40% off at Backcountry…

[Dan Cunningham]

I chatted with an online backcountry.com guy when I was placing my order. I told him exactly what I did (yes, switching sites and all), shared my code with him, and asked if the pricing I received was correct, and asked that he verify that my card would be billed for the amount showing. He had me proceed up to the point of checkout, but before confirming my order, he had me give him my order number so he could look it over.

He looked at my order number and cart, and after two or three minutes he told me everything was fine, that my discount was being applied correctly, that my order was good, and verified my credit card amount.

I do not feel guilty – full disclosure.

[W I S N E R !]

Curious.
If it wasn't an accident or it was a legit code for "special groups" and not a hack, why wouldn't Backcountry provide a straight-up discount code?
In a legit situation, why would they create the whole log-in here/switch to this tab/shop/switch back/enter the magic number nonsense?
So this all could be a covert way of clearing out their entire WM stock without ticking off WM for offering big discounts?

I'm impressed you asked Backcountry- the circus could've ended.
Are they really this clever? It was a bona-fide feeding frenzy!

[David Ure]

"I do not feel guilty – full disclosure."

No problem. Just don't do it again ;)

[Chris Morgan]

So in all this craziness I ordered some wrong sizes. Just talked with the "gearhead" and they are shipping me exchanges at the 40% off price!

What a great company.

[Steve O]

I found one of the codes, and I'm sure I found it the way others have. There is nothing shady about it. Google: "backcountryoutlet.com 40%" try different variations of that while adding in words like "promo" or "code." This technique works for any online retailer that uses promos.
There are websites out there like retailmenot.com or dealtaker.com that specialize in posting these codes (in-fact a similar site supplied the code I found, I just found them via google). Any major online retailer (BC= ~5 million $ profit in 2007) knows about these sites. Has anyone ever shopped at Sierra Trading Post without one? I haven't.

Re: guilt. Several people called and verified with the customer service reps. They said to go for it.

[Ashley Brown]

It's a glitch in the system.

Where do the codes come from? They are not special codes that were intended for firefighters etc (like the one which was leaked last year and eventually had to be changed).

They are just normal backcountryoutlet.com codes… any code that works at backcountryoutlet will do. So people were just finding the codes by googling the normal coupon sites and finding the legit 40% off backcountryoutlet coupons — there have been several advertised over the past 6 months or so and they weren't set to expire until some time this year. But they were intended as *outlet* discount codes.

It seems that the glitch in the system allowed the code to be applied to gear that was still in your cart from the main backcountry site, when it should only have applied to the outlet items.

Now, as to the morality of it all… that's for individuals to judge. But I do wonder why backcountry didn't just ring people up and say, sorry, that code was for outlet items only. It's not like anyone would have been offended that they weren't able to take advantage of the technical glitch. If they want to carry on selling gear at 40% off even when they know there's been a mistake then that's their own decision.

[Rod Lawlor]

This appears somewhat different to the previous code that sparked a bit of a frenzy. With the First Responder code which I used last year after it was posted on BPL there was a clear note on the order, stating what the code was. That didn't happen this time.

The FR code applied a different discount to different goods, presumably based on their mark up. It did apply a discount to WM bags when it was first used, and this was about 30-35%. After Backcountry pulled the code and then reissued it, it no longer worked for WM (I know, I tried)

Now considering that the previous FR code was 30-35% off WM, prior to the financial crisis, why didn't it spark the same frenzy?

This time however backcountry have moved what? $200,000 to $300,000 of inventory in a week? In fact their whole WM inventory is gone, at about $180,000 at 40% off. There is NO WAY that this all slipped out without anyone noticing. In fact this order shipped out their door faster than they ever have before.

I'm betting that they also pushed a lot of MB and Marmot high end gear out the door. This is all on expensive, discretionary gear that might have spent another year on the shelf.

My bet is that it's a lot easier for backcountry to apologise to WM about all that gear going out on discount, than it is for them to ask position.

