What gives with Dive Rite?

[PerroneFord]

That is the "other" way to look at this. DR now gives more bang for the same buck becuase they improved the light but did not up the price.

The non-savvy customer doesn't know that DR has held the price. They buy the 300 watt light for the shop price and don't learn until later that they could have gotten the 500 for the same money. Then who do they harbor ill will toward? DR or the LDS?

That said, if the 300 has been discontinued, the DR dealers need to get with the program and sell them off at a discount.

Unfortunately, unless you are an upper tier dealer, the margin is razor thin to begin with. To offer a price on the light that would seem fair, the dealer would be selling at a net loss. Not many dealers are going to be happy doing that.

To be fair that kinda sucks for the dealer in a low volume market as the customers buying the discounted 300 will be the same customers not paying full price for the 500.

Exactly.

Companies that put dealers in thet position of having lots of suddenly obsolete stock are not companies that inspire dealers to stock a lot of stuff in the first place and having to order makes them less competetive with internet dealers.

And Dive Rite has done a lot of this in recent years. One model year regulators, a failed scooter, 1/2 model year reels, 1/2 model year handheld HID lights, 1 model year Optima rebreather, etc.

It is sort of a downward spiral and DR might want to improve it communication, distribution and product upgrade practices to avoid it.

Unfortunately, this seems to be falling on deaf ears.

 

[buddhasummer]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and thoughts. I do not blame ANY shop or Dive Rite dealer for their inability to sell the 300 light at a lesser cost. I blame Dive Rite. I'm all about increased technology, and new and improved dive gear. I don't even mind paying more for said gear.

Why would I pay the same for a lesser of a light? My opinion is that Dive Rite should have gone to their dealers and said "fellas, we are going to be introducing a 500 Lumen light. Send us all your 300 lights and we will update them and return them to you as 500 lights....or fellas, we are introducing a 500 light at the same cost as the 300 light, to help you move your 300 lights here's a $50 voucher to your customer to purchase the 300 light."

I don't think that Dive Rite should wait until all the 300 lights are sold to introduce a 500 light, but they should back their dealers to help them move the older lights. Just my opinion.....

Im still not sure what the point is, tell me who in any industry doesnt do this its not only DR, checked out any Apple products lately?, cameras and the mega pixel race?, cell phones? game consoles? cars? MP3 players? etc etc...its the nature of the beast and if we could all be happy with what we have then this wouldnt be happening eh...supply and demand and all that...actually you and me are to blame, the human desire for more, better, faster, cooler, newer etc etc...

If anything I kinda feel sorry for the dealers as ultimately they will lose either with stock they cant move or having to sell it a reduced price possibly even at a loss, so if anything the dealers should be complaining, I guess you are lucky you can either buy the 500 at a great price or wait a while and get the 300 at a great price...either way you win...

 

[buddhasummer]

I agree Up4air, Thats why I just use a road flair, My new road flare strobe for my camera is still in testing, But bugs should be worked out soon. Biggest problem is sparks melting the plastic housing and flooding camera. Aluminum housing gets to hot camera wont respond.

The hardest part about the testing is the bladderon my BCD keeps burning, I have to put a new wing on it every time at a cost of $220 a pop.

Any suggestions would help as I have $6,666.66 into testing and I'm not forseeing a patented till 2020.

 

[DiveGearExpress]

Guys you need to cut Dive Rite some slack here.

They get their LED bulbs from some overseas supplier. What is going on, is that LED technology is similar to computer technology in the respect that it is growing exponentially. The same LED bulbs are simply being made brighter using the same or less power.

Dive Rite made no conscious decision to increase the output - really what is going on is the bulbs they use are simply better now, and as a result, their lights are putting out more lumens. 6 months ago, their LED Tec back up lights started showing up with a decal on them "now 30% brighter!" - the bulb modules they used were simply better than the previous batch, and as a result - brighter. The same is occurring with the HandHeld LED light.

Now please don't quote me on this - I do not have any inside info to Dive Rite's plans, but I suspect you will keep seeing lumen increases in the LED lights over time.

 

[PerroneFord]

Im still not sure what the point is, tell me who in any industry doesnt do this its not only DR, checked out any Apple products lately?, cameras and the mega pixel race?, cell phones? game consoles? cars? MP3 players? etc etc...its the nature of the beast...

Comparing retail electronics which is a volume business with significant margins (not the iPhone price slash) with essentially mom and pop operations running out of garages with little chance to recoup losses is NOT the same thing.

 

[redacted]

DRE - When I saw this, the first thing I did was went to your site to look at the cost of a replacement 500 lum bulb. I was disappointed not to see one offered.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Comparing retail electronics which is a volume business with significant margins (not the iPhone price slash) with essentially mom and pop operations running out of garages with little chance to recoup losses is NOT the same thing.

Exactly, the average electronics store works in enough volume and with enough markup to absorb the need to discount the close out items. In fact they usually make it up on the front end marking up the just arrived latest and greatest and selling them to the market segment that has to be the first on the block with the newesty/fastest/smallest/whatever. Also, in my expereince, if I buy a lap top on Monday and next Monday they go on sale for a couple hundred less, most larger electronics stores will refund me the difference if I bring in my receipt just to keep me happy (especially if they could potentially eat it with a return anyway.)

More importantly depending on the industry, some retailers do not have to pay for the stock until it sells or at least have some reasonable terms and time period to pay for it.

None of that has any relationship to the situation the average dive shop finds itself in where the shop has to pay for the merchandise up front and where the company then has no vested interest in the stock sitting on the shelf at all.

 

[buddhasummer]

Comparing retail electronics which is a volume business with significant margins (not the iPhone price slash) with essentially mom and pop operations running out of garages with little chance to recoup losses is NOT the same thing.

I wasnt saying they are the same thing, perhaps I wasnt clear, Im not comparing the economics, the point I was attempting to make was that one day a model is released and in very little time a newer flasher fatser etc model is developed/released and the old model has to be either reduced in price or remain in stock unsold forever and this is not only with dive equipment or DR but all consumer products and most companies in the name of making a buck. As i said in my post I understand that the dealers are the ones who most likely lose out, and thats not fair...I actually agree with you, that being said which one would you buy? support mom and pop or get the best deal you can? Anyway far too much time on this topic its not gonna change the way DR does business and I guess if it worries everyone that much we could all help out Mom and Pop and buy one of their old model DR LED 300 lights...

 

[480 volt]

Hey guy,s
Northeast Scuba Supply has the 300 for $250. If any one is interested.

 

[RonFrank]

You just can't get mad when technology improves. The 300 LED is a fine light, but the 500 is close to twice as bright! That is just all good.

If you want to cry over the fact that DR or the retails have not tanked the price of the old light, just imagine how it is for the retailers! They have paid X amount of money for stock, and now that stock has become less valuable. They are the ones that will get hurt, but this is just part of doing business.

If retailers can't keep their stock moving, than the end result is that product lines change, and they have to discount old stock. I would imagine we will see that $360 light at deep discounts shortly.