10 Easy Ways to Save Money on Men’s, Women’s and Kid’s Jackets

When it comes to jackets, you could spend an absolute fortune if you’re an active kind of person or family. You’ll want one for every purpose: running, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, a wind proof, a lightweight packable jacket, obviously a waterproof, and how about a down jacket for those really cold winter hikes and activities? So how do you fill your closets with everything you need without breaking the bank? We have some ideas as to how you might make substantial savings, so read on.

This could be one of your biggest ways to save. We all know that there are signs everywhere saying things like ‘sale’, ‘bargain’, ‘discount’ or ‘clearance’ to name just a few. But how do you know you’re getting a genuine cheap price? Well that’s where the homework comes in. Before you set off on any shopping expedition, it’s always a great idea to do some research first. It’s easy enough to do on-line. Have a look at some jackets on web sites and see what price you should expect to pay. Make notes of items you might like and the sort of prices that are being charged. That way when you get to the mall or wherever you’re going to look for that bargain, you will know whether it’s genuine or not, and you won’t get carried away by the sight of a sale sign.

Well I guess that sounds kind of obvious but let’s think about it. You can buy a jacket for just about any outdoor activity you can think of, and sure they’ll all be tailored to a particular activity, but do you really need one for each? You could easily save by doubling up on some items. For instance, I have a general purpose good quality, lightweight waterproof, which packs down really small to take just in case of rain on a day that starts off good. It will act as a windproof if a breeze gets up, is a good outer layer in colder weather, and doesn’t look too bad around town. I have a running jacket, but I run a lot, and still only wear this on really cold wet days – you get warm enough running, often a bit of rain is what you need to cool you down, it doubles as a cycling jacket, but if you don’t do a lot of cycling or running, or at least only in better weather then maybe you don’t need this type of jacket. Winter sports enthusiasts will need a ski or snowboard jacket, but do you really need both? Whatever your choice, buying jackets that will serve more than one purpose will save you a great deal.

We’ve hinted at this above in talking about an outer layer. Not only is layering a great way of keeping you warm and dry, but can help you save by building on different layers of clothing and only having one decent jacket as an outer layer. The big advantages to layering are that you can wear technical and not so expensive inner layers which wick sweat away from your body keeping you nice and dry on the inside, and you can build up or shed the layers as your body temperature decreases or increases. This is particularly beneficial when doing activities with intermittent strenuous phases, and hiking in hilly or mountainous terrain. This system will save the need to buy an expensive warm jacket, but a good quality waterproof is a great and potentially life-saving investment, and we will look elsewhere in this article about how to get a great deal on one of these. One great type of product is the jacket with removable fleece liner which zips into place. This can be a great idea if you need a new fleece too, so not only do you get the fleece lined jacket but you get a lighter-weight jacket which packs away easily, and either item can be worn separately or together.

No article on ways to save could fail to mention sales. I think it’s safe to say there will always be jackets somewhere marked up as on sale. As we’ve stated above, you need to find out how genuine these sales are. Even if a product has been marked up for one day at $200 and is now being sold for $190, it could be argued it’s on sale. However, it would hardly qualify as a bargain. There are plenty of genuine cheap sale prices around however, either in your local stores or on-line. It’s just a matter of doing your research and sorting out the real bargains from rest. There can be plenty of reasons why certain jackets are discounted such as clearance lines, last year’s stock, bankrupt stock, or stock which is just not selling for some reason. Whatever the reason, there will be times when stores just want to get rid of some stock to free up some cash to purchase new stuff, and the best way to do this is to offer a discount, and put it on sale.

