.  E.G. winter before last, a local shop owner was complaining to me that he couldn't move some Black Diamond Havocs in the fall, even though they were on sale.  The problem was, they were selling a bunch of em on Ebay at the same time for like 200.00 less per pair.  I realize expecially small business owners need to maintian a certain profit margin, but if you are well-educated in gear and don't have money to burn, shop around a bit.

This is the important part.  I think we are finally seeing the small shops adjust there business model on how to make a profit.

 

The skis the shop sold weren't skis they had left over from last year.  They bought (this year) a bunch of skis left over from last year (from wherever they do that).  At a minimum, the local shops are becoming more competitive with online (where I do quite a bit of shopping).

 

Before any extra (relationship) discounts, the shop was matching the online prices.

 

When there is a change, you need to make adjustments to it to make sure your are making the most of your money.

It's a good time, but I got two pairs of great skis here at 78% and 79% off in March.  Prices still good.

 

http://www.levelninesports.com/Complete-Ski-Selection 

No time like the present!  Remember, if you don't buy your skis today, you'll be one day older when you do!

No time like the present!  Remember, if you don't buy your skis today, you'll be one day older when you do!

 

 

Same here.  I just haven't found a shop to build a relationship with.  My local shops always seem to have really high prices... and I just can't justify paying 30-40% more to buy local in some cases.

 

What I've been trying to do with my purchasing lately is supporting some of the guys on this board.  They've provided me with a lot more information than my local ski shops, and have better prices to boot.  I've happily given business to dawgcatching and SierraJim (actually he might have left Sierra Snowboard & Ski already by the time I purchased some skis there, but I'm currently trying to push one of my bud's into picking up something from the starthaus, they've got some amazing deals right now).  There are quite a few guys that provide a ton of useful info here to everyone, and if they can provide good prices too, it's a no-brainer to me.

I agree that 30-40% extra is a lot, but the next questions are what do you get for it? you can check out the product firsthand, that's the easy one. but what is their knowledge & expertise? do they know how to really fit boots or what types of skis are they suggesting to you and why? what is their exchange policy? what is their return policy? do they care about you after the sale? if they help you out in all of these areas, then the extra markup may be worth it to you to shop there. or if you have hard to fit feet, then a local shop who knows how to fit customers feet is almost priceless. but like jaobrien6 stated, if you aren't getting your needs attended to, then there are guys on here who help out a lot and are worthy of your business too.

If you know what you need then online is a great way to go. Providing, of course, that they are a reputable seller. (Talking about skis not boots)

 

Also, many of the places I bought skis from ARE smaller shops. Lots of shops are doing the web thing these days.

 

 

 

Johnny

hi that will depend on where you are and where you ski please provide approximate location and i may help you with that

REI is having a huge sale on all on all their skis! I just purchased Line Prophet 100 skis for $389, the lowest anywhere else online is $518. I've been holding off on getting these amazing skis all year and I'm glad my patients has finally been rewarded. They also have many other good deals like last year Mantras for $399 (totally same ski as '11), I just demoed these out in Snowbird this past week and they were really impressive. Tons of Salomon and Rossignol deals too. Good luck to everyone that has been waiting for the right time to purchase new skis!

I have picked up old straight skis that are  excellent for bumps for free because they were left @ swaps when they could not be sold for 15 - 20 dollars.

@ some point in the future is it posssible noone will want the cambered powder skis & they can be bought for a song?

In the year 2000 I picked up a pair of Vokle explosives new for 99 dollars @ sport check in a 190cm length because noone wanted them because the flavour of the month was short powder skis. (in fact I wish they were longer but that was the longest made) A week after the sale was on I picked up another pair that noone wanted to buy from a Calgary store. Several years latter any powder ski of that quality & length was selling for hundreds more. The original price I think was something like 700 or 800 dollars

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

 

One thing you've gotta watch for with old skis is the bindings.  If they are off the manufacturers' indemnification lists, most shops won't touch them.  I'm not sure I'd trust my knees and/or fibula to them either.

 

Best time to buy from shops is generally March, maybe April.  They want to clear out overstock to start getting in spring/summer gear.

 

A lot of ski swaps/sales are in the fall, around October.  Sometimes individuals are also looking to dump their current skis around then to buy something new.