The Best Baseball Equipment Stores

Sunday, April 2nd

2023 Baseball Equipment Store Reviews

Baseball Monkey

• Return Policy: Return within 90 days for a refund or 1 year for exchanges

Baseball Monkey is a division of MonkeySports Inc. that also sells hockey, softball, and lacrosse equipment. They have been around since 1999 selling sports gear. They post a frequently-updated blog that keeps baseball fans in the loop of what is going on in the sports world. Not only do they cover major events in baseball, but they also give updates about the newest and hottest baseball gear on the market.

Huge variety

Nearly every size, style, and type of baseball equipment can be found at Baseball Monkey. Customers can search by senior league, youth and juniors, and t-ball equipment. Baseball Monkey runs an easy-to-navigate website that makes it simple to find whatever you're looking for. Detailed gear guides can be browsed that help customers locate the right equipment for their needs.

Best price guarantee

We liked that many of the baseball products are on sale, making them a competitive option. They also have a best price guarantee, so you can make sure you get the best deals on items that might also be sold elsewhere. If customers spend $75 or more, shipping will be free. Otherwise the cost for shipping is $7.99 anywhere in the US.

1 year return policy

Product returns can be made for new and unused items within one year of purchase. If products are returned within 90 days, they are eligible for refunds or exchanges. This is one of the most generous return policies we have seen among baseball retailers. If items are returned after 90 days, but within one year, exchanges for another product are allowed. If customers buy multiple sizes of the same product and return all or some of them, a 10% restocking fee will apply.

Highest rating

Overall, we like that Baseball Monkey has products for both inexperienced and experienced players. We recommend taking advantage of the clearance selection as well to get the most bang for your buck. Baseball Monkey is a great option for quality baseball equipment at good prices. They earn our highest rating.

Paragon Sports

• Return Policy: Return within 30 days of purchase with receipt

Paragon Sports was founded in 1908. They carry a variety of sporting and outdoor goods. You can expect to pay steeper prices at Paragon Sports, but in return you will receive high-end products. Customers looking to buy baseball equipment for a child just starting out will have a harder time finding inexpensive, beginner gear here. On the plus side, online shopping at Paragon Sports is easy through their clean, professional website.

Limited selection

Paragon Sports specializes in supplying apparel for sports and outdoor hobbies. Although they carry the gear for playing baseball, they don't have as wide of a selection as some competing sporting goods stores. For example, there are thirteen options for cleats, four baseballs, and two baseball mitts. For customers looking to browse a thorough selection of colors, sizes, and styles of baseball equipment, they won't find many choices here.

Free shipping

If you spend $49 or more, shipping is free at Paragon Sports. Most products cost close to the $49 mark or more, so it's safe to say most customers will be able to take advantage of free shipping. For customers who subscribe to Paragon's email list, they will receive 15% off their first purchase. Since you'll mostly find "fancier" baseball equipment on their website, Paragon Sports might be limiting to customers looking for your everyday, basic mitt or bat to play around with. Any kind of sales or discounts available will be something to take advantage of to offset the more expensive prices at Paragon.

30 day returns

Customers have 30 days to return purchases they are unsatisfied with. As long as an original receipt is attached, Paragon Sports will give full refunds.

For the average customer looking for inexpensive baseball equipment to play on a rec league with or try out in their yard, Paragon might be a little over the top. However, we feel confident in recommending Paragon Sports for high-quality, name brand baseball equipment that will not only last a long time, but also perform well.

Baseball Express

• Return Policy: Return within 30 days of purchase

Baseball Express is owned and operated by Team Express, a company that sells equipment for softball, football, basketball, and baseball. They were founded in 1990 and pride themselves in providing "fanatical" customer service and ease of shopping. They allow customers to reach out to them if they are looking for a specific item and if they don't carry it in-store or online, they will try to find it!

Hundreds of baseball accessories

In addition to custom uniforms, helmets, gloves, bats, and other baseball playing necessities, Baseball Express carries hundreds of accessories. Adidas is the main brand you'll find on apparel and other gear here, but they also carry brands like Easton, Louisville Slugger, Mizuno, and others. The inventory selection at Baseball Express is impressive and caters to players of all ages.

Low price guarantee

Like some of their competitors, Baseball Express has a low price guarantee for customers to take advantage of. If there is a nationally advertised baseball product out there that is also carried by Baseball Express, shoppers can either call, email, or fax the advertisement to customer service for price matching. Full price products are reasonably affordable on their own, and many items are even on sale. Visiting the "deals" page at Baseball Express will let customers quickly browse all the discounted products by category.

