Again within the early 2000s, Mike Soltys was your customary broke undergraduate pupil at Clemson College. He marked his calendar not by time period paper due dates, however by REI Storage Gross sales, in-store used-gear extravaganzas that, like different retailers’ Black Friday occasions, drew crowds effectively earlier than the doorways opened. Eager to be close to the entrance of the road, Soltys and some outdoors-loving, penny-pinching friends would pile into his navy blue Subaru (with its tiger-print seat covers and pitiful turning radius) on the day earlier than the sale, drive almost two hours south on I-85 and arrange a Sierra Designs Lightning 2 FL Tent within the car parking zone of the Atlanta REI retailer. They weren’t alone. “It was like a celebration,” Soltys remembers. “There could be individuals enjoying Frisbee and slacklining. Everybody was there to get an early begin on the offers the subsequent morning.”
Soltys nonetheless camps (usually sharing my tent—we’re married), however not in parking heaps. The REI Storage Sale has developed into Re/Provide, an avenue completely for REI members to purchase and commerce in calmly used gear and attire, rendering Soltys’ endearingly zealous overnights pointless. “Re/Provide is an evolution of that REI Storage Sale expertise,” says Laura Kelley, senior supervisor of recommerce at REI. “Now members should buy and commerce in used gear year-round, in shops and on-line.”
Whereas shopping for used gear from REI has develop into extra handy, it’s been round nearly so long as the co-op. Over 60 years in the past, a burst pipe within the unique Seattle retailer destroyed stock and threatened to close the co-op’s doorways. REI founders Lloyd and Mary Anderson have been fortunately as decided of their enterprise endeavors as with their mountaineering pursuits: They salvaged what gear they may and offered it at decreased costs. The trouble assured the co-op’s survival and gave thrifty recreationists an opportunity to purchase high-quality (if barely soggy) gear and attire at a reduction.
Each the “Water Injury Sale,” because it got here to be identified, and Re/Provide “get on the coronary heart of what it means to be a co-op,” Kelley says. “We’re placing function over income, constructing on ideas of sharing amongst members and enabling extra accessible and sustainable methods to get exterior.”
No query, Re/Provide lightens the affect on our wallets. Used gear like tents, backpacks and sleep programs, together with pre-loved attire, usually prices roughly 30% to 60% lower than new. Take the Osprey Manta 24 Hydration Pack. The newest model of this 24-liter hauler prices $200. A latest Re/Provide search discovered that should you’re keen to just accept some patches of faint discoloration on an older mannequin, you will get it for $156. Go for the “effectively worn” pack, which comes with no reservoir, for about $110. (Search outcomes will differ primarily based on present stock.)
“There’s a lower cost barrier of entry to out of doors pursuits by the used gear avenue,” says Allie Vaughan, Re/Provide program supervisor. “Once we are in a position to provide the identical high quality gear at decrease costs, we will welcome new, youthful, extra numerous of us into out of doors actions.”
The affect can also be lighter on the surroundings. Because the earth takes successful each time we create and distribute new merchandise, REI estimates we will cut back our carbon affect by round 50% just by stretching an merchandise to its useful lifespan. “There’s an enormous carbon financial savings to purchasing issues that exist already on the earth quite than shopping for new issues,” Vaughan says. “We need to hold good gear in use for so long as it can final.”
Re/Provide isn’t solely nice for procuring used gear, although. Members additionally earn rewards for giving their gear a second life. Right here’s the way it works: REI Members obtain an REI reward card for 10% to 40% of the merchandise’s unique worth after they commerce of their calmly liked objects. Plus, there’s a pleasure in understanding the boots you wore all through the South African savanna or the tent that saved you heat on below-freezing nights within the Canadian Rockies will reside on in another person’s adventures. “Members are happy to assist one other member get exterior,” Kelley says. “They’re protecting good gear in use which will in any other case simply be sitting of their closet or storage.”
In 2022 alone, roughly 31,000 members gave greater than 95,000 objects a second life by Re/Provide. And to listen to Kelley describe it, Re/Provide is simply getting warmed up. “We’re within the early levels of our trade-in program,” she says, “Think about if each considered one of our members traded in a single merchandise: We’d hold tens of millions of items of fine gear in use and assist tens of millions of different members get exterior.”
No car parking zone tenting vital.
Able to commerce in your gear with Re/Provide? Let’s overview the three simple steps.
Keep in mind, Re/Provide is an REI Member profit. Enroll immediately for a lifetime membership that additionally consists of advantages like early entry to new gear and free customary delivery on orders from REI.com.
How you can Commerce In Your Gear
Have gently used gear that not matches into your journey equipment? Commerce it in! You’ll get a digital REI reward card and another person will get the advantage of nice new-to-them gear—all whereas decreasing the gear’s carbon footprint. It’s a win-win-win scenario.
Step 1. Collect your gear
Begin out by gathering and assessing the items you propose to commerce in. “We suggest that folks commerce in clothes and kit that they might really feel good giving to a pal,” Vaughan says, including that one of the best objects for trade-in embody out of doors attire, footwear, packs, tents and sleeping baggage.
