REI Dividend?

[Martin Van Laarhoven]

I get $59.17, my biggest so far.

[Steven Paris]

@Scott:

You can still order the XLite and use your dividend and 20%, either at rei.com, a computer in the store or at customer service. If you have an REI nearby, shipping is free to the store, too.

Edit: mine is $56.86 this year.

[Stephan Doyle]

$18.19

I try not to buy full-priced items from REI. I'm sure much of it was items under $20.

[Noel Tavan]

$211.70

I will spend it throughout the year :-)

[P S]

$107 – yikes. Spent too much last year.

I'm hoping that REI starts carrying the neoair xtherm before the 20% off window ends! I'll easily carry an extra couple ounces for something that can be used in every season.

[Andrew Schmucker]

257.98 I have no idea how i have so much, After finding this website, REI usually doesn't carry the ultralight stuff. I'll find someting to spend it on.

[gunther kirsch]

i don't see any 20 percent disount coupon, whats the deal?

[Adam Wallace]

$2.86 enough to buy an energy bar

[a b]

I have a whopping 57 dollar dividend. I have all the gear i need but i could always use some socks… I will probably just blow it on freeze dried "Astronaut" neopolitan icecream.
Hey.. does buying something with our REI dividend count as "buying" new gear? Ya know.. that whole "Don't buy new gear" thread thingy.
Anyhow, if i don't spend my dividend it evaporates right? Seems like in order to save the world i need to go spend this 57 bucks. :)

[Travis Leanna]

Matthew, you can take it as cash and spend it on something other than gear….. But that's no fun!

[Keith Bassett]

Judicious use of Garage Sales and sale prices have allowed me to keep my full price spending low enough that I am receiving $0.30 on my balance.

I'm actually proud, in a sick way. :)

[a b]

Hey Travis, I actually did not know i could take it as cash. That is 3/4 of a tank of gas… Nah.. you are right, that is no fun.
Must spend it on something ridiculous.
Hey 57 bucks is like Half of a Patagonia Down sweater! Or maybe 1/3 of an Arcteryx Jacket.
I think in the spirit of American Consumerism I should use my dividend as merely a fraction of payment on an object of much greater value. Hmm. Dead Bird or Gucci?

[Mobile Calculator]

….

[Hiking Malto]

I only had a $24 rebate this year which was mostly for buying socks last year. I already spent it replacing my headlamp which I broke last year.

Matt,
Take up another hobby like trail running. Then you can buy more gear without it being backpacking gear.

[Mina Loomis]

1. REI dividends last until the end of the second calendar year from when they are posted. So, for example, dividends posting now, from 2011 transactions, will be good through 12/31/2013.

2. You don't have to use REI dividends for store credit, but of course that's the easiest thing to do–combine them with your coupon. Beginning on 7/1 of the year they post, you can have them send you a check. Large as it is, REI is structured as a real cooperative, and its patronage rebates are real money.

3. Yes, for a change, this year the Member Rewards 20% off coupon, which officially kicks in on 3/23, is supposed to be good on full price, sale, and clearance items. There are as usual a few exclusions, but not many.

4. Do you normally only buy sale and clearance? You too can earn a dividend. Get an REI Visa card and use that for all your REI purchases, and you will still earn a 5% dividend on everything at REI. Earn 1% on everything else you use it for. No annual fee. I don't remember what the interest rate is because I never carry a balance. The REI Visa is the only way we REI employees ever earn a dividend, because of our discounts. My REI dividend, using the card for everything, runs over $600/year.

5. Furthermore, if you are an REI member and don't already have a REI Visa to use for your REI purchases (to earn your extra 5%), they are currently having a Visa promotion, through 5/31. Apply by then, get approved, make any purchase by 6/30, pay the bill, and you get a $100 REI gift card. Why are they doing this? Saves the coop a lot in bank fees! And they want to "add value" to your membership. (The employee whose referral code you use gets $40 too–so be sure to get it from your favorite REI employee.)

[a b]

Thank You Mina for clarifying the Dividend rules.
I have a question about the REI Credit Card offer you mentioned.
Personally I have never had a credit card. In 42 years I have always paid cash or else saved up money until i could afford things otherwise i don't buy them.
Perhaps this is the wrong place to post this but: What is the value of a credit card?
If oyu eventually have to pay back the money plus interest, why not just buy things with cash and skip the interest?
As it relates to the REI Visa would there be any other benefits for a guy like me that never uses credit to have an REI Visa Card?
In other words, if I got the Visa, made purchases with it that I immediately paid off with cash, would their be additional fees etc.
As you can tell I really don't get the whole idea of credit.
Maybe someone can explain it?