Free shipping on orders over $75

If customers purchase $75 of equipment or more through Baseball Express, they will qualify for free shipping. Baseball Express also states that customers can return items for free within 30 days of purchase. Since they don't offer free return labels, we can assume "free" means that they don't make customers pay a restocking fee for products they send back.

Worth consideration

Baseball Express has quite a number of positive customer experiences, but the frustrations experienced by some have caused Better Business Bureau to give them an average B rating. Although we prefer not to shop anywhere that gives us red flags about reliability, shipping speeds, or customer service hassles (as reported by some customers), Baseball Express does have a good inventory of baseball equipment. Although they are not our first choice, it might be worth looking into what they have.

Epic Sports

• Return Policy: Authorized refunds can be given within 30 days of purchase with receipt

Epic Sports has thousands of products for sale outside of just baseball equipment. They carry inventory for basketball, cheer, football, lacrosse, playground, soccer, swimming, volleyball, and fan gear. They have been in business over 15 years, so they have had time to build a large inventory of sporting equipment. At first glance, Epic Sports is the least visually appealing online retailer for baseball goods, but their competitive pricing and product selection made us take a second look.

Wide variety of baseball equipment

When looking for a specific product, Epic Sports has broken their website down into categories like batting gloves, compression wear, coaching equipment, jerseys, protective gear, referees, and more. From there customers can browse products and narrow them down even further by color, category, characteristics, size, brand, and price. Even though the website jumps around a bit and the text is visually overwhelming, it is obvious that Epic Sports basically has all the baseball equipment someone might be looking for.

30 day return policy

The FAQ page of the Epic Sports website answers questions about returns, managing orders, payment options, and more. Since it takes a while to filter through this information, we will mention that customers can return products within 30 days of purchase. You'll need a receipt to accompany the return and you'll have to get authorization before sending anything back. An online form can be used for return authorization, or customers can contact customer service by phone.

Pros and Cons

Since we have mixed feelings about Epic Sport, for simplicity we will break our observations down into some more pros and cons:

• Pro: On their Better Business Bureau page, Epic Sports has over 1,100 customer reviews that average out to 4.5/5 stars.
• Pro: Thousands of customers have left feedback about their shopping experience with Epic Sports on other platforms and these customers seem to be happy overall.
• Pro: Epic Sports has a huge inventory of all colors, sizes, and styles of baseball equipment.
• Con: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives them a B- rating, which is lower than ideal.
• Con: Epic Sports has an outdated-looking website that could use a lot of work. It is text-heavy and takes a longer time to find what you're looking for.
• Con: No free shipping.

Typically, the cons of the Epic Sports shopping experience we mentioned would cause us to give them a low rating. However, it is intriguing and important that so many customers are satisfied with their purchases here. Because of this, we feel confident that Epic Sports could take care of shoppers' needs for baseball equipment. They aren't our first choice, but we wouldn't rule them out altogether.

Baseball Savings

• Return Policy: Return for a refund within 30 days of purchase

Baseball Savings has been operated by the Golf Warehouse, Inc. since 2005. The Golf Warehouse receives a less-than-appealing C- rating from the Better Business Bureau. Baseball Savings aims to provide featured brands like Rawlings, Mizuno, Wilson, Nike, Easton, and others to customers at affordable prices. They constantly monitor and adjust pricing to keep prices lower than their competitors. If customers find products at Baseball Savings that are more expensive than equal products at another store, Baseball Savings will work to match the price.

Easy shopping

Baseball Savings makes shopping online easy. All categories of products are also broken down into sub-categories to quickly help customers find what they are looking for. Categories of items include:

• Apparel
• Bats
• Shoes
• Gloves
• Catchers
• Bags
• Protection
• Balls
• Accessories
• Softball

Free shipping over $99

All purchases over $99 qualify for free shipping. Non-qualifying purchases are charged between $6.99 and $22.99 for shipping depending on the chosen delivery window. For questions regarding order status or other shopping inquiries, the best way to contact customer service is by phone. A number is provided on Baseball Saving's website.

