Anyone here have Experticity feedback or thoughts?

My kid is a pretty great youth climber and gets a fair amount of attention and questions from other young climbers about various climbing related products. She's been told she should sign up with Experticity and get big discounts from some climbing manufacturers. Any of you guides, pros or anyone else about to speak to the pros and cons of Experticity?

Its a great program with many, many participating companies.  Whereas in the past you would have to get a "pro deal" with each mfg, now you have central sites like Experticity and Outdoorprolink.  You do need credentials to join.  ie. work at outdoor company, a guide, etc.  Cons are that you generally can get greater discount if you can get a pro deal with a company directly.  Also, discounts seem to be around 40%.  Often you can get 30% off or even more on sale or somewhere online, so often you can get about the same deal with some searching.  However sometimes you can't and the pro deal can really save money, especially on big ticket items like skis and bikes.

I have an Experticity account giving me access to over 300 companies and a selection of their products(each company is selective of products available for discount, and some are sold out or not available). There are only a handful of companies that I can get discounts on climbing gear from. Mammut, LaSportiva, Trango, Edelweiss, Grivel, and Beal. It's not worth it for climbing gear, I can find most equipment during sales off Backcountry, Moosejaw, REI, Liberty Mountain, and other retailers at comparable discounts. Here on the forums or through Facebook groups, Ebay, and through friends I can find used gear even cheaper.
As said above, you do need credentials to join, it's not "open" to the public. 

It's good, certain credetials allow you access to different brands, not everyone gets the same blanket deals.  

I agree, discounts are 30-50% off, but often after tax, "service charge" and shipping, they amount closer to 30-35% off.

The deals and stipulations vary brand to brand as does the "hidden fees" but it's a cool program.

You can find some similar deals if you are really savvy online shopper applying code to sales and additing active junky, etc... then getting free shipping or no tax, you might be able to get comparable discounts.

AndrewArroz wrote:

Bingo.

AndrewArroz wrote:

Well isn't that your job to teach her about runaway consumerism, and being fiscally responsible with money? 

Some companies are great to deal with on there (like Petzl), some are a real pain. Some because of the shipping/order restrictions, some because the stock is never there/ updated, some because it might take you a month to get the stuff. Overall the site isn't built that well.

Not sure what sort of discount being on a climbing team would get you. I know when I taught a climbing team the kids only got hook ups through certain sponsors or companies, not a blanket "industry" deal that you'd get from being an outdoor industry employee. 

Seriously, does anyone pay full retail anymore?!

After you pay shipping and tax usually you could of gotten the item cheaper elsewhere. It really only helps on big expensive items.

Hide the credit card.

Good experiences with BD and ProMotive and our SAR team just got Arc'Teryx too...

Experticity is good IMO but you need to be mindful about a number of things:

• Overall discount--sometimes it's 40%, sometimes 25%...off of MSRP that's sometimes more than you'd pay at an online discount retailer
• Stock--manufacturers don't necessarily offer everything they sell...sometimes what they're selling on experticity is overstock, previous year items, sometimes not...you have to know what you're buying and compare to the manufacturer's website. This is especially problematic with customized products, like automobile roof racks, where they don't have the complete kit you need for your car, and the manufacturer doesn't seem to care. 
• Shipping--very few manufacturers offer free shipping, and sometimes the 'one-size-fits-all' shipping terms are ridiculous. You can get a great deal on a product, but after factoring in the shipping you're paying more than another online-retailer's price + free shipping. Most ship times are longer than online retailers that drop ship from UPS zone 1.
• No Returns--almost none of the manufacturers allow returns, so you need to be damn sure what you're buying fits or you're SOL
• No resale--if you buy something and it doesn't fit, you are not allowed to resell it on ebay, MP or anywhere else, or risk losing your experticity privileges. Climbing shoes? you can't (technically) buy 3 pair and sell the two sizes that don't fit.
• no sales support--experticity is connecting you with the manufacturer...there's little in the way of customer service..."expert" in this case applies to your shopping-fu.

That being said, I've scored lots of great deals and great product...just expect that you need to know what you're shopping for, and expect that there will be competitive options that might cost less.

NorCalNomad wrote:

Well isn't that your job to teach her about runaway consumerism, and being fiscally responsible with money? 

You mean it's not the internet's job? 

Thanks to everyone who gave their insights. Sounds like it's probably worth doing to get a discount on some major items but not so much for smaller things like clothes, etc. Really appreciate the input. 

ebmudder wrote:

Experticity is good IMO but you need to be mindful about a number of things:

• Overall discount--sometimes it's 40%, sometimes 25%...off of MSRP that's sometimes more than you'd pay at an online discount retailer
• Stock--manufacturers don't necessarily offer everything they sell...sometimes what they're selling on experticity is overstock, previous year items, sometimes not...you have to know what you're buying and compare to the manufacturer's website. This is especially problematic with customized products, like automobile roof racks, where they don't have the complete kit you need for your car, and the manufacturer doesn't seem to care. 
• Shipping--very few manufacturers offer free shipping, and sometimes the 'one-size-fits-all' shipping terms are ridiculous. You can get a great deal on a product, but after factoring in the shipping you're paying more than another online-retailer's price + free shipping. Most ship times are longer than online retailers that drop ship from UPS zone 1.
• No Returns--almost none of the manufacturers allow returns, so you need to be damn sure what you're buying fits or you're SOL
• No resale--if you buy something and it doesn't fit, you are not allowed to resell it on ebay, MP or anywhere else, or risk losing your experticity privileges. Climbing shoes? you can't (technically) buy 3 pair and sell the two sizes that don't fit.
• no sales support--experticity is connecting you with the manufacturer...there's little in the way of customer service..."expert" in this case applies to your shopping-fu.

That being said, I've scored lots of great deals and great product...just expect that you need to know what you're shopping for, and expect that there will be competitive options that might cost less.

Anything big size you get screwed on shipping like crash pads

Jaaron Mankins wrote:

Good experiences with BD and ProMotive and our SAR team just got Arc'Teryx too...

There is no ProMotive anymore.

ProMotive IS Experticity,

I'm on Experticity & even though I check it now & then, the "no returns" clause is a deal-breaker. The only way to order something on there is to first order it from another online retailer to make sure the item fits, then order it from Experticity.  That gets old quick & I feel like a loser doing it, so I just wait until the online sales from Backcountry, etc.  Just like everyone else said, they never have anything in stock either!

Forever Outside wrote:

There is no ProMotive anymore.

ProMotive IS Experticity,

Good catch, I meant Outdoor Prolink.

I work in the outdoor industry, and am a certified guide. Be wary of the other notes people have said about returns/customer service. However  for pricing, Experticity is real good depending on which organization you can sign up under.

Be prepared to wait A WHILE for your orders to ship depending on the company and time of year. Some companies seem to treat Exp or Outdoor Prolink at the lowest priority and it can take many week for items to ship.. 

Also, as was mentioned above, sometimes the shipping costs can lower the deal by as much as 25%. So, on some items it might be easier to just wait for sales at your local brick and mortar if certain companies are only willing to give you 25% off..  

One great use for Experticity is to replace worn items (e.g. furry dyneema slings)

* you know exactly what size you want

* you don't need fast shipping (since you still have the old ones)

FWIW, I can't recall any of my Experticity orders taking longer than 2-3 weeks to arrive.