BPS stores

[Deleted account]

4 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Thanks.  I live 10 miles from Fenway.  I was Crestliner's chops...  I believe he was thinking of Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play, not Fenway.  

#Bradybooboo

[zeth]

Theresa BOS not too far from where I live. Somehow I always get the idea that what I want they will have in stock.   I somehow end up there once a month and almost always leave empty-handed.  They just don't carry the brands I like. I could care less about price. That's probably why I'm broke however so. I remember as a kid or teenager going to tons of tackle shops. Seemed like every lake had a good tackle shop fully stocked. I'm no longer in the midwest so maybe those still exist IDk but in AZ and the west coast in general they few and far between.

[Deleted account]

On 1/18/2018 at 8:06 AM, Dirtyeggroll said:

I don’t think I have ever bought anything directly from a Bass Pro retail store.

 

When I do buy from BassPro it’s usually because I got a gift card to Bass Pro, I have rewards points or I got a gift card to Target. I will purchase a Bass Pro gift card from Target with my Target gift cards.

 

When I finally purchase from Bass Pro I do it online and I try to make my orders over and as close to $35 as possible and have it shipped to store. Sometimes I do multiple ~$35 orders at once. When I go pick the items up, I get a $10 Bass Pro gift card for each order.

 

There is a Bass Pro nearby and our local club meets there so it’s not much out of my way to pick my orders up.

The defense rests...

[boostr]

I like em, and my 7 year old likes em. We don't have one nearby, but when we go on trips we always stop at the local BPS. Each one is different depending on their location (Dania Beach FL, Orlando FL, Bridgeport CT, Harrisburgh PA, Hanover MD). We usually just buy a couple of bags of plastics or a hat. We did spend over 200 bucks at the Harrisburg PA location for my son We went and outfitted him with his own baitcasting gear, and his own terminal gear and baits (so he doesn't use up all mine) ... He's a BPS fanatic loves it more than Disney World.

[Deleted account]

On 1/21/2018 at 1:48 PM, reason said:

#Bradybooboo

Ok, he's a bad a$$ quarterback, if he was also rich, famous and had a hot wife...

[Hawghead]

I have a Bass Pro about 5 minutes from my house.  I have a Cabelas about 12-15 min away.  I love Bass Pro.   Great selection price is OK, I am pretty good about getting stuff on sale, with gift cards etc.   

 

I buy casual clothes, hunting stuff, fishing stuff, whatever.  If its hip to diss BPS then I sure as heck aint hip.  I buy a lot in store, also will buy on line, and pickup in store.

 

All works for me

[Chance_Taker4]

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 4:51 PM, nascar2428 said:

Whenever companies continue to buyout their competition(Ranger,Triton,Cabelas, stratos) I continue to try and support other retailers. BPS has turned into a destination stop, kinda like a tourist trap for shoppers. 

You must bank with a Credit Union since banks buy their competition multiple times a year. Its business.

 

 

I go to BPS and Cabelas Quite a bit. I buy my guns from them but hardly everany fishing. Their gun department is willing to negotiate prices unlike the rest of their store (BPS) and the Cabelas in my area (haven't looked at guns since merger) were normally low priced anyways. To avid anglers their prices seem high but those prices are what the market bares. As long as their are inexperienced casual fishermen willing to go into BPS and pay those price the prices will continually increase.

[the reel ess]

I have a Cabela's 30 miles and almost an hour closer than the nearest BPS due to traffic. And there's an Academy 20 miles closer than the Cabela's. Od course, Academy will ship most orders over $25 for free so they get most of my business. But wait! Amazon Prime ships free and usually quicker. So I usually check there first.

[boostr]

On 1/24/2018 at 10:11 AM, the reel ess said:

I have a Cabela's 30 miles and almost an hour closer than the nearest BPS due to traffic. And there's an Academy 20 miles closer than the Cabela's. Od course, Academy will ship most orders over $25 for free so they get most of my business. But wait! Amazon Prime ships free and usually quicker. So I usually check there first.

If you think about it, Amazon prime doesn't ship free... Don't you pay a yearly service fee? I'll just order from TW and anything over $50 is only $5 for 2 day shipping that still would be less than the Prime service fee for how often I order fishing gear. With Prime you do get weekend service which you don't with TW's 2 day shipping.

[the reel ess]

23 minutes ago, boostr said:

If you think about it, Amazon prime doesn't ship free... Don't you pay a yearly service fee? I'll just order from TW and anything over $50 is only $5 for 2 day shipping that still would be less than the Prime service fee for how often I order fishing gear. With Prime you do get weekend service which you don't with TW's 2 day shipping.

Amazon Prime does charge a yearly fee. But the wife already has it so if I don't use it, I'd be throwing money away on services that charge for delivery. We do most of our Christmas shopping with it. It saves us the hassle of the mall and running around before the holidays. Also, when birthdays roll around, we'll go find something we want and put in the cart. Then the other will order it. That way you get what you want. Also, we watch some streaming TV shows and movies on it. The downside to it is you can't find just any and all fishing equipment on it yet, but it's getting better. You also can't buy the store branded merchandise. When I can't find something there, I can usually come up with a $25 min Academy order.

