New rod/reel

[Fishin' Fool]

When you're shopping for that new rod/reel what is your go to website where you think you will get your best deal? So far I've had good experiences with TW and American Legacy Fishing, Ebay too. I bought a rod on Amazon and it came in a flimsy cardboard box. Maybe it was the retailer but never again.

[Evan K]

Half the sites you can buy from will be censored as "another site" by Bass Resource, so don't expect too much variety. :/

I have yet to find a consistently better place to buy brand new in box reels than ebay- almost always a "Buy it Now" item for a decent little percentage off MSRP and average store pricing. Sales and specials aside, of course.

[kickerfish1]

Best deal will always be bad buying gently or lightly used gear from places like our flea market here. The deals can be found year round.

EBay and another auction sites are nice but they are more hit or miss on items, sizes, and availability.

Big retailers are good around holiday sales as they will provide you with a new items up to 25% off give or take. They will sometimes offer closeout items as well.

Locally is hit or miss for me. Clearance items are availbale in small quanities so you have to act fast. 

Majority of my purchases are done online through US or Japan retailers.

[Cgrinder]

I use the big name ones during sales. SFT is supposed to be legit, will likely give them business in the future. I shop JLS and JPangler for reels occasionally. Rods from Amazon come in cardboard usually. Risky but the deals are there sometimes.

Locally I've gotten some fine deals at Sportsmen's Direct in Harrison Township, right off the lake.

[the reel ess]

I've bought two off Ebay. You have little control over how used they are. But here's a secret. BPS does repairs very cheap. I have a Johnny Morris reel I paid $50 for and put $19 in it sending off to BPS. I couldn't buy a reel that good for less than $130. WIN!

But I have another older Abu reel that's never worked well and I probably paid too much for. LOSE!

[blckshirt98]

I've found rod deals from most of the reputable online sites at one point or another when they were on sale or on clearance.  The important thing is to sign up for the various email newsletters/notifications because you never know when a rod will go on clearance and it's important to jump on them quickly as most will sell out.

All the small "fishing/outdoor only" stores ship their rods in sturdy tubes so I buy from them with confidence.  The only two sites where I've found good deals but have a 50/50 chance of receiving a damaged/split in half rod is Sierra Trading Post and Sport Chalet.  Both ship their rods in flimsy four sided rectangular cardboard and both have had one piece rods arrive folded in half as two piece rods.  But if you're willing to take the risk you can find some amazing deals.  Sierra has regular discounts on top of their sale prices, and, Sport Chalet lets you stack coupon codes (so for example I got a Phenix M1 Inshore rod that was clearance priced at $169 (down from $239) where you could stack an extra 25% off coupon code, stacked with a $10 off any item priced $50 or higher, stacked with a free shipping promo they were running, so I got it for under $140 delivered).

[cottny27]

BPS during the Spring sale is cheap if you have one close by. 

[Tlaz]

I e been picking up clearance stuff at DSG. Trokar hooks, tungsten weights and today got a 7'1" MH St Croix Rage for 75.00. Half off. 

[SMITTY0045]

I still typically get my stuff through Amazon, or at least my reels. I have not ordered a rod from there yet so I cannot really speak to what it is packaged in. TW would be a good place to look for rods, they seem to always have some good rods on sale

[Fishin' Fool]

Sportman's Outfitters has several Daiwa products on sale for a good price. In fact I wish I knew this a month ago but you can pick up the Zillion reel in the 6.3 to 1 ratio and a Tatula rod for $320. I'm not sure if that is free shipping but probably. The Zillion reel costs that much not on sale and with tax. d**n Internet shopping is going to break me.

[Crestliner2008]

Hard to beat Amazon.com and/or Walmart.com. Just punch in what you're looking for and one or the other will have the best pricing you can find just about anywhere today.