REI is well-known for its generous return policy. Co-op members have a year to return almost any product, even if it’s been used. That product then gets placed in the used gear section, where members can buy it at major discounts.
Whenever a customer returns a product, a sales associate creates a tag with the product info, the new discounted price, and the customer’s “stated reason” for the return. As you might imagine, the reasons (sometimes excuses) people give for returning used gear to REI run the gamut.
For instance, some of the stated reasons for return are sensible. The boots someone ordered online were too small, the piece of gear broke the first time they used it, the product was damaged during shipping, etc.
But among the ill-fitting jackets or slightly used tents are return excuses that are outrageous, bordering on absurd. That’s where the REI Used Gear section is worth its weight in gold. Perusing these tags and reading people’s stated reasons for return can be almost as much fun as shopping.
And who knows? You might just score as cool a deal on a piece of lightly used gear in the process.
Types of REI Return Tags
Open the Package
Sometimes you read a return tag and wonder if the person actually looked at the product before buying it. I scored a YETI Rambler pourover for a $15 discount because someone “didn’t realize they needed a filter.” If they had taken the time to read the label, they would have seen that it clearly states a coffee filter is required.
In another example, someone returned a tent vestibule, thinking they had actually bought an entire tent. Let’s hope they figured out the difference before they went camping.
Someone even returned ultralight running shoes for — get this — being too light.
I recently visited my local REI and saw a tag that told a whole story in just a few words. Someone had returned a pair of men’s La Sportiva Solutions, one of the most aggressive, performance-oriented shoes on the market, with the explanation of, “Was a beginner. Shoe was too advanced.”
I’ve been this person before: An excited newbie to a sport who looks up articles on the best shoes. They saw the Solution is highly rated, ordered a pair, and then suffered extreme pain. I have scored two pairs of used women’s Solutions at significant discounts thanks to this brand of beginner enthusiasm.
Just Vibes
Sometimes people return a product for no other reason than it just wasn’t their vibe. On the Camping/Gear subreddit, someone reported that they once got an inflatable camping pillow for cheap in the used section because its former owner said it was “haunted.”
Someone else admitted to being behind one of REI’s silly returns. They stated, “A friend of mine bought one of those small camping chairs that fit inside a backpack. I tried it out on a trip, and it was AWESOME! I was like, ‘I gotta get one of these.’
“So I bought one and took it on a backpacking trip, and … I don’t know. It was the same brand and everything, but it just wasn’t as comfortable and revolutionary as it was the first time. And it was over $100, so of course I returned it. I told the cashier nothing was wrong with it, but ‘the magic was gone.’ So if anyone out there bought a magic-less chair, you’re welcome!”
REI shared that one customer returned a pair of pants with the explainer, “Hates the color — ‘Makes me want to throw up.'” Another returned a bag because their “girlfriend thought the bag made her look like a Ninja Turtle.”
Sometimes it apparently takes a while to realize the vibes are off. One customer returned a pair of on-road running shoes after 6 months of use. The tag reported that they were “very worn,” but that the customer “just couldn’t get used to the squeaking.”
REI Return Tags: A Meme-able Marketing Strategy
Recently, it’s become a trend to post ridiculous return tags people have found on Instagram, and outdoor brands are getting in on the fun. Pact Outdoors, which manufactures trowels, wipes, and poop kits, decided to create fake REI return tags as a marketing strategy.
The tags include the realistic and almost believable: “Customer confirmed they are a ‘holder’ and under no circumstances will poop in the woods.” Other fake tags took it to the extreme: “Customer severed a major artery digging a cat hole with the shovel and had to be evacuated … He finished pooping first.”
Pact Outdoors also sells tabs made of mycelium that help break down poop faster. It also decided to promote its fungi tablets with the return label gag. Pact jokingly claimed that a customer thought these fungi-based tablets were psychedelic. The return stated, “Customer ate the Pact tabs and said he ‘did not see god.’ Just returned packaging.”
Kula Cloth, which makes reusable pee cloths for women, has a running joke on Instagram about a male thru-hiker who bought a Kula Cloth and then returned it, thinking it was a pot holder.
Time will tell if more brands will get in on this return label fun. But no matter what, the REI return section will continue to be a gold mine — for both deals and entertainment.
