I price all my classes so that card processing is included.
Why are PADI replacement cards so expensive?
- Thread starter Mitchell Teeters
- Start date
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You can put a picture on a NAUI card
Does that include free replacements?
Nope. But if one of my students loses a card they do not pay full price for a replacement. I will cover half for the first one. The second they pay full price. Currently SEI replacement cards are $15 plus $5 postage to me and then to the student. An envelope large enough for the certificate costs 2-3 bucks to mail plus the envelope, CMAS is $30 ($25 + $5 postage) and I have no control over that. If I need to issue a replacement for someone I did not train I charge $35 as I have to get records, maintain those records, use a student file folder that I pay for, etc. I don't see PADI being unreasonable in this. Did I just say that? Wow, must be tired. going to bed now.
20 million I believe
DevonDiver
N/A
You are correct. 20 million it is. 
OP
You are correct. 20 million it is.
So we are in agreement: PADI = License to print money? LOL :cool2:
Just kidding.
ETA: Checked out your site Andy, quite impressive.
Just as a note PADI does not ship them globally for that price either. To get a new card to Sweden I will have to pay them 405 sek or roughly 60 usd
OP
A note on certification fees:
I agree with DevonDiver - as a fellow dive professional, I see both sides to the argument. I agree that the price is too high - and the LDS doesn't ever have to be involved because you can replace your cards directly online. However, there are always significant overheads in any business and if only 1% of those 20 million wish to replace their cards, that's still 200,000 cards to process.
I believe a lot of the process in automated and required very little human involvement, but then you've still got to pay for the form-recognition computers, the people to operate them, and the people to deal with the application forms that the computer can't read, etc. etc.
When it comes to PIC (Positive Identification Card) processing, as in the form you fill out and mail to PADI, dive centres purchase these in bulk from PADI and then sell them on to the customer (they can also be done online), but in my experience the mark-up is not huge - and at the end of the day, there's a human cost involved in managing, ordering, supplying and completing the applications. Back in Thailand we did it all online - but we had so many applications to process that it took my colleague two days out of her working week to process them all....
Jim Lapenta mentions that he includes the cost of card processing in the price of the course - we don't do this but some people see it as a "hidden extra" and why it's not included. I know for sure that Jim's training is much more in-depth than the standard PADI Open Water Course, but we operate in very different environments. Most of our students are here on holiday for a week and a goodly portion of them get Egyptian tummy troubles. We charge them for what has been completed so far, but if they're not going to be certified, we can't exactly ask them to pay for a certification. Some people just suck, and don't pass the course (yes, really!!) and it's not like we can ask them to come back next week for further training, because they will be back home in an entirely different country.
Incidentally - and a bit off topic, I know - we also don't include the cost of course material (books etc) in the price of the course because these can be sourced elsewhere. A dive centre that doesn't let you do that is for sure trying to take too many greenbacks out of your pocket.
As others have noted, it's easy to jump to conclusions when it comes to product pricing, but that's what it boils down to. As a business enterprise, it's very successful, but the dive industry as a whole is not out to rip people off, and I don't see the head honchos of any agency rubbing shoulders with the Bill-Gates-type-people of the world.
For lost cards - well - in the vast majority of cases, there is only one person who can be held responsible for losing their card, although accidents do happen and airlines do lose baggage from time to time, in which case insurance should cover the cost of card replacement. If a diver wishes to replace it because they really regret the hairstyle they had back when they were certified in 1982, then you can pay for this also. I see a lot of old cert cards in my job and its great to see what some of the older divers looked like 30 years ago! Enjoy it, I say!
Cheers
C.
I agree with DevonDiver - as a fellow dive professional, I see both sides to the argument. I agree that the price is too high - and the LDS doesn't ever have to be involved because you can replace your cards directly online. However, there are always significant overheads in any business and if only 1% of those 20 million wish to replace their cards, that's still 200,000 cards to process.
I believe a lot of the process in automated and required very little human involvement, but then you've still got to pay for the form-recognition computers, the people to operate them, and the people to deal with the application forms that the computer can't read, etc. etc.
When it comes to PIC (Positive Identification Card) processing, as in the form you fill out and mail to PADI, dive centres purchase these in bulk from PADI and then sell them on to the customer (they can also be done online), but in my experience the mark-up is not huge - and at the end of the day, there's a human cost involved in managing, ordering, supplying and completing the applications. Back in Thailand we did it all online - but we had so many applications to process that it took my colleague two days out of her working week to process them all....
Jim Lapenta mentions that he includes the cost of card processing in the price of the course - we don't do this but some people see it as a "hidden extra" and why it's not included. I know for sure that Jim's training is much more in-depth than the standard PADI Open Water Course, but we operate in very different environments. Most of our students are here on holiday for a week and a goodly portion of them get Egyptian tummy troubles. We charge them for what has been completed so far, but if they're not going to be certified, we can't exactly ask them to pay for a certification. Some people just suck, and don't pass the course (yes, really!!) and it's not like we can ask them to come back next week for further training, because they will be back home in an entirely different country.
Incidentally - and a bit off topic, I know - we also don't include the cost of course material (books etc) in the price of the course because these can be sourced elsewhere. A dive centre that doesn't let you do that is for sure trying to take too many greenbacks out of your pocket.
As others have noted, it's easy to jump to conclusions when it comes to product pricing, but that's what it boils down to. As a business enterprise, it's very successful, but the dive industry as a whole is not out to rip people off, and I don't see the head honchos of any agency rubbing shoulders with the Bill-Gates-type-people of the world.
For lost cards - well - in the vast majority of cases, there is only one person who can be held responsible for losing their card, although accidents do happen and airlines do lose baggage from time to time, in which case insurance should cover the cost of card replacement. If a diver wishes to replace it because they really regret the hairstyle they had back when they were certified in 1982, then you can pay for this also. I see a lot of old cert cards in my job and its great to see what some of the older divers looked like 30 years ago! Enjoy it, I say!
Cheers
C.
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