How Much Mark Up Really On Scuba Gear???

[ReefHound]

I resale a particular dive mask for $27 each. This IDENTICAL mask (same mask, same molds, same manufacturer) sells in most places for anywhere from $49.95 to $69.95. I purchase this mask in case quantities (30 masks per case) for $13.65 each.

I'll give you $13.75 for one.

Hey, a dime's a dime. But I want free shipping.

 

[RJP]

That is simple retailer math. I don't much care.

Simple consumer math is store A sells a product for $500 and store B sells that product for $300. Where should you make that purchase?

That's fine; just thought that understanding what the retailer's situation is might be useful for those people who often don't seem to understand why a retailer might not want to get into a "discount" business model.

 

[RJP]

I'll give you $13.75 for one.

Hey, a dime's a dime. But I want free shipping.

Don't forget to find out what model mask it is so you can go try it on at your LDS first!

 

[mike_s]

I'll give you $13.75 for one.

Hey, a dime's a dime. But I want free shipping.

you forgot to ask for the 10% discount in addition to all that!

 

[george w]

One thing that nobody is saying. There are suppliers that try to madate price to its dealers. I had a wet suit supplier call me to complain that my prices were to low. After enough calls I stopped that line of wet suits and started my own line that I import from overseas. I am getting top quality neoprene wet suits and with the shipping cost and duty costs, I still sell them at low prices. Other suppliers will take away a dealership is you lower the price unless it is an approved sale. So sometimes our hands are tied. The shipping cost from some suppliers is marked up to dealers also. So there are alot of costs besides the cost of the item.

 

[mathauck0814]

One thing that nobody is saying. There are suppliers that try to madate price to its dealers. I had a wet suit supplier call me to complain that my prices were to low. After enough calls I stopped that line of wet suits and started my own line that I import from overseas. I am getting top quality neoprene wet suits and with the shipping cost and duty costs, I still sell them at low prices. Other suppliers will take away a dealership is you lower the price unless it is an approved sale. So sometimes our hands are tied. The shipping cost from some suppliers is marked up to dealers also. So there are alot of costs besides the cost of the item.

Is Bare one of the suppliers that sets a mandatory low price? Just curious. It's the details like those that you've provided that would be great to know as a consumer. If a shop is doing what it can within its power to work with customers to provide what they require, that's the sort of shop I'd like to do business with.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

....How much mark up is there on this stuff?

Hopefully enough to keep the manufacturers, distributers, and shops in business.

The human psyche is a very strange beast, especially when it comes to matters of money. It is a funny how we perceive a "good deal" or a "rip off" simply based on the mark up on items, without stopping to consider that the % mark up does not equal % profit for most businesses. And I'll admit I'm just as guilty as anyone else, even though we have our own small business (not scuba related), and I worked behind the counter of my Dad's small motorcycle shop as a teenager.

Best wishes

 

[RAWalker]

I as a comsumer have made a commitment to not purchase the products of manufacturers that force MARP pricing agreements at least not unless I can purchase the product with full warranty below MARP pricing. ( yes it can be done! Sport Chalet messed up a recent ad that I caught them on )
Otherwise I purchase products that have MAP agreements that still allow the dealer to set the final price.
I've noticed more dealers are carrying multiple lines that allow comsumers to make this choice without walking out of their shop.
If more consumers would make similar choices then the MARP structure would soon be a thing of the past. That would end the influence of artifically high prices that most of our gear's prices are set by.
Next problem is a way for LDS to compete head to head with the online dealers.
Most of these online dealers are brick and mortar LDS that got on the net early and pumped up their sales and then added warehousing to expand their business'.
A solution for the LDS may be to set up regional buying groups with other LDS and instead of competing with each other work together to pool there resources. Maybe a central warehouse and the ability to offer each others lines to their customers. This should prop up sales, qualify them for better pricing tiers from manufacturers and eliminate the need for customers to shop online. They could however also pool their resource in a online storefront and put themselves on a equal footing with the present online shops. This would force manufacturers to stop playing favorites.
OK so I've just outlined a way to stop the decay of the LDS it's up to the owners to stop complaining a work out the details if they want to remain in the industry. The extra expenses are a warehouse, truck to deliver to the members and those needed to run the added infrastructure but the expansion of your customers base and stability of the profit margin should be able to be worked out in the member's favor. Eventually the online dealers and will want into the system and the manufacturer will want to act as partners. After all this is just a matter of localizing and expanding warehousing.

 

[deepseafalcon]

It is amazing to me that some would consider 100% mark up as extreme. After calculating "cost of goods" it is considerably less than 100%. If after everthing is all said and done a business can say they made 15% the owner would be overjoyed. The average consumer has no idea what it takes to make a buck as a retail businessman.

not to be a wise ass, but a 100% markup would mean that the cost of goods is zero.

 

[Thalassamania]

As my father instructed me, it is NOT a 100% markup -- but, to the contrary, 50%, out of which must come all the adjusted gross revenue to pay for staying in business.

Now, how does it get to be 50%? Well, if I buy it at $50, sell it at $100, then $100 is twice $50 so 100%; but $50 is just half of $100 -- thus only 50% because the markup is just half of the total price! As with so much in life, one's point of view depends on where one looks.

not to be a wise ass, but a 100% markup would mean that the cost of goods is zero.

Markup is the percentage of the cost that is added to the selling price, so an item that cost $50 and sells for $100 has a markup of 100%. That is different from points, which describe the percent profit in a sale, that same item described above would be said to have 50 points in it because at the sale price half of what is taken in is gross profit.

Most retail items, in just about any industry, have very high markups for inexpensive items that you find next to the register just waiting for your impulse buy ... 500% is not unusual. This settles down to about 110% for items up to hundreds of dollars and drops doen to 50% or so for items in the thousand and up range. Keep in mind those are markup, not points, 50% markup means 33 points.