WTF happened to Steepandcheap.com?

[Danno]

What's SAC?

Haven't been around in a while...are we still doing that?

Ahh, the good old days...

[powdork]

Regarding steepncheap, i just picked up a santa cruz superlight frame for $349. stoked to start building it up!
regarding stp i got an 80% off dealflyer email today so if they stopped coming for you i recommend signing up again.

Doing a little checking. the same frame is on sale at bc.com for $399 with $79 shipping for a total of $478, roughly $100 more than I paid.

[mall walker]

I wrote a web crawler for SAC to check the current deal against a list of keywords I cared about and send me a text if there was a match. It polled every 5 mins so as not to be a form of DOS. Probably needs some work as I believe they changed their html a bit, but lemme tell you... If you want to go broke in a hurry, get a text message every time something you want comes up on SAC.

edit: https://github.com/yaaase/langs/blob...sac_scraper.rb

[smartyiak]

Bumping this old timey thread b/c: WTF did happen to steepandcheap?????

I tried to give this new look a chance...but it just kinda stinks. I did buy something today, only to learn that there's no more combined shipping.

Combined shipping was the best part of SaC. I don't know how much extra $$$$ I spent there simply b/c I held the order and over the next 5 days something cool (that I prolly didn't need) came up.

I suppose I'll just keep shopping at STP (and LeftLane shows some promise, but still pretty new).

[Jong Lafitte]

BD 4person 'mid for 217 aint a bad deal.

[Soups]

Dont like the new look either
...But no more combined shipping?!? That sucks, probably done with it now too unless something I actually need comes up at an insane price.

[tuco]

I suppose I'll just keep shopping at STP (and LeftLane shows some promise, but still pretty new).

Just got a letter today from STP saying moving forward customers will see fewer discounts, coupons and promotions. But luckily for us, they have already "lowered prices to ensure every customer saves without having to rely on short-term promotions"

[smmokan]

At least we still have the TGR discount code for Backcountry.

Oh wait.

[prsboogie]

10% off one item today sacbump10 plus a whole 1% back with Active Junky

[undertow2]

I had not ordered from them in a long time, but the P18s with $10 credit made it hard to pass up... I bought a shit ton from BC, but my monies have definitely been going elsewhere...

[lepistoir]

Took my skins way past a bikini cut to a thong with totally inadequate coverage. Went to SAC to see if there were any deals. Found some G3 skins for $99, but $112 with economy shipping (5-7 days). Decided to survey backcountry real quick to see the full selection beyond just the deals. Found same skins for same price, but free 2-day shipping. Shipped almost within the hour. Then I got an email with a customer service guy's name thanking me for the order and offering assistance if needed with the product. Then I got a call from the same guy actually live on the phone to offer his help again. We chatted for a good 5 minutes. No way would that have happened with SAC. I'm declaring it ofishalee useless.

[2FUNKY]

He'll call you in a week or so to see if he can sell you anything else. It's great.

[smmokan]

Are they that desperate for business now? SAC and BC used to have competitive prices, but now the deals are few and far between.

[Groomer Gambler]

thats just good business, start with a simple model, cheap prices, lure people in and slowly raise the prices 5% here 10% there when you realize how much money you are loosing, whether you keep customers or not that is to be decided by the market and what you have to offer plus some dealers are idiots and don't realize that they are beginning to alienate some of their customers then they go out of business

the problem with cheap quality goods is, from 2008 -2012 sales were down on ski/outdoor gear so you were able to get great deals, well things are booming again, mfgrs have cut back on quantities slightly and people are buying so the awesome deals you were getting just don't exist anymore cause more people are happy to pay full retail again

Exactly!

I used to be able to buy gear off Tramdock, Steep and Cheap, and even Backcountry over the summer, use for a season, then resell on NS or TGR at the end of the season at almost the price I paid for it new.

Less discounts nowadays and suppliers release less so, the good stock seems to sell out by the end of the season well before it would ever be discounted in the spring.

I find that I rarely buy off BC anymore (I used to troll that site every day) as there are a lot of competitors you can shop around (or even direct from the manufacturer) ie a new Patagonia fleece on BC will be the same price as direct from patagonia. The second-hand market is where it's at...either most of my gear is now pushing 10yrs old...either I care less about discounts or having the latest models, or my wallet is wayyyy thinner today than around 2008 (I suspect both of these are true).

My other thought is all these flash marketing online retailers have already peaked. For example, Huckberry, SAC, The Clymb, when they first came out I definitely bought a lot. Now you see a more refined, select group of retailers that repeatedly come up on those sites and it isn't really the higher quality gear I want or need. I'd rather save my money and pay full retail for a good higher quality pair of bindings that will last me 10yrs, than say, settle for a mediocre pair of bindings that I got on sale (plus on those site I find you almost always buyying other useless junk in your cart because it's such a good deal) that I use for a season, break, buy new bindings again ,etc etc

[mall walker]

yeah SAC never changes anymore either. just a bunch of big categories of unfilterable garbage (since you never can tell if e.g. a pair of soft shell pants is "men's" or "skiing" etc

I basically read the page to see how many of the category photos I can identify, since they're usually all from the Wasatch front

[grskier]

meh, I have kids now.. so all that SAC money goes to them now..

That said, I still find deals there. Just need to be looking for something and have some patience. Bike shorts, sunglasses, hiking shoes and a speed sleeve for the bike all at least 45% off.

