Any good deals for skates and helmet?

[blessedmommy]

Need one for a first grader. Never bought any before so I have no clue where to begin. Looking for a good deal of course!

Thanks in advance!

[FrugalNotCheap]

For that age I have always been able to find great deals for skates at stores like Salvation Army or Value Village. They are like new because the kids grow out of them faster than they could ever wreck them and the last pair I got only cost me $5! The helmet you will probably have to watch for sales at Canadian Tire which they should have often at this time of year.

[blessedmommy]

Thanks for the tip!

[Sweet Saver]

Sport Chek has a Junior Skate Program that allows anyone who's bought new skates there to return within 1 year when they are buying new skates next season and they get money back. In turn, Sport Chek sells those 1-year old skates for only $29.99 and they are usually in pristine condition. I just got my 4 year old a pair that go for over $100 regular for $29.99 and they are in amazing condition. It is obviously hit and miss depending on what people return in term of sizes and which store you go to but I find that it is of great value. In terms of the helmet, you want to make sure that it is up to par and I prefer to spend some $$ on that for my little guy's head protection. We got a brand new helmet with cage for $59.99 at Sport Chek. If you decide to go this route, make sure to check that it is an expandable helmet so that it will last more than one season so you get your money's worth. With my SPC card when you spend $100 at Sport Chek you save $10 so I purchased a great Nike t-shirt from the clearance rack for $9.99 and bonus, it was b1g1 Free so also picked up an official Liverpool soccer jersey regualarly priced $99.99 for FREE as it was clearance marked at $9.99. And since I needed a couple of cents to make it to $100 I purchased the Livestrong bracelet at the counter for a buck. With kids on the ice it gets pretty expensive. Hope it helps!

[blessedmommy]

Thank you so much for the tips!

[ETT]

i would recommend Facebook or another social networking site. One of our friends posted on their facebook that they needed skates. I gave her my sons old ones. Kijiji is also an option.

[BlazingDriver]

Are you familiar with freecycle? As my son was growing through the various sizes of skates I was able to pick up a pair for him almost every year. And of course the pair he grew out of got passed on to the next kid. I've seen helmets posted on the site also.

www.freecycle.org