Funny Reasons People Have Returned Gear

Until ten years ago, REI's return policy was as generous as it could possibly be: they would accept any product, after any length of time, in any condition, for any reason. As a result, there were amazing deals in their used department and at their yearly garage sale; during my 20s I got much of my hiking and skiing gear this way.

The best score ever was a pair of crampon-compatible Swiss mountaineering boots, retail price several hundred dollars (a near fortune to me at the time), which - according to the tag - someone had stashed in the back of his closet and never gotten around to wearing. REI took them back according to policy, but couldn't put them on the shelf, so they went to the garage sale, where I picked them up for five whole dollars. I still have them, too! I doubt my future holds many more reasons to wear crampons, but I put enough miles on those boots that I had to replace the soles twice, and that value-for-money ratio is tough to beat.

Lol, used 7 months didn't like color.

Most returned stuff seems to be the following use case: I need it just one time, but I don't want a eewww USED one.