sharksdelight
While your efforts to help people out here are no doubt appreciated, your advice is a bit contradictory.
You're telling us to check out a sellers ratings on a website, yet you won't disclose who this "legit dealer back East" is ?? Why the secrecy ? Why not let potential customers deal direct and establish their own relationship ? I have a relationship with my favorite place to by my UW photography gear, Reef Photo. They are knowledgeable, go above and beyond the call of duty, out of the box solutions when necessary, they answer the phone, competitive pricing & free shipping, stellar service, and provide lots of VALUE. Plus they have an actual retail shop. I'm not trying to single them out or give them a plug, as there are many great UWP specialty shops to choose from. And no, I don't work for them either. I'm just a very satisfied repeat customer
Very valid questioning and I do not have a problem with that. The only reason is that I deal with the owner only and not the shops employees. Once I get you a better price I put you directly in contact with him. You no longer deal with me, I get nothing out of the deal but the owner gives these better prices only because he and I are friends. This started years ago when after years of him giving me better deals I asked him if I could open up the same opportunities to those on Scubaboard and Wetpixel and this is just the system he and I set up. Nothing devious and I respect your questioning. As always the bottom line is up to you but I can say that only once, and that was a few weeks ago, was I not able to save a diver money and that was because shipping to Palau was about 700. Sometimes I can save someone a ton and sometimes only a little, it really depends upon a store's markup. You'd be amazed at how little it is on certain things. I believe that most shops are reputable with honest and good service and I did warn Mike a few years ago of the rep he was creating for himself. However, whenever someone contacts me with a price they got from a store or an online place, I always check it out first on resellers to be sure that it is a legit dealer. I have friends who have lost thousands when buying from Broadway Photo which takes out huge magazine ads but is really only a grey market dealer who tries to bait and switch and all other shenanigans. Their ratings were so poor that resellers simply stopped recording the newest complaints there were so many.
Steve
