I visited Dover’s Chantilly, Virginia, tent sale on Sunday, expecting nothing but the scraps of weird sizes/colors left over. After all, the tent sale had been going on since Friday. Since I didn’t look up what time it opened, I ended up getting there early, and was awarded with a free pink show shirt. It was an unexpected bonus, although they did decline to offer one to Dave, perhaps knowing that it’s not really his color.
I’ve seen Dover getting a bad rap online. People don’t like their prices, or don’t like their shipping policies, or feel that the tent sale isn’t that much of a deal. I won’t speak for the rest of it, but I feel like I got a huge deal yesterday. I’m not sure what the other location’s sales look like, but the Chantilly, VA one is all sorts of magical.
As I was waiting in line to get in, the very friendly woman in front of me started explaining the basement bargains. I admit, I was actually dumb for a moment and said, “Dover has a basement?” despite have gone there hundreds of times in the last ten years (I lived practically next door), and never ever seen a basement. But, she was kind and explained that some of the products they were selling were either returns, or closeouts, and they were half off of the written on price. She had been there the previous day and was so impressed by the prices she came back for more. After seeing what they had in there, I was pretty impressed, too. They had a ton of used Oster body clippers for $75. They had new body clippers for about $90. There were Rambo blankets, and Thinline saddle pads, and riding boots. Much of it was extremely tempting, but since really the best way to save money is to not spend any, I resisted. Here are some things I did get.
I haven’t used it yet, but this is such a nice girth. The sheepskin is so soft, I want to keep it in the house and use it as a pillow. If I rated it now just on pillow-ness, it’s a 10/10. On Dover’s website, this retails for $174.99. I believe this is Dover’s house brand so I can’t compare with what other retailers might list it at. I paid $35.
I was pretty excited to find these in the jumble of boots. I’ve been having a case of brown boot envy, and then these fall into my life. Although I know already that once again, my trainer is going to tell me my boots are too short. It’s a price I’m willing to pay since I’m not ready to go custom yet. They retail on Dover’s website for $289, and it seems this is the price everywhere else too. I paid $75.
Effax Leather Balm
I think I scared people nearby by letting out a shriek when I spotted a shelf full of this. I love this stuff so much, and I was running out of it. The Dover list price is $16.99 for this little tub of it. There’s a +/- of $1 or so on its listings other places. I paid $13.99 for it. Not as dramatic as the other products, but still a nice savings.
Pony needs a new bit. Poor little guy has been suffering with one that’s too big, and since I want my pony happy, I decided to find one at the tent sale for him. Unfortunately, I had no idea what size to buy him, and of course I forgot to bring his old bit with me. Luckily though, it wasn’t too big of a risk because this bit that retails for $39.99 was priced at $5.
Metal Jump Cups (modeled with Poffins)
Since I have a horse that likes to destroy things, I was in need of some new jump cups. I bought two pairs of these lovely blue metal ones. They retail for $9.99, I got them for $7.99 each. It looks like I could have gotten them cheaper elsewhere. That’s why Poffins looks so sad/disappointed.
Not everything is going to be a winner. But, I’m pretty excited that I got significant savings on a few items. All it took was a willingness to plunge into a big messy box of leather to find the treasures. I probably could have found more ways to spend money, but after being there for two hours, I was ready to move on with my life.
Overall, I’m very happy with Dover Chantilly, and the manager there is the best!