Geartrade Sourcing: What do we mean by “UnNew”?

Here at Geartrade, we spend a lot of time talking about “UnNew” gear and how it’s so much better for the planet and people’s wallets than buying brand-new stuff at full retail price. But what exactly does “UnNew” mean … used, right? Often, it does mean an item belonged to someone who used it for a while, didn’t need it anymore, and listed it for sale on our site. But to keep our shelves full and reduce the amount of stuff going to waste, we also get creative in sourcing additional gear that was gathering dust in some warehouse or sales rep’s garage. Sometimes it’s never even been worn, or hardly has. This gear deserves to shine, too. So here’s a quick and dirty lowdown of where most of the items you see on Geartrade come from.

People listing their stuff:

Many of the listings you see on Geartrade are from individual sellers. Some of these people are occasional users who list a ski jacket or hiking pack for sale here or there whenever they’re raising the money to buy what they want next. There’s also a good community of “power sellers” who have a little side-hustle selling lots of stuff.

Small secondhand gear shops selling their stuff:

Lately we’ve seen an uptick in brick-and-mortar secondhand gear shops in outdoor-oriented towns like Salt Lake. (Read about one of our faves, Lone Pine Gear Exchange!) These shops are mom-and-pop in scale, and one way they can reach a much wider national audience is by listing their goods on Geartrade. Not only is this great for the shops, but it also helps people in far-flung places get access to the treasure-trove of used gear that’s typically only easy to find in outdoorsy towns where used gear dominates the classifieds and where gear swaps are easy to attend. As the Geartrade team sees used goods getting shipped from shops like Lone Pine to urban and flatland places, we get excited thinking about how the buyer must have a cool adventure trip planned. And we feel happy we could connect the shop and the buyer in a mutually beneficial way.

Samples from brands and sales reps:

Brands and their reps invest good money into creating samples of all their products so they can be showcased at retail tradeshows and industry meetings. But what happens to the rain jacket that was tried on at a weeklong tradeshow, the powder skis that got ridden for three days at a brand’s on-snow demo day, or the trail running shoes that were showcased at a brand booth for one race? Each season’s perfectly usable samples need to find a home, especially when storage space needs to be handed over to next season’s samples. It can be time-consuming and tedious for brands and reps to hold their own in-person sample sales, and those samples only reach a limited network of locals and friends-of-friends. Geartrade offers them a better way. They post their sample goods on Geartrade and get them sold off to a national audience of people eager to give the stuff a second lease on life. The buyers benefit from the low price, and the brands and reps are grateful to clear the stuff off their shelves.

Retailers’ returned goods:

Many gear retailers have generous return policies, which means people might take something out of the box, tear off the tag, and maybe even wear it once or twice before they decide to return the item. This leaves the retailers with piles of perfectly good stuff in their warehouses that can no longer be sold as “perfectly new.” That’s where Geartrade steps in. These retailers can create seller profiles and post the items here, selling them off to people who are more than happy to get a jacket whose tags were removed if it means the jacket is deeply discounted. You may notice Backcountry and other retailers’ profiles (and the professional looking product photos they use)—that’s what that’s all about. We help them, they help us, and best of all, the arrangement helps you!

Brands’ oversupply:

Every once in a while, a brand produces more of an item than their retailers bought up, which leaves them holding the bag. Indefinitely warehousing this surplus supply isn’t cost-effective, and the goods often just get passed around or moved around until someone finds a way to dump them. We are anti-dump. We work with outdoor brands to bring in these perfectly usable items, most of which have never even had their boxes opened, and get them listed so someone out there can get psyched on using it. This reduces waste, helps the brands out, and helps Geartrade customers score rad stuff they’ll use at a price they can afford.

Now you know what goes into UnNew.

Our scrappy team of outdoor enthusiasts may spend their weekends and evenings on the singletrack or on the slopes, but by day, we’re in the office keeping our site stocked with UnNew goods and keeping the platform humming along. And we love knowing where our gear ended up to live its next chapter of adventure. Be sure to tag us on social media when you take it out into the wild. Nothing makes us prouder than the sweet smell of UnNew success. Beth Lopez is a seasoned writer and creative director who loves to tell tales of adventure and discovery—and finds writing a powerful way to give a voice to people, causes, and places. Beth runs amok in the Wasatch mountains when untethered from her computer. She believes there’s no such thing as a bad ski day and considers animals her favorite people. Don’t tell her mother about her Instagram mountaineering photos. Tag and send us pics of your adventures in your UnNew gear. We love seeing it out there having a great summer with you rather than sitting in the back of someone’s closet or warehouse. Follow us on Instagram + Facebook: Tag us @geartrade with the hashtag #unnewoutdoor #wearitout on your post or story for a chance to be featured on our page.

Have summer gear to sell? Get cracking.

It is now easier than ever to sell your gear on Geartrade. With our new Consignment Selling option you can finally reclaim your gear closet. Send it in. We take care of the rest.