REI 2024 Anniversary Sale: Gear, Clothing, Footwear, Outdoor Equipment Expired

About the membership, does anyone know how long it takes for REI to send you the $30 coupon?

A lot of the brands that REI sells can now be had for less, at any time of the year. This wasn't the case 10, 15, or 20 yrs ago. I don't necessarily blame REI, the brands are seemingly applying different sets of rules to retail front than they are elsewhere.

Example - Goal Zero power stations. Goal Zero used to be very very price-controlled a decade ago. MSRP everywhere, and the company forced this on their retailers. And only select few retailers would carry Goal Zero (REI was one of them). You were paying MSRP anywhere else as well, except when REI would have a 20% off sale.

This is not the case now. Goal Zero is being sold all over the place now, Home Depot included, along with B&H, and others like Amazon. And affiliate sites have 20% off promo codes to use on Goal Zero's own website, and Goal Zero itself runs bundle sales not available on the retail front at say REI. So you can get a power station and a solar panel bundle price on Goal Zero's website, plus any extra bundle-specific sales on their website, which stacks with a GOVX 20% off coupon code....completing negating any and all reason to buy Goal Zero products at REI.

It's similar with many popular brands in the outdoor industry now, which is spelling huge trouble for REI. Gone are the days of "you have to buy this from us and you can't find it anywhere cheaper unless it's used per the brand's retail rules", and it's becoming more and more of a problem for them.
Some brands are still holding firm (ie brands which still are able to fend off chinese-entrants and a race to the bottom). But I question how long that will last, as most brands inevitably will strive for the largest net possible to maintain sales against foreign competition (in the case of goal zero....bluetti, ecoflow, etc)

Agree to some extent. It used to be you had to use the coupon, and now many brands are on sale during this time... all within the same pricing as other retailers. I'll point to Yakima and Thule as examples.

To me the difference is the customer support and the return policy. I happen to have a lot of trouble finding shoes that fit. At REI I have the confidence I can return them if I hate them, even if they are used. My son ran into this when a pack he got turned out to be a poor fit for him.

Don't forget the 10% rebate, too.

There are some great snowboards on sale, too!

My point is, you more and more don't even have to wait for the coupon sale at REI anymore (or the coinciding brand sales)
And more and more brands, are allowing their products to be sold outside of the outdoor retail circles, and then allowing affiliate promos on their own site negating the need to go the retail route all together. Check out GOVX. One of several.

REI cannot survive if the only people choosing to shop there, are the ones who return stuff b/c they decided it wasn't a good fit after using it for a few months. REI will need to do something else, but at this point what else is there to do. If you follow their financials, the direction things are heading in is rather troublesome. The return policy and customer experience can only go so far

I have been shopping at REI for three decades, and I try to give them as much of my business as possible as personal preference. Even if the price is a little more than Amazon, I will buy it from my local store b/c it supports not just REI, but it supports local jobs, and it supports the local tax base. But I am financially in a position to do that, most shoppers are not and will gladly buy from Amazon to save $8.19 even if it means they don't have 365 days to return it

I do the same and I do use REI shop services very frequently.

This isn't a problem unique to the outdoor retailer space. The real issue is Amazon is dominating everything with its logistics strength. Every retailer in every space is dealing with this and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out. If anything REI is more protected than most retailers, with its membership revenue stream and more loyal than average customer base.

The trick is to buy things that almost never go on sale, or products in specific colors. A lot of marquee brands never have neutral tones of products on sales at the end of the season. Just the funky seasonal colors nobody wanted.

My point is, you more and more don't even have to wait for the coupon sale at REI anymore (or the coinciding brand sales)
And more and more brands, are allowing their products to be sold outside of the outdoor retail circles, and then allowing affiliate promos on their own site negating the need to go the retail route all together. Check out GOVX. One of several.

REI cannot survive if the only people choosing to shop there, are the ones who return stuff b/c they decided it wasn't a good fit after using it for a few months. REI will need to do something else, but at this point what else is there to do. If you follow their financials, the direction things are heading in is rather troublesome. The return policy and customer experience can only go so far

I have been shopping at REI for three decades, and I try to give them as much of my business as possible as personal preference. Even if the price is a little more than Amazon, I will buy it from my local store b/c it supports not just REI, but it supports local jobs, and it supports the local tax base. But I am financially in a position to do that, most shoppers are not and will gladly buy from Amazon to save $8.19 even if it means they don't have 365 days to return it

These are the facts:

REI reported a drop in sales with a massive -$322 Million loss for 2023
And 2 rounds of layoffs within 3-month span both the retail side and IT
CEO said he expected 2024 sales to be even lower than 2023
HQ merit increases are frozen, and vacant positions will not be backfilled

REI is not protected at all

About the membership, does anyone know how long it takes for REI to send you the $30 coupon?