used LP 95's--good price?

[LiteHedded]

a dive shop here has used LP95s here for 200 each.
they both have current VIS and hydro I believe.
good price? should I snap these up? what other questions should I ask as these would be my first tanks

[jscott099]

Its OK I guess, you can by brand new ones for $250. You said 'I believe' on the hydro and visual. You want to be sure. It would be a shame if they could not pass hydro get tossed out. See when the last hydro was. Its not expensive to get a new one if the date is close. Check on the last visual date. It doesn't take long and its cheap to get a new one. Best to be sure of what your getting. I would ensure the valve is the kind of valve that you want for your regs and the type of diving you do.

[Rainer]

How old are they? That's pretty high unless they're a year or two into their original hydrop. I bought brand new LP85s last year for $200 each.

[LiteHedded]

where do you see them for 250 new?
anyway 400 is about what I've got to spend.
he told me yesterday about the hydro I think they're very current but I don't remember exactly. I will ask again

[Stu S.]

Seems like an OK price. I had one that was about a year and a half old, nitrox clean, that I sold on eBay, back in June. I got about $180 for it and the buyer paid like $30 for shipping. Some were bringing a little more than that, so too bad for me.

New steel tanks will probably get more expensive as our US Dollar declines in value. Most are made in Italy, and some are from Canada. Now may be a good time to buy.

[Jim Lapenta]

How were they used? Were they originally singles or did he break a set of doubles up? Ask how many cave fills they had.

[FranzKafka]

I have never seen LP 95's for 250 new. I just paid $295 for new tank at my LDS on Long Island (NY). $200 seems like an OK price for my area.

[Hemlon]

I have never seen LP 95's for 250 new. I just paid $295 for new tank at my LDS on Long Island (NY). $200 seems like an OK price for my area.

Local dive shops are notoriously over-priced.

[Rainer]

Local dive shops are notoriously over-priced.

Are you suggsting that you can find a better price online? If so, post away.

[Hemlon]

Are you suggsting that you can find a better price online? If so, post away.

Leisure Pro: LP 95cf tanks for $299.95

[Rainer]

Leisure Pro: LP 95cf tanks for $299.95

Um, wow. That's $5 more than what you called a "notoriously over-priced" LDS... Try again.

[Hemlon]

Um, wow. That's $5 more than what you called a "notoriously over-priced" LDS... Try again.

:rofl3:

[LiteHedded]

ok i went and looked at them ....well I saw one of them
the current hydro is 4/06 and he tells me he just did the hydro on the other one.
the one I saw was made in 94.
it's a dive shop btw not an individual if that matters.
sounds like I may not find a better deal.
I'm contemplating just buying new al80's to save the money and be done with it. although I would really like a higher capacity steel tank

[Rainer]

$200 for decade old 95s is pretty bad. I bought HP100s from 2002 last year for $130 each. If you're going to buy used, just wait around for a better deal. I know my buddy bought his 95s used (2000 made) last year for around $120 each (shipped). Deals can be had if you're patient. SB probably isn't the place to find them, though.

[LiteHedded]

enlighten me
where is the place to find them?
:D

[Rainer]

It's really a crap shoot. I've had very good luck on thedecostop, as well as eBay and CL. Garage sales and local papers also tend to have good deals. For whatever reason, people tend to overpay here on SB. Good luck.

[LiteHedded]

i've been browsing craigslist.
it seems buying local is the best bet for tanks. what with the shipping costs etc.

[Matt S.]

A while back there was a link to a Blue Steel/Faber FX-100 for $250 shipped. It would need a vis... but it's a good tank, and new.

[Hemlon]

It's really a crap shoot. I've had very good luck on thedecostop, as well as eBay and CL. Garage sales and local papers also tend to have good deals. For whatever reason, people tend to overpay here on SB. Good luck.

:rofl3:

[Rainer]

:rofl3:

I take it you're high. You can't do math ($299 is MORE than $295) and now you keep laughing. Lay off the drugs, ok?

[Hemlon]

I take it you're high. You can't do math ($299 is MORE than $295) and now you keep laughing. Lay off the drugs, ok?

No drugs here. I'm just laughing at the irony of the full circle in which this thread has evolved.

[Colliam7]

a dive shop here has used LP95s here for 200 each.
they both have current VIS and hydro I believe. good price? OK price, but not a 'bargain' by any means. I would offer $150 each at most.

