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Went to the REI garage sale this past weekend and came away with two pretty good deals.

new gear - lightweight Patagonia fleece for $12.99 (normally $75)
used gear - pair of REI ultralight trekking poles for $29.99 (normally $80)

Whats your best steal?

flechenbones

I survived the REI garage sale too...I could only stand about twenty minutes of the mayhem, LOL, but with my pro partners help (teenage daughter, power shopper) ..I managed to escape injury free with a great pair of convertible wind pants (8.93), Helly Hansen fleece (19) and REI fleece pullover (9)...seems like the selections in preferred incentives to come to this sale (tents, sleeping bags, packs etc) made for slim pickins....but there is alot of gear out there, so I figured more will come along on other trails later. I ended up doing even better at a stop at Oshmans - AZ Mills, where they have alot of outdoor wear marked down, an additional 40% off the markdown, and I scored on a Kelty Helium backpacking jacket ( great for rain/wind/foul weather) for only $40...it was worth it to see if my shopping stamina is as good as my hiking endurance...
I still got it.
SJ :lol:

I usually find great deals at the Garage Sales...but I don't like how REI Tempe sets it up. I've even asked why they do it in that small storage room...they say that's all the room they have. Lights would be nice...I'm always amazed at the reasons given for the returns..'Smells bad'. 'Tent too short'. crack me up.

I think the best deal was an REI Footlight tent for 20 bucks. Customer returned it because 'Tent posts hard to seperate'.

I stayed away from the sale last weekend but I've been the victim of previous REI Garage Sales. Yeah, the dark warehouse is creepy, they must think it adds to the ambience of the sale.

My best shwag was a pair of La Sportiva Makalu boots for $55 that retail for $245. I also picked up a pair of OR Gtex gaiters last year for $9. Sweet.

-Nealz

The Summit Hut in Tucson has a Spring and Fall parking lot sale that is fantastic. It has tons of good stuff. Everything you can think of. Lots of people show up at these but you can find great bargins. I think it is all new gear. I don't recall seeing any used.

Yea the setup could use some improvement. Does PV do it any better? Never been to a garage sale up there. I wonder if they have any better of a selection. I agree on the reason for returns - pretty funny but sometimes pretty sad. There was a swiss army knife returned because someone tried to have their name engraved on it and it was botched, so they returned it. Unbelievable.

flechenbones