Padi Fees

[ljpm]

"Charge what the market will bear". Absolutely--that's what I want the companies my mutual funds invest in to do.
I only got "picky" on the card thing because it seemed the OP and others are knocking PADI for doing just that. So I was curious as to what a card or eCard really costs. I too don't really care, as I'm retired and couldn't give a hoot. But it's fodder for spending time on SB. The specific costs for making a card is of interest though. Anyone from PADI management want to comment?

I keep seeing this as an argument. Here is something to think about, I didn't buy the card, and from what I have read here a lot of others are unwilling to pay that price. Therefore it is seems they are charging MORE than the market will bear and losing your mutual fund money in the process!

 

[Colliam7]

I keep seeing this as an argument. Here is something to think about, I didn't buy the card, and from what I have read here a lot of others are unwilling to pay that price. Therefore it is seems they are charging MORE than the market will bear and losing your mutual fund money in the process!

I agree with the first part, not the second. I am unwilling to pay the price for an eCard. Apparently I am in a relative minority, and enough people are willing to pay for it, as the product is being offerred. For physical cards, I DID pay for the card, at least initially, even if I didn't need it. Yes, at this point in my diving 'career', I don't need more physical cards. And, I have already said that think we are moving to a more electronic world. But, the market still 'bears' the cost of physical cards. If it did not, PADI - and other agencies - wouldn't be doing it.

I'm old enough to have done serious work in e.g. WordPerfect or MacWrite, and storing my stuff on 5 1/4" floppy discs (you know, real floppy disks). None of that is accessible now.

I'm with you, brother. I still take pride in completing my Master's Thesis (a computer modelling project) using Hollerith cards (I carried BOXES of them around with me). I used 5.25 disks for years (heck, I remember using cassettes, and the 8" disks), and was wowed when we moved to 3.25" diskettes. And, I always thought (still do) that WordPerfect was FAR SUPERIOR to Microsoft Word. But, I suspect that statement moves me into the 'old fuddy duddy" category, so I will table that thought.

just as a much else of my old work, stored on backup tapes in obsolete formats.

I actually (still) have some 5.25 floppies. I have no idea what I will do with them, as i have already discarded most of the data files that I had stored on similar disks. In fact, I recently trashed some 3.25" data disks, with some trepidation, that I was no longer using. For me, the older pictures are fading, I have multiple options for digitization, AND redundant back-ups. I am leaving in a few minutes to drive to our family farm, for a 'scanning weekend', where we will continue to scan very old physical photos into digital images, after which we will discard the physical product. Yes, there is some trepidation. What of the cloud fails? What if our storage media fails? What if an EM surge from a nuclear detonation wipes all of our 'history' out?

If that happens, I guess we will resort to the oral history of old.

 

[ljpm]

I agree with the first part, not the second. I am unwilling to pay the price for an eCard. Apparently I am in a relative minority, and enough people are willing to pay for it, as the product is being offerred. For physical cards, I DID pay for the card, at least initially, even if I didn't need it. Yes, at this point in my diving 'career', I don't need more physical cards. And, I have already said that think we are moving to a more electronic world. But, the market still 'bears' the cost of physical cards. If it did not, PADI - and other agencies - wouldn't be doing it.

The comment was more to the maximization profits. A company can raise the price as high as they want but at some point there has to be a diminishing of returns. They would sell more replacement cards if the price was cheaper. Would this result in more profit, possible. I wonder if the high price of replacing a card has anything to do with PADI's ReActivate program which issues a new card with a ReActivation date for the price of $59.95 US.

I'm with you, brother. I still take pride in completing my Master's Thesis (a computer modelling project) using Hollerith cards (I carried BOXES of them around with me). I used 5.25 disks for years (heck, I remember using cassettes, and the 8" disks), and was wowed when we moved to 3.25" diskettes. And, I always thought (still do) that WordPerfect was FAR SUPERIOR to Microsoft Word. But, I suspect that statement moves me into the 'old fuddy duddy" category, so I will table that thought.

Impressive. Although I did use both the cards (don't know if they were Hollerith) and 5.25" floppies, that was in high school. Luckily by the time I had to write my theses technology had improved, although the first had to be zipped and chopped into pieces and spread over multiple 3.5" disks. Luckily usb sticks had come along before the second one.

 

[Erich S]

Why does one need a reAct card? Can't one use their old c-card?

 

[ljpm]

Why does one need a reAct card? Can't one use their old c-card?

I think it is a nice way to sell a refresher course. Call it a reactivation. Price the course just slightly higher than a replacement card.

"So, you need a replacement card. Oooh, that is a bit pricey! But, for just a little bit more you can ReActivate your ccard with refresher course.

 

[Erich S]

That makes sense and I'm sure that ones original card would do just fine.

 

[TMHeimer]

That makes sense and I'm sure that ones original card would do just fine.

That's what I've always heard. Scuba cards don't even expire.

 

[Erich S]

That's my point Tom, why would you need a new reactivate card when your original never expires.

 

[boulderjohn]

That's my point Tom, why would you need a new reactivate card when your original never expires.

Some dive operators require a refresher of some kind on site for divers who have not had a dive within a certain period of time. I have had to sign log books for refreshers for divers who were about to embark on a trip with such an operator. I have also seen stickers that can go on a certification card with the date of a refresher class for that purpose.

 

[oly5050user]

I think it is a nice way to sell a refresher course. Call it a reactivation. Price the course just slightly higher than a replacement card.

"So, you need a replacement card. Oooh, that is a bit pricey! But, for just a little bit more you can ReActivate your ccard with refresher course.

Actually the refresher cost here is separate from REACTIVATE. I charge $140 for refresher,it is up to customer if they want to do REACTIVATE online.