[Joseph R]

FYI, after July 1, you can request REI issue you your dividend back in the form of a check or cash (at retail locations). So, if you would like actual funds for your upcoming thru-hike, or need to pay rent, etc., you can, just wait a few months.

Personally, I'm thinking about blowing my dividend on a Therm-a-Rest xTherm short – my POE Ether Elite can't seem to stay airtight for more than an hour at a time (patched multiple times and it keeps finding ways to leak air as soon as it enters the backcountry), my Z-lite is uncomfortable (I'm a side sleeper) and bulky, and my Nemo astro insulated is heavy (20oz). But with the xTherm, I could pepurpose/retire/sell/give-away all of those pads and have one lightweight and compact pad for everything. It almost sounds too good to be true.

[Seth R]

$0.00, bought a few things but I guess they didn't qualify.

[Mina Loomis]

Matthew, your questions are good ones. The details vary by card. The REI Visa does not have any fees if you pay before the due date each month. There is also (as is typical with credit cards) a "grace period" on the interest so that if you pay your full balance before the due date each billing cycle, you do not incur interest. Personally, each time I post receipts in my household accounting, I update a running "dummy" entry on my checking register, for the total amount of current credit card charges. That way my checking account always has enough in it to pay the credit card bill, which I have set on automatic draft, so I don't even have to remember to pay it.

Yes, for folks who have trouble avoiding running up balances, it might not be such a good idea. But it can be a good strategy.

I also don't use my REI dividend for store credit. (Even though I have more than enough gear, I still get my clothes at REI.) I keep using that card for the 5% and order up my annual check in July.

[P S]

Right there with you- any word on when the xtherms are supposed to be in stock at REI? I read elsewhere on bpl that the REI warehouse was supposed to get them in in february.

[a b]

So if i used a strategy similar to yours; which is to pay the balance during the grace period in full each month, the benefit is a 5% extra dividend on everything I buy at REI.
I suppose the other reason for a credit card is to not have to carry cash but i already have an ATM card that works that way.
Thanks again for enlightening me and sorry for posting my ignorance on this matter everyone.
It is just hard to get straight answers and I can't figure out the legal wording of those credit card offers so i burn them.
Thanks Mina!

[USA Duane Hall]

Matt, a credit card is just convenient. I pay it off every month, so no interest to pay. I need to get the REI card, as I have been charging a lot of stuff the last two years from buying old stoves and this would get me some new bp clothes. I could look like one of the beautiful people then. Not!
Duane

[Nathan V]

Matthew, I've had the REI Visa for years and have never paid one penny in interest, by doing exactly what you said ( I pay it off every month ). I use it for almost everything that I buy, not just at REI. You earn 1% of anything you purchase anywhere : gas, groceries, electronics, anything.

[Jim Colten]

We've (almost) always paid off our credit cards before interest and penalties kick in. Same with the REI card. I did a major exterior remodeling job on our home in 2011 and purchased all the materials with the card … I might trouble spending the dividend this time around.

Have since switched "allegiance" to a card that racks up points towards airfare on Southwest flights. There's an annual fee of $69 but it'll yield 2-3 one way tickets per year, not a bad swap! The REI card will still get used on REI full price purchases so as to get the extra 5% dividend. That'll mainly be for incidentals.

The key is to have discipline to control spending so that we can pay it down to zero promptly each month … hasn't been a problem for us.

[a b]

Thanks everyone! I kinda feel like Rip Van Winkle when it comes to this stuff. I must seem pretty dumb.. and i am when it comes to this stuff.
I suppose the only way these credit card companies can offer benefits is if some of the credit card carrying people are missing payments and thus the CC companies can charge interest.
I get these offers all the time and it says 0% etc but in the fine print it says up to 26% or something like that. Or "rate subject to change without notice".
Seems like a heck of a risk to take.
42 years and i have not needed credit yet.. probably not a good time to start "needing" it.
It is just interesting finding out how this stuff works. Mostly it seems like I had it figured out for what it really is after all.
I just get this feeling in my gut that this credit stuff isn't for me.
I think I will stick to cash for now.
It is good to know many of you can actually use your cards to your advantage.

@Nathan re: mobile phone, I use a prepaid mobile phone from T Mobile. No credit, no balances, no overages. I guess i am the "anti-credit" now that i think about it. Ditto for apartments, they only ask for a bank account number for their credit checking.
As for "points" and balance transfer stuff.. that is where I get lost and why I wont play the game. The rules seem too obscure and easily changed. Cash is reliable and predictable.
I see my cash as congealed energy earned by working. Credit scares me because I feel like it makes me beholden to work i have not done yet. I cannot take the money until my effort has created it's worth in equal value.
Well.. I guess I ain't making much sense.

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