Except for the insane prices for everything, sure. It's great for people with money to burn, but it's definitely not a good place to shop if you're into outdoor activities and not rich.
When shopping for gear, I look around and check Backcountry.com, Moosejaw, and other retailers, and on average, REI's prices are not out of line with those other shops. And, of course, if you pay full price for something at REI, you get 10% back as a dividend at the end of the year, and REI's return policy is very generous.
There's no shortage of people who bought an $800 backpack along with $2000 of other gear, who thought they'd be using them regularly, who later find out that they made a significant investment in a hobby they don't care much about.
Unless you're swimming in money buying gear from those people should be your first choice.
Knowing what to buy is also a huge factor. E.g. the market for backpacks is a bit like the market for racing bikes. You can easily end up spending 3-4x what you actually need because you're convinced that you need the latest & greatest. A bit like the weekend warriors who buy $4000 carbon fiber racing bikes to shave of a couple of kilos, which, unless you're competing, is a complete waste of money.
Heh, As a cyclist I see that a lot, I ride a Carbon Felt Z6 2012 which cost me £768 new (about half what it cost originally here) when the 2013's came out.
I regulary ride with people who spent 5-8 times that on their bikes and go on about the weight savings (for reference my bike is often the same weight or at most 1/2lbs heavier), when I got the bike I was 245lbs, these days I'm 185lbs, the people with the 5 grand bikes are often a stone or two overweight...in terms of RoI skipping the cake would have been the way for them to go ;).
Unless you are talking about mountaineering gear like anything climbing related: ropes, cams etc.
How in the heck can you trust that used gear will work 100%? I would rather spend more $$ to reduce risk.
You know there are climbing gyms where you're using both dynamic ropes & carabiners used by thousands of people before you? Those places aren't death traps.
Ditto mountaineering tours etc. for newbies that usually have every incentive not to report if they damage some of the equipment.
Carabiners, ropes & the like are tested when they're manufactured. Any damage likely to damage their structural integrity is usually going to be quite obvious. E.g. the carabiner won't close, or the rope will look like shit (although puncturing the core of a rope with crampons can be a subtle exception).
All other things being equal you're likely to be better off with brand new equipment, but you're also probably way better with used equipment where you spent that extra $500 you saved on some safety course & expert instruction, than skipping that and buying a brand new rope & carabiners.
Failing to properly secure a knot to a used carabiner is a way more likely cause of death than the carabiner itself failing.
It's hard to evaluate a climbing rope by visually inspecting it, though. The strength depends primarily on the core strands, which are hidden away behind the sheath. Chemical damage is not as visible as people assume it is.
It's especially hard for lead ropes, because every significant fall takes some the elasticity out of the core. A rope can look perfectly fine even if it is no longer capable of absorbing a lead fall. The danger here isn't so much that the rope will break, but that the lack of stretch will overload your pro, your body, or potentially even the anchor.
So I would be very hesitant to buy a lead rope used, unless you really know and trust the person. Top-roping should be fine because the fall factor is so low. You can top rope with static cord if you're attentive to the belay.
Precisely. REI has some stuff which is wildly overpriced - I wouldn't buy hiking shorts there. But if I'm buying climbing gear, no one will sell it cheap anywhere. REI dividends and a good warranty make the competitive, because I'm expecting to keep the gear for a decade or more.
Edit not lifetime anymore. Both places are one year.
Certainly no load-bearing climbing gear is ever returnable. Harnesses, ropes, draws, and pro aren't (and shouldn't be) returnable or resalable ever. I assume helmets can't be either.
But non-safety gear like chalk bags can be returned, and I'm surprised they won't take back approach shoes since they aren't even used on a wall.
I usually end up comparing REI with Moosejaw + Activejunky, and it's a tossup which one will be cheaper.
(If you haven't tried Activejunky, do. It's usually another 5-15% off while shopping through other sites.)
Also, I generally use my 20% member's coupon for things that never go on sale such as bear canisters and climbing shoes.
For budget outdoor enthusiasts, I would recommend Walmart's Ozark Trail brand. You can find a sub-4lb backpacking tent for $30 on sale (which is still twice as heavy as a high end backpacking tent but costs $30 vs. $300). They put out a lot of decent gear but never the lightest or the most durable.
If you want better quality gear but only clearance/outlet, try sierratradingpost - basically the TJMaxx of outdoor gear.
If you do a lot of backpacking, you find you don't really need much specialized gear anyway -- in fact you probably have a lot of what you need lying around the house already. So the overall cost isn't that high. So it was worth buying a very expensive winter sleeping bag for sub-zero conditions, but for the summer I don't even need a bag at all. I wear the same hiking boots for any long walk.
When I say REI is "midrange": they are a great place to get basic stuff (I found the outdoors stuff at Dick's or Bass Pro to me cheap but mostly worthless crap). After the rebate, prices aren't bad and stuff tends to last a long time. They don't sell the super high end stuff (custom boots or sleeping bags) but the market for that is vanishingly small anyway, and like I said, typically you only need one or two pieces of expensive gear.
My locally-owned discount camping place (Redwood Trading Post in Redwood City) is my go-to just because it's locally owned, but they have some clunkers (e.g. their ropes).
One thing I've noticed is that REI do stock a lot of gimmicks (outdoor themed playing cards, heavy stoves for car camping, cheap knives) which I assume are the bulk of their profits. I haven't seen that stuff crowd out the "real" gear. Cabellas used to have really good gear too, but they couldn't make a go of it and the crud-laden Bass Pro bought them so we'll see what happens.
Oh, and another note on "midrange": I am referring specifically to backpacking, cycling and skiing (though I don't buy ski/snowshoe gear there). I am intimidated by the rock climbing gear and have no way of knowing if it is crap or ultra-high end.
Especially if you EVER have to return anything or rely on customer service. Unless your time is worth nothing...
I absolutely don't buy everything there, but your time is often better spent doing that than bargain hunting.