Climbing gear on Amazon

Has anyone ever had issues buying climbing gear off Amazon? Specifically ropes.

no

Computer parts, housewares, books, sure. Climbing gear is copied from my understanding. I will pay more for my outdoor retailer to sell me authorized products. I appreciate them and the expertise.

Anyone hear of clones on Amazon or other interwebs dealers?

Most of the climbing stuff on Amazon is third-party fulfilled by Gear Co-op, Gearexpress, Campsaver, etc.

Yeah, just noticed this was Gear Co-Op. Makes me feel a bit better.

Yeah. Just check where it's actually coming from. Most of the stuff I've gotten from Amazon comes from Backcountry, but since I have prime it's always free two day shipping.

Actually got my newest rope two years ago from Amazon. The brand is Long-duck-dong, but it said it was approved by the international rope climbing committee.

Just kidding it was a Sterling and ended up coming from one of the retailers mentioned.

Ha. I expect nothing less from a fellow Long Islander.

I tend to buy from the retailers themselves since they offer free shipping generally when you spend enough and if they are out of state, I don't pay tax. Amazon collects tax no matter where they source the product. My last order from Gear Coop was delivered through Amazon though, so they may be using Amazons logistics network like Amazon is using them for sourcing.

Yes, I got the best deal of my life on a set of Beal half ropes. $60 per rope. It was through gear express. It was either a pricing screw up or they really wanted to get rid of last years stock.

The other side of the coin is that when I've bought other ropes I found amazons prices to be the same as the other online retailers.

Just bought a Sterling rope off Amazon. Looks legit. The reason I went with Amazon was purely for quick free shipping since I'm leaving for a trip shortly. But I just didn't want to receive some knock-off life saving gear. Like a Sturling rope. Same price as manufacturer and other outdoor retailers. Just needed it within 2 days and backcountry.com was sold out of them.

A not so funny thread just happened to pop up, and reminded me of this thread...

mountainproject.com/scripts…

Crazy. Although, as soon as you look at the product one should know it looks pretty bogus.

This is the rope I just bought. Came in and looks good.

amazon.com/gp/product/B007J…

nickybo wrote:Crazy. Although, as soon as you look at the product one should know it looks pretty bogus. This is the rope I just bought. Came in and looks good. amazon.com/gp/product/B007J…

At 323 dollars, it better look good!

Truth. But that's what they go for at Sterling and just about any other outdoor retailer.

Through the gear shop I work at I've heard a lot specifically about counterfeit Petzl products coming out of illicit factories in China. These include fake ascenders, gri-gris, reversos, and more. This can easily be avoided buy buying locally or from a small number of reputable online distributors like REI as these folks are licensed dealers and thus get their stuff directly from Petzl. But since these folks have to abide by Minimum Advertised Pricing agreements you'll never see them super marked down. Since Petzl is such a big name they're products are frequently ripped off but it could happen to any brand, so be vigilant. Sometimes a deal really is too good to be true and might get you hurt, or worse. Other than ropes most climbing gear lasts a really long time so just pay a couple bucks extra for the guaranteed real thing, support your local gear shop!

Matt Himmelstein wrote:Amazon collects tax no matter where they source the product.

That's not true. In the past 10 years of ordering stuff from Amazon I have never been charged for tax, with one key exception: if Amazon is selling from a third party vendor who is located in the same state as my shipping address.

I actually got charged tax this time around.

nickybo wrote:I actually got charged tax this time around.

I did some checking. Turns out it's state dependent:

Amazon collects tax in 23 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

I suspect it will be all 50 at some point.

They have to collect tax if they have some type of operations/facility in the state which they are shipping to is my understanding. This goes for any retailers online operations.

I occasionally buy climbing gear on Amazon- a carabiner or sling here and there, chalk bag etc, I think I even bought climbing shoes there once. I've never had an issue, it's pretty easy to tell if gear is brand new, and it's not like any of those things could be counterfeit without me noticing.

I prefer to buy my gear at Rock and Snow and support a local shop, or order from somewhere like backcountry, but sometimes I only need one thing and don't want to pay shipping, or can't find it in stock elsewhere, or Rock and Snow is out of my way (NYC does not have good options for climbing gear, especially since EMS closed).