Patagonia Deals at Real Cheap Sports

(Above: Patagonia Baggies. Photo from patagonia.com)

Real Cheap Sports offers deals each week on Patagonia gear. This week it's a Patagonia original, the Baggies Shorts. These have been part of Patagonia's product line season after season and they are regularly $40. Real Cheap is offering them for $29.50.

PAT COM REAL DEAL: The Patagonia Down Vest at Altrec.com

(Photo from Zappos.com)

Recently I decided to add a new feature to the Patagonia Community and that is the Pat Com Real Deal. These are difficult times for everyone but if you can find the right deal, Patagonia gear may still be within reach. I think I may have found the right deal for some of you out there.

Altrec.com is having a pretty good sale right now. Some of their items, including Patagonia, are going for around 30% off. Ah, but here's the kicker: through the magic of internet coupons, you can get more taken off. So my Pat Com Real Deal is the much sought-after Patagonia Down Vest (reviewed by Patagonia Community) in the toughest color to get--black. As of this posting, Altrec has black in all sizes (S-XL). It's regularly $145 but it's on sale for $99.97. Shipping is free for orders over $49, and there's no sales tax unless you're ordering from Washington state. Here's where the Real Deal comes in: enter the code 15WINTER09 (until February 26) and you get an additional 15% off. So your out-the-door cost for the $145 Patagonia Down Vest is $84.97.

You might be saying, "That's a real deal." No Johnny, that's a PAT COM REAL DEAL! Okay, feel free to slap me.

Winter Clearance Sale (Including Patagonia) at REI

REI is having a major winter clearance sale right now. It started this past Friday and everything ending in .83 is an ADDITIONAL 50% off.  It's pretty amazing.  I purchased the Patagonia Men's Capilene 3 Zip-Neck (which is still full price, btw; reviewed here) a couple of weeks ago but I also got a kid's one for my oldest daughter.  I paid $30 at the time.  Yesterday, as part of the sale, I got the one pictured above for my other daughter.  See that ".83"?  That's right, an ADDITIONAL 50% off that, taking it down to $13 and change.  Great deal.

As far as Patagonia stock goes, my local REI was pretty thin.  Aside from the Capilene stuff, they don't carry much else.  Maybe yours has more.  However, I did pick up a Mountain Hardwear Typhoon Jacket for a song.  It's a Gore-Tex PacLite shell that, full price, is $200.  REI's Winter Clearance Sale price?  $106.83, making the jacket about $53!

So head on down to your REI and tell 'em Patagonia Community sent you.  (They'll just give you a puzzled look.)

Great Source for Patagonia

Above:  Patagonia DAS Parka cuff detail from the Backcountry.com website.

Patagonia's website has some great features that make it a terrific shopping experience.  One other site that I've found to be excellent is Backcountry.com.  It has a good selection of Patagonia gear in addition to some other solid brands and additional pictures of items (though the Patagonia site has finally started to add more shots of their products, something Zappos.com has had for a while) but what sets it apart from other online retailers is a KNOCK-OUT return policy.  Here's what their policy says, copied and pasted from their website:

Unconditional 100% Guarantee
We guarantee complete satisfaction and an unlimited lifetime warranty. If at any time -- now, next month, in 30 years -- you're not 100% satisfied, send your gear back for a full refund. No questions asked.

Folks, that is some good, old-school stuff.  I don't know about you, but that gives me complete confidence in them and is enough to make me choose them for Patagonia gear over other merchants.  Nice job Backcountry.

Patagonia Now Available at Zappos

Maybe I'm out of touch and this is old news to all of you but...
The mother of all internet shoe retailers, Zappos.com, is now carrying Patagonia products though, ironically, not Patagonia shoes. Seems that Zappos has branched out into selling other products such as clothing, bags, and accessories. They carry over 500 shoe brands and 90,000 styles, something no brick and mortar store can come close to touching. With the introduction of different types of products (clothing, bags, and accessories), it won't be long before they are the equivalent of your internet Wal-Mart.

As for the Patagonia items, they carry men's and women's sportswear, activewear, outerwear, and travel bags. The much-loved Half-Mass bag is offered in most of the latest colors. Items range from a few dollars more than Patagonia.com to a few dolllars less. The Half-Mass goes for $79 at Patagonia, and $82.95 at Zappos while the Lightweight Travel Tote sells for $80 at Patagonia and $73.95 at Zappos. Here's the kicker though: Zappos is currently offering FREE OVERNIGHT SHIPPING if you live in the contiguous 48. That ain't bad. I've ordered running shoes from Zappos in the past and their service is exemplary.

The other nice thing is that the Zappos site offers a "Multi-View" option when viewing individual products. For example, you can see the Patagonia Rain Shadow jacket in each color and from several different angles (even the inside pocket), something at which the Patagonia site is deficient (usually one picture and once in a while two).

So we have another option for finding Patagonia products. I'll let you know once Zappos starts selling bread, eggs, and toilet paper.