Hockeymonkey.com

[fultonreed 1]

Not sure if stated up front, but they will try to charge 15% re stocking fee and then slap on shipping charges ( they promote free shipping ) ON ALL ITEMS RETURNED.

They will let you carry a balance / credit, but who knows how long they will be in business. What if they are acquired by a competitor? Good bye credit.

Be careful not to get hose'd.

[jimmy 194]

Not sure if stated up front, but they will try to charge 15% re stocking fee and then slap on shipping charges ( they promote free shipping ) ON ALL ITEMS RETURNED.

They will let you carry a balance / credit, but who knows how long they will be in business. What if they are acquired by a competitor? Good bye credit.

Be careful not to get hose'd.

I believe they are very upfront about their charges for returns. They are a reputable company that should be in business for a while. No worries there.

[tguidon 0]

I doubt Hockey Monkey will just drop off the map anytime soon.

[TBLfan 25]

http://www.hockeymonkey.com/info.html

the link from their header.

You have to read and be aware of what you might get yourself into. While you should support your local economy(not just LHS) there is nothing wrong with ordering online when you can't find or get what you need at your LHS. You, as the buyer should be aware. They put the information readily available to you and you chose not to read it; that's not their fault, that is yours.

[ConnorJoyce 0]

I hate Hockey Monkey if you are looking for sticks. Prices are way over priced (for sticks), and they have hidden shipping charges.... almost $20 for a stick. <_<

[rinkrat94 1]

Not True. I ordered a stick from hockeymonky last week. I searched many web sites and they had the best price for what I was looking for, and shipping was free.

[forsberg91 0]

Not True. I ordered a stick from hockeymonky last week. I searched many web sites and they had the best price for what I was looking for, and shipping was free.

From my experience with hockeymonkey they are great... Great prices and most of the time free shipping...I've been looking at a Vector 10.0 stick and hockeymonkey has the best price that i have seen yet

[saba 0]

Hockemonkey has several threads on their customer service please look at those threads for the horror stories I and others have been through with their return folks. IMHO I would go Inline Warehouse, Epuck, or The Giant if not my LHS

[Norm 0]

I've bought lots of stuff from HockeyMonkey and never had a problem. In fact, in one case they forgot to pack a pair of hockey pants that I had ordered. When I called and told them they apologized and sent out a replacement even though their records showed that the item had been packed and the only thing they could go on was my word.

[JCM96 0]

Locally theyre real good, I can't speak for their web sales though.

[yipperzz 28]

hockeymonkey is my local hockey shop. should i buy online from somewhere else then? :D

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I think the LHS/Online debate gets sort of skewed to make it seem like online buying is bad.

I think the guys who work in the LHS get pissed off (and rightly so) if you buy a pair of skates online, then go to the LHS if there are issues with them.

I do buy locally when the product is available, and suits me. However, I have no problems buying online if my LHS is unable to supply something. And I don't think the LHS workers are upset if you do buy online. Just don't give them the product problems that you have as a result of buying the same product for a few bucks less online

[QandA 0]

The other day a guy comes on, tries on some vector, 7.0' s I believe as we do not cary the 10.0's. He tries them on, we find him a size he wants and everything, and he says he'll be back. A couple weeks later he comes in with 10.0's, asks us to bake them, and he uses his team discount to pay for the molding. Frustrating to say the least.

[jimmy 194]

The other day a guy comes on, tries on some vector, 7.0' s I believe as we do not cary the 10.0's. He tries them on, we find him a size he wants and everything, and he says he'll be back. A couple weeks later he comes in with 10.0's, asks us to bake them, and he uses his team discount to pay for the molding. Frustrating to say the least.

Yes, it's these kind of stories that make LHS workers mad, not the fact that items were bought online, rather that they were scammed and their time wasted, etc.

I had a new customer in the store today, I sharpened his skates and he asked about helmets, saying he wanted a new one. We prob discussed it for 10 minutes or more. I was talking about the high density foam in motorcycle helmets and he went into a story about when he bought his bike helmet, the guy in the motorcycle shop explained the same thing to him. However he went on to say, right to my face how he bought the helmet online after checking it out at the bike shop. How he saved so much money. Needless to say, I doubt I'll be selling him a helmet, and I certainly wasted good time with him, time I could have used doing the books, preparing orders, etc. Instead, I have to work extra hours to do those things, because my time was wasted by this guy.

[kosydar 0]

Thats why a fitting fee isn't a bad idea. I think it was JR who talked about implementing one a few years ago. Charge a customer a set price up front for helping them get fit for a specific piece of equipment (particularly skates), and then waive the fee if they buy it from your store.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Here's one that happened to me yesterday.

On Saturday dad and daughter come in looking for skates. Turned out she was in a size 6 and was in a senior skate. after 45 min, the XXX fit her best. However, he did not want to spend $469 on skates, because she had only played ice for two years. I asked him how long she was playing roller for, and he said since 5, so that was about 9 years. I asked him what kind of inlines he bought her...and he said "always top-end."

I told him if that is the case, why skimp out since she is playing ice? He agreed and then asked me what time we closed (first tell-tale sign of you being shopped) and left.

Yesterday the daughter walks into the shop and asks to buy some waxed laces. Immediately a red flag goes up. I follow her downstairs and I go to the bathroom and I notice she is lacing up a pair of XXXs. I walk up to her and asked her where she bought those. She said "Oh we got them online for $299.99." Noticed the nice hole in the tongue. I can't wait until she has problems with the skates.

And this is why I am tired of this business.

[DamnLocust 0]

I understand the frustration that LHS workers go through, and I can't really blame you for being upset with shoppers who come into the store to waste your time when buying online. I'll be honest, I did this once when looking at a mission dangler shaft wayyy back when (I was like 15 or 16 and i just went into the back room to see how it felt, but I made sure not to bother the people working in the store.)

