defender spring sale

[wchevron]

anyone ever been to the defender sale in the spring. i need to install a whole new plumbing system as well as some other items. just wondering if its worth waiting for.

[sailingdog]

Yes, and often it is... they have some excellent deals there..

[Fareast]

Generally what month is the sale in?

[Mirari]

Last weekend of March

[PorFin]

Way cool and good news! Will the sale be only in-store, or wil it also include online sales?

PF

[k1vsk]

Been to it a few times and usually left empty-handed. My unscientific observation is that there are a few teaser deals but generally prices are around 10% less than normal which, when you include sales tax, makes the trip more an excuse to look than a bargain hunt. If you go, do your due diligence on the internet prices before buying there.

[pigslo]

Probably not fair to sailnet, (a company that competes with defender) to promote a defender sale on a free forum that they provide. I understand the newbies, but the dog... bad dog.
pigslo

[camaraderie]

Thanks Pigs!
Well...it is OK to talk about good deals here...but I hope folks remember who is paying the bill here and give sailnet a chance to compete for their business.
BTW...did you all see the SN special on the Uniden VHF handheld for about $60 bucks the other day? That is the same one I use on the docks here and while not state of the art...it is a hell of a value at that price for anyone looking.

http://shop.sailnet.com/product_info.php/products_id/38465?search=1&category=Electronics|electronics.jpg

[rperret]

I believe in spreading the wealth amongst various stores, including worst marine.

To answer your question. Sailingdog is correct. It is late march, and you can get great deals generally and it is a one stop shop. Note that they also have a "mini trade show" with about 50 or so vendors so you can look at new stuff too and make deals with the suppliers. In addition they have a clearance area so you can get some stuff deeply discounted. They honor their prices on the web - I believe they post the sale prices the nite before. Finally, they have a ton of stuff in the store.

Is it worth the trip? Depends upon 1) how much you need to buy (if you are planning to spend less than $2-300 I would not bother unless you live within an hour's drive, 2) how close you are to waterford - it takes me about 75 minutes to get there, 3) do you have friends that need to stock up - make it a roadtrip and take friday off - eat/drink/etc...not necessarily in that order.

Now - is every items less than what you can buy locally? When I went last time, the Pettit paint was $15 more at defender than at West that week. But everything else was less and offset the $15 easily, plus cost of gas. (I spent $500 that day, whilst my friend spent over $700).

Is it wrong to mention defender on this board? Absolutely not. This is a free country and the first amendment still holds the last time I checked. But when you can try to spread the wealth with your local store and internet suppliers...

[SailorMitch]

Originally Posted by rperret

Is it wrong to mention defender on this board? Absolutely not. This is a free country and the first amendment still holds the last time I checked. But when you can try to spread the wealth with your local store and internet suppliers...

I'm all for buying from Sailnet, and in the past (the Boyle days) I spent quite a bit of money with them. But in the last year or so, I haven't bought squat from Sailnet because either they don't sell the item I am after or their price is worse than somewhere else.

Does anyone buy stuff from Sailnet? Just wondering is all.

And as for free speech, yes all for it -- but one can only assume Sailnet is a for profit enterprise and if the profits aren't there and goes belly up, we will have to take our free speech elsewhere. Bottom line to me is at least to check prices and availability at Sailnet to let them compete for my dollars.