Low down on Land's end sales?

[smkinc]

I tried a few land's end pieces this fall (climber pants and polartec jammies) and really liked them for DS--they seem durable and comfortable. Can anyone tell me generally how the sales work for these items? What's a 'good deal'? BTW, my local Sears does not carrry LE. I'm restricted to catalog/web ordering only.

TIA,
Mary

[sarsah]

Sign up for their catalog (the one that comes in the mail) and they should send you a clearance catalog a few times a year. Once you get it, order right away because they do sell out. Also, check out the on-line clearance

In general, I don't think their clearance prices are that great. Most things don't seem to go lower than 50% off unless they way over bought, or it's an off color, like bright orange. I did notice that last year, the some of the items they sold at Sears were marked way down on-line, just like they were at Sears -- although the B&M was still a better deal.

My DS #1 is wearing mostly LE jeans this year (that I bought last year for between $6 & $8 per pair) and I have to say they wear extremely well. He is 4 1/2 and hard on his pants (mostly the knees). By this time last year, he had already worn through two or three pairs (Old Navy or Carters brand). This year, we have no wear through, and in fact, only minimal wear in the knees. Hopefully I can find another end of the season deal this year, or I may be buying them at full price next year -- they are that good.

I also like the climber pants for both my boys, but haven't found them on clearance, so we don't have very many pairs.

Sarah......mom to Jason (5/25/00) & Devin (5/12/03)

[brubeck]

LE stuff is awesome. The PP is right in that generally there are few AWESOME deals online. However if you like something (such as climber pants) then when they go on sale at 25% or 30% off you just buy them right away. They will be so picked over by the time they get to a second discount you won't really have much left.

That being said, most of the winter stuff tends to go on sale/clearance in January, and the summer stuff in late July/early August. LE updates Overstocks every Wednesday and Saturday, so check each of those 2 mornings and see if stuff has come in yet. As I said, it's best to buy it AS SOON AS it goes on sale because all the best sizes/colors will be gone in a flash.

If you happen to find a Sears that carries it (and it's hard: most Sears now only start carrying kid clothes in size 4 ie: little boy/girl sizes) then it is a better deal there. As soon as Sears marks it down they usually have an additional 25% (or 50% if you're lucky) off of it. Plus there is no shipping.

Another possibility is the LE On The COunter. On the Overstocks page they have the On The Counter logo on the upper right. Every Saturday they put out new items and the prices drastically drops every few days (M/W/F). Things tend to get snapped up if they're good but I HAVE found a few awesome deals there. You have to be fast though.

And FWIW, I got a bunch of climber pants for this winter last January. My son and I both love them.

[trumansmom]

In addition to the updates on Wednesday and Saturday, every other Thursday they generally add another "themed" sale section. It usually stays up for about 4 weeks.

Also, even though they add new items twice a week, they update the Overstocks pages daily. So if a size was sold out on Thursday, it may be there on Friday. Or if an item had been on the pages and sold out, the item may suddenly reappear again in limited quantities a week or two later.

If I'm looking for something specific, like a Squall Parka in a certain size, I tend to check daily.

And DS loves the climber pants too!

HTH-
Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and Eleanor 4/14/04

[Melanie]

We loved the climber pants last winter but now stupid sears doesn't carry ANYTHING LE for toddlers!! Not any of the nearest 5 stores or so.

[egoldber]

Even though Sears no longer carries LE toddler sizes, you can do returns there. So I console myself by saying that I only need to pay shipping one way if something doesn't fit or isn't what I want.

[cmo]

I agree with the PPs, it can pay off to troll their Overstocks page on a regular basis! The discounts aren't usually that big, unless the clothes are way out of season. If you dare to guess what size your child will be wearing next winter, you can probably get some good deals on winter stuff come spring or summer. Sometimes you can find good overstock deals on the kidsurplus.com web page (they call it "Lambs' End" for some business reason), though it's quite hit or miss.

ETA: I've also found some good deals on ebay; it's worth a look!

[smkinc]

Thanks to all of you for your helpful hints--it's good to know that I can return to a Sears. Its also good to know that a moderate mark down may be as good as it gets.

I love these boards--there is always someone in the know here!

Mary
Mom to Jeremiah 2/4/03