Something's Different
When I was camping with my nephew recently, I mentioned to one of the other parents that I had got my backpack and tent from The Sportsman's Guide back in the 90's, but that I hadn't seen one in a long time. I seem to recall a few years ago, on a forum somewhere, someone talking about them doing away with their "Buyer's Club" discount program with no notice to members and that they seemed to be having troubles.
Well, wouldn't you know it, I got a new Sportsman's Guide in the mail a couple of days ago. It's changed quite a bit. It used to be a place to get inexpensive eastern European military surplus and last year's models and colors of camping and outdoor gear. The new catalog still has a pretty good selection of boots, and some unusual outdoor gear (G.I. magnesium snowshoes with bindings for only $43.97 for example), but a lot of it is toys and household goods and furnishings. Much more so than I remember it being a few years ago.
They've still got the Buyer's Club (10% off everything, for $29.99 a year) and currently have an offer of free shipping on orders over $75. If you haven't seen the catalog in a while, go ahead and give it a shot. There is some pretty cool stuff in there at good prices. I'm looking at a small, portable greenhouse to put on my Christmas list.
Does anyone have any recent experience with the Sportsman's Guide? I'd be interested in hearing how the customer service is these days. It was always pretty good when I was buying stuff from them back in the day.
I've been a consistent customer of SPG for years. I've actually got an order in route right now.
ReplyDeleteThey're customer service is good and their return policy is great. Yes, it sounds almost too good to be true when you read it but I have returned items that I've had over a year (yes I do plan on joining procrastinators anonomous at some point) with no issues. However, I've never tried to return something without the shipping receipt.
I've been a Buyers Club member for a while too. Usually when you sign up they give you free shipping on that order.
Now that I've said all that, I'm planning on giving SPG a break for a while. More of their stuff seems to be military style but there is quite a bit of actual surplus. And there is a reasonable limit as to how much military surplus stuff you can have around. Quite a bit of my fall back gear is surplus.
Steelheart
They're pretty good if you buy selectively. I wait for the bargains & free shipping and only buy what I need. The buyers club saves me quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteI've been a Buyer's Club member for 2 years. As Steelhart said, their customer service is awesome. I've been happy with everything I've ordered from them (including pajamas, a mini-greenhouse, and chocolate ammo for an Xmas gift). My husband is the manager of a military surplus store and he occasionally puts up comparisons of his store's prices to the Sportsman's Guide catalog so people can see they're getting good deals (since Sportsman's Guide is often the best catalog/internet price available).
ReplyDeletejust give it a bit and you should start getting different catalogs from them - some are quite consumer oriented but there are other ones that are more surplus/military focused.
ReplyDeletehonestly it seems kinda silly with the internet you did not just go to their site - easy to find and they list all their catalogs online as well...
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/catalog/catalogmain.aspx
we order stuff quite often from multiple catalogs (though the surplus and shooting ones are my favorite)
Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like they are still a great place to shop!
ReplyDeleteThey actually have several different catalog categories. There is one that is specifically more household goods with the "toys" like you said, but they also have a hunting catalog, and a military surplus catalog.
ReplyDelete