Scuba equipment discounts

[Jim Lapenta]

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.

From personal experience, the margins aren't that low. When I got one of mine the dealer was a friend and the price was exceptional. He sold it to me at his cost.

 

[tridacna]

From personal experience, the margins aren't that low. When I got one of mine the dealer was a friend and the price was exceptional. He sold it to me at his cost.

From personal experience - I worked at two stores that sold them and I was the liason with SW at both. Most stores would much prefer to sell SP, Suunto or any manufacturer’s computer because of SW’s low margins. They have the worst margin of any dive manufacturer. This is first-hand experience and not a “favor from a friend”. Their differentiatior is customer demand and service.

 

[boulderjohn]

A lot depends upon the product and the company. I had an experience that showed me a problem that a lot of local shops have with this sort of thing.

I wanted to buy a trimix analyzer. I was the tech instructor for a shop in Colorado, and the shop said they would let me buy it from them for their dealer cost. The did not have a relationship with any company that sells anything like that because the market for nitrox or trimix analyzers in Colorado is about nil.

They contacted Analox and went through negotiations, and I was cc'd on every email. In the end, Analox agreed to sell their trimix analyzer to them for a dealer price of about $900 if they agreed to sell 5 nitrox analyzers a year. There is no way on God's green Earth that shop could sell 5 analyzers in 10 years, let alone one year.

So I bought it from a well -known online dealer. They advertised a price significantly lower than the dealer price Analox would have given my shop if they had agreed to sell all those nitrox analyzers. In addition, that online dealer gave me a very good discount off that advertised price. I am sure they made a healthy profit. That should tell you how much of a break Analox was giving that online retailer because of its much higher volume of sales.

So remember that when your local dive shop is reluctant to give you a discount to match the price advertised by a national online dealer.

 

[vjb.knife1]

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 . . .

That's funny I have gotten some of the best discounts on Poseidon of any of my equipment. They are my preferred regulators. Hard to get competent service on though, especially from a LDS. I always send them out. I have gotten great discounts on Garmin Descents through a professional organization and work discounts, so they are also a favorite.

 

[TravisD]

Also, cash talks - depending on the shop, they probably know what CC fees are costing them and may be willing to deal along that margin. Especially effective for stuff they've had sitting on the shelf for a little while...

 

[tursiops]

Not so many years ago, the dealer markup on much equipment was 100%. Even if is lower today, they have room to negotiate, if they want to. What they really want is "customers for life."

 

[jellycatsdad]

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 . . .

You forgot lululemon if we’re talking culty Canucks. And they’re just a hop and a skip on the Canada Line from Shearwater in Vancouver .

I have a relationship with two shops, maybe three in my area. One provides their dive club members with 10% retail, which does handle the sales tax and a bit of the sting. I bought my BPW from them, and other things. The others are Scubapro dealers - one doesn’t give me a break on gear unless they can, which I did use to my advantage for a wetsuit but I had an issue with my fins they’re helping me to sort out. The other was willing to give me 10% off a Hydros Pro if I decided to pull the trigger on one. Scubapro’s model is almost similar to the bike industry - sell at MSRP but the only way to get a “pro” deal is to be in the industry or an influencer.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a market for Poiseidon and Mares from what I’ve been seeing locally. While I do want to support my LDS, I won’t hesitate to walk if you treat me wrong. The bigger brands are against DIY repair - DGX, Deep6 and HOG are bucking that and have gained an almost cult-like following. I hope Right to Repair gains traction in diving but lawyers need a raison d’être.

 

[jellycatsdad]

Not so many years ago, the dealer markup on much equipment was 100%. Even if is lower today, they have room to negotiate, if they want to. What they really want is "customers for life."

They have a long way to learn about “customers for life” given the amount of hacky techs, dudebros working the sales floor and high-pressure sales tactics. A well-known shop in Monterey was pushing a reg set on me as if he was selling a car.