I'm guessing the best time of year to do this would be in the next month? Rather than start of the camping season next year? Would I be right?
Any tips for buying a second hand/sale tent?
Just don't buy an ex-display one if it has been erected outdoors. A synthetic tent has a lifespan of about 6months max due to the flysheet being affected by UV degradation. If a tent has been on outside display since May that's the best half of it's lifespan gone already.
Inside display tents? Not so bad but will have suffered from quite a bit of careless handling.
Best bargains are in discontinued tents, and from retailers that are very strictly seasonal with their camping equipment. It will be while before the new ranges and colours are announced though so unless you have a close friend in camping retail to ask, you'll have to wait for a wee while yet. If you know what you want though keep an eye on Argos, Halfords, B&Q and, oddly enough, Go Outdoors, plus all the online camping shops. and Ebay of course, many of the big camping retailer have an online shop for clearance items.
I got a 4-man Gelert for £12.50 from B&Q a couple of years ago, reduced from about £80. There are bargains to be had if you're persistant...;)
Head for the London parks after festivals, am told that they are packed with abandoned can't be bothered to take home tents. Grab before the council bin then.
If you are going to pay cash for a used tent then find out what it was worth when new, then only buy a really expensive quality tent at a knock down price.
A used cheap tent with a 10% discount is not worth considering.
Hi
Anytime is the answer to your question. With extra discounted tents (most tents are discounted from RRP anyway) you are more than likely going to be limited to whats available and they can come up anytime. If you are after one particular make/model this may never come up at an extra discounted price. Then of course you have GoOutdoors -10% price match which applies all year round.
Used tents like anything second hand are always going to be a bit of a gamble but if you stick to a reputable make and 1 year ish old then you should be ok but you would really need to see it up before parting with too much money.What you ideally want is bought this year to go camping used it once and didnt like it so now its for sale type tent.
------------- Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Everything has been said before, but since nobody ever listens we have to keep going back and saying it all over again and again and again
Truth is, there is no specific answer to your question. There used to be better deals in the Autumn/Winter etc, and there still are. But the internet has made sales more "flexible" in their timing.
For example, Go Outdoors are doing 41% discounts on some tents right now ie the Bear Lake 6 can be had for (about) £875. RRP is £1400, but if you don't want a BL6 then it's not a good deal for you..... get me?
So, the best time for you to buy a tent is when the one you want is at a price you think is acceptable.
Having said that, private sales can often be better in the out of season period. But the choice may be limited as people will often wait until just before the season starts hoping for a better price.
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Topic: buying a second hand/sale tent
