In theory, after the Christmas shopping season is over, the last thing you would want to do is put out more money.
But if you didn’t spend every last dollar on gifts for your loved ones – or on Concords – the week after Christmas is actually a fantastic opportunity to find bargains as stores make room for new gear. This is especially true if you received gift cards or cash for the holidays and need a fresh pair for New Year’s, or just in general. After all, who knows better what you like than you do?
In that spirit, Dime has your bases covered with a Post-Holiday Shopping Guide. Basically, we scouted out the best after-Christmas bargains so you don’t have to, and rest assured, if you missed out on the Concords, all is not lost.
Nike.com
Your best option by far for post-Christmas shopping is Nike. The Swoosh is offering 25% off all clearance items, which in many cases have already been heavily discounted, when you enter the coupon code WAFFLEIRON at checkout.
The jewel of the sale is the Zoom Kobe VI, which edged out the LeBron 8 as my favorite sneaker of 2011, not to mention my favorite advertising campaign. Originally priced at $130, Nike has nine colorways available for $74 each [EDIT: now being sold at $99.97], a fantastic deal considering you can get 4 or 5 pairs of Kobe VI for the market rate of one pair of Concords. As a Batman aficionado, I would endorse the Dark Grey “Dark Knights,” which aren’t as striking as the Dark Knight V but are still pretty great.
If you’re not a Kobe guy, there are plenty of other stellar options in the basketball sneaker section. The Cool Grey Jordan Melo M8 runs about $81, down from $135. There are 10 colors of the LeBron Air Max Soldier V, a solid outdoor sneaker, for $84. Potentially the best deal on the site, especially if you’re a guard, is the Zoom Hyperfuse Low, which is a tough pass at $52.50 [EDIT: Now $69].
(Note: I bought this lightweight Fanatic Hoodie to run in, but it looks perfect for outdoor Winter hoops as well. While we’re at it, if you’re running to get in shape for summer ball, you can do far worse than the $58 Zoom Vomero 6, a personal favorite.)
The basketball apparel section also has some steals, particularly on NCAA swingman jerseys, which all clock in at a reasonable $45. Some that jumped out at me are Kentucky (Terrence Jones), Florida (Kenny Boynton) and Pitt (Ashton Gibbs). You can also pick up an Ohio State LeBron James jersey. (Well, not really, but they did once present him with an honorary No. 23.)
There’s honestly too much good stuff to list all of it, but whatever you’re into, it’s safe to say Nike.com has something for you. And if you screwed up on your girl’s gift? Do some damage control and have her pick out some stuff from the women’s section.
Foot Locker/FootAction/Champs Sports/Eastbay
It doesn’t really matter which site you go to since they all share an online inventory, best I can tell. Granted, if Nike.com also has a particular item, chances are it’s a better deal there due to the extra 25% discount. But the massive inventory of FL/FA/CS/EB comes in handy, especially if you want a brand besides Nike, and there’s free shipping for anything over $75.
Here are a couple of things that caught my eye in the clearance section:
Jordan CMFT Viz Air 13 – If you couldn’t get a pair of Concords and want your patent leather fix, these look remarkably like them for $59.99, though they’re based on the XIII. (I’m fully aware that nothing is truly like the Concords, but these are pretty cool regardless.)
Adidas NBA Revolution 30 Swingman Jersey – The only jersey on sale is seemingly one that would be in relatively high demand, Amar’e Stoudemire, marked down from $79.99 to $67.99. (Sidebar: If you want to commemorate the Chris Paul era in New Orleans, that jersey is $39.99.) They also knocked $20 off a pretty slick track jacket and have it in every team.
Nike Air Max LeBron 8 V.2 Low – They have limited sizes in the Wolf Grey, a full size run in the all black. $99 isn’t a terrible price for LeBrons, and given how comfortable the V.2 are, they aren’t a bad stash for the summer.
Lids
If headgear is your thing, Lids is running a $5 hat sale, and virtually every cap on the entire site is buy one, get one half-off. As a result, you can get two of these NBA knit caps – originally $21.99 each – for a combined total of $7.50. (Shipping is a flat rate of $4.99 – which only seems like a lot compared to the price of the hats.) At last check, all they had was Blazers, but they had more as recently as this morning.
It’s worth looking around their NBA clearance site in general; there are some pretty cool discounted caps. And randomly, they have a John Wall swingman jersey for $40.
NBA.com
Similar to Nike, NBA.com offers an additional 15% off clearance items, but it’s pretty slim pickings: mostly jerseys of players who’ve switched teams and a lot of Cavs gear. (No offense to Cavs fans, it’s just how it is. I do like this jacket.) That said, NBA.com has a very extensive inventory, so if there’s a specific jersey or something you want, they probably have it. I’d suggest you can never go wrong with the Oak Man.
Nike outlets
If there’s a Nike outlet by you, it can’t hurt to check it out to see if they’re offering up any post-holiday bargains. This list should help you find the closest outlet.
Certain sites also track the best deals at Nike outlets. One I’ve been following recently belongs to a company named Corkcloth, who posts a new deal in their blog every couple of days and gives you the phone number to order it. The best recent deal is probably the Air Max Penny in classic black/royal for $89.99.
Happy New Year, and happy hunting.
What was your best bargain discovery ever around the holidays?
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