Living in a country at the bottom of the world (New Zealand) the range of equipment available here is pretty limited. You can find all the necessary gear, but the options are quite limited in terms of brand availability. There is a local brand that sells reasonably good quality gear (nzboxer), but the prices are quite high. I wanted to treat myself to a pair of Thai shinguards and some 16oz gloves for sparring (at my gym we can choose to either spar in padded MMA gloves or in 16oz boxing or Thai gloves depending on what we are working on). After doing some internet research I decided that I wanted a set of Boon BGV gloves (brown) and some Top King Empower Creativity TKSGEM-02 (gold). I tried to hunt down the gear I wanted locally (best to support the local shops if possible or financially reasonable to do so), unfortunately no-one in New Zealand stocks Boon gloves and there is only one supplier of Top King shinguards (and they didn't have the type I wanted). I had a look around online and found a shop called muay-thai fighting. They are based in Thailand, but the website is in English. The website is even set up so I could view prices in NZ dollars (which made it easy to compare them to local suppliers), and even after taking shipping into account they seem to charge half to two-thirds what retailers in NZ charge. My gear has turned up and I am really happy with the quality and the fit, although I was a bit surprised at first by the size of the cuffs on the Boon gloves. Really happy that the risk I took ordering gear that I have never seen before has paid off. Luckily the shinguard's fit well, I was a bit worried as I had heard that the sizing guide can be a bit off. In total it took less than four days from dispatch in Thailand for the goods to arrival at my front door in Auckland, New Zealand. What do you guys think about ordering online? Will you support your local shops at all costs, or is there a point where you say the added costs aren't worth it? Would you ever order without having tried the gear you are thinking about buying?
I always attempt to buy local. Even if the price is higher. More of the cash stays local that way. I did have to order a set of hayabusa gloves for the wife though. She had to have the purple ones.
I mostly buy from my school, because it is convenient. Also because they have a sale twice a year where the prices are pretty low. But there are exceptions. My school was out of fans when I needed a new one. I ordered some from Amazon and they were basically the same fan, and actually a bit cheaper. My fans seem to loosent up too much at the joint, so when I need to order again, I will probably buy them online again. Also, I lost my headgear at a tournament once. It was way before the next sale was scheduled and I found the product online at a MA supplystore for a good price. My GM has several series of DVD's. The ESPY-TV series can be bought online at Amazon for cheaper (even with shipping and handling) than the sale price at my school. My biggest concern with sparring equipment or clothes (pants and shoes) is the fit. I like to try my stuff on first to make sure it fits properly. But that headpiece I bought was an example where I knew what size I needed already. Usually my school has the best deal on items, but occassionally they don't. When this happens, I don't feel bad about buying online one bit. I have no guilt about the store that offers the best deal getting my money.
