Buying Gear at your LDS VS internet!!!

[TheRedHead]

Welcome to the board.... You are right ... Most LDS only carrying certain brands due to Manufacturer agreement.. You will also find others that carry a different brand... This allows them to stay in business without taking

So, are you saying that an LDS who sells Brand X enters into an agreement with a manufacturer to carry only that manufacturer's brand? That's crazy if it is true. One could easily make a comparison with high end audio equipment where hifi stores sometimes have exclusive dealer agreements, but those same retailers have agreements with several manufacturers. I can walk into my local audio shop and if I don't like the sound of the B&W, then I can choose the KEF or the Magnaplanar, all the in the same price range.

I can go to another audio store and buy some of the same brands sold in the first store plus a few others not offered in the first store because some of the manufacturers have exclusive agreements and others do not. But, there does not exist any other kind of retail store in my experience that sells only Brand X and no other.

That doesn't make sense, IMHO.

 

[bwerb]

So, are you saying that an LDS who sells Brand X enters into an agreement with a manufacturer to carry only that manufacturer's brand? That's crazy if it is true.

That doesn't make sense, IMHO.

Welcome the the wonderful world of dive retail...believe it...it's true!

 

[hardhat]

More times then not buying on the net means, NO MANUFACTURER'S WARRENTY. Buying from a dive shop usually means after service. The more business you give the same shop, the more they know you and the better the service seems to be.SO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DIVE SHOPS AND NOT THE NET SALES.

 

[JRScuba]

The only thing I would caution you about, is that you carefully pick your LDS. The good ones are better than sliced bread. A bad on is your worst nightmare.

Be a smart shopper, your life may depend on it.

Dive Safely

Joe

 

[scubatoys]

More times then not buying on the net means, NO MANUFACTURER'S WARRENTY. Buying from a dive shop usually means after service. The more business you give the same shop, the more they know you and the better the service seems to be.SO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DIVE SHOPS AND NOT THE NET SALES.

Not all net shops are created equal... We do offer a full manufactures Warranty on all the items we sell - either on line of in our shop. I've known local shops with terrible service. SO SUPPORT THE RETAILER OR ETAILER THAT GIVES YOU INFORMATION, SERVICE, MANUFACTURES WARRANTY AND A FAIR PRICE. If you got one of those local... great... if not... guess you'll have to look elsewhere.

 

[Tampabay]

I agree with you 100%... And you have the right to shop and compare.........

 

[scubasean]

The only thing I would caution you about, is that you carefully pick your LDS. The good ones are better than sliced bread. A bad on is your worst nightmare.

Be a smart shopper, your life may depend on it.

Dive Safely

Joe

This is the same advice you should use in choosing any purchase, not just dive gear...Pick the right equipment, made by a responsible manufacturer with a good reputation for good equipment...With this, a warranty should fall on the back burner, since you won't likely need to use it...

 

[michaelaz]

........ Buying from a dive shop usually means after service. The more business you give the same shop, the more they know you and the better the service seems to be.SO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DIVE SHOPS AND NOT THE NET SALES.

What ????? So your telling me now that the more I spend,the better service at my local DS will be ?? C'mon. The service should be the same for anyone that walks in the door,regardless if you bought all equipment there or over the net.
The bottom line is until someone takes a stand and files a class action lawsuit things wont get better,when they do I'll join it in a heartbeat. Im all for my LDS making a profit but when I see them selling dive wheels @$42 I dont feel a bit sorry for them. I did buy my boots,suits,mask,knives from them so I could see and try on what I wanted and bought with them for that ability but I paid dealer cost for everything in my sig. If you guys KNEW the markup the shops were making you wouldnt be so quick to be another sheep in flock defending the LDS vs internet.

 

[Web Monkey]

As to your legal question, AFAIK, the government doesn't initiate class action suits. Those are brought by private parties as civil actions. If the government ever becomes involved I don't think anyone in the industry has deep enough pockets to fight them off.

While price-fixing is illegal in the US, manufacturers are still able to decide which dealers they wish to sell to.

If they don't want to sell to dealer xyz, they simply don't have to. All they need to do is decide that selling to a particular dealer isn't beneficial to them, and decide to not do it.

I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's reality.

Terry

 

[The Kraken]

There is a phrase in the manufacturing industry when a manufacturer "pulls the line" from a distributor - "We're realigning distribution . . . ".

In other words, you were discounting our product so we're taking the line away from you and this will show other distributors that they'd better fall in line.

Done it myself, but not with diving gear.

And, as Web Monkey say, it's perfectly legal.