I have written before, about how much I like the outdoor equipment store, REI.  They sell amazing equipment, and have fantastic customer service. They now have a new service, where you can trade-in your gently used equipment and get a store gift card in return.  I tried that new service this week, as I decided to trade-in old run shoes with them.

When you run as much as I do, you go through a lot of run shoes.  My used run shoes are typically in quite good condition, but I stop using them, when I feel like the foam is starting to break down.  When I heard about the REI trade-in program, I wasn’t sure if my used run shoes would have enough value to make it worthwhile using the service.

I read the requirements to trade-in old runs shoes and given my shoes didn’t have holes in them or anything like that, I decided to give the program a try.  Obviously, REI only accepts run shoes that they have previously sold. Fortunately, I have bought quite a few pairs from them in the past. It turned out that I had four pairs of shoes that were eligible to trade-in.

The process works very easily. You go to the online trade-in page, find the equipment you want to trade-in and add it to the cart.  REI then e-mails you a shipping label, so you can box up your goods, and drop them off at UPS.  Once REI gets your items, they evaluate them to determine your trade-in value.  Finally, they issue an REI store gift card for the trade-in value, minus $6 to cover the shipping.

So how did it go?   It turns out… really well.  Today, I received a gift card for $151.  Yes… that’s right $151, for four pairs of used shoes.  I was over the moon.

This program is win-win.  I get a gift card for my used shoes, and REI is able to re-sell the shoes and keep them out of landfills.  Another reason to love REI. I highly recommend that you shop there.