Classtime 

Pretty sure I want a Explore 2. REI would be my go to for ease of replacement if I get a 🍋. They don’t carry that model currently and they told me that they don’t have a delivery date. I’m going to wait a while but if I get impatient, where would you go? Where have had good luck wrt replacement of a malfunctioning unit?

Steve B.

Quickie search on Amazon, Competitive Cyclist and The GPS Store all show in stock at $299. Not seeing and sales or deals so I guess thats the current price. You can get it from Garmin as well.

Polaris OBark

biketiresdirect.com (despite the name) is a good, solid source, with occasional discounts.

Classtime 

Ok. But how about returning to exchange. For example: when I bought a rear light and the charging port was undependable, I took it back to REI and they gave me a new one. They would do that with an Edge also.

Shadco 

If you are going to pay list why not your local lbs?

.

pdlamb

With the Garmin pricing controls in place, a Garmin is (paradoxically) a commodity. Buy it wherever you can find it. If it breaks within a month, an exchange or refund should be easy. Further out, it can become problematic.

Iride01 

Garmin does highly control the prices of what their stuff can be sold for. I typically just order directly off Garmin's website. However if my LBS has exactly what I want when I want it, then I'm good to buy from them.

I'd be careful of any deals on Garmin's that fall into the too good to be true category. You can however find some really good deals on what they consider refurbished units that are sold by of couple of the bigger online GPS outlets. Might not come with the mounts and/or the warranty is different.

njkayaker

Second this.

If you can be patient, they have sales with some-off of the Garmins.

They probably won't be as accommodating of returns as REI (REI is kind of unique in that regard).

Steve B.

Most vendors who sell a particular product will honor manufacturers warrantys. REI is painless, but thats not to say Amazon is difficult. I cant recall what I had to return to Amazon, I went to their local grocery store, I set up a return online, got a return barcode gave the barcode to the clerks, they take care of packing and returning. It was pretty easy.

Seattle Forrest

Backcountry has an identical return policy, every time REI changes theirs BC updates theirs to match. A lot of companies basically match REI's policy (because they have to, to be competitive). WMS has a much better policy, they let you take merchandise out and use it before you decide whether to buy it or not, a lot of people refuse to buy anything they sell anywhere else. EB has close to the same return policy as REI, except more lax, but I don't think they sell Garmin.

Seattle Forrest

A full price Garmin is 10% less expensive at REI than anywhere else I know of. (Sometimes you can get a 20% discount from Garmin, sometimes you can get their watches but not bike computers subsidized by your health insurance.)

Steve B.

How do you figure 10% off ?. Yes, you can get the membership coupon at end of year on purchases, is that what you are talking about ?

Right now on the website, every Garmin listed is at manufacturers list.

I do that on occasion, buy specifically from REI as I get the coupon as a member. I am as inclined to buy from my LBS, the price is usually the same and they give me an immediate 10% off as part of my membership in the local mt. bike club, which they support with club membership discounts,

Seattle Forrest

To clarify. REI does a "20% off one item" sale a few times a year, but GPS is excluded. You can use that discount on other Garmin products like a chest strap or power meter pedals, but not on an Edge. I don't want to get anybody's hopes up about that.

REI also pays members a 10% dividend on all the full price items they buy. Most people take it as store credit, but they'll cut you a check if you prefer.

​​​​​​When I bought my current Cervelo, LBS matched the discount REI was going to give me and saved me a trip. 🙂

Barry2 

Some retailers issue 20%-off coupons, then don't do a great job controlling what it can be applied to.
I got my 830 & Rally pedals -20% that way.

Apply the coupon and see what happen in the cart.

Fingers crossed

Barry

Seattle Forrest

Probably worth mentioning: if you use the 20% coupon, they don't give you the 10% dividend on that purchase. That's not especially relevant, but it's worth knowing.

Steve B.

I can say that I have never seen GPS Cycling computers discounted at REI.

Polaris OBark

They are when the discount originates from (eg) Garmin.

Polaris OBark

Biketiresdirect gives out promo-codes for repeat customers. I just got one that would allow me to do this:

Steve B.

True.

Classtime 

I got impatient and ordered from Garmin. REI will probably get some soon. Oh well.

Polaris OBark

A bunch of them are on sale at REI and biketires direct and probably other places as well now.

Steve B.

The Garmin site has the 1030 Plus on sale for $400. Thats a very good price.

IcySwan1 

I have bought Garmin products direct from Garmin, from REI, West Marine, Techno RV, my local LBS, and today from Best Buy. Garmin phone support has been great for all products and replaced a wonky Varia I bought at REI painlessly. I generally would use REI, but the other vendors have been fine. The verdict is out on Best Buy since I just ordered today online. But I haven’t found any downside so far from buying from any mainstream vendor

Mike