Bigger West Marine Discount?

[Seahunter]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

I don't think WM has even really promoted themselves as the Walmart of marine supplies.

I could care less what they want to market themselves as; but in this economy there's no need for padding the profits. After having spent an exorbitant amount of money on our WM account, with little benefit, I have no issue shopping where ever, even Walmart.
In Marina Del Rey, WM opened two stores when times were good, forcing the closure of a number of Ma and Pop stores. Once they had wiped out their competition, they closed one of the two stores and increased their pricing. You could call this smart business practice, but shopping for the best deal, is a better practice.

[Cheechako]

When I got my Port Supply account I just had a business tax number. It seems to be how good a talker you are as well. They are not as easy as some places to get the account. It's a good discount on some things, others you get a better deal when they are on sale to the public. No real deals on electronics and stuff like that. Good discount on seacocks etc....

[bstreep]

I don't seem to have a problem with them wanting to add shipping - because I tell them it effectively offsets the sales tax.

If you have an Android or Apple phone, try the app "shopsavy". It will search the internet for the best price directly from the barcode.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Seahunter

Levels of WM discounts; off the street, internet, blue membership card, gold membership card, Port Supply number 2, Port Supply number 1, varying from 5 - 30%. Defender on the other hand begins 10% less than WM's retail. After wasting a basket of G notes at WM, I've now switched to Defender and have never been happier with my outfitter's account.

I totally agree...For me, it was a waist of time. I have a decent discount for my Mobile Marine Business at a local chandlry in the S.F. bay area. To start with, their regular prices are 5%-10% less than WM. and their contractors discount is the same across the board for everyone. They treat me really well. If I grab a spool of hose with say 20 or so ft. on it, they look at me and say..."Ummmm...10 ft"?
I think WM started out on the right foot but ended up being the Starbucks of boating. I remember once going into WM and asking if a particular primer was ok for metal. The high-school clerk began reading the can. I just looked at him and said..."I can read...thanks anyway"!
If you know what you need, you might find the prices you like online.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I think WM started out on the right foot but ended up being the Starbucks of boating. I remember once going into WM and asking if a particular primer was ok for metal. The high-school clerk began reading the can. I just looked at him and said..."I can read...thanks anyway"!
If you know what you need, you might find the prices you like online.

WM charges far to much, doesn't care what market share they lose, esp since Boaters world went belly up. They push only a few major brands of electronics which hurts the little guys..who may or may not have a superior product..

I got soured on WM the time I went in looking for a head part, and had a clerk, older guy.. say, "honey, why don't you go home and ask your husband to come in. I am sure he knows what head you have".

I _KNEW_ what head I had.. a Raritan something II (its been 12 yrs gimme a break on the actual name).

Guy didn't even apologize when I lit onto him that it was MY boat, that I was a Licensed captain and that I had been sailing boats all my life.. he didn't even bat an eye when he turned walked away and called me a women's libber... geez...

Defender is on speed dial... In Hampton Va, its I. Coopers.. great shop and great service..

[Celestialsailor]

There goes Bella making friends again...he he he

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

My local WM will price match - sort of. If I go in and show them the price for Defender or Jamestown Distributors they will match the price but charge me shipping plus sales tax. A lot of times I can find the same product on line without sales tax or shipping. So the price I get from WM is less than they would charge someone off the street but usually more than I would pay on line.

Rich

That is west's "old" price match policy. Please have whomever does it confer with their manager or district manager. West marine matches the price, EVEN if it's below cost.

Originally Posted by Seahunter

In Marina Del Rey, WM opened two stores when times were good, forcing the closure of a number of Ma and Pop stores. Once they had wiped out their competition, they closed one of the two stores and increased their pricing. You could call this smart business practice, but shopping for the best deal, is a better practice.

This is not quite true. West Marine merged with Boat US, and took over ALL of their stores nationwide, including their store which was a block from the West Store. They bailed out of the small, not profitable store as soon as the lease was up. (I used to work at the WM in MDR at the time)

And I dunno about the ma/pop stores, but Ship's store seemed to be doing pretty good at the time, and we sent them A LOT of business You're assuming an awful lot of 'evil scheming' that is just not there IMHO.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

There goes Bella making friends again...he he he

that was a long time ago... now I just roll my eyes and consider the source. I was in my local WM recently... huge store not much in it.. I walked out after about 20 min.

