From what I've read, the dividends are only 10% of what you spent in the previous year, so if you've earned $150 over 4 years, that's a total spent of $1500.

In my experience, everything in REI is overpriced, sometimes greater than 25% over Amazon or even Bass Pro Shop.

So... did you actually save any money? Even with the "trial" period for products (did you actually return something 9 months later?).