Epic Sports Review: Baseball Equipment Stores

Epic Sports was incorporated in 2015. The retailer's website offers sports gear for baseball, softball, cheer, football, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, volleyball, and more.

Outdated website and limited brands

The website does not look as sleek as the others we've reviewed on our list, though it's relatively easy to navigate by using the top tabs which list the sports offered. Most of the font is noticeably on the smaller side (under 10 point), which makes it not only difficult to read, but also makes it less visually appealing and look outdated. Brands offered include many of the major players in the sport: Rawlings, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Mizuno, and Under Armour, though noticeably absent are some of the fielding glove, bat, and cleats brands we have seen on most of the other retailers we reviewed.

Good selection of fielding gloves but limited cleats

To more accurately compare prices at Epic Sports with other retailers, we focused on three key items: baseball bats, fielding gloves, and cleats. Here's where they landed:

• For the bats, out of the 224 options, there are some plastic toy bats before you find the ones which are better for playing the sport, such as the Easton Pro Stix training set for $12.29, up to the Easton Fastpitch bat for $499.99. The results can be filtered by category, length, weight, purpose, brand, material, barrel, and customer rating.
• For the gloves, the 376 selections range in price from $14.49 for a Rawlings youth glove to the high end All-Star Pro-Elite Catching Mitt at $449.95. Results can be filtered by category, color, brand, price, and customer rating.
• For the cleats, only 7 options appear when trying to narrow the footwear category. You might find more with a search in the toolbar, but beware that other items are mixed in. (Unless you know what you're looking for exactly, this is not the place to browse). The cleats we saw for baseball, softball, and youth ranged in cost from $8.99 to $61.99, but there were very few options and no name brands.

Overall, while Epic Sports has a good selection of fielding gloves, we were disappointed by their cleats selection and the difficulty browsing we encountered.

Custom team uniforms offered

Epic Sports offers custom sublimated uniforms for your team if this is something you are interested in. However, numerous reviewers complained about receiving them in time.

Shipping can be expensive and take a long time

Some higher-priced items on Epic Sports are marked with "free shipping" on their listings. The company offers "economy shipping" via USPS but it is non-guaranteed delivery and could take up to six days longer than the estimated date to arrive. Once you have an item in your cart, you can estimate shipping based on your zip code. We put in a $20 baseball bat and found charges ranging from economy ($6. 24 and it would be estimated to arrive in two weeks) and standard ($12. 58 and arriving slightly sooner than economy) to one-day shipping for over $53. If you want to get something small, this is not the place to buy it with shipping that can cost more than half of the item's cost or more than the item itself.

Unclear rewards program

Epic Gold Points are earned on purchases to give rewards, which expire 18 months after they are earned. However it was difficult to learn anything about the rewards program beyond this information found on the FAQs page, including how to sign up.

Returns incur restock fee

Returns must be submitted for authorization online prior to shipping them back to Epic Sports or they will not be accepted. They say all products are guaranteed against factory defects and workmanship, and if they are defective, they may be replaced or repaired. Returns must be made within 30 days of purchase (with proof of purchase) and will incur a 20-50% restocking fee, less shipping charges, as long as they are in their original factory packaging. This policy is the worst we have seen as we reviewed the baseball equipment retailers. Only buy if you're certain you're not going to need to return it.

Customer feedback is mixed and concerning

On the BBB, Epic Sports is not accredited and has a "B+" rating due to the 106 complaints filed against the business in the past three years. Shoppers complain about lost items, partial refunds for incorrect items, and terrible customer service. Surprisingly, across online review platforms, Epic Sports has high ratings, with over 4.5 stars out of 5 on multiple sites. Many mentioned the shipping takes longer than expected "but the low prices made it worth the wait." Most people are happy with their orders, though there are complaints about high shipping charges which are not refunded on returns. Reading about some of the complaints was cause for concern: shoppers say the return process is terrible, they're unhappy with the product, items look cheap, and customer support is frustrating. One irate customer emphatically stated, "I wouldn't order from them [again], even if they paid me to take the merchandise."

Look elsewhere

While there are numerous positive reviews for Epic Sports, we looked closely at the complaints. When combined with the terrible return policy, lackluster website, and slow shipping times, we recommend looking elsewhere for your baseball equipment.

On the Epic Sports website