To buy local or not to buy local; my economic question of this year’s purchase .

[cdreamer]

Parts cost to service a MK17 G250V is $52.90. In this day and age - really no one should
be paying full retail and although they aren't supposed to discount more than 10%, they
should give you something.

 

[Wayward Son]

IMO, at least give the local shop a chance to earn your business. I do buy some things online, but I have a great LDS owned by people I like. I like having them in business. As much as possible, they get my business. They know they won't get every sale but do appreciate having the opportunity to compete.

 

[oly5050user]

Buy from the LDs..you can usually count on a faster turn arounfd time on service with no shipping costs involved.Warrenties for parts can be included.Parts for regulator can be as high as close to $60. per rebuild for all involved stages. If the LDS has a pool you can usually jump in and try gear out .We have a pool and there is no charge if you wish to get wet and try out your freshly serviced gear.That alone can be worth $$ to you.

 

[rrweather]

I posted a similar question/comment in the reg forum yesterday. Sorry for those that are reading it again. Basically, I am in the market for two regs. I only have three LDS within 20 miles. One sells SP, one sells Oceanic, and one sells Aqualung/Apeks and Dive Rite. We also have a large Super Sports Store that is an authorized Aqualung/Apeks dealer. I'm not interested in Oceanic so that eliminates one option. I went to the SP store yesterday. Their prices were identical to every other SP dealer since the price is set. I inquired about buying two and what kind of deal I could get and was basically told there was no deal. I then went to the Super Store. I asked them about ordering two Apeks regs. The guy pulled out their catalog and showed me the page for the regs I was interested in. It listed the dealer's prices, some other prices, and the minimum advertised price. I asked him what the price would be for me and he quoted me the MAP. The MAP was over twice the dealer cost. I realize that the agreements with SP/Aqualung may not allow the dealers to discount the products too much. That being said, (and as others have said) paying MSRP seems like overkill. Today I am going to the dealer that sells Aqualung/Apeks and Dive Rite with a list of what I want and need. I am also going to show him what prices I can get on the same gear elsewhere. I really want to give him some business. On the other hand, if he quotes me MSRP and no other perks, I will buy elsewhere. I have found Dive Rite gear online, from authorized sellers, for what seems like good prices. I will give my guy the chance to match or beat it. The other factor that blows is the fact that our lovely California sales tax is so high. Even if the local guy can match prices, I end up paying 9% more for tax. This ends up being a large chunk when you look at $1500 worth of gear, easily enough to cover some air fills and/or a class.

It sucks because the LDS is in a tough position. The gear isn't cheap, the manufacturers drive the prices, and the buyer gets stuck with sales tax. I like my local guy and would like to see his business do well. On the other hand, my money is not endless and my diving will cease if I keep paying more for stuff than I need to.

I will be curious to see what he comes up with today.

 

[tight rope walker]

I know I am going to get beat up for what I am about to say, so here goes. If I had to buy more regs than I already own, I would but a Scubapro mk 5 first stadge, and an adjustable second either in balanced or unbalanced. I can only speak for myself. At one time I owned 4, 2 for service, and 2 that served as backups. I am not going to bore you with details, but my regs have seen severe, extreme, service off the coast of Rhode Island. They may not be the best breathing, and god knows you got a hunk of metal in your mouth, but mine have never failed or skipped a beat. True this is old school technology, but they have truly stood the test of time. There are plenty of parts available, and I can say without fear of contradiction, they will take a beating. At present I own the sp a700, sp pilot, and sp mk5 balanced adjustable. Of the three, if I were called on to do something right now, I would take the mk5. I do not have enough hours on the a700 to pass judgement, and though the pilot might be the best reg ever built, I can say from experience she is very, very, tempermental. The mk5 is dependable, reliable, and durable. They can also be had for skinny money on Ebay. Have them rebuilt and you have a brand new reg.

 

[WeldonDowd]

This one is easy. Buy the regulator at LP and take the $200 to your LDS and buy something from them. You get more for your money and your LDS gets a $200 sale. Or take your savings and spend it on a loved one, they are more important.

 

[noreastDIVER84]

I personally dont mind spending the extra money for that at my LDS, the yearly servicing for my regs is $85 and when I pick them up, they have me test them out right there. If I dint like how they breath, they will re-adjust them accordingly, right then and there. I find that to be very worthwhile in itself. I do gripe about the cost of that, but then I just got outfitted into a $1500 drysuit from them for $1000, and I have been making payments to them for it. So I find that although it may cost me for one thing, they take care of me in other ways. I have gotten numerous air fills for nothing, I have gotten to use the pool to adjust my weighting, etc.

 

[rrweather]

I went and talked to my local Apeks dealer today. He is willing to give me 15% off of whatever I buy (combination of a military discount and being a club member). On some items, the 15% closes the gap between online prices and his; other items, there is still a big difference. One perk with him is the fact that when you buy gear from him, he takes you to the pool and/or ocean and gets you set up with what you bought. When I purchased my drysuit from him, he included the drysuit class for free. Anyway, I am going to end up ordering the regs from him. While the price is not as good as I could find online (LP), I will get the warranty, parts, and ability to walk into his shop and get any help from him. On top of it, he is going to help me get the doubles set up and take me to the pool and on a couple of dives as an "intro to doubles" type course. He is also willing to dive doubles with me on the club dives so that I can have his expertise for a while. This represents value to me that I would most likely have to pay for elsewhere. It also gives him a decent sale. I believe the price is fair and we both make out in the end. I guess as long as I am happy, that's what matters most.

 

[kreid]

As a person who lives in Southeast Michigan, I always try to buy locally. I know what it means to the businesses and the community. Try negotiating the total package, price, service, etc. If they just won't budge, locally may mean traveling a couple more miles.