New Regs - a good deal??

[Scuby Dooby]

I finally broke down and bought a new set of regs / spg from a local dive shop here in Hong Kong. I think I got a fairly good deal but I'm wondering what you guys / gals think of the price. I tried to check vs LP / Diveinn but they didn't have exactly the same set up listed so it is a bit hard to compare prices. Still, I think I made out well, especially considering that I have no shipping charges to worry about. Here's what I got with the price of each component broken down individually:

Scubapro Mk16 - $115
G250HP - $174
R190 - $80
SPG (400bar) - $57

Total = $426 (plus they threw in a 7' hose for an extra $10 - they list the price at about $40)

I was planning to buy online but when I went into one of the LDS here in HK and actually started 'horse tradin' this looked like a pretty good deal and I decided to avoid the hassles of buying it online. When I compare to somewhat similar rigs online it seems I would be right around the $450 mark from both LP / Diveinn. Can anybody give me ballpark figure of what this setup would have cost them in the states? (no offense to those of you outside the US - just wondering whether it would have been worth it to have family in the states buy it for me instead )

Many thanks!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I don't have this year's price list handy, but the 2003 MSRP's for US dealers are as follows:

Mk 16 - $164.00
G250 HP - $266
R190 - $126
SPG - $138 and $111 for a mini-SPG (you got a SUPER deal on that, if it's a full sized SPG it's below cost.)

At the prices you paid compared to dealer cost, a US dealer would have still made around $100 dollars on the sale. Unfortunately, SP limits the discount below MSRP to a maximum of 10% and the best a US dealer could have done would have been a package price of about $600.00.

The advantage of buying through a US dealer would lie in the warranty coverage. Over time it is more than worth the extra money if you live in the US, but it is a moot issue if you live in Hong Kong.

 

[Scuby Dooby]

Thanks DA Aquamaster

I got the mini spg so I guess it wasn't quite as super a deal! One other point of clarification also, the reg was bought from an authorized dealer here in HK so the warranty is in force as long as i have it serviced yearly blah blah blah . . .

I debated on whether or not to buy the Mk25 since the coldest water I'm likely to see with it is about 16C / 60F but decided that since I have an interest in diving in a particular lake / volcano in the Philippines that has pretty silty conditions I'd probably be better off with the diaphram rather than the piston.

Now I just have to convince my diving friends that this is an interesting place to dive!