Mail Order Vs Tackle Shop

Hi all
I've been looking at the Penn deals available on mail order sites like Gerry's or Veals and I'm thinking about buying one of the Penn Powerstix range with a 525 Mag Xtra Reel. It'll cost about 300 euro including p&p. I'm wondering 2 things firstly is there better deals available in tackle shops North or south and secondly is the Powerstix range any use or should I be looking elsewhere.

Regards
Shane

I got a powerstix 13ft as a rod to do a few mnths as was having a rod re built.

I have since then used and got wife on as i think they are very good have got some good distance from this rod some people would say its a mid range rod price wise, but i think you get a hell of a lot for the price.

I fish with a few lads that use them and they agree very good for price, i have been using as my main rod for 5mnth now and can say it is a good rod. hope this helps.

as for price i got my 1 st one from.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Penn-Powerstick-3 ... dZViewItem

email him he do you a good deal.

Or try L&G Tackle in Ballynure

I got the exact same deal as your talking about in Belfast Angling for the advertised cost of any of the prices in Gerry's, veals and alike but without there postage. I think I paid £185 for multi reel, rod, line and shock leader.

Great All rounder rod. I find the bite detection is great and you can wined it up and throw a brave distance. I Have the 13ft version but i reckon if your going to fish clean ground you could go for the 15 footer. I have a diawa super-cast also and the Penn is always the first to come out.

I was originally going to buy the outasite set-up but I am more than happy with the Powerstix.

Good Luck

i find the main problem with mail order is the hassle if ya have a prob with the product im sure any tackle shop can get close enough to the price if ya deal with em

also find its better to be loyle to the small shops rather than the bigger mail order shops who have less over heads at the end of the day there were your going to be buying your bait after all o we need em.
plus after service is usually better

I would love to be able to get to a tackle shop that stocked a half decent range of sea gear but here in Sligo if it don't swim in a river or a lake they have very little interest. So even if i buy from a tackle shop it still involves an ordeal for aftersales service, calling the shop driving to the shop and then driving back when the problems are sorted. Don't get me wrong my local tackle shop is helpful and will alwys do their best for me, it's just that there is not enough interest in sea fishing.

yep your right never taught about it like that ive always lived beside the sea and i guess there has always been a tackle shop which speacalises in sea angling around to make it handy

i have used veals for a couple of items my local tackle shop didnt have or dont stock and find them good but must admitt the postage is a killer and the euro on the visa bill always gives u a shock when converted from sterling also must admitt i like the touchy feally in a tackle shop and a bit of banter :)

There is Mail Order and there is Mail order.....Veals, Gerry's and the like, are bonafide shops that cater for mail order because they find it works for them...some of the smaller shops don't, possible they cant shift big enough quantity, this means they wont get as good a deal from a carrier as the like of Veals or Gerry's. This extra charge will either be out of the shops pocket or the customers. Shops over here should be able to compete with anyone in the UK who charges carriage..seriously there is not that much money in fishing tackle mark-up......Vat over here is a joke though! and has to be taken into account.

What is bad for everyone...anglers, shops and trade in general is the guy who sets up from his kitchen, builds a website and slashes prices because he has no overheads, he may and most likely does have a full time job too. He even may (like we all seen on here a few months back) take customers money and just stop trading, leaving angry customers sending emails and making phone calls without any response. This guy is not doing anglers any favours..he will profess to, but at the end of the day he will make more profit on an item than any shop.

The shops that don't stock sea angling gear may have a change of heart if pressed enough by potential customers...some of the wholesalers in the UK will send stuff over here carriage paid for orders in and around the £500 to £1,000 mark (that's not a lot of investment for a shop) Plus there are a good few Irish wholesalers who stock a whack of sea fishing gear.

Sorry if this has turned into a bit of a rant...but it beats me why Irish anglers have to buy mail order from the UK to get a good deal when shops over here seem to moan about the loss but don't try to do anything about it.

Tom.

i guess it depends on the shop we fish in as to our opinion on this matter not naming shops but the takle shop i go to myself do do great deals and have to say i dont think id be saving that much if even any by buying mail order but that might change for the next guy if the shop he deals with arnt willing to deal with him, i guess its a lesson for the angler and the customer but from running a buisness over here my self realise how expensive everything to do with this county is, so my take on this is i personally support the smaller shops

for example i recently picked up a tt sport and a tt supermatch both cost 870 euro

mail order ive just checked on gerrys was 550.00 pound excluding p&p thats 550.00 GBP=834.808 EUR
so im guessing p&p would be over 35 euro plus if i had a prob with em the hassle i would have trying to get it sorted

have a look on ebay fella, think its deadly well worth a look. Got some top quality rigs the other day for practically nothing just to see what the craic was.... well impressed !!!!!!!!!!!

