Scuba equipment discounts

[vjb.knife1]

What brands of equipment do you think are the hardest to find discounts from retail price on? Scubapro comes to mind first then Atomic. I guess it depends on the dealer and how much gear you are buying at the time, too. When I lived in Hawaii I bought a lot of new equipment for my Wife and Myself and I was working as a Diver so I had several sets of gear for different purposes. I don't live there any more so I have a little less equipment now.

 

[lexvil]

Totally dependent on your relationship with the dealer.

the real frustration comes with “regional” prices with iron fisted control which is scubapro‘s business model.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Some mfg's recognize that what a dealer charges is the dealer's business. Not theirs. They will tell the dealer that they can't advertise lower than XXX but when it comes to the final selling price, the dealer can do whatever they want.
When I was selling, my return customers and people I liked always got better pricing. Even my new customers benefitted from my super low overhead since I operated out of my home. Rarely could I not beat someone else's deal. When I could not it was usually because they bundled something else that I did not carry.
I know of one dealer for ScubaPro who was threatened with losing his dealership for giving a long-term customer a bigger discount than SP allowed. The customer happened to mention it to another dealer who, like a little biatch, ran to the regional rep crying about it.
In my first book, I have a chapter on gear that talks about the way the industry jerks divers around in the US that they can't get away with in the EU. They screw dealers with this as well.
Most mfg.'s have:

MSRP. Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price - Rarely does anyone pay this. It's usually the highest price an item will sell for.

Next is MAP. Minimum Advertised Price - This is the lowest that a dealer can publicly advertise the price of an item. Publicly depends on the mfg. You can't generally advertise on social media or in print like a newspaper or mailed circular. But you can probably get away with a sign lowering the cost below this in your store. Again, it depends on the mfg. Another pissy dealer might take a photo and go all whiny on you.
Some mfg's will tell them to pound salt. Others might give you a call or email. Let's you know someone is a crybaby. Had that happen to me when I started to cut into another's business.

Then you have MSP. Minimum Selling Price - This is the one that some huge brands, that will remain nameless, use. They couple this will draconian minimum orders of crap you will never sell so that the "full line" is represented. They enforce this with the ruthlessness of Spanish Inquisition. If a customer you know well and want to keep gets a 5 or 10% break below this, make sure they don't tell anyone! Especially another dealer! You will see the gates of hell open up on you.

These same companies also used to whine and lie about a certain large retailer selling "grey market" gear that did not come with a US warranty. They said they did not authorize the dealer. It was all bullcrap. It's not like the retailer had one or two items. They had dozens, if not hundreds of the items on hand.
You don't carry that kind of inventory without some "wink and a nod" approval from the mfg. Now the retailer is an "authorized" dealer.
And strangely enough, all of those brands are now owned by large conglomerates, hedge funds, etc.
Money talks and BS walks.

Form a relationship with a dealer you like. Doesn't even have to be a local one. Until I retired I had repeat customers from around the world. Canada, Guam, and Okinawa were some of my best areas for sales. And I'm in SW Pennsylvania. I treated them with respect and gave them great deals whenever I could. I had repeat service customers from all over the US. And I appreciated their loyalty and showed it in my pricing and turnaround times.

 

[rhwestfall]

The other thing is to actually speak with someone if ordering. Things may never be put in writing, but can be negotiable or discounted verbally.

Folks need to remember how to have a verbal conversation....

 

[tridacna]

Shearwater is almost impossible to get discounted. Margins are low and demand is high. LDS are reluctant to discount them.

 

[SlugLife]

The easiest way to find discounts are to:

• Shop the used market
• Shop more reasonably priced brands
• A little bit of DIY
• Extortion. "Nice little dive shop you have here. It would be a shame if someone where to dump a gallon of zebra mussels in your swimming pool."

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Shearwater is almost impossible to get discounted. Margins are low and demand is high. LDS are reluctant to discount them.

Again, it depends on the dealer and how well you know them or do things for them.

 

[Scott]

Again, it depends on the dealer and how well you know them or do things for them.

Very true.
Your relationship with a dealer is just that, your relationship. While you're thinking it may help by spreading the word to others of a great deal, it may come back to bite you in the end.

 

[tridacna]

Again, it depends on the dealer and how well you know them or do things for them.

Not really. Shearwater pursue dealers who discount their products. Plus their margins are really low anyway. Easier for a customer to negotiate for a coupon or gift certificate as part of their sale. Dealers won’t be breaking agreement that way.

 

[Bigbella]

An online dealer was discontinuing their whole Shearwater line, last February, and held quite a fire-sale -- a new Teric for 695.00 and a NERD 2 for 1K; so I thought that it was high-time to sport a toque, order the poutine special at Tim Horton's, and to join the Canuck Cult -- couldn't really justify that chunk of change otherwise.

Poseidon is certainly a hard sell, nowadays (which hadn't always been the case), and recent US listings have only shown the absurd MSRP rates; though as others have already said, negotiations are frequently possible, especially around the holidays (I recently picked up a Jetstream MK3, from ScubaToys in Texas, for my niece, for US 600.00 vs the going rate of about 900.00); so too, buying from overseas can be a viable solution, which I have done at an ever increasing rate.

There can be vast differences between purchasing here or abroad. In an extreme example (mentioned in a related thread), the Atmosphere (full-face mask) had been listed on Scuba.com for 2300.00, which included both first and second stages.

In Germany, that very same set-up ( new "older" stock through a dealer), currently runs 749 euros (lately, about US 816.00). For obvious reasons, and because I can easily service the gear, most of my equipment is no longer purchased in the States.

A friend, tired of sucking air through an OTS Guardian "straw," picked one up in 2022 after borrowing one of my FFMs for work -- everything was entirely to specs -- all was as advertised; and he couldn't be happier . . .