in_cavediver
Contributor
looped:Specialty stores are almost always going to be higher priced on 'common items'. Why? Because they are going for the idea that people want a 'get it all in one place' place . They are probably going to be comparable priced on the 'big' stuff, regs, masks, fins, bc's etc etc. They have to be since they are going to be competing with online / wholesalers etc etc. For the other stuff, they will bump their prices, knowing that most people would rather spend the $10 - $20 - $50 more in one place, then having to go to a number of other places, maybe only spending $20 instead of $50, but taking 1/2 a day to do it. If I'm comfortable with a company, and know they arent ripping me on the big items, I'll pay for their existence and such for the smaller items that I KNOW they are making good money one.
For the knowledge and comfort of a local store, I'm willing to pay extra for that. There are some folks that will spend 2 months looking at EVERY place in the world to get the best price. That's fine, but I'm willing to forgo that to a point, to KNOW that I'll have someone I can go talk with, that I can understand, if I have a problem.
This is the same arguement I made about the corner hardware store vs the big box merchant and its very true. The LDS problem is that the 'big' items AREN'T competively priced with online merchants and when forced to compete, they are crying foul to the consumers rather than learning how to compete (or if its really even possible)