Originally Posted By: IzzyJG99
Originally Posted By: Susan
Hikermor, expense is in the eye of the beholder. The prices at Cabelas and REI make me cringe. I could no more afford a $95 backpack or a $300 sleeping back than I could fly to the moon by flapping my arms.

But overall, I still maintain that SAR people have a lot invested in their equipment.

Sue


Not to hijack the thread, but I have talked to people from both Cabellas and REI and they even are like "I have no idea why we charge so much." One of the guys at REI said "Just go online to Oregon Mountain Co-Op and buy this bag there. It's 70 bucks cheaper." I did.

I've only met one person who has ever gotten anything out of REI and that's the only person I know who bought the REI Club Card thing. He's also one of those guys who drives a Subaru Outback, dresses like he hikes and camps...but never hikes or camps. Ever. It's a "Trend" thing to clothe yourself in REI where he lives.


Having worked for a large outdoor chain in the past (similar to REI without the co-op), I can tell you that the items "cost so much" because the retail price is typically around 100% markup from the cost to the company. Even when stuff is marked at 70% clearance price the company is still making some kind of money off it. If you don't want to pay the full retail price, everything in the store is on sale at some point, and will go on clearance at the end of the season. You can often find the same stuff online at reduced prices, as mentioned above, because the online guys buy up over runs, unsold stock, etc and don't have to charge so much to make their money. As also mentioned, most of the large store chains make most of their money off customers that will never use the products they buy for their intended use, or to the their full potential of use.