awap,
it's possible scubapro et al. will pull the dealership from it's authorized list. this would in effect void the warranty. how can an LDS get around the 10% discount?
crowell,
the "imaginary" trade in sounds like an illegal operation to me. however, if you really did have some old gear to trade in, how much discount are you able to get for it? i wonder if this is dictated by SP et al.?
r.d.009,
you raise an interesting point about buying in bulk. as i understand it, the LDS would not be able to pass the discount on to you. they would merely be able to gain more profit for themselves by buying in bulk. this assumes that they are able to get a discount for bulk buys.
i would guess that they do not get a discount for buying in bulk, as this would defeat one of the purposes of limiting discounts to the final customer to 10%. this has the effect of promoting LDSs in the first place which might be a small shop in northern nowhereland. this way they are not penalized for being small. if bulk buying does give the divestore owner a discount, it seems to be a contradiction in policies.
dscheck,
i suppose the manufacturers are worried about price wars. that is an excellent point. their line is of course that they are able to maintain LDSs thin margins of profit by only allowing 10% discounts across the board. this goes along with their philosophy of a "safe" purchase and all of the issues that go along with that( i.e. local service, proper fit, training, etc.). of course, they benefit through having more trained divers and stores that push their product. they also benefit from higher prices assuming they can maintain a superior product (my research and assumption) and image. of course their image is only heightened in some minds by being elitist when it comes to their discount policy and verboten on-line decrees.
is there a better way for SP et al. to insure quality education, proper fit and service, quality product without demanding 90-100% msrp?
scott,
a quick search on scubatoys website yields three trivial products that are merely "compatible with" scubapro equipment, not scubapro. i bet that if he sells scubapro equipment it comes only as an in-store item and not online. i actually called him as well a week or so ago as it seemed to be an alternative to leisurepro and its supply/quality/warranty conundrum, but larry (or one of his reps.) said that he only sells stuff over the web that comes with a full manufacturer's warranty. thus, he has worked out a deal(maybe anyone can?) with these manufacturers such that they allow internet sales. apparently zeagle allows internet sales and still backs up the warranty? would you say that zeagle is any better or worse for doing so?
through my very novice level research i have come to the conclusion that apeks, scubapro,aqualung,seaquest,dive-rite (at least) are some of the top manufacturers of scuba equip. in terms of quality and service. i am also under the impression that zeagle is a high-quality company. however, while at least SP and AL are sticking together on the discount/warranty policy (i'm not sure about apeks and dive-rite, though dive-rite does allow internet sales through diveriteexpress at least but disparages buying from LP and a few other hoodlums!) zeagle *appears* to have disregarded this policy. are SP and AL just more money-hungry or are they really more safety conscious? if zeagle et al. are gaining more sales and legions by selling every which way but loose, how can SP and AL ignore these policies? are they holding out?
i guess it comes down to asking yourself whether SP et al. quality/service are worth the extra price and whether their sales policy is a higher standard or a devilish marketing ploy. i'm not sure what to believe. i can see it either way i guess, though i want to believe they are in it for the good of the team. it feels like i am turning my nose up at zeagle, which is not a desirable position to be in considering its contributions to quality. of course my LDS only really sells SP et al. goods so i don't have much of a choice.
for the sake of future posts, i should say that i want to support my local shop. i don't think they are gouging me and that the quality is probably worth the price. however, this is interesting to me and i am keeping an open mind as to what to do before deciding. i guess as is with all posts, if you get bored, you can move on, sorry if i'm boring anyone.