As to Ari's post about hurting families it's clear that someone's family got hurt here. The guy who owns backcountry.com. He just lost about $100,000 to $150,000. Or maybe he just saved his business. What about the families of WM employees? Well, they'd already sold all those bags, so they won't lose out. And now backcountry don't have any stock, so every time someone orders one those guys will get a new order. Or maybe backcountry will put in an order tomorrow of one of each model. Or maybe the customer will buy one from their local dealer, or one of the smaller on-line dealers like HH.

Of course if he's talking about all those guys who can't afford to take their wives out for dinner because they just bought a new bag, or the ones like me who haven't even told their wives, that's a whole different story! ;^)

[Dave T]

.

[Aaron Lastname]

About "Families"…

Maybe Backcountry just needed to make payroll. Who knows.

[Pamela Wyant]

I am pretty sure that if Backcountry.com did not want to honor the coupon they would not have had to. They could have simply stated the coupon was mistakenly applied, or even said the item was out of stock (which one of my shirts was).

I'm not sure about the strategy behind the deal, but with the economy like it is they may have been stuck with a lot of expensive stock they ordered ahead of time anticipating Christmas/holiday sales that just didn't materialize.

Of course all of this is speculation, but I imagine backcountry.com is quite aware of this website and could have killed the deal if they wanted.

Stealing would be ordering the merchandise and not paying the agreed upon price. My two cents on the matter.

[jeremy yax]

the employees of backcountry.com all lost their jobs due to the overuse of coupon codes and will soon be forced to live under a bridge in a Mountain Hardwear Stiletto 1 Tent, with nothing but a Western Mountaineering Antelope Super DL-5 Degree Down sleeping bag to keep them warm at night.

:sob:

[Pamela Wyant]

"the employees of backcountry.com all lost their jobs due to the overuse of coupon codes and will soon be forced to live under a bridge in a Mountain Hardwear Stiletto 1 Tent, with nothing but a Western Mountaineering Antelope Super DL-5 Degree Down sleeping bag to keep them warm at night."

And unfortunately, since backcountry.com was sold out of the WM bags, they had to be purchased at full price from a competitor.

See, BPL's contribution to economic stimulus. Now WM not only gets to manufacture more bags to replace the ones bought here, someone else makes full price off the bc employees.

[Jim Sweeney]

The real expense of such drastic sales, as I think others have mentioned, is in our sense of value. It would be hard now to go out and pay full retail for a WM bag; one might be tempted to hope for the next sale.

[Rod Lawlor]

James,

That's a whole other can of worms. That's the reason I suggested it's easier for BC to beg forgiveness than ask permission. WM is pursuing the same line as Apple, and not allowing their dealers to discount. It works if you've got a great product, or a product which you can consistently convince purchasers is great.

(I'm typing this on a MacBook, only because my Powerbook crashed the hard drive last night. I have a Summerlite in my gear cupboard, and a 40% off Apache in Jonathon's basement, waiting to ship to Oz)

But it relies on maintaining that cachet, and I'm betting that forgiveness from WM will have strings attached about not making the same 'mistake' again.

If they can maintain it, we'll all look back in three years and reminisce about the great 40% WM gear heist of 'ought nine. Young fellas will look at us in awe, and ask us to tell it again. Our kids will be be sworn to silence not to tell their Mas, on pain of the WMs being bequeathed to their siblings. And them that missed out will rage that they thought this was the breaking of the market control that WM weilded, as they cry into their titanium Trapper mugs.

[Natasha S]

I think Backcountry new very well what they were doing. A few people called and got the OK. And how could they miss all the orders that were suddenly being placed. They'd have seen something was going on and could have very easily pulled the coupon and emailed people that it was a glitch in the system. I've that that happen before. Would have been no biggy,I'd have just canceled the order. I am thinking they needed money fast and were willing to cut their losses to pay the bills now. How they tell the manufacturers (ie WM) they sold below price is their problem. I'll enjoy my new gear thank you very much. :-)

[Tom Caldwell]

The economy hasn't even got bad yet. Western Mountaineering is either going to be selling a lot of bags to those forced to live their lives without a home and car, or they won't be able to sell very many of their bags without a steep discount.