[boostr]

8 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Amazon Prime does charge a yearly fee. But the wife already has it so if I don't use it, I'd be throwing money away on services that charge for delivery. We do most of our Christmas shopping with it. It saves us the hassle of the mall and running around before the holidays. Also, when birthdays roll around, we'll go find something we want and put in the cart. Then the other will order it. That way you get what you want. Also, we watch some streaming TV shows and movies on it. The downside to it is you can't find just any and all fishing equipment on it yet, but it's getting better. You also can't buy the store branded merchandise. When I can't find something there, I can usually come up with a $25 min Academy order.

I always think about getting it, and I do order from them several times a year but not where Prime would be worth it, and most sellers have free shipping anyway. I do own the Amazon Store Card though which I use for large orders and can pay it off with no interest.

[Chefster]

Even if you make one purchase on amazon prime a month it pretty much pays for itself.  2 day shipping can be expensive.   It’s included with prime.   Sometimes they have same or next day shipping.   You also get access to the music and video.   For me it’s a no brainer.  12$ a month.  But I rarely purchase fishing related stuff from amazon.  I have a kid in college.   I can buy her pretty much anything as well as textbooks and have it shipped to the school.   

[the reel ess]

59 minutes ago, Chefster said:

Even if you make one purchase on amazon prime a month it pretty much pays for itself.  2 day shipping can be expensive.   It’s included with prime.   Sometimes they have same or next day shipping.   You also get access to the music and video.   For me it’s a no brainer.  12$ a month.  But I rarely purchase fishing related stuff from amazon.  I have a kid in college.   I can buy her pretty much anything as well as textbooks and have it shipped to the school.   

It's funny because even though we heve Prime, the wife, whose idea it was to get it, will say "I need to run (40 miles) to get (fill in the blank)" I'll say "Did you look on Amazon?" We live 20 miles min from the nearest WalMart, Lowes or Home Depot. We live 42 miles from a Target. We don't even have a big chain grocery store here in town. The beer selection sux here! We probably spend less paying the Prime fee. Even if we don't, it's better than running the road to shop.

[RPreeb]

We do buy regularly from Amazon,  but most of the time we are in no particular hurry, so the 5-7 day free shipping option is how we order.  I doubt that for the few things we buy from Amazon "associates" with no free shipping available total any more than the Prime fees, so we don't bother with it.  Most of the time our Discover Card gets 5% back on Amazon purchases, so we make out okay.

[Ratherbfishing]

BPS was a lot more fun when I had nothing.  Now that I've acquired the majority of what I want and all of what I need, price has gotten to be a more critical factor.  I'm after DEALS now and apart from a few sales, BPS just ain't "gettin' it" anymore.  It's also why I didn't go to Gander Mountain (may it rest in peace).

[snake95]

For us, the big box outdoors stores are just destinations for entertainment (fish tanks, browsing).  Even for more specialized items (e.g. mojo weights), the big guys often have a surprisingly sparse selection, and you are better off just reading up and buying online.

 

My first big shopping trip after deciding I was going to take up fishing more seriously in 2014 to one of the big outdoors retailers.  My total was well north of $150 and I left feeling a bit worried that fishing might not be for me because of the very high cost.

 

In the years in between, I've learned to shop the sales at other non-specialized big stores for vastly lower prices, and to order online based on the input of others on this site to carefully evaluate which purchases are likely to be worthwhile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Joe00051]

OK... Maybe I am a total goober but I really like Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas.  Nowhere else I go has their selection. I have read the folks comment talking about limited selection and I would just ask where are you hoping?  I can put my hands on a wide variety of products, see how they feel, evaluate the quality and make an informed purchase decision.   That counts for something and based on that I try to reward them with my business. I don't just then go home and then buy from the lowest bidder.  

 

And if, cost is all that matters I do think some of their house brands are some of the best out there.  The BPS Sassy Sally is one of my favorite swim baits and I just purchased an Arachnid bait caster from Cabeles that is really a Daiwa Tatula that was $50 cheaper than anywhere I looked.   

 

Just my two cents but I think they all have their place in the market.  

[RPreeb]

14 hours ago, Joe00051 said:

OK... Maybe I am a total goober but I really like Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas.  Nowhere else I go has their selection. I have read the folks comment talking about limited selection and I would just ask where are you hoping?  I can put my hands on a wide variety of products, see how they feel, evaluate the quality and make an informed purchase decision.   That counts for something and based on that I try to reward them with my business. I don't just then go home and then buy from the lowest bidder.  

 

And if, cost is all that matters I do think some of their house brands are some of the best out there.  The BPS Sassy Sally is one of my favorite swim baits and I just purchased an Arachnid bait caster from Cabeles that is really a Daiwa Tatula that was $50 cheaper than anywhere I looked.   

 

Just my two cents but I think they all have their place in the market.  

I feel the same way. Around here, the local shops are mostly dealing with trout fishing. In Colorado you are a second class fisherman if you don't use a fly rod. Cabela's and Bass Pro do a better job of catering to the rest of us. 

[Ratherbfishing]

15 hours ago, Joe00051 said:

And if, cost is all that matters I do think some of their house brands are some of the best out there.  The BPS Sassy Sally is one of my favorite swim baits and I just purchased an Arachnid bait caster from Cabeles that is really a Daiwa Tatula that was $50 cheaper than anywhere I looked.   

So there ARE people who purchase BPS branded stuff!  I figured there had to be or they'd pull it off their line.

 

I've gotten to be a "middle of the road" snob.  I don't usually buy "cheap" (too many bad experiences with it) and I refuse to pay an hours wage on the high end stuff.  (I hate to be that grown man who cries because he's hung up in 25 feet of water).