The Binocular Site
Looking for Deals on Discount Binoculars
The best way to choose binoculars without breaking the bank is by educating yourself on what elements are important to your needs. While you don't want to sacrifice quality nor comfort, you do want to try out binoculars and yet not spend a fortune.
First, visit our articles on choosing binoculars for astronomy, birdwatching, hunting, marine, and military use, to see which features are the most important for your needs. For example, if you want to hike, having a strong, rugged, waterproof shell is important, but you can forego high magnifications, large objective lenses, zooming, digital camera binoculars, and large, heavy binoculars. If you want to see distant stars, bigger lenses are important, but waterproofing may not be.
Second, consider binoculars made for your kids if you are just introducing your child to birdwatching, hiking, and general use. There are also kids' telescopes that are made for smaller faces and hands at a lower price then top-end models. Do not feel you must spend a fortune as your child or you first start using binoculars.
Even as you use them, you may find a lower priced model is good to start with so you can use them until you know exactly what parts you want to invest in later. For example, you might eventually realize you love astronomy and buy a more impressive set later. Many serious binocular users upgrade their sets later on as they come to find what features they like most and which they can do without.
Third, forego the newest features that, while fun, aren't absolutely necessary. This is the time to avoid zooming binoculars, night vision, rangefinders, built-in compasses, giant lenses, image stabilization, and waterproofing. Consider pen-sized monoculars that are cheap enough to be stocking stuffers as gifts or when you only need magnification of about 2x to 5x in the lecture hall. Also take a look at compact binoculars which are often less expensive since they're smaller.
Finally, consider alternative buying options, such as the following:
- Buy floor models. As long as you don't mind choosing binoculars that may not be brand new, you can ask your local hobby shop or check an electronics store for discount models that were used for demonstration. These are often still in great quality, but will have a discount up to 30% off since they've come out of the box. Leave your name and number at the hobby shop for when they need to move a demo model off the shelf, and you might get a great deal.
- See if your local birdwatching or astronomy club members also want binoculars, and whether you can get several at a wholesale price. If you've already joined a group and want to upgrade your current set of binoculars, you might find this is a good way to share a deal. Talk to the group leader or simply ask if others in your group are interested.
- Military surplus is sometimes available, particularly online. These binoculars may be in excellent condition, and although they may be in camo print, you're not likely to mind at all. This may be a neat way to check out the highest end features such as new zooming and range-finding technologies without making a huge investment.
- Buying online may be the easiest way to get inexpensive optical devices. Since retailers are online, they don't have to worry about store overhead. Therefore they can pass the lower price down to you, particularly if their web presence is the major face of their warehouse. Sales staff and other middlemen are avoided, and your binoculars are shipped right to your door.
Choose retailers that are very well-known and proven. You can often find great, online only deals from major chains when you buy from a website, so definitely consider it. Often retailers offer huge discounts on the same products when they're sold from the website rather than in store.
You might also go second-hand this way. If you're buying through eBay, check out the seller's reputation and comments people have made in their previous sales. Be sure to investigate condition, shipping costs, and find a seller you can trust.
Also some retailers operate through eBay, and again you can get the advantage of no overhead, no sales staff, and shipment straight to your door. It's a good and easy way to take advantage of floor models too, regardless of what store they were demonstrated in.
