Buy snow gear overseas online or buy local?

Guest blogger Christie Hampton presents her argument for supporting local retailers. Do you buy online overseas or do you buy local?

My name is Christie Hampton and I’m addicted to online shopping. Packages turn up at our door weekly and the couriers greet me by name.

I shop when I’m happy and I shop when I’m sad. I once celebrated paying off my credit card by going shopping.

I’ll use any excuse to flex my Mastercard muscle. Well, almost. I have so far drawn the line at purchasing ski gear online. Why? Because skiing in absolute comfort is too important.

I need to try jackets on, check the zipper quality, test that the hood will cover my head. My boots need to fit better than a glove and, speaking of gloves, there’s no way I’d purchase those site unseen either. Yep, I’m one of those people.

I go into a ski shop and do the ‘flex test’ on every ski they have. I don’t even know why I do it, it’s some kind of weird habit. Ski shops. I love them.

Growing up we had family friends who owned a ski shop in Canberra. It had this strange synthetic blue carpet that would burn a hole in your knees if you happened to trip on it. The whole place smelled like wax.

It was always freezing in there. Probably because it cost too much to heat but I like to think they were replicating the mountain environment.

Some may say these early experiences have somehow manifested into my choice of life partner. Yes, my husband owns a ski shop. It also smells of wax but this one is heated and has nice carpet.

Reasons for my allegiance to shops made of bricks and mortar are obvious and feel free to call me biased, except believe me when I say I also have an allegiance to common sense. It just makes sense to purchase your ski gear from an actual shop in actual Australia.

I understand that skiing and snowboarding are expensive sports and minimising cost is high on the agenda for most people. Thus, purchasing online from overseas can seem like a cost effective measure.

However there are issues to consider, shipping being one of them. Backcountry.com will charge you $74.95 (USD) for the pleasure of shipping a women’s Armada Ritual STR jacket to your doorstep.

Shipping becomes even more of a problem when it comes to warranty. Let’s just say that same jacket arrives with a broken zipper. Ask an Australian distributor to honour the warranty and they’ll most likely laugh in your face.

The cost will be on you to ship it back to Armada’s headquarters in California. And woe is you if the dump of the season occurs while your ski jacket is in transit somewhere across the Pacific.

Purchasing skis ‘cheaply’ online can also seem tempting so here are some extraneous factors worth taking into account. Buy your skis from a shop and you’ll most likely get your bindings mounted for free (if they don’t offer this, run from that store immediately).

Shops in Sydney can charge up to $60 for this service so remember to add that to the cost of shipping. Also if you purchase domestically you’ll probably get the chance to talk to a professional who knows the gear inside out and there’s almost always a chance to ‘try before you buy,’ so you’re making a more informed choice.

Sure you can always ‘try before you stab them in the back by buying online,’ but that’s your call.

Australian distributors and shop owners are aware that, thanks to the world wide intrawebby, we’re living in a global market and, instead of fighting it, they’ve embraced it and the winner is the consumer.

Armada Australia distributor Stefan Doyle is the first to admit that prices in Australia have been forced down because of cheap deals available online.

His advice is to… “Talk to shop owners and managers. Tell them what you’ve found online. Chances are they’ll be able to do a deal or at least explain to you why there’s a difference in price.”

What many people don’t realise is that brands release their hard goods in the southern hemisphere first so often you’ll be comparing the price of, for example, a 2014 ski that’s reduced for a quick sale with a 2015 ski here at home.

And if you’re madly googling for a bargain older model ski or jacket then pray you can wear an extra small jacket and ski on 195s because, if you fit into a common size category, you will be limited for choice.

In some parts of this vast country, like Perth or Cairns, it’s not easy to find a bricks and mortar ski shop so purchasing gear on the Web is highly practical. You can still keep it domestic, however.

Many of today’s retailers understand the importance of e-commerce and sell and ship from their own stores to buyers around the country. Try Rhythm Snow Sports, Aussieskier.com, Bumps, Auski and Snowbound and for XC Gear and Backcountry specific go to Wilderness Sports.

So, in summary, why not set an example for your kids and get off the computer. Go outside. Find your nearest ski shop.

Talk to the humans there. Inhale the wax fumes. Flex some skis.

It will feel good, I promise.

Disclaimer: Christie Hampton’s husband owns Rhythm Snow Sports in Japan.

Do you purchase your ski gear from home or abroad? Do you think the prices in Australia are fair? Do you buy online or in person? Do you support local or global?