LP Prices no longer a Bargain?

[RonFrank]

LP recently became a ScubaPro dealer and overnight the price of ScubaPro at LP increased dramatically. I was looking at the prices of a Zeagle BC and noticed that it had climbed in price from around $400 to over $600. The Reg I own has gone from around $250 to over $400. This is disturbing. These are not minor price increases but 20-40%. I don't know if LP prices are negotiable, but it seems that prices have increased dramatically. Glad I own what I need.

Is this due to Obama's inflated currency, or our generally crappy economy? Does LP offer better prices when you call?

[Insta-Gator]

Scuba Gear - Snorkeling Equipment - Largest Scuba Diving Equipment Selection - Divers Supply

Just for comparison.

[Lead_carrier]

Want to have some real fun and compare prices? Throw Ebay into the mix. IF you can find an auction for a piece of equipment that isn't older than the hills or totally outdated then the auctions ususally start around 25% below what you can get it locally. And of course the famous, BUY IN NOW box. Where you can pay retail, pay to ship and hope it doesn't break.

[diversteve]

They're also a Zeagle dealer now. From what I've noticed recently LP prices on Zeagle seem to mirror Scubatoys now more or less.

[scubamarketing]

This has absolutely nothing to do with Obama or the economy. SCUBAPRO did not allow online dealers until recently. We were able to buy third party at great discount, but it meant no manufacturers warranty. SCUBAPRO decided to allow online dealers, but we have to follow MAP (Minimum Advertised Price). So prices went up. I've heard from people on this board that they get better deals when they call, but I can't personally confirm that since I am not in the sales department. If you see an item from another dealer, we'll beat it +5%.

I've seen quite a few LDS's lower their SCUBAPRO prices now that the public can see what MAP actually is, so that's good for consumers. Also, there are a lot of people who want SCUBAPRO but don't have access to the product line, by being an authorized dealer we have easy access to their entire product catalog.

[NWGratefulDiver]

LP recently became a ScubaPro dealer and overnight the price of ScubaPro at LP increased dramatically. I was looking at the prices of a Zeagle BC and noticed that it had climbed in price from around $400 to over $600. The Reg I own has gone from around $250 to over $400. This is disturbing. These are not minor price increases but 20-40%. I don't know if LP prices are negotiable, but it seems that prices have increased dramatically. Glad I own what I need.

Is this due to Obama's inflated currency, or our generally crappy economy? Does LP offer better prices when you call?

It's due to the silly games you have to play if you want to be a ScubaPro dealer ... what amounts to price-fixing. LP decided they wanted to become a dealer, and so they have to follow the rules that ScubaPro sets for its dealers ... to the detriment of its customers.

MAP doesn't make sense to me ... why shouldn't a merchant be allowed to determine their own price for selling a product? That's how it works in every other industry ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[awap]

What the USA scuba market needs is a good. grey market dealer. Maybe someone will show up and fill the void left by LP changing its business model. Or, maybe we should just wait. I really don't see LP coming out ahead if they have to go up against Scubatoys and other online dealers based on service rather than price.

[Jim Lapenta]

One of the things I explained in my book was the way pricing works in the Scuba Industry. Actual "pure" MAP itself is not a bad thing. It does level the playing field between dealers and lets them compete or at least gives them a starting point. But MAP is just that - MINIMUM ADVERTISED PRICE. It is not MSP - MINIMUM SELLING PRICE! The latter is what outfits like Scuba Pro and Aqualung did to not only level the field but to actually control their dealers.

MAP does not restrict a dealers ability to take care of good customers, friends, relatives, etc. MAP allows a dealer to decide what they want to sell for. IF they want to sell at cost to someone they can. They just cannot advertise it. If I have a widget with a MAP of $500 and it costs me $100 I can sell it to my long time customer for $101 or even $99. I just can't put a sign in my window, ad in the paper, on the net, etc saying that is what I am doing.

MSP is completely different. This not only tells a dealer what they can advertise for but also what kind of discount they can give period. Go beyond that and they risk losing dealer status. I'm sure a retailer like LP though could say screw you to SP and sell a MK25 A700 to a regular customer for 400 bucks a time or two and even if word did get out they would likely only get a "hey don't do dat" from SP unless they did it all the time. But let the little shop who sells one of those regs a year do that a couple times and they would soon be looking for another line.

My own personal experience with this was the Mk16 R 190 I got as a stage reg from a local dealer. I got a killer price on it but was told to not use the price when registering it as they could get in real trouble. This is where the BS comes in. Dealers are not only allowed to not advertise a lower price but can't sell at a price below a set point or they risk losing their dealer agreement.

I'd advise calling LP and asking them if they can do better than the site and while on the phone tell em that you'd rather have it the old way and be able to save some cash.

[j2s]

Monopolistic price fixing and manipulation of global marketing......Interesting that behind closed doors Aqualung and Scubapro have been "sleeping" together :P !!!!.....Too bad the Dept. of Justice doesn't see this as a high priority....But then they didn't see Enron and Madoff either :O !!!!

[scjoe]

The flip side of merchants being able to sell at any price they want is manufacturers being able to decide who they want to do business with. The merchant can sell ScubaPro at any price it wants, ScubaPro can also decide not to resupply the merchant in the US. The grey market exists probably because European distributors can force buy backs of stock or have other "protective rights" that US distributors do not.