In a 138-year-old building in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood, Wilderness Exchange Unlimited long ago carved out a reputation as a place where budget-conscious outdoors enthusiasts could find good deals on used gear.
That’s how used gear sales used to be done, and it still works for Wilderness Exchange. But not far away, there’s a new player in the growing “re-commerce” industry that is utilizing the internet to reach a national audience of buyers and sellers., an online site launched 16 months ago as a marketplace for used outdoor equipment. Sellers tap into the site and fill out an online questionnaire describing the gear they want to sell.
“Our big differentiator is, we’re going to pay cash,” said Barruch Ben-Zekry, Out&Back’s founder and CEO. “We’re going to pay for this stuff, so if somebody wants to get rid of it, they can actually do it. And we’ll give you an instant offer. You bring it to Dick’s, our associate checks it in, it usually takes 60 to 120 seconds, and you get a PayPal or a Venmo to your bank account right away.”
When Funkhouser moved from a small shop on Tennyson Street to a much larger space just down the street in 2018, he added a used gear section to his inventory. He also rents gear. Manufacturers have gotten into the second-hand market because they’ve seen how successful independent retailers like Funkhouser have been.
“It took off so fast, my upstairs apartment became part of the store with backpacks in the living room,” Bushey said. “The spare bedroom became the sleeping bag room.”