When you buy dive gear on the Internet, or from anyone else who is not an authorized dealer, there are lots of questions you should be asking yourself.
Who am I really buying this gear from? Internet vendors are actually resellers who have acquired merchandise from various sources and through multiple “channels”. Sometimes the “value chain” of how the merchandise gets to you is so complex that the original reseller of the equipment is impossible to trace.
Will I be the original owner of this gear? Many dive equipment manufacturers do not allow their gear to be sold on the Internet **, so some of the gear that’s currently for sale on the Internet is by definition “gray market” merchandise; or worse yet, reconditioned and sold as new.
Who will I contact if I have questions or quality issues with my purchase? What if your gear is not assembled correctly? Will you have to ship it back to be corrected?
What about product warranties? Because some dive equipment manufacturers do not allow their gear to be sold on the Internet, any of their equipment that is sold on the internet will result in an automatically voided warranty. Any service or repairs to this equipment will be the total responsibility of the customer, regardless of the newness of the product or the reason for the repair. All higher-end dive equipment (regulators, computers, etc) comes with a serial number that is maintained by the manufacturers. It is very easy for a manufacturer to look up a serial number to determine if you purchased their product from an authorized dealer.
What about Quality Assurance or Product Recalls? Buying from an unauthorized dealer means that the equipment manufacturer has no record of your purchase and they can’t contact you in the case of a product recall or other quality issue. Manufacturers will contact their authorized dealers to advise them of quality issues or recalls. An unauthorized reseller may never hear of a product’s quality issues or recalls.
Additionally, manufacturers routinely schedule advanced training and new product orientations for their authorized dealers.
What about ongoing Service or Support? Without a valid warranty, no dive shop will be able to conduct warranty repairs on Internet-purchased equipment. Dive equipment, just like your car, needs periodic maintenance and adjustment. Who will you go to when it’s time to have your equipment serviced?
And the last question, which is really the most important question of all:
Dive Gear is really Life Support Equipment – Do you really want to look for the cheapest product when your safety could be affected?
So you see, buying dive gear is a bit different from buying a book or DVD online, so your method of shopping and buying dive gear should also be different. Luckily, the professionals at Sea Sports Scuba can help you through the process, answer all of your questions, and make your shopping and buying experience fun as well!
** Why do some manufactures NOT allow sales over the internet?
The major stakeholders in the dive industry recognize that the long term survival of the industry is vested in the health of their dealer network. In nearly all cases, their dealer network is composed of Dive Stores which train nearly all new divers and thus grow the customer base. This is not the case for those Internet resellers who in most cases do not contribute to the long term survival of the industry by making new divers. In fact is that the internet resellers depend upon the dive store customers for their sales.
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