FansEdge

By Rich Edmiston

From the moment you log on to Fansedge.com, the first thing you come across is the $4.99 shipping special on any size order. This automatically keeps you interested and on the site because shipping charges can get very expensive depending on the size of your order. You will also notice the Hacker Safe bar to the left of the web site, further strengthening the trust the consumer has in the company. FansEdge also shows you testimonials from actual customers and gives you a link for up to 80 percent off that brings you to what they call The Clearance Locker, which has a list of all the special currently available from the company. For customers like me that enjoy supplying feedback to the people you buy from, this site offers a customer feedback link so you can let them know what you liked, and also what you feel might need to be added to the site.

Many links are set up on this site to further help you with your online shopping experience. One of these would be the Track Your Shipment link. FansEdge also has what they call “Quickship,” which means that all orders received Monday thru Friday before 5 pm EST are guaranteed to ship the same day as the order was placed. This helps all of us “last minute” people out there who need what they ordered to go out as soon as possible. This service is not offered on every item they sell, but according to the site, the items that are available for quick ship are all labeled so you know how fast you can get what you want. This site also uses drop down screens associated with all of the individual sports on the home page. This is very useful for the consumer as it makes it that much easier to find exactly what team’s merchandise you need.

FansEdge accepts all major credit cards, including Discover and the PayPal system. The site also shows the Verisign Secured button along with a button saying the company is part of the Internet Retailers Association as one of their top 400 retailers. As with most sites, they offer a search bar to speed up your online transactions, making it quicker and easier to locate what you need. I could not locate a listing of the individual sports stars associated with the site. This could be discouraging to the consumers that are looking for individual stars licensed apparel or equipment. One thing not often seen on these types of sites is the page given to minor league sports. Many people who live in the areas where these teams are located are constantly looking for the apparel, and this site is the outlet they’ve been looking for.

Overall, the site loaded up with no problems, and went from page to page without a hitch. I thought the appearance could’ve been better. More graphics and specials on the home page would also help to bolster the appeal of the site.  The option offered to instantly connect with a customer service representative through their Customer Care Center is a very helpful option. On the page you will find a toll free number along with some FAQs and an email address to further help you with any questions or concerns you may have. The addition of a size chart for clothes is also a feature that is very appealing to the consumer who is buying items for someone other then themselves.