I expect to see even more retailers having even more "sales" in the future.

[Peter Gurin]

Tom,
I'm also very curious as to what will happen.
The economy is defiantly not even close to bottom and recovery is no where in site.

There may be more discounts in the future but I think raw material prices will increase once the dollar begins its death spiral. 8(

So maybe discounts for awhile, with high prices in the future in correlation to currency markets.

-Pete

[Jim MacDiarmid]

As great as these sales seem for consumers in the short run, they are terrible for the economy, as they are not making money, they are just desperate companies trying to lose as little money as possible and generate some liquidity to hopefully ride out the bad times.

We live in pretty free market, and companies won't sell anything for less than they think they can get. It would make no sense to do so. If it's on sale, it because that's the only way they think it will sell.

Count me in the camp of this 40% accident being no accident at all, but an inventory clearing manuever. And count me bitter than I missed it. If we're going down, might as well go down with bread and circus, etc.

[Brian Johnson]

I think many retailers are struggling with raising the cash to keep the rent and employees paid, lights on, etc….basic liquidity.

I think this code was very carefully targeted….they new just how to drop the cow into the hungry school of piranahs! Hopefully, they raised enough cash to keep them in a reasonable position until sales pick up in the spring (I'm sure all retailers are hoping sales will pick up in the spring….will they?).

Other companies may do the same thing if they do not have enough cash to make it until the memorial weekend sales…I personally DO NOT hope the deals get better than this because it would most likely signal that some key retailers, like backcountry, will be going out of business and having a diminished competitive enivironment will be bad for all of us in the long run. That said, I do appreciate the items I got and I hope it helped them out.

Brian J

[Jim Sweeney]

Also, we may be witnessing another lurch in the progression away from brick and mortar retail. I now purchase almost everything online, unless it's a screaming deal at the local REI. I can learn more, have a wider range of possibilities, get a better sense of how, where, and with what expectation of success something can be used, online, than I was ever able to when I had to rely on talking with the variously motivated local retail clerks.

Don't forget, WM made as much on each bag sold as they ever would have (I think). The classic response is to bemoan the death of the local mom and pop camping good stores as a result of the rise of the online mega retailers–but mom and pop just sold me what they wanted to move, not what would have been best for me. I've had a much, much higher hit rate online, and, as the right products get rewarded with higher sales, average quality of design and production goes up and prices go down.

Case in point is Henry Shires' Tarptent company–always an online company, with an extremely high value to price ratio. If WM became a company only sold through online distributors, or directly (consider the extended coupon situation at Icebreaker), that wouldn't necessarily be bad. For one thing, the non-productive costs per transaction have to be way lower online.

[Robert Bryant]

"Case in point is Henry Shires' Tarptent company–always an online company, with an extremely high value to price ratio. If WM became a company only sold through online distributors, or directly (consider the extended coupon situation at Icebreaker), that wouldn't necessarily be bad. For one thing, the non-productive costs per transaction have to be way lower online."

My local outfitter actually stocks a couple of HS Tarptents. I don't know if he has an reseller agreement with HS or is just marking them up a little.I didn't check the price, I just saw the Tarptents sitting on the shelf.

[Chad Pryor]

Given that it looks like the 40% off code is now invalid, does anyone know of any code that is currently valid? I need to get some stuff quick, and any little bit off helps. Thanks!

[jeremy yax]

does this thread hold the record for largest number of replies on this forum? if someone can get another code, we could take this up past 300. whoo!

[Greg Mihalik]

No. Ryan Jordan's SUL Winter Challenge from 2005 has 31 pages.

Is there a yet longer thread?

[Randy G]

This thread may not hold the record for replies, but I have to keep coming back for my "40% off at Backcountry…" fix. It's a guilty pleasure filled with mystery, suspense, emotional highs, moral lows, economic turmoil, cheating spouses, and Nostradamus like prophecies.

Where did it come from?
Will there be another?
Was it right for me to use it?
Will my wife find out?
Is it going to destroy people's lives?
Why didn't I find out sooner?
Is this the beginning of the end?

I need more!

[Author]

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