1)      Huge Range – the internet crosses that pesky geographic boundary which means you have literally thousands of tents and multiple brands to choose from without leaving the house. There are a myriad of outdoor retailers on the internet offering cheap to darn right ridiculous pricing. Always pay with your credit card if possible as you have more protection if anything goes wrong.

2)      Distance Selling Regulations – if you don’t like the look or feel  of the tent when it turns up you can send it back and online sellers always have to give you your money back (because of the Distance Selling Regulations) which is not the same in physical shops who may only offer an exchange. You will have to pay the return postage though – so have a good look at it online! Remember that returns must be in a re-saleable condition so don’t go and put it up in a muddy garden.

3)      Generally Much Cheaper – 9 times out of 10 tents are cheaper online because their margins are lower and they probably have mountains of the things stacked up and ready to ship out. Your local retailer may price match but you’ve got to spend money on petrol getting there and haggling. You can use a multitude of comparison sites to compare prices but I would recommend using Google Shopping or just putting the model of your tent into a search engine and looking through the first 10 sites.

4)      Save Time and Petrol  – Half the fun of buying a tent can be playing around in them first but if you’re a busy person you can browse online  in the evening on your lunch break or even on the toilet if you have an internet enabled phone. You can then get it delivered without any hassle. Many online shops offer free delivery over a certain amount so it won’t cost you either!

5)      No Hard Sell – in the current climate physical shop owners are desperate to sell and so this may mean you are hassled as you wing your way around your local outdoor shop. Online shopping can be done in the privacy of your own home in your own time. No queues to stand in or sales staff popping up around every corner.

6)      Get Reviews and Opinions – many sites and blogs offer independent reviews of the tents you are looking to purchase which is a great way of getting unbiased advice which may not be available in a physical shop. Good research will ensure you are buying the right tent for you and mean no return postage costs!

7)      No Transport Problems – large family tents can be large and heavy to say the least and you may not always have appropriate transport to hand. So get an online shop to deliver to your door and get the delivery driver  to do all the heavy lifting!

8)      You Can Shop in the Wilderness – if you are one of the lucky few who gets to live in the great outdoors there may not be many, if any, tent shops around.  Online shopping can be done pretty much anywhere a phone signal can be found!

9)      Not as Many Temptations – Wandering around a large outdoor shop at a weekend only leads to one thing – overspending! Put those money blinkers on and shop online just make sure you don’t start reading the customers also bought…

10) Shop 24 hours a day – no more half day closing or Sunday opening times! Online shops are open 24 hours a day so if you want a tent at 2am you shall have one!