I'm paying retail for equipment from LDS

[Bullswan]

I think it is fairly obvious that Scuba Pro and a lot of other manufacturers are selling directly to LP. They couldn't keep up with the volume and offer the lower pricing in any other way. THAT is what the LDS should be fighting but they are too small to do so. That is exactly what happens in a lot of industries. The electronics industry made it famous!

Greg

 

[Cheekymonkey]

I wouldnt be suprised one bit Bullswan, I mean its easier for them, even selling cheaper they are probably doing better since they have no warranties to uphold.

 

[Charlie59]

Warranties for regulators? Has anyone used a warranty for a problem with a reg? they seem to be very reliable.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

No i'm not saying warranties arent good, i'm saying its good for the manufactuer if they can get away with selling and not offering one, warranties are expensive to uphold for manufactuers, especially one like scuba pro with lifetime free parts if someone gets their reg serviced every year and keeps documentation of it.

 

[craborn]

I understand you could have bought it for less but you will get yearly service for life from scubapro. And if something happens to the reg I could almost tell you the retail owner will lend you another while he is fixing yours. You would have to send it back to LPrp if they will service it and wait howlong??? Enjoy your reg. That reg is worth the money. Hunble Opinion.... Clay

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Yea if you want to make sure you never regret this purchase just make sure you never miss a yearly servicing, and ten years down the road you will feel like you came out on top.

 

[Tigerman]

3 or 4 years ago, on average, each cellphone Nokia sold had to go back to the manufacturer for a $1,5 repair during the warranty period. If Nokia sold a million cellphones a year, thats $1,5 million extra expences that they could get away without if they gave no warranty. Now how many phones did nokia ACTUALLY sell at that time? A LOT more than a million a year, so obviously the numbers are growing FAST..

 

[Swan1172]

Warranties for regulators? Has anyone used a warranty for a problem with a reg? they seem to be very reliable.

Undercurrents recently had a pretty interesting article that touched on warranties. Of the respondents to their survey, 50% felt that warranties had little or no value. One of the respondents commented that it was ludicrous to spend $50-$100 annually to have his regulator serviced just to get free parts under the warranty. Others had comments similar to yours Charlie.

 

[Swan1172]

I think it is fairly obvious that Scuba Pro and a lot of other manufacturers are selling directly to LP. They couldn't keep up with the volume and offer the lower pricing in any other way. THAT is what the LDS should be fighting but they are too small to do so. That is exactly what happens in a lot of industries. The electronics industry made it famous!

Greg

You are wrong about this. The manufacturers certainly know what is going on, but they are not selling directly to Leisure Pro. They are turning a blind-eye to the gray market, but that is only because it benefits them and their affiliated LDS's.

The way it works is that an LDS buys a large volume of equipment from the manufacturer at 40% of the manufacturer's MSRP and then sells it to Leisure Pro at 50%, making a nice, quick profit. Leisure Pro then marks the product up to 75% of MSRP, makes a profit and sells it to you for 25% less than you would have paid at the LDS due to their pricing agreement with the manufacturer. You get a great deal, Leisure Pro makes money, the LDS makes money and the manufacturer makes money.

This is especially true for ScubaPro, who will not let their retailers sell for less than 90% of their MSRP. If they were looking to expand into online sales, it would make a lot more sense for them to let their authorized retailers to sell online at MSRP than it would for them to sell to Leisure Pro.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

....."If they were looking to expand into online sales, it would make a lot more sense for them to let their authorized retailers to sell online at MSRP than it would for them to sell to Leisure Pro".

Now ask yourself -

Who would pay full retail for a regulator purchased online from an authorized SP dealer when the buyer could just as easily purchase the same product online discounted by 25% or 30% from a volume ('unauthorized') dealer such as Leisure Pro?

As the buyer is paying shipping from somewhere (and doesn't really care where), the buyer is going to be 'price-driven'. Would you willingly pay more for a product from online source A if you could get the same product less expensive at online source B?

It isn't as if you're going to return it to the online source for annual maintenance, right? Therefore price is most likely to be a determining factor in your decision.