What would you want?

[LclDiver]

I am new to this board but would like to mention that I have noticed a very distinct pattern forming- Buy online, your local dive shop is gouging you. I can see from your posts that you have no idea how shops are governed by the dealer agreements that they have with the manufacturers of the gear that they sell. Many manufacturers have what is called an MRP which is very different from the common MSRP. An MRP is a minimum retail price that a dive store can sell an item for without risking losing the product line due to a violation of the dealer agreement. Many online sites are not governed by those rules because they are not an authorized dealer for the product. The other way to get around it is to sell from outside of the US, only dealers in the US are required to have dealer agreements, beleive me if the dive stores could get by without them, they would. Instead of blaming your local dive store for having prices that are too high, why not go to the source and complain to the manufacturers. Dive stores have been fighting this for quite a while now and if the consumers speak up and let the manufacturers know how they feel, maybe something will finally be done. This is my two cents worth.

Also.. Jason.. have you ever tried asking your local dive shop to e-mail you when your gear is done? Most stores are connected to the internet, I'm sure all you have to do is ask.