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Tricia

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GetOutfitted.com was an advertiser on EpicSki for a while, but I never saw much feedback.

Recently I saw an ad so I clicked on it to find the note below, which begs the question; Is there a market for rental ski clothing?

THANK YOU
It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the closure of GetOutfitted, Inc.

After 4 amazing years working with great brands and loyal customers from all 50 states and 15 countries, we find ourselves unable to proceed into the future. As of today, the company is dissolved and its assets have been liquidated for the benefit of creditors.

I'd like to thank you for your business, your support and your belief in what we were building. So many of you were deeply supportive of our mission and helped us build an amazing company. It has been an absolute joy to serve you and I hope you find many new options for getting outside in the future.

Sincerely,
Julian Flores
Founder & CEO
 

graham418

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It has never caught on in North America, but I think it is relatively common in Europe and South America to rent everything, including all ski clothing. In Europe , storage space is at a premium for many people.
 

scott43

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It depends?? Socks and base layers?? No. Goggles? Yeah maybe. Jackets? We live in an ice box so we have winter stuff already..even if it isn't "ski" gear. So I can see how they wouldn't make a living at it.
 

Jilly

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Years ago we stayed in a place in Tremblant that rented Ski-doo's. They had all the outer clothes downstairs from the dining room. People would disappear and come up fully clothed for an excursion. Most were from warmer climes. Mont Tremblant has a rental program for ski suits, helmets and the usual gear. There are many vacationers that come up from Mexico that do not have access to clothes till they get here. Even some from Europe. But these examples are local and not a nation wide enterprise.
 

Philpug

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IIRC, Snowbasin used to rent clothing, not sure if they still do. @AmyPJ?

I would say at least once a week someone would come into True North at Northstar and ask if we rented ski pants...and even gloves.
 

scott43

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IIRC, Snowbasin used to rent clothing, not sure if they still do. @AmyPJ?

I would say at least once a week someone would come into True North at Northstar and ask if we rented ski pants...and even gloves.
I can see that. City people come up, underestimate the cold, get caught out and have no intention of ever skiing again or maybe/maybe not. Rent some stuff to get them through the day.

I remember ages ago my buddy went out to Whistler and it was -40C on the summit with the windchill and he had to buy some gear while there to avoid frostbite. He was a skier so he likely just made it part of the quiver. But some folks would probably like to rent and never do THAT again!! :D
 

Philpug

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We also see the people who try to "rent" gear by buying it, then returning at the end of the day because it it didn't meet their expectations or whatever reason here. This is most common with helmets and goggles, which we had a policy that they cannot be returned for health reasons.
 
Thread Starter
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Tricia

Tricia

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Goggles? Yeah maybe.

Not sure about where you live, but in California, any eye wear is not returnable because of health department regulations.
I haven't seen the actual reason, but I'd guess it has to do with issues like pink eye.
 

socalgal

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We have rented clothes before, for the kids. Our teenager was "forced" to take a 3-day beginner lesson combo, in the spirit of family vacations. We rented her pants and a jacket, since she didn't have any snow-proof ones already. It was a low cost way of seeing if she would like the experience, without a big monetary investment. She has since moved out and hadn't been up to the mtns since.

We also rented a snowbib for our toddler the first time we took her up. It was a last minute decision, and there were not a lot of options close to home. She has since been fully outfitted and loves skiing :yahoo:
 

Sibhusky

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I think they used to rent clothing here, but haven't seen anything about it in a while.

I can see if I lost my luggage on the way to someplace in Europe that I would do it. I've had that happen and I had a terrible time getting a pair of jeans that fit, and this was back when I was much slimmer. But in the US? I'd probably buy all the stuff new unless they told me they found it and it would arrive at 3 PM. "We will find it soon." Doesn't cut it. Been there. No you won't.
 

albertanskigirl

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I feel like there's not generally a market for it in North America, but ski towns need to have rental clothing to a degree because of lost luggage. Last season when @Jenny came to Banff, her luggage came late. Luckily, a local store was able to rent some gear that they needed for a day.
 
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Jenny

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I feel like there's not generally a market for it in North America, but ski towns need to have rental clothing to a degree because of last luggage. Last season when @Jenny came to Banff, our luggage came late. Luckily, a local store was able to rent some gear that you needed for a day.
Yep - and inexpensively, too. DH and I both needed helmets, and I needed a coat (had one layer, but the other was in my bag).
 

coskigirl

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Valle Nevado had a pretty well used clothing rental service. I saw several people skiing in their Spyder clothes with "ski rental" patches on them. I fell like I've seen a place at Keystone that rents clothes as well.
 

luliski

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I think our local bike and ski shop used to rent out ski clothes. Not sure if they still do. There are people here in the valley who only go to the snow a few times a year and might want to rent bibs, etc, for their once annual trip. I work in a hospital and many of the people I work with are immigrants or children of immigrants,. They may not have grown up going skiing, but now they're upwardly mobile and are taking their kids to play in the snow/ski/snowboard.
 

raytseng

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The twist here, is would you rent clothing online and it is delivered to you before your trip.

A big part of renting is trading money for time/convenience; and for folks that didn't plan ahead; so I think the fact that in-store clothing rental works abd still will continue.

It looks like for GetOutfitted, you trade away some of that convenience, in exchange for pricing and specific high end gear.
But the people that potentially would use GetOutfitted, are people who plan ahead. Those same folks would probably also do the cost/benefit calculations and instead just scour STP and buy cheaper but also good quality ski clothes. If they were so interested in specific high end gear, they would have bought it already. And the people who are last-minute would not realize to use it.
 

DanoT

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The Village Day Lodge Rentals shop at Sun Peaks rents ski pants and jackets mostly to Air Canada passengers whose luggage ends up arriving on a later flight. With Pacific Western airlines this almost never happens.

At Elevation Ski & Bike we rent out a surprising number of helmets and sometimes goggles, usually to someone who has left theirs at home and doesn't want to buy another pair.

If I was to ever rent a helmet, first I would buy a helmet liner but I have never seen anyone do that. At the end of the day I spray the inside of returning helmets with the same stuff that we spray inside the returning boots.
 

jmills115

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Ski n see in Salt Lake rents jackets, helmets, and pants. I've never had the need to use them but am sure they do well with out of towners in renting gear
 

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