my first dilemma

[Mr Mart10]

Please place this in the correct forum if i have made a mistake. I am sorry if so.

I have to purchase all my gear. My dive school sales everything i need. My problem is if i am getting the best deal. I think the prices there are pretty high. they carry a lot of scubapro stuff and recomend it pretty highly. Price is not realy that big of a deal to me but getting a good deal is. I am told that if i buy any scuba pro stuff over the net it will not be warranted and they can not service it. I guess my question is what would you guys suggest i buy, i will be a recreational diver in warmer water but as life goes things always change. I dont want to spend 2k or 3k dollars to find i am not happy with what i bought and could have got it cheaper some place else.
This is aggervating me to much for something i am suppose to enjoy.

 

[RJTY]

I buy most of my gear from my LDS. Im sure it is a bit more than I could pay on line, but I enjoy the relationship I have with them and I like to support them. To me, a good deal is how everyone feels after the transaction. I always feel good dealing with them so I continue to do so. Hope this helps.

 

[DandyDon]

I buy most of my gear from my LDS. Im sure it is a bit more than I could pay on line, but I enjoy the relationship I have with them and I like to support them. To me, a good deal is how everyone feels after the transaction. I always feel good dealing with them so I continue to do so. Hope this helps.

Yep, that's my approach. I'll print out prices from ScubaToys.com and take them with me shopping, and my LDS will match them.

If they were to get insulted at my approach, or still try to charge me too much, I'll buy from Scubatoys.com, but it's best to support your local dive shop when possible.

 

[Marek K]

Um... How common is it these days for a dive shop to require their just-signed-up OW students to buy all their own equipment?

Mask, fins, and snorkel I can understand...

 

[Mr Mart10]

they only required me to buy the mask, skins and snorkel but highly recomend i but the other stuff from them. As someone in sales i know the strategy all to well. I just dont want to be involved in a purchase frenzy with all the other new people and regret my purchase. I can tell that the plan is to get us all together and get us excited and purchase without regard to price. This may be way off and not the plan but it surely feals that way to me.
Understand i want to buy from them but i have not got were i am buy paying the most for everything i buy. I just want to know what most of guys do or did.

 

[Marek K]

Oh, OK, "highly recommend" is a lot different than require. Or maybe "encourage"?

I think you've got the picture... you're a captive audience... you're excited about diving... your dive instructor is an authority figure... the equipment sure looks cool...

Hey, I was a ski instructor myself... there's a very good reason why manufacturers gave us great deals on their skis -- better yet with giant logos on them...

Mask, fins, and snorkel, plus the price of the course itself, are enough cost outlays for someone who may not even be sure he/she will want to keep diving.

I assume the shop will provide you with free rental equipment for the duration of your course. I'd recommend doing just that, until you find out a bit about what works and doesn't work for you.

If you decide to keep on diving, then the break-even point for buying your own equipment can approach pretty fast. But most people then put their rigs together bit-by-bit.

--Marek

 

[DandyDon]

Um... How common is it these days for a dive shop to require their just-signed-up OW students to buy all their own equipment?

Mask, fins, and snorkel I can understand...

Not common at all - not very ethical, I don't think.

 

[TSandM]

Well, at the end of our certification class, we bought all our equipment from our LDS. We might quite possibly have been able to spend less money, but we did get some good advice as to WHAT to buy, and it was not the most expensive equipment they carried. Although I replaced a lot of the equipment within six months, I don't think I made any real mistakes in my original purchases, except deciding to get an Air2.

It's probably a good idea, if you are frugal and wise, to decide what gear you want and shop around for price. At least in our area, you can buy the same brands at a number of different shops, and what kind of deal you are offered can vary. Unfortunately, the dive shops don't view this as normal behavior on the part of customers and it can irritate them and cost you some goodwill, at the same time it saves you money.

 

[alo100]

Kind of strange, never heard of. It's common that the dive shop would offer "discount" for students... but require.. I think when you choose a dive shop you need to find one you can trust.

 

[booth22]

Find a good LDS, mine will match any online price and then beat it by 5%. I'd always give them a chance to meet the price.

And I know Sport Chalet (at least the one by us) offers "student" discounts if you are taking a class w/ them, altough I couldn't tell you what it is-and they seem way overpriced to begin with...