One person’s worn out old gear is another camper’s treasure.
Finding quality outdoor gear at a price that won’t cause shock seems nearly impossible nowadays. Advancements in durability, weight reduction, and tech invariably push retail costs higher.
That’s one reason REI recently unveiled a pilot “Used Gear” platform online. Customers anywhere can shop for returned, inspected, and approved gear at a fraction of retail. From our early peek, products are listing at half-off or more versus buying new.
Plus, according to REI, “We’re trying this out as a way to help more people get outdoors while keeping useful stuff out of the landfills.”
The platform sells men’s and women’s apparel and footwear, and camping gear. And it works in addition to the discount REI Garage and the brand’s on-site Garage Sale events.
REI Used Gear
The just-launched program is still in “beta” testing, so REI wants user feedback for improvement before a full roll-out.
Here’s how it works: After customers return gear to REI—for fit, wear, function, etc.—the stores evaluate it. REI inspects returned products and “selects the best” for the Used Gear site.
Currently, the site lists coats, shirts, shoes, boots, camp stoves, tents, and a lot of other gear. Unlike the REI Garage, however, this gear is not new. And it’s not covered by REI’s “100 percent satisfaction” one-year warranty, like its retail and discount new items. Used Gear purchases come with a 30-day return policy, and everything is sold as-is.
Note, the Used Gear platform is not consignment, and REI isn’t buying back old products. The items for sale have been returned per REI’s returns policy.
We appreciate seeing more programs like this, including Patagonia’s Worn Wear initiative and local shops like Repair Lair, which fix and sell old gear that still has life to it.
While recycling materials is well-known and widely adopted, reusing products and reducing waste are just as important, if not more so. So we encourage you to shop used gear wherever you can.
