A little more pricey, but you get what you pay for! The quality of the gear is great, but it is the costumer service here that is making me put 5 stars. One of the employees told me, "you can't know for sure how you like it until you've tried it." I bought my first climbing shoes with them. I had a really hard time finding the size that I wanted. I went to big, then to small, then to big again, then just right. I am so glad they let me take the shoes to the gym to climb to see how they worked in action. They never looked at me like, "are you serious, this is the third time you've come back." All around nice employees.
Help is also always close by. I've asked for a decent amount of advice on beginner climbing gear and I love everything that was recommended to me. REI has definitely won my business!