[twistedtree]

I've found West Marine to be an almost complete waste of time. At best I find 50% of what I'm looking for when going to their stores, and it's ALWAYS priced higher than EVERYONE else. Even the little Ship's Store at my marina has better prices, and they can get anything that WM has (plus more) the next day.

The price match is a joke. If I'm going to shop around to show WM how far off their prices are (20% over others typically), I'll just buy from the other guys. I'd much rather give the business to local shops, Defender, and Jamestown where they do their job to establish competitive prices, not ask me to do it for them. I've even seen cases where WM prices are HIGHER than manufacturer's list price.

OK, now I've vented and feel better.

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by twistedtree

I've found West Marine to be an almost complete waste of time. At best I find 50% of what I'm looking for when going to their stores, and it's ALWAYS priced higher than EVERYONE else. Even the little Ship's Store at my marina has better prices, and they can get anything that WM has (plus more) the next day.

The price match is a joke. If I'm going to shop around to show WM how far off their prices are (20% over others typically), I'll just buy from the other guys. I'd much rather give the business to local shops, Defender, and Jamestown where they do their job to establish competitive prices, not ask me to do it for them. I've even seen cases where WM prices are HIGHER than manufacturer's list price.

OK, now I've vented and feel better.

Well, I work at WM. I'm thankful to have a job, along with the thousands of other employees. I get a little riled up when someone comes in and is all Po'd because we are not the same price as amazon.

we will price match.

Then the guy will bitch about taxes. Well, honestly, WM legally can't do anything about that. Sure I guess they 'could' further discount the product, but tell me how it's fair to expect a local business to make LESS than some dude with a computer in some other state?

Same dude will come in and complain that West's price on chain is crazy higher than Defender. Yeah... um.. how much to ship 300' of chain?

West marine has 300+ stores, thousands of associates, two huge distribution centers, pays payroll and taxes in almost every state of the union and three countries.

Defender has _1_ building. They OUGHT to be cheaper

You don't go to 7-11 and expect them to be cheaper than costco. You go there cuz you want a gallon of milk, now. West Marine **HAS** stuff. They might not have everything, all the time, but most of em do pretty well.

[twistedtree]

Originally Posted by xymotic

Well, I work at WM. I'm thankful to have a job, along with the thousands of other employees. I get a little riled up when someone comes in and is all Po'd because we are not the same price as amazon.

we will price match.

First, please don't take this too personally. This is about the senior management at WM who set pricing policies. If you are part of WM senior management, then I hope you are keenly interested to see how customers are reacting to your policies.

To me, price match should be the exception, not the rule. What I'm asking is that WM (and other vendors) do ongoing assessments of competitive pricing, and price their products accordingly. It's just good business. Because everything is uniformly more expensive at WM, it feels to me like the policy is "we're going to charge you list price unless you catch us, in which case if you do pricing research work for us we'll give you the same price that everyone else is charging." If feels like walking into a carpet bizzar where the vendor's job it to rip me off, and my job is to battle it out for a fair deal. I reserve this activity for car buying.

Yes, they price match, but it makes shopping at WM a huge amount of work and they are asking me to do work that I think is their job, not mine.

Also, I'm not asking (suggesting) that WM should be absolute lowest price. There is definitely value is local, retail stock, and in being able to go look at products. I'm willing and do pay more for that. But all my local shops are lower price than WM too, including the 3 racks of product in the tiny ship's store at my marina.

So if I look at the two ways that WM engages customers - Retail store and online - on both fronts they are more expensive and/or more work than shopping at independent local shops and other online companies. To me, WM has forsaken both sales channels. I used to (2 years ago) shop at WM first, then look at others as a backup. Now I shop at WM only as a last resort because I know I'll either pay through the nose, or have to do a lot of extra work.

[Seahunter]

Originally Posted by xymotic

Well, I work at WM. I'm thankful to have a job, along with the thousands of other employees. I get a little riled up when someone comes in and is all Po'd because we are not the same price as amazon.

Glad you have a job. Getting riled up over company policies is a different matter. My guess is that you've swallowed the company tripe, hook line and sinker.

we will price match.

Match what price?

Then the guy will bitch about taxes. Well, honestly, WM legally can't do anything about that. Sure I guess they 'could' further discount the product, but tell me how it's fair to expect a local business to make LESS than some dude with a computer in some other state?

Everybody pays tax(es) in the state they reside. There is no law that requires businesses to collect out of state taxes. WM and their ilk are NOT the tax collector.