But I wonder if you have ever noticed one of those people who came to your store for a skate fitting only to buy them online has ever come back to you to other purchases.

I mean, selling those waxed laces to the girl isn't going to do much to help you reach your bottom line, but have you seen others who maybe buy gloves, blades, shafts, inline wheels, etc.? It seems that the issue most of you take is with the skates since it does take some time to proberly fit someone, but if you fit someone in skates and they buy online, but turn around ad buy a new OPS or a pair of gloves from you, it kind of evens out. If your service in fitting skates doesn't necessarily get the person to spend an extra $170 on the skates in your store, it just may persuade them to use that $170 to purchase something else in your store that they need a week or two later.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

If they are buying skates online, chances are they buy EVERYTHING online.

[DamnLocust 0]

Not if it's a current model item. I buy stuff online on closeout, but if it's a current item I got to my LHS and pick it up there. The minor price difference is made up for in the shipping, and the guy at the shop knows me and cuts me a deal here and there. I'm not buying stuff every week, but it's better than buying solely online.

This has probably been discussed before, but if there was any way for the LHS to discount/clearance older models, I think business would pick up for them. I've gone to my LHS and seen stuff that is anywhere from 2-3 years old and is selling for maybe 10% less than its original retail value, and much of it was still at original price. (There's some REALLy old stock going for cheap) The way I see it, trying to sell that item at full price gets you nothing but wasted space on the rack/wall. even if you sell the item at or below your cost from 2-3 years ago, it's better than getting nothing for it when trying to sell it at full retail price. Selling at a discount brings in some money, makes the customer happy and more likely to come back, and probably best of all, opens up valuable shelf and/or storage space for the store. Maybe my LHS is the only one that doesn't really clearance anything until it's like 7 years old , however.

We're just beating a dead horse though, this has gone on since the online stores started popping up and this conversation has been had way too often even in the short time that I've been on MSH. I hadn't commented before, and I'll probably stay away from them in the future, but I got to put in my 2 cents.

[Neo5370 132]

May I ask where this LHS is?

[DamnLocust 0]

NY

[saba 0]

DammLocust is spot on my LHS the few here in DC are selling the Tour Beemer for $399 locally. That skate is now 2 year old inventory and is at near the top when it comes to price. IMHO it would be better to sell 2 of these skates at a significant discount than to sell none at full price. This lack of movement makes my LHS carry older not "hot" products that the kids are looking for.

Second this is my hard earned cash and what I could save in buying online I can put to other gear that may or may not be bought at my LHS.

[kosydar 0]

I'm in the minority here because I have no LHS within an hour of me, but if I did I certainly wouldn't shop them for their sizing and then order online. Its definitely worth the extra money (which in most cases is very minor when you add in online shipping costs) to ensure a proper fit. On top of that, if you buy them from a good shop, they'll usually hook you up with some sharpenings, free heat molding, and/or anything else they can do to go out of their way to make sure your skates are right. When it comes down to it, if you're spending $400 on skates, whats the extra $25 when it ensures that your skates' problems will be taken care of?

[DamnLocust 0]

Agreed. My regular LHS doesn't carry Tour skates, so my friend went to a shop in Long Island for his Silvermax's last year. Since we play outdoor, the guy at the shop swapped the wheels to hyper pro 250s and swapped the laces over to waxed for him. Even with that service, the price was lower than not only other stores in the area, but I believe it was lower than online prices at the time. If it wasn't an hour to hour and a half trip to go there, I'd buy everything from them. I'm probably going to be picking up Code 1's soon, and I know where to go.

[jimmy 194]

Not if it's a current model item. I buy stuff online on closeout, but if it's a current item I got to my LHS and pick it up there. The minor price difference is made up for in the shipping, and the guy at the shop knows me and cuts me a deal here and there. I'm not buying stuff every week, but it's better than buying solely online.

This has probably been discussed before, but if there was any way for the LHS to discount/clearance older models, I think business would pick up for them. I've gone to my LHS and seen stuff that is anywhere from 2-3 years old and is selling for maybe 10% less than its original retail value, and much of it was still at original price. (There's some REALLy old stock going for cheap) The way I see it, trying to sell that item at full price gets you nothing but wasted space on the rack/wall. even if you sell the item at or below your cost from 2-3 years ago, it's better than getting nothing for it when trying to sell it at full retail price. Selling at a discount brings in some money, makes the customer happy and more likely to come back, and probably best of all, opens up valuable shelf and/or storage space for the store. Maybe my LHS is the only one that doesn't really clearance anything until it's like 7 years old , however.

We're just beating a dead horse though, this has gone on since the online stores started popping up and this conversation has been had way too often even in the short time that I've been on MSH. I hadn't commented before, and I'll probably stay away from them in the future, but I got to put in my 2 cents.

You make some very good points about closeouts. I actually have some items in the store that if I mark down 15%, I loose money. Anyway, one reason the LHS's can't offer big discounts on discontinued models like the online sites is that they don't get the big discounts when they buy them. Sure it's easy for an online store to mark a pair of skates down 50%, they don't loose that much if any money, because their buying group gets huge volume discounts (30+%) from the manufacturer. As opposed to the smaller LHS which may get zero discount off wholesale. If I mark a pair of Vapor XX's down half, I loose a LOT of money. Also manufacturers clear their warehouse out to the big buying groups, and sell them closeouts for pennies on the dollar. So for some items, they are actually making money, big money on closeouts. There is no way a LHS can compete with an online site for closeouts, so we try to manage inventory so we don't have a lot of closeouts at the end of season, especially high end stuff.