[paulwall]

Btw, was the new hydro + Rated? LP95's are only 95 at the + (2640 psi) rating. othewise, they're LP84.5's

[JahJahwarrior]

Ask the shop to take some off the price, and pay with cash. Local shop I go to, I tell the guy what I want to pay, and he tells me if that's possible. Usually, it is, especially if I'm paying with cash.

And keep an eye out, especially on thedecostop.com for steel tanks. You can find good deals. I personally found aluminum 100's two years into original hydro, with current (done when I bought them) vip, for $125 a piece. That's less than the price of a new 80, and many places "new" is one or two years into original hydro date. :) You can find deals on steels on TDS, prices there are better than on SB. Ebay is never a good place to go. Never pay what the person asks for on Craigslist. If they want $100, offer $75. If they want $300, offer $250. Argue your point: tell them it'll cost $30 to get it hydroed, you can use this very effectively if it is out of hydro or near the end of the last hydro, tell them it'll be $15 for a vip, which is useful if it's out or nearly out of vip. Take $10 or so off for every hydro stamp, if you can. Basically, bargain with the guy, but try to point out why your value, what you want to pay, is more correct than the asking price.

And if you are selling things, you do the opposite: point out why your price is more accurate than what the buyer wants to pay :) Know what you are selling, know prices, be able to quote them. I rarely sell things for much less than I ask, becuase I'm very good at arguing why my price is right. I rarely pay what people ask, because I'm very good at arguing why their price is wrong. :)

Case in point: I'm buying a $100 truck topper for $75, and all I had to agree to was to go pick it up. And the guy even thanked me for taking it off his hands! :) Two months ago, I listed some regs for $150, and the buyer wanted me to take $100. I pointed out that the service, done 6 months before, was $99.95, and that since then I had replaced three hoses, at $15 each. I paid $145 just to get the regs in operating condition, and only had two dives on them. I let him breathe through them off of a tank, and tossed in another mouthpiece, and he paid me $150. I would have sold them for $130 but was able to get him to pay what I really wanted by knowing my numbers. Then again, I wanted to sell a guitar for $150. Buyer drove two hours to meet me, he offered $120. I knew I had him, he'd just driven two hours, I could ask for $150 andhe'd probably pay it. But he knew his guitars and pointedout some flaws which I knew about but didn't want to obcess over, so we settled at $130, and both of us were happy.

So, offer to pay $350 for both tanks. But i wouldn't do it, you canf ind better deals on TDS if you wait and wait for a while.

[Matt S.]

That is all good advice. But you left out something important: most sellers/buyers on Craigslist are morons. You can't reason with them. First, accept the probability that you are dealing with a moron.

The other day I was selling a camera. I did my research and priced it fairly and correctly--then I took $50 off that and posted it on CL, price firm. I was willing to take a hit for a quick sale. But the offers I got were consistently about 1/2 the asking price. You can't talk a guy up from that, no matter how reasonable you are!

So, I went to ebay, and I got the price that I wanted.

I was actually so irritated that I became inspired to write a screed on the denizens of Craigslist.

Wrongcrowd.com - The Denizens of Craigslist (http://wrongcrowd.com/article.php/20070905232304817)

Warning: bad language. :)

Of course, I keep using CL, because when it's good, it's good.

[LiteHedded]

good advice
he's not budging on the price at all

[JBRES1]

Last month I purchased 2 (new) Faber FX100's for a price of $233.68 ea, del. to my door.
These were the ones listed here on Scubaboard thru Divers Direct.
So I wouldn't pay $200.00 ea for a used 98.
Jim Breslin

[Matt S.]

Wow! When I got mine there it was $250 delivered. Sweet deal.

[FranzKafka]

I would not buy those tanks for $200. For $95 Dollars more you can have a brand new tank. I am all for buying used but those tanks are too old to command that $200 price. I looked on CL and EBAY for a month for steel tanks and finally decided my time was worth something and just went to LDS and bought new.

That way I was supporting LDS and I knew the tank I bought was perfect. (It also helped I had just won a bunch of money playing Poker and I had extra cash on hand.)

[kgdiver]

I bought 2 lp 95 in the past year. Both in hydro/vis.
I paid $125 for one and $175 for the other. I would be comfortable paying up to about $200 for one in good condition