So I just spent around 3 hours on google clicking every link for the following searches "montbell parka" and "western mountaineering summerlite" in an attempt to find some sort of discount.

The best that I could come up with is that Oregon, New Hampshire, Montana and Delaware dont charge sales tax + free shipping at some places.

What is the secret to finding the good discounts? Do you monitor those "deal" websites or do you go through the process I went through every so often?

MB has a few parkas on sale in their specials section

WM almost never goes on sale.

You will not be charged sales tax for internet purchases unless the firm has a physical presence in your state of residence, regardless of the state of origin. I've never paid any sales tax to Backcountry.com, which resides in Utah, or to BackpackingLight which is in Montana, even when I've had it shipped directly to Washington state, which does have a hefty sales tax. If you're going to shop in the store, of course, you can avoid tax only by shopping in one of the few no sales tax states, like Oregon. Quite a few states would like to collect sales taxes on orders sent to their residents from out-of-state, but to the best of my knowledge none has yet succeeded in doing so. There has been a federal law forbidding such practice; I haven't heard if it is still in effect.

For some things (but usually not WM items), a number of dealers feature frequent % off coupons. Backcountry.com is one of these. At least those will help you with Montbell items. Also, watch the various outlets for closeout on discontinued Montbell models and/or colors. I ended up with a great 3 oz. windshirt, even though it is purple.

When I got my Western Mountaineering Ultralight, while there were no sales, a number of firms were listing different prices, as much as $30 difference. I got the least expensive one (definitely not cheap!) at backcountrygear.com (no relation to backcountry.com). That was 4 years ago, though. I'd do a lot of pricing online before ordering. Of course, factor in the free shipping that many places offer.

Edited by hikinggranny on 04/02/2010 18:30:46 MDT.

Have you ever used the Bing cashback system? At the time we bought out WM bags there was a pretty nice cashback % though backcountry.com. It knocked almost $100 off each bag (plus no tax and free shipping). Moosejaw and a few other outdoor sites work with Bing too.

The best deal I could find in online retail recently (I think) for WM stuff is using Bing cashback on Moosejaw in conjunction with Moosejaw's rewards. Basically, 10% Bing CB and 10% MJ rewards so on a $350 bag you would get $35 in MJ rewards offered merchandise and then $35 cash back from Bing in 60 days. Tough finding these deals...

I purchased one with free shipping and no tax with a 20% off coupon at o2gearshop.

promo code BLACKJACK

That's a good deal... those coupons almost always exclude WM but it looks like that one will work!