US Dollar and Buying from Overseas Suppliers

[RobPNW]

Clearly the overseas shops aren't selling for a loss, so all I can think is that the markup here is substantial because they can. Kind of like the prescription drugs you pay $100 a month for here costs $10 in Mexico.

 

[kelemvor]

Apeks regs are made in the UK, as far as I can determine. Not sure about SP.

Scubapro brand regulators are manufactured by Tabata USA aka TUSA in Taiwan (China). Some of them are also sold directly by the manufacturer with the TUSA brand on them.

 

[kelemvor]

Clearly, the overseas shops aren't selling for a loss, so all I can think is that the markup here is substantial because they can. Kind of like the prescription drugs you pay $100 a month for here costs $10 in Mexico.

Manufacturers sell the same products to different regions at different prices. You can bet they're still making a profit on the parts sold to the cheapest region. I think it's simply a matter of what people will be willing to pay. In the US, lots of folks would be willing to pay close to $1,000 for a Scubapoo regulator set. In other parts of the world, that would be unthinkable. Rather than not sell anything to that other part of the world, the company sells the item for less of a profit, but still a profit.

That doesn't mean that the products will always be the same, especially concerning things like a warranty. An example that comes to mind is Coke-A-Cola. In the US, it's sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. In most other countries, it's sweetened with sugar. One of the benefits that came with the influx of Mexicans in Florida over the past decade or two is that sugar-sweetened drinks are once again being sold in grocery stores!

 

[BoltSnap]

so all I can think is that the markup here is substantial because they can.

The SP dealers don't have a higher margi5the the ones in Europe. SP actually gives smaller margins to their dealers than all other brands. The greater majority of other brands give MUCH higher margins to their dealers, inflated margins. X brand dealer can give a substantial discount to the customer and appear to be a "good" but can't do the same with SP brand since SP brand has much lower margins. I know this since I was a dealer for SP and several other brands in the past.

 

[BoltSnap]

Scubapro brand regulators are manufactured by Tabata USA aka TUSA in Taiwan (China)

This is true for some models in the past but not for most other models and not true today. Most, if not all, SP regulators are made in EU, mostly Italy, now and it has been so for several years.

TUSA is a Japanese company that manufactures its products in Japan, Taiwan and other countries. They manufactured the original MK17 for SP but not the current one. I don't believe that the TUSA MK17 was manufactured in Taiwan but I am not certain and I don't have these MK17 near me to check but I'll check when I am at diver center if I remember.

 

[Jcp2]

Well that’s great, but it still does not answer my question.

“Free” parts for life.

 

[GF99/99]

Where did you find a 4 pin Petrel 3 in the US? In the past Shearwater wouldn’t offer them to their dealers, you had to buy them through the CCR manufacturers. That was a big criticism one prolific SB poster had of Shearwater.

I got a 4 pin Petrel 3 with my new CCR. The display is so much brighter than my 2 and 4 year old Perdix AI.

Yeah difficult to find 4 pin petrel's in the US. But the new 3 seems to be more easily availed. Last quote I got was from Fathom for $1,500

 

[GF99/99]

Scubapro brand regulators are manufactured by Tabata USA aka TUSA in Taiwan (China). Some of them are also sold directly by the manufacturer with the TUSA brand on them.

And yes Apeks regs are made from scratch in the UK. Nice to know my life support equipment is made in the UK and not China or Taiwan like most things these days.

 

[Marie13]

Yeah difficult to find 4 pin petrel's in the US. But the new 3 seems to be more easily availed. Last quote I got was from Fathom for $1,500

Oddly, Kiss’ price for the Petrel 3 was virtually identical to that for the Petrel 2 - $1500. When I ask about it, I was told that was the price Shearwater had set. I was shocked.

 

[GF99/99]

Oddly, Kiss’ price for the Petrel 3 was virtually identical to that for the Petrel 2 - $1500. When I ask about it, I was told that was the price Shearwater had set. I was shocked.

Yeah I asked Kim for pricing on the Petrel 3 also and got the same price too.

If your looking for one contact Martin from Tecme. €1115 pretty big price difference

Below is my invoice. Previous orders I have made with Martin arrive in 3-5 business days from Germany to US. Crazy fast shipping