Where the big sales are!

[snowleopard_x]

Just thought I would spread the word on where I have found some of the best prices for gear. Please feel free to add to this thread anyone.

www.rei-outlet.com (REI's best deals).

www.mgear.com (Mountain Gear. Call or e-mail and ask for a catalog. Then wait for sales)

www.killerdeals.com (Northern Mountain Supply. Similar to Mgear, no catalog)

www.sierratradingpost.com (Mostly clothing. Great deals on seconds, closeouts).

www.campmor.com

www.cham3s.com/defaultGB.htm (French company, but they speak English and will ship anywhere. Great prices on Euro stuff).

www.mec.ca (Canadian. Not a great site, but e-mail and ask for a catalog. Great prices. But some won't ship to the US).

[Guest]

Some other great sources for gear are: www.gear.com www.gearexpress.com

[Alex]

The best place to get gear is not in the US.

People North of the border have been getting the real deal (REI is not the real deal) for over 20 years: Mountain Equipment Coop.

Your American dollar goes a long way in Canada!

[snowleopard_x]

True Alex. But just this year MEC stopped shipping most stuff they have to the US under pressure from the US government (customs) and US businesses. So now you need to visit an MEC store to get your stuff.

And now, on my soapbox...

Thanks to NAFTA and GATT, and the WTA, this policy takes form. Supposedly after NAFTA and GATT we were going to ship (some) jobs overseas, then because of better trade and the goods being made cheaper, be allowed to buy those goods back at a cheaper price. Yet the whole thing was a sham, best exemplefied here. The goal really was for big business to use its plutocratic hold on government officials, and collude to drive wages as low as possible while continuing to reap as high of profits as possible for the owners and shareholders.

You can still get fair prices on goods through Cham3s as listed above, and through Snell (and others) in France. Hopefully the French will hold their own here and tell US businesses and US Customes to go to hell when we try to pressure them not to sell to the US.

[gapertimmy]

I went to the garage sale today, and it just sucked. I don't like REI

[Ade]

Here seems to be something wrong with spending the weekend waiting in a line to buy stuff (aparently part of the REI sale tradition for some) when you could be out in the hills.

 

 

[forrest_m]

so am I the only one who thinks that it's worth the extra money to support local shops, particularly those that go out of their way to support serious climbers, like feathered friends or pro mountain sports?

in any case, if you are getting beta from real live salespeople and then going home to shop the internet for a better price, you are an evil person and your karma will pay the price.

[snowleopard_x]

Forrest. What if I don't need the customer services support, and spend countless hours of my own time digging up beta on gear (and I don't mean going into shops and asking every question, then leaving and surfing the net for cheapest prices)? Shouldn't I then be able to buy that gear for the cheapest I can find it, and thus pay the price if my research was wrong and I made a bad decision? I actually feel I am in the minority of people who can walk into any given outdoor store and know exactly what I am looking for 99% of the time. Beyond that, if I do go to a store, and genuinely get good CS and honest support, you bet I'll consider spending the extra $ there, as I have several times. But I don't really feel it's my duty to support those people when I frankly don't need them as much as the bulk of their customers do, and am willing to pay the price for my potential research failures or bad decisions. Nor can I afford their prices no matter how knowledgable they are for the public at large. Perhaps you make more money than I do. But if it weren't for these sales, I wouldn't be out climbing.

I don't live in Washington, but we have shops just the same here. And you bet, I try whenever I can to buy from them over the REI monster. But again, if I know what I want, and I can't afford it from them, I'll get it wherever I can for the cheapest price. Whether that be from a local sale, or ordering it from France.

(Sorry if I sound snobby. I re-read your note, and obviously your last paragraph wasn't intended for people who do their own research like me)

[This message has been edited by snowleopard (edited 10-31-2000).]