Customer complaints

Although Baseball Savings has a 30-day return or exchange policy for all new and unused items, it is hard to overlook the complaints they receive from customers claiming this is not necessarily the case. Some customers have tried to return uniforms and other apparel that did not fit once it was received. They said customer service claimed these were now considered "used" and would not accept a return. Others who have returned items have been charged restocking fees they weren't aware of and most people have had bad experiences with customer service. On top of this, customers report slow shipping times and multiple charges to their account after only making one purchase.

Needless to say, regardless of how professional their website is or all the boastful marketing claims, customer experience speaks louder than it all. Baseball Savings is unrated by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is typically due to the BBB not having enough information on the company or pending investigations into the policies and workings of the company. We like what we see as far as prices and inventory, so for some it might be worth purchasing from here if you know exactly what you need and can ensure that the sizing is right.

Dick's Sporting Goods

• Return Policy: Within 60 days of purchase with receipt

Ever since 1948, DICK'S Sporting Goods has been a household name providing just about every type of sporting gear imaginable for their customers. When browsing their inventory, customers can either have items shipped to them or pick up their order at one of their many locations around the U.S. Their huge inventory and ease of shopping makes us want to recommend DICK'S as a good place to purchase baseball equipment, but they have a base of many unhappy customers and receive the lowest possible rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Unfiltered customer reviews

As far as individual products go, DICK'S does allow their customers to leave unfiltered reviews on their purchases. We like this because shoppers can get a good idea of the quality and performance of any given item before deciding to buy it. Hopefully this also keeps DICK'S accountable for the quality of the products they sell. If you're undecided about whether or not to shop at DICK'S based on their poor reputation, maybe the specific product reviews will help you decide if purchasing baseball equipment from them is a good idea or not.

Price matching

If customers shop around and find a product sold at DICK'S for a lower price at another baseball equipment retailer, they can contact customer service to have the product price matched. This is a good thing to know since DICK'S sells products on the more expensive side, depending on the item. If perhaps you find yourself needing to return an item for any reason, you have 60 days to do so. With receipt of purchase, customers can either get their money back or opt for an exchange. Online refunds usually take 2-3 weeks to be issued.

Disappointing customer experiences

Customers that report bad experiences after shopping at DICK'S usually have had issues with customer service. Other specific problems have been with trying to cancel orders, long refund processes, and difficulty using rewards points. We wish DICK'S had a better reputation considering their thorough inventory and best price guarantee. When looking for baseball equipment, we recommend first browsing one of our higher-rated online retailers.

Academy Sports

• Return Policy: Refunds given with proof of purchase with no time limit

Academy Sports began in 1938 in San Antonio, Texas. Initially Academy Sports only sold tires, but eventually branched out to sporting goods and outdoor gear in 1980. There are now over 250 brick-and-mortar stores throughout the US where customers can shop online and pick up in store if they have a location near them. If customers choose to have their purchases shipped to them, they qualify for free shipping if they spend $25 or more.

Competitive pricing

Overall, pricing for products at Academy Sports is fair and competitive. In the event that customers need to exchange or return an item, products can be sent back as long as they are accompanied with a receipt. All refunds are given via the original form of payment. Academy Sports does not clarify the amount of time customers have to return their items because they do not have time restrictions. They will take items back as long as they are still resellable and otherwise comply with the store's return policy.

Popular brands

Popular brands like Nike, Under Armour, Rawlings, Franklin, and Lousville Slugger can be found at Academy Sports. An easy-to-navigate website makes it simple to narrow down the products you may be looking for. It is easy to identify how many of each product is listed under a certain brand, size, color, and price. From essential gear to accessories, Academy Sports has a good range of products.

Red flag

For all the good things Academy Sports has going for them, a big red flag is the warning given to potential customers from the Better Business Bureau. Academy Sports is not accredited, but due to many disputes through their company, the Better Business Bureau has posted the following warning:

BBB warning

"It has been alleged by consumers that the sales and practices of Academy Sports & Outdoors are misleading and deceptive. Several of the complainants state the products received are used items. Also complainants allege Academy Sports & Outdoors does not adhere to the 90 day return policy and fails to refund consumers. Additionally customers allege they show concern when complaining about less-than-satisfactory experiences with employees, and negative customer services issues."

Needless to say, this is concerning. If you're absolutely desperate, we see that Academy Sports does seem to carry reasonably priced baseball equipment. However, it is our recommendation that you skip over this store altogether and not go through the hassle and frustration of trying to work with customer service or risk receiving a less than satisfactory product.