sperlingjr once bubbled...
I bought all of my gear at Sports Chalet.(A southern California sports store) They blow the LDS's away when price is concerned. Take a catalina alum. 80 tank for instance, at an LDS $149, Sports Chalet- $99. Savings on other gear is comparable. I'm with the other guys on E-bay-be carful- got a good computer for my brother-in-law from ebay but prices tend to too HIGH on most things.
Hmm. That's about $154 CDN. Did that include VIP and fill? If not, how much did that cost? Boot? Does Sports Chalet do annual VIP/Visual Eddy, air fills? If not and you don't support your LDS, where are you going to go? I've seen the cost of compressors, high pressure tanks for an air bank, filter media, air testing (although many LDS skip air testing). There's not much money to be made selling air. In fact my LDS, doesn't charge me for air.
My LDS has AL80 (I think they're Catalina) on at the moment at $219 CDN (about $140 US), with VIP, filled and I think it incudes boot and mesh. They're always fresh tanks (very recent hydro), not something been hanging around and will ned a hydro in 4 years, instead of 5.
I'm not against competition, but let's make a fair comparison. Buy a reg set and gauges online. Get em in boxes, assemble yourself and go dive, UNTESTED (unless of course you are a tech), of course you trust the mfg has tested them before packaging. Everything always works properly right out of the box, right. vs. Buy them at the LDS, assembled, tested and ready to go. And then when you need your annual. Box em up, ship em to someone, wait for them to come back, pay shipping both ways? Or drop em off at the local LDS and pick em up in a few days? Mine will often loan a rental set n/c, if he can't get yours done quick enough.
Same issues in any business. Last new car I bought, I paid a little more at a dealer close by, but he offers FREE loaner vehicle, if yours is in for repair. Probably paid $400 to $500 more than I might have. Over the 2 years I had it, the door locks kept freezing and a few other issues, I had loaners for a total of 17 days. No car, no work. Renting would have cost a LOT more than the extra I paid. And I'm not hassling him or his mechanic to get my car done now. I'd buy another from the same dealer in a heartbeat.