Newly certified, looking for gear... abroad?

[tmrqs]

Hello all,

Just got certified (Open Water + Nitrox) and eager to get my own gear!
I’ve made a shortlist of what I would like and been comparing prices here in the US... until I stumbled on the prices in Europe (be it in GBP or EUR) and realized they were half the price, for instance on Scubapro regs.

Scubapro being a US company, I thought the prices would be more expensive (or at least the same) abroad.

Am I missing something or should I actually be getting my gear overseas?

Cheers!

 

[flyboy08]

Get hooked on Leisure Pro in Manhattan. Their web site has great daily holiday deals going on...support your local economy and city


And congrats on your C card.

 

[TMHeimer]

How much would shipping and duty cost? Often they work that so I wind up buying stuff (not scuba specifically) here in Canada at a much higher cost than in the U.S. Then I can say "I support local businesses" (couldn't really care less about that to be honest).

 

[Sifossifoco]

+1 for LeisurePro

 

[tmrqs]

Get hooked on Leisure Pro in Manhattan. Their web site has great daily holiday deals going on...support your local economy and city


And congrats on your C card.

Thank you!
I actually already bought gear at LeisurePro - my mask, snorkel and fins.

But the price difference is significant, it will be hundreds and hundreds of $ in the end.

 

[tmrqs]

How much would shipping and duty cost? Often they work that so I wind up buying stuff (not scuba specifically) here in Canada at a much higher cost than in the U.S. Then I can say "I support local businesses" (couldn't really care less about that to be honest).

Just looking at the first stage and second stage (no octopus), it’s $560 here vs $280 in the UK (shipping included)... and I doubt I would pay that much in taxes. So probably looking at $200 in savings just on this.

And I will need quite a few more items, octo, gauge, BCD, ... the difference will be significant in the end.

Just can’t understand how the prices can be that different on a US brand.

 

[Sifossifoco]

Make sure you add shipping costs and import taxes though. Quite often the final cost ends up being the same as buying in the US...

 

[Marie13]

Warranty may not be valid on this side of the pond. Some places might not ship to the US.

 

[tmrqs]

Warranty may not be valid on this side of the pond. Some places might not ship to the US.

The warranty is a good call out, didn’t think about that, thank you!

 

[tmrqs]

Make sure you add shipping costs and import taxes though. Quite often the final cost ends up being the same as buying in the US...

Thank you!
I responded to @TMHeimer above but it seems my response is pending moderation approval.

I was saying that for the MK11 + C370, with shipping costs, it’s pretty much exactly half price ($280) vs the price in NYC with taxes ($560).
I expect to have to pay customs on this but it can’t imagine it would get to $100, so that’s probably a $200 difference in the end.

And it’s not just one store, multiple stores have these low prices... so strange!