Choose objects with out holes, rips or tears, and verify that every one the vital items are current and accounted for (for instance, no lacking tent poles). Do your finest to take away any odors and pet hair. Clear all of the objects and ensure all of the zippers nonetheless work. (Need assistance? We’ve articles about How you can Clear a Tent, How you can Wash a Sleeping Bag, How you can Clear Mountain climbing Boots and How you can Clear a Backpack, for starters.) For those who’re buying and selling in attire, be sure the tag is readable with measurement and care data. Some objects, like security gear, helmets and electronics, aren’t eligible.
Step 2. Mail in or herald
Members can convey objects to a retailer to commerce in or mail them again.
In-store: Carry the merchandise into your native REI retailer, the place an worker will lookup the piece of drugs to substantiate it’s trade-in eligible. Whether it is, they’ll let you already know the trade-in worth on the spot. For those who settle for the quoted worth, you’ll be issued an digital REI reward card. In Vaughan’s opinion, the in-store trade-in route is the simplest strategy to go. “You’re speaking to somebody who tells you, ‘Sure, that is eligible. That is precisely how a lot you’ll get,’” she says. “And so they’ll subject you that reward card instantly.”
Mail-in: Head to the Used Gear Commerce-In webpage to substantiate that your merchandise is eligible and to see the potential trade-in credit score. Be certain your merchandise matches the trade-in catalog precisely, together with the colour. For those who determine to make a commerce, REI will e-mail or mail (your alternative) you a delivery label. Ship within the merchandise, and 7 to 10 enterprise days from its arrival on the warehouse, you’ll obtain an e-mail together with your REI reward card (minus delivery and dealing with). Loads of individuals choose the comfort of the mail-in course of, Vaughan says, noting that members merely field up the merchandise as if it have been a return, slap on the delivery label and drop it off with their different packages.
Step 3. Get rewarded
When you’ve acquired your digital reward card, it’s time for the enjoyable half: spending it! Head to your native REI or peruse REI.com. You may also store the REI Outlet and even proceed the Re/Provide cycle by shopping for your individual gently liked gear and attire together with your credit score.
Re/Provide Program Fundamentals
Wish to know much more concerning the Re/Provide course of? Listed here are the fundamentals.
Re/Provide is a profit obtainable completely to REI Members. Whereas anybody can store for brand new gear and attire at REI, there are particular advantages to turning into a co-op member. Receiving roughly 10% again yearly on eligible purchases is considered one of them. Entry to Re/Provide is one other. “Re/Provide is a giant profit we provide to the out of doors neighborhood,” Vaughan says. “It’s a manner we reward our members for being part of the co-op.”
Re/Provide will settle for objects bought someplace different than REI. “You possibly can after all commerce in an eligible merchandise that you just bought at REI,” Vaughan says. “You possibly can additionally commerce in an merchandise that you just didn’t buy at REI, however that REI has carried.” In different phrases, should you purchased a Patagonia R1 Air Zip-Neck Pullover out of your native Patagonia retailer, the Re/Provide workforce will settle for it so long as the model and coloration are eligible. The net trade-in catalog is “the supply of fact for eligibility,” Vaughan provides.
Bulk trade-ins imply extra bang on your buck. You’re welcome to commerce in as much as 5 completely different objects directly, all for a flat charge delivery and dealing with payment. For now, REI is proscribed to purchasing again and promoting used gear throughout the U.S.
Objects have to be in good working situation. You need gear that works, proper? So do your fellow members. Confirm that any gear you commerce in has useful zippers and all of its buttons, that it isn’t ripped or torn, and that it’s free from odors, pet hair and stains. Footwear should have their unique insoles; tents want all their poles and stakes; and that inflatable sleeping pad should maintain air. Dimension tags have to be readable, and sleep programs, blankets and upholstered chairs and cots should have their care tags connected. Gear and attire greater than six years previous and Co-op Cycles children’ bikes greater than three years previous aren’t eligible. For those who mail in an merchandise that doesn’t match the trade-in catalog or that isn’t in good, working situation, REI won’t be capable to settle for or return it.
REI can’t settle for objects which have been altered. Gear that’s been taken in, loosened up or in any other case altered doubtless matches you want a glove, but it surely’s much less more likely to match considered one of your fellow members. Embroidered, bedazzled or in any other case personalized objects are additionally excluded. Take these items to your native thrift retailer as a substitute.
Some objects aren’t accepted for security causes. With Re/Provide, the aim is to get extra individuals exterior—and REI desires to make sure they accomplish that safely. That’s why REI excludes sure objects from Re/Provide. “Security objects ought to by no means be bought secondhand,” Kelley says. “We would like our members to really feel assured with their used gear purchases. We don’t promote any technical gear that we can’t confirm to be absolutely useful—notably if that gear is meant to guard your life.” Thus, security gear like avalanche airbag packs, helmets and climbing gear, together with private use objects like sunscreen and bug repellent will not be Re/Provide eligible. Neither are electronics and objects like bikes and skis with bindings that require a legal responsibility launch. In-store Re/Provide sections could have bikes or skis with bindings; you’ll, nevertheless, have to signal a legal responsibility launch for buy. Some attire objects are additionally ineligible, like swimwear, undergarments and base layers.
Have much more questions? Try the FAQ web page or e-mail the Re/Provide workforce at data@reiused.com.