Same dude will come in and complain that West's price on chain is crazy higher than Defender. Yeah... um.. how much to ship 300' of chain?

WM charges for freight as well; whether or not it's buried in the price or charge to the customer directly.

West marine has 300+ stores, thousands of associates, two huge distribution centers, pays payroll and taxes in almost every state of the union and three countries.

It should be the customers who should be thanked; without them there would be no WM.

Defender has _1_ building. They OUGHT to be cheaper

So tell us then, which is the better business plan?

You don't go to 7-11 and expect them to be cheaper than costco. You go there cuz you want a gallon of milk, now. West Marine **HAS** stuff. They might not have everything, all the time, but most of em do pretty well.

Now I've heard it all. West Marine is the convenience store of mariners, fishermen and recreational boaters. Not only, we're willing want to pay more than market value for their supplies, because they're convenient?
EG ~ Toilet Tissue, 4-Pack (2-Ply) Online retail prices, WM= 6.99; Defender= 5.79. It's ludicrous to pay more for the proud privilege of purchasing "West Marine" branded products. Say it's not so.

[Mike OReilly]

There's a simple answer to the prices at WM: Don't shop there. If everyone stopped shopping there, they would change.

I'm always amused by people who seem to feel a sense of personal injustice over high prices. In a capitalist market economy everyone works to maximize their profits and minimize their expenses. The price of things are largely set by what people are willing to pay, not by any intrinsic value of the product. There is no proper price. There is only what the thing can be sold for.

So don't buy it at WM. Or haggle for the discount. Either way, you can bet that WM is making lots of money using their current business approach. The market has spoken! ... And we all know, markets are never wrong

[osirissail]

Just an opinion, but as someone who has spent almost a decade cruising outside the USA, I find the discussion rather disengenious. The USA is a "capitalist" based society and the basic rule is to charge what the traffic will bear. There is nothing in the "capitalist credo" about fair pricing, etc. You should look at the "mark-ups" on women's clothing, and a million other non-boating items.
- - Other governments elsewhere use "fixed pricing" set by some government official and the result is almost no choice of brands or types of a product. If the store doesn't sell a large amount of an item it is not stocked as customs fees have to be paid - up front.
- - The price of having variety, choice and the availability of low volume items is higher prices on all the other stuff in the store. "Dead" stock inventory is rather expensive.
- - The whole marine market is extremely small and getting smaller all the time as witnessed by the disappearance of many marine suppliers that were abundant a decade or so ago. Currently there are plenty of empty or near empty marinas and boatyards and lots of room in anchorages that were formerly packed.
- - West Marine prices, as horribly high as you say they are, are a fraction of the prices of the same items in the Bahamas, and most other countries around the Caribbean basin. Which is why I specifically advise new cruisers heading out into the oceans of the world to stock up on spare parts and repair items here in the USA prior to leaving.
- - Capitalism is fairly simple, if you price your stuff too high, nobody buys it and you go out of business as other business take away your customers. If you price your stuff too low the same thing happens eventually.
- - And here in the USA, you do have the ability to profit by your own willingness to do the work to research and compare pricing and then buy where you can get the best deal. The money you save is directly related to the amount of effort you are willing to expend. I, for one, particularly appreciate the "freedom" of being able to "profit" (or save money) by putting out the effort to find the best deal. In some other countries that is totally impossible - the government (big brother) determines what you will pay.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

There's a simple answer to the prices at WM: Don't shop there. If everyone stopped shopping there, they would change.

I'm always amused by people who seem to feel a sense of personal injustice over high prices. In a capitalist market economy everyone works to maximize their profits and minimize their expenses. The price of things are largely set by what people are willing to pay, not by any intrinsic value of the product. There is no proper price. There is only what the thing can be sold for.

So don't buy it at WM. Or haggle for the discount. Either way, you can bet that WM is making lots of money using their current business approach. The market has spoken! ... And we all know, markets are never wrong

I think this is exactly what is happening now. especially with the economy the way it is. People are turning to more online and different vendors. Personally I stopped shopping there when there fastener section started drying up and i mean more than just one store. I asked the manager why and was told it is a numbers game. It's how much money does the fastener section bring in the store per square foot of space. What I think they don't get is I pick up other items while I buy fasteners. It was the convienience of having the fasteners there. I'm not sure Randy Repass has his fingers on the company like he use to. I feel it's become a bottom-line company.