I am starting to go from mail order back to the shop because of the hassle. You do not save that much if any at all. By the time you put the shipping and add it up it can be dearer. One example is on eBay i was looking for Kamasan B940M and they were £1.20p and £1.00p pp. Now that is £2.20p or 3 euro odd in Southside they are 1.99 euros. Also if you ask for the gear to be reduced 9/10 they will drop price. After all they want your money. If you have a problem it easy to being it back to your local tackle shop its not so easy to get it to UK or wherever. I think we should support our local shops.
Thanks

Colin

id agree with you there kleeneze in saying support your local tackle shop..

but..not everywhere sells things for the same prices..
and if you keep paying for items at extortionary prices, tackle shops will hike up the price and see how much they can squeeze out of people..

having said that i know there are genuine tackle shops who actually do look after their customers but where i live i'm better going down the mail order road :?

Ive had rods before delivered over the weekend arrive in some state the rod tube flatend and bent the workers in the van depot must a used it for footy practice on there brakes at the weekend but saying that the prices are hard to beat if you buy in bulk but id say i use both 50/50 mail order and tackle shop you cant beat ur local tackle shop for bait and the odd packet of hooks.

I got a powerstix 13ft as a rod to do a few mnths as was having a rod re built.

I have since then used and got wife on as i think they are very good have got some good distance from this rod some people would say its a mid range rod price wise, but i think you get a hell of a lot for the price.

I fish with a few lads that use them and they agree very good for price, i have been using as my main rod for 5mnth now and can say it is a good rod. hope this helps.

as for price i got my 1 st one from.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Penn-Powerstick-3 ... dZViewItem

email him he do you a good deal.

Or try L&G Tackle in Ballynure

Definitely right........I bought one of the light powerstix, 11'6 bass rod for shore fishing as a versatile all-round rod...brilliant quality for a mid range rod...

As said it can depend on your local tackle shop. A few of us get together to buy from veals and buy in bulk so the 20 pound sterling P&P gets split between us. I try and support my local tackle shop but would only manage to get into town once a month, I can't buy stuff in bulk like 100 packs of hooks, I can't be sure that what I need will be there when I do go in and they don't stock the hooks, swivels and line I use. If I want to buy a rod it can be twice the price and has to be ordered in anyway. I did have a problem with a reel I bought and it took 6 months to rectify. On going into a 2 tackle shops in Limerick looking for a multiplier for shore fishing a senator 2/0 was shown as ideal even though in one of them there was a penn 525 beside it. On buying a penn 525 I asked how to tune it they didn't have a clue. On buying a rod I asked about casting lessons I was told to get a book out and later found out the tackle shop owner had got casting lesson s off the guy I eventually went to.

This isn't a rant at tackle shops where I live the trade just isn't in sea fishing so carrying the stock or knowing all about sea fishing is second to game and coarse fishing which are more popular.

Donagh

Donagh,

I understand exactly what your saying there, that is a problem some of the smaller shops have. Most tackle shops are owned by anglers, you normally find whatever style of fishing the owner is in to is well catered for, he may possibly not understand other types of fishing, some of the bigger shops will have enough staff that someone will know what is needed for a particular part of our sport and show a much better stock because of it.

I do know of some shops who have a good range of sea fishing gear, that is there just on the trust the shop owner has in certain of his paying customers...IMHO if a tackle shop owner wants to maximize his sales and stop his potential customers buying mail order, he should take the time needed to either find out whats needed in a certain field or find someone to help him choose his stock.

Where there is a will, there is a way!

Tom.

Some of the bigger local shops down here should stop bumping their prices up every 3 months and trying to shaft their customers too. Just ordered some stuff from Crabrock on Tuesday aft, it was here today with a bag full of freebies and for around half the price of the local shop. Nuff said I think. I dont mind paying a bit extra in some local shops as you are often paying for advice. I do object to being ripped off however by numpties who know nothing about sea angling.

im getting sick of goin to my local tackle shop and bein talked out of goods...what kinda shop does this?? happened with tapered shocks 2 fluro carbon...its seems a tackle shop is an opion 2 far if u ask me!!! im all for supporting local tackle trade but when u see 50-70 euro price difference compared to online shopping...what do u do? i know for a fact id prefer the savings and that little less of a "i know better than u attitude" in the shops!!

couldnt agree with you better, there is no competition in ireland. iordered a rod from mainwarings in the uk on a sat, had it by the mon, and i still had it for cheaper than southside were able to buy it for themselves from their dealer!!

I went into a tackle shop I buy from regularly and asked them to order me a leg-lock kit for my tri-pod, a tri-pod that I bought in the same shop last month, a week later I phoned to see if it was in yet and was told they knew nothing about it. I then re-ordered it and phoned up four days later to check on progress and was told it wasn't in yet and they would phone me when it arrived. It is now three weeks since the first order, two weeks since the second order and still no phone-call.
This is not a small shop and it isn't a cheap shop either but I like to support local enterprise. The question is how much loyalty should I extend to a company that is treating my orders with so much consideration?