I know we’re talking about ways to save on men’s women’s and children’s jackets, but I think this category deserves a special mention because kids are special. Now unless money is no object to you, and I assume that since you’re reading this article that’s not the case, then you probably don’t want to go spending a fortune on kid’s jackets because they’re soon going to grow out of them. Yeah I know they’re going to look really cute and a mini me out on trail, on the slopes or wherever looks even cuter, but let’s be rational about this. Whilst you might get several seasons out of a decent jacket, kids will get two if they’re lucky, maybe only one especially for the really young fast growing ones. Not only will they grow out of it, but it will get a lot more abuse than your jacket and they won’t treat it any better if it costs 50 bucks or a hundred. So how do you save on kid’s jackets? Well whilst you need to make sure it’s fit for purpose – i.e. it keeps out the cold/wind/rain, you don’t need to go overboard with quality as it’s not going to last forever anyway. If you’ve got more than one child, consider buying neutral colors so that they can be handed down from big brother to little sister. If you really want a well-known brand or decent jacket, consider second hand. Chances are, if someone else has done something we’re suggesting you don’t, then they’ll have outgrown it before they’ve worn it out so here’s your chance to bag a great bargain, and we’ll cover how elsewhere in this article.

Okay we may as well get this out of the way now. Like ‘sale’ signs, these seem to be everywhere too. Granted there is a lot of very cheap much worn used stuff for sale in these places, but don’t let that put you off. So long as you’re prepared to spend a bit of time going from store to store and looking through racks of shall we say mixed quality merchandise, you may just be able to find a real bargain. As we’ve hinted at above, this can be a particularly good option for finding great deals on kid’s jackets. As a parent I know the temptation, as that little closet starts to bulge at the seams, to stuff a load of hardly worn clothes into a plastic bag and take it down to the local second hand store.

Another perhaps even better way to find second hand jackets is with online auctions like eBay. You’re not so likely to get such low prices as in a second hand store since the auction process tends to bid up the prices – that’s the idea of the auction – for the seller at least. However the choice is much greater and it saves on all that legwork. With kid’s stuff particularly there is always so much choice for the same reasons we’ve mentioned above. The great advantage to having so much choice is that the competition keeps the prices low, so you really can find some fantastic bargains in kid’s jacket this way. Be careful though. Don’t become fixated on a particular item and get carried away with bidding. It’s easy to do, but don’t forget the homework, remember it’s true worth and if the price gets too high, drop out, there’s bound to be another one come along soon. On-line auctions aren’t just for secondhand gear either. There’s plenty of brand new gear advertised on here at discounted prices. Selling directly out of a warehouse or from home, a company or individual isn’t carrying the overhead costs of running retail premises and can afford to offer jackets at great prices, and you’ll see plenty of sale signs here too.

Not everything happens on-line. Some of you just prefer to shop that way. I don’t understand it personally but I know that some of you love that wandering around almost aimlessly for half a day or more, maybe with a friend, seeking out those bargains, and coming home with bags full of special deals. Often the best bargains can be found down at the mall, especially on ladies jackets! There’s plenty of competition out there driving prices down. Providing you’ve done your homework as above, and know what you should expect to pay for a jacket, you should be able to find a bargain. Besides those ‘sale’ signs there’ll be other special offers such as clearance racks, end of line specials, end of season deals, bankrupt clearance sales and so on. Remember that stores will sometimes just offer low prices on jackets to free up some space in the store, and get some cash back in. You will have to be prepared to do a bit of legwork however; as you’ll want to check out all the stores to make sure you’re not missing the best bargain of the lot.

We’re back to the internet again. The thing is that most retail businesses now have an on-line side as well as their stores – they have to in order to compete with everyone else. This competition is great for you the consumer because competition keeps prices low. Not only are your familiar retailers on-line, but there are also other players who, as we’ve mentioned above, don’t have to maintain retail networks and can therefore offer lower prices. If you’re like me this is by far the better way to search for a men’s jacket than spending a day trudging round the mall. It can be just as time-consuming however as there are so many options to choose from, going from site to site checking for the best deals and lowest prices, but at least, time for time, you’ll be able to visit far more stores and therefore compare far more prices than going to the mall, hopefully ensuring that you really do get the best possible deal.

Thankfully there is a better way to ensuring you get the best deal around on men’s women’s or kid’s jackets no matter whether it’s a windproof, waterproof, ski jacket or whatever. That’s because at Gearchase.com we do all the hard work for you. We search all the major outdoor sites so you don’t have to; tracking all the top deals, sales, bargains, coupons, promo codes closeouts and clearances on all kinds of outdoor gear including men’s women’s and kid’s jackets. You can compare hundreds of jackets by brand price or type. We can’t offer you deals on second hand goods, but we may just find you a brand new jacket for a lower price.