LDS Package Discount

[Chilkie]

Shop around is the best advice you can get.

 

[fnfalman]

I get the standard 10% discount off everything in store that I purchase; ranging from rubber marking paint to whatever. On the big dollars items like regulators, BCs and computers, I can get up to 20% depending on the manufacturers. Some manufacturers only allow the LDS to reduce the price down to a certain minimum % from the retail price.

Can I get stuff cheaper on-line? Sure. But since that the LDS is giving me a decent discount PLUS quality customer service, I don't feel the need to milk him for every red cent.

 

[lmorin]

Do not go in to a shop and try on different things for comfort and fit get the info and then say thanks I'm going to get it online. I had 2 customers do this to me before, one I found out after I showed them all the gear and the other kept saying well I found this online for this much and this for this much. I wasted hours on these people and they got all the right sizes and info then bought it somewhere else. The second person though was not comparing apples to apples and I could not meet the prices of the junk they wanted online.

What's the difference between what they did and what I did? See below. The other shop "wasted hours on [me and I] got all the right sizes and info then bought it somewhere else." It's called comparison shopping.

I bought bc, computer, octo and regular reg for my LDS but only AFTER going to another LDS that sold similar gear 30 mi away. I got a written package price quote from that shop, took it to my true LDS (1 mi away) and asked if they would match the price (times 2, because my wife was being equipped also). They did. Some items were by different manufacturers, but the same quality of product (low priced Apeks reg instead of low priced Aqualung reg; same parent company). I also paid cash. The result was about a 33% cut in price from the list total.

 

[ericpheifer]

The LDS I go to offers discounts on package deals that vary by package, but... an additional discount for being a member of their dive club!

Ask at your shop if they have a dive club you can join for, say $20, and then get 15% off all equipment purchases. Plus supporting the LDS, as many others have said, is a must.

 

[drdaddy]

What's the difference between what they did and what I did? See below. The other shop "wasted hours on [me and I] got all the right sizes and info then bought it somewhere else." It's called comparison shopping.

I bought bc, computer, octo and regular reg for my LDS but only AFTER going to another LDS that sold similar gear 30 mi away. I got a written package price quote from that shop, took it to my true LDS (1 mi away) and asked if they would match the price (times 2, because my wife was being equipped also). They did. Some items were by different manufacturers, but the same quality of product (low priced Apeks reg instead of low priced Aqualung reg; same parent company). I also paid cash. The result was about a 33% cut in price from the list total.

I think that he is talking about those who go to the LDS to get the "right size" for items they intend to order on-line. This lacks integrity. I always tell my LDS what I am doing and they always give me a great deal. If they can't, they tell me they can't. They never "guilt" me to buy. The ones that use guilt will simply drive a wedge between me and them.

 

[redacted]

I think that he is talking about those who go to the LDS to get the "right size" for items they intend to order on-line. This lacks integrity. I always tell my LDS what I am doing and they always give me a great deal. If they can't, they tell me they can't. They never "guilt" me to buy. The ones that use guilt will simply drive a wedge between me and them.

I can see where the first customer atedeschi is complaining about may have done that, but the 2nd customer clearly was giving him the opportunity to compete when he quoted the comparison prices he had found. atedeschi appears to have lost that sale because he did not (or could not) opt to offer competitive prices. The customer gave him the chance.