[wakefield]

Aren't SAC and Backcountry the same company? I always thought SAC was just for further inventory clearing.

BC still does price matching of other online retailers (US, same size/color). It sometimes works out with their free shipping.

[Dantheman]

Aren't SAC and Backcountry the same company?

Yes. BC.com owns a LOT of other online retailers now, they've been on an acquisitions tear for years.

[nickwm21]

Aren't SAC and Backcountry the same company? I always thought SAC was just for further inventory clearing.

BC still does price matching of other online retailers (US, same size/color). It sometimes works out with their free shipping.

Correct. SAC is BC

Activejunky + BC + pricematch + free shipping is the cheapest way to buy new gear on the web. With the addition that they have good CS.

[homemadesalsa]

Also, www.geartrade.com is where they sell all the stuff that gets returned at low prices and with free shipping. They'll accept an offer if it's been up there for a while. But you knew that, right?

[Damian Sanders]

Deals on SAC continue to be tight. Have to watch for closeouts of undesireable sizes, then wait it out for a price adjustment coinciding with a holiday, combined with a coupon code. Got some Seth Full Tilts for like $250 right after Christmas. But otherwise it's sifting through a bunch of unpopular crap and the prices are the same as on backcountry.

In the industry inventory is much tighter these days and the economy is much stronger than 5+ years ago. On a popular item that might sell out entirely and not go into closeout, I say you're getting a good price at 20% off MAP. MAP is Minimum Advertised Price, which is normal online price. 35% off MAP can be considered full closeout these days (about half of MSRP), so about $454 for a ski that MAP'd at $699 or $899 MSRP. Desirable skis will sell out quickly at end of season or mid summer at this price, so be prepared to act fast if you see this pricing. 50% off MAP is possible on popular skis on odd sizes overstocked, but is rare. Unpopular skis regularly hit 50% off MAP or even less on double closeout (2 years out of season), or you might get lucky and catch a popular ski in an unpopular size.

This year I did really well on deals (all new):
193 '16 Nordica Enforcer - $350, local shop online deal
187 '14 Blizzard Bushwhacker - $250, ebay
2x '15 Salomon (Atomic branded) STH2 16 binding - $130, evo.com with TGR price adjustment tip
3x '14 Scott Team Issue S4 poles - $29, L9
'15 Full Tilt Seths - $250, SAC
$1k MSRP ski outfit - $280, SAC
$500 MSRP ski pants - $90, STP

As a side note, I'd say Sierra Trading Post has fallen off MUCH more abruptly since they were sold to TJX. They have far less selection and far fewer deals. There was one point about 2 years ago when they were swimming in inventory and had constant deals.

[ncskier]

Deals on SAC continue to be tight. Have to watch for closeouts of undesireable sizes, then wait it out for a price adjustment coinciding with a holiday, combined with a coupon code. Got some Seth Full Tilts for like $250 right after Christmas. But otherwise it's sifting through a bunch of unpopular crap and the prices are the same as on backcountry.

In the industry inventory is much tighter these days and the economy is much stronger than 5+ years ago. On a popular item that might sell out entirely and not go into closeout, I say you're getting a good price at 20% off MAP. MAP is Minimum Advertised Price, which is normal online price. 35% off MAP can be considered full closeout these days (about half of MSRP), so about $454 for a ski that MAP'd at $699 or $899 MSRP. Desirable skis will sell out quickly at end of season or mid summer at this price, so be prepared to act fast if you see this pricing. 50% off MAP is possible on popular skis on odd sizes overstocked, but is rare. Unpopular skis regularly hit 50% off MAP or even less on double closeout (2 years out of season), or you might get lucky and catch a popular ski in an unpopular size.

This year I did really well on deals (all new):
193 '16 Nordica Enforcer - $350, local shop online deal
187 '14 Blizzard Bushwhacker - $250, ebay
2x '15 Salomon (Atomic branded) STH2 16 binding - $130, evo.com with TGR price adjustment tip
3x '14 Scott Team Issue S4 poles - $29, L9
'15 Full Tilt Seths - $250, SAC
$1k MSRP ski outfit - $280, SAC
$500 MSRP ski pants - $90, STP

As a side note, I'd say Sierra Trading Post has fallen off MUCH more abruptly since they were sold to TJX. They have far less selection and far fewer deals. There was one point about 2 years ago when they were swimming in inventory and had constant deals.

Also STP has been opening brick and mortar stores which requires further inventory that doesnt make it online.
I hit up the patagonia outlet in SLC this past weekend and was blown away by the pricinglike always. full MSRP less 20-30% then and additional 50% off the lowest ticketed price. I have hit that place up numerous times. So much in fact, I have an entire wardrobe of patagucci gear that looks like I spend a lot, but really have not much in money. I remarked to my friend that local retailers must hate the manufacturer selling stuff so cheap. i think this more then anything is the death of SAC. Whatever leftover inventory is sold off my the manufacturer directly via outlets or websites.

[klauss]

Also, www.does not exist.com is where they sell all the stuff that gets returned at low prices and with free shipping. They'll accept an offer if it's been up there for a while. But you knew that, right?

shut your dirty mouth

[whyturn]

Steep and cheap is BC outlet. With AJ and free ship BC is usually better. But you can also try to negotiate on package deals. Problem is more with the gear heads constantly changing there is no consistency or loyalty. New owners want higher margins.

[Skidog]

New owners want higher margins.

This is the real answer. #bottomline