Yet another LDS Whoa!

[shark.byte.usa]

So I got my brand spankin new Olympus SP-350 and PT-030 housing the other day and before I took it diving I wanted a pelican case to protect my investment.

So I start calling around to camera shops in the area, no dice unless I want to drive a long way, I didn't even ask prices, I wasn't willing to drive that far.

So I go online to cases4less.com and the one I want is $84.50 [It says retail is $156], plus about $10 in shipping so lets call is $95.

I really don't want to wait for shipping; I wanted it this weekend [I'm impatient], so I continue my search figuring if I find it within $25 dollars or so [after tax], I won't wait.

I remembered the last time I was in Socal, Sports Chalet had pelican cases, so I call up the new one that just opened up kinda by me and the dude says they are on sale. Cool, I head down there. They have the model I want, sticker on it is $119.99 and I get 20% off, so I go for it, end up paying $103 and some change, $8 is well worth not having to wait for it to be shipped to me.

So today I drop by a local LDS, one with a good rep, etc. to get an airfill to take my new camera diving tomorrow. So I'm browsing, they have the same pelican case I was looking for and bought with one big difference a price tag of $198.- :shakehead

Garrett

BTW I did buy from the LDS a flag & float, they didn't have a spool for it, and would have gotten my tank viz'd but they wanted to keep it for a week. So don't flame me for not supporting them.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

BTW went on Pelican.com and the MSRP is $165.50.

 

[Robert Phillips]

It's called volume. SC can buy a few thousand cases and your local shop can buy maybe 6-12 if they are feeling froggy the day they order them.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

It's called volume. SC can buy a few thousand cases and your local shop can buy maybe 6-12 if they are feeling froggy the day they order them.

I certainly understand that and I wouldn't expect their price to be the same as SC, but I also don't expect it to be 20% ABOVE the MSRP set by pelican either.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Unless they were silly enough to buy it retail and try to turn it around!

 

[Jeff Toorish]

What's your point?

Some stores can sell some items for less at certain times. That's a good thing. Somtimes you can find a bargain and you clearly did good job of comparison shopping.

Jeff

 

[NorCalDawg]

I think his point is that the LDS was selling it $30 ABOVE MSRP. Which, regardless of volume issues, shouldn't happen.

 

[Zenshift]

It's called volume. SC can buy a few thousand cases and your local shop can buy maybe 6-12 if they are feeling froggy the day they order them.

There is more to the story ... holding the inventory costs money. SC can tie up their capital and sell unwanted inventory at a slim margin. If you have only $100,000 to spend on inventory to put on the floor, what do you buy in the hope of selling it?

If you were to open a store in a strip mall, you could invest your money in a limited amount of inventory and pray that could keep you open. How many Pelican cases can you sell? If you hold onto inventory too long you may take a loss .. or they may want to take a loss on the items. Perhaps they got a deal with Pelican: "Stock these cases and we'll give you $___ and a free case for you." They may be doing exactly as they planned. Bad business? Perhaps. Loss on the bottom line? Probably not if they want to stay in business.

Take your business elsewhere. Until you need what your LDS actually sells: service, personal attention, socializing, training ... now you're in their target market.

 

[Wildcard]

Price what you want on line then go to the LDS with that price, see how close they can get to it? Most times, pretty close.

 

[stevetim]

Price what you want on line then go to the LDS with that price, see how close they can get to it? Most times, pretty close.

Good point. I know that the local Force-E dive shop in Pompano Beach will match most prices that you find. They understand the nature of the beast and don't want to lose customers to the beast. And you know what? I actually do prefer to match a face to what I buy as far as dive equipment is concerned.