What's the best time to buy Super Bowl merchandise?

February 6, 2013 12:21 PM

How long should I wait -if at all - to get the best deal on Super Bowl merchandise?

I live in Baltimore, home of the Super Bowl champion Ravens. I'd like to buy some merchandise to commemorate the title - a T-shirt or hat for myself, similar items for kids and friends. Probably on the order of $75-$100 at the prices I'm currently seeing... and therein lies my question. At the risk of sounding like a total (ahem) cheapskate, my priority is NOT getting the items ASAP - rather, it's getting them for the least amount of money. I'm willing to wait weeks or months to get a decent deal on these kind of items. The only constraint I can think of offhand is that I'd like the merchandise to be official - i.e., using the appropriate team and league logos and such. I might be mildly picky about color and style, but as long as there is a decent supply of officially-licensed stuff, I think I'll be OK from the standpoint of having enough options from which to choose.

Does anyone have advice on how to proceed, based on your experience in a similar situation or your retail knowledge? I presume a lot of this is based on demand, and I am quite sure there is plenty of demand for Ravens gear... but is there a time where I could reasonably expect a decent clearance deal? Is buying online likely to be better? This question was interesting but didn't really answer my own question. Thanks!

posted by cheapskatebay to Shopping (5 answers total)

I know in NY last year, prices dropped precipitously when baseball season started. I figure end of March. I was getting t-shirts for $10 each that had the Super Bowl Logo with NY Giants World Champions. I went to the local sporting goods store which ironically enough for a Baltimore person is called Modell's.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:38 PM on February 6, 2013

I live in Philadelphia, and when the Phillies won the World Series, there was merchandise commemorating it available through the entire next season in many stories. Heck, I think there's still '08 merch floating around. The best deals I got were leading into the following season, when the celebration was over but the commemoration was still happening.
posted by moviehawk at 12:43 PM on February 6, 2013

Are you willing to travel? When Indianapolis won in 2007, Super Bowl gear was stocked throughout Indiana, but didn't sell well in Northwest Indiana, which is mostly Chicago suburbs and has many more Bears fans than Colts fans. I understand from my brother, who lives up that way, that Colts merchandise was pretty heavily discounted up there (although I don't recall the exact time frame - a month, maybe?) Why stuff was stocked so heavily up there I don't know, as it's not exactly a secret that that's Bears country, but it was.

Perhaps retailers will make a similar mistake by heavily stocking Ravens gear throughout Maryland, even though the DC suburbs of Maryland, according to this article (posted to the Blue a few days ago) are dominated by Redskins fans?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:44 PM on February 6, 2013

If you ever get over to DJ Liquidators in Highlandtown (3825 Bank St , Baltimore, MD 21224), they'll have cheap Super Bowl stuff. Not sure when, but they seem to specialize in cheap but official Ravens stuff. The motorized Raven was my favourite.
posted by QIbHom at 9:00 AM on February 7, 2013

Response by poster: Very good ideas, all. Thank you!
posted by cheapskatebay at 8:42 AM on February 8, 2013