Beating Sale at West Marine

[DsquareD]

My wife and I are new to this and are in need of nearly everything. We've made a few visits to West Marine and are picking things up that we want to try on and not make guesses at, like shoes and foul weather clothes.

Anyway, while at West Marine yesterday, we were trying on foulies and inquiring when they will be on sale. The plan was to get our sizes figured out and then go pick them up when the sale started. One associate that we spoke with showed us a flier for a sale from November 3rd thru the 6th.

After trying everything on, our plan was to have my wife stop in on the morning of the 3rd and pick things up. Then another associate told us about their 30 price guarantee. The more we talked the more we were made aware of other like minded buyers stopping in during the sale and perhaps getting the sizes we wanted ahead of us. So we bought one set each of West Marine Third Reef jackets and bibs.

Our new plan is that we simply need to stop in during the sale and get a refund of the difference. In the case of the foulies, it will be $50 per set, as the sale is for $50 off $300 or more, so I paid for each set separately, which will give us a $100 refund.

Anyway, the rep said there may be other discounts that could be even better and to watch our email for other offers.

Perhaps we could have gotten a rain check on the day of the sale if our sizes were gone. But now we don't have to worry about it.

I just wanted to pass on this tip and learn what other more experienced members have to offer. Please share your outfitting buying recommendations.

Thanks.

[nolfi]

Best thing to do is avoid west marine all together. Even w their blowout sales, member discounts..... still more spendy than any place by a large margin.

[Thumbs Up]

The best thing to do is find someone with a "port supply card" to go through the check out with you. Most items have a discount and every item branded West Marine usually has a really good discount (half price a lot of times). Some accounts give better discounts than others but if you get their number ahead of time the salesmen will do price checks for you. You used to be able to tell them the name on the account at checkout but I think that they have done away with that.

[svHyLyte]

West Marine has, or at least did have, a "new boat owner" program by which a "new boat owner" was accommodated with Port Supply pricing on equipment and supplies for a period of time. We took advantage of that program when we purchased our current yacht and realized substantial savings by doing so, more so that had we gone with Defender or some of the other discount vendors. If one is, in fact, a new boat owner needing to make a relatively large number of purchases, let the local WM store manager know of your status and you may be afforded the consideration.

FWIW....

[nolfi]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

The best thing to do is find someone with a "port supply card" to go through the check out with you. Most items have a discount and every item branded West Marine usually has a really good discount (half price a lot of times). Some accounts give better discounts than others but if you get their number ahead of time the salesmen will do price checks for you. You used to be able to tell them the name on the account at checkout but I think that they have done away with that.

You can give them the other persons account, when they look it up your name better be on it.... call ur friend in advance.

Another proven one is for a group of friends or marina neighbors just use 1 account. i think its 10-20k per year for best discounts.... maybe more. Point is, can be reached reletivly fast.

[Stu Jackson]

WM is a good starting point. I have 20 year old Third Reef gear that is still going strong. Whether they make 'em as good these days or not, I dunno.

However, after moving from "sunny" San Francisco up to Vancouver Island this past summer, and tolerating the wettest October EVER here in recorded history (!!!) I recommend doing more homework and research on deals for good weather gear">foul weather gear.

There are other sources out there, and many different makes and models of gear that may be appropriate for you and yours. There's offshore quality marine gear, then there is FISHING gear - gee, who knew that people other than blue blazer dressed recreational sailors actually go out when it's raining!!!

On our trip up the coast we were "exposed" to Englund's marine stores with a plethora of great gear.

There are also, gasp (!) sporting good stores. I "scored" a great pair of "Ocean Gear" foul weather pants last month that I wore for the first time just yesterday in a heavy downpour. Wonderful gear. Price? $35USD. Beat that. And I have Gill bibs and those fisherman "plastic" bibs, too. I like the Ocean Gear specifically because they are NOT bibs and I can use a belt or suspenders to hold 'em up.

You really need to do some comparative shopping.

Good luck.

[ur2slo]

Originally Posted by DsquareD

I just wanted to pass on this tip and learn what other more experienced members have to offer. Please share your outfitting buying recommendations.

Thanks.

My advice, MBA marketing got ya. Its all baloney...stay away from West Marine.

As mentioned toooo hi $$$$$$$$$$

BTW, picked up a almost new Helly Hanson foul weather jacket for $ 9 at local Goodwill.

look, keep your eyes open, deals are around.

[capt jgw]

Or get a part time job there. Employee discount is 10% above store cost. ( Or was when I worked there about 10 years ago). Best you'll find anywhere and cheaper than Port Supply. They like having some one there who knows at least something about boats, most of the kids they hire don't.

[sailjumanji]

Some items - like B&G electronics are the same price at West Marine as they are at discount marine sellers, due to pricing policy for B&G. When I went thru boat systems upgrade last year, I bought all of the electronics at West Marine on triple points weekend. So that's essentially 12% back in coupons that can be used for subsequent purchases same as cash. Ended up with 52 $10 coupons. Came in two envelopes.

Purchased a Garmin GPS for the fishing boat a month ago on triple points weekend. Three weeks later it went on sale at west marine. They gave me a refund as per their 30 day price match which includes their own pricing. And refund was all handled via email, by sending them receipt and explanation.

You pay for convenience of being able to walk out, as well as return, purchases. I've bought a lot of stuff from Defender too. A time and place for each.

[DsquareD]

Thanks for the great replies.

[rwidman]

West Marine prices are generally higher than the same item at another vendor but not always. West Marine has the advantage that you can see and feel and even measure things before buying and you can't do that on the Internet. They also have a very liberal return policy. I was able to get an electric dinghy pump replaced away from home on a cruise with no paper receipt.


On the other hand, Shell Rotella motor oil is $13 per gallon at Wal-Mart and about $25 per gallon at WM.


Just like anything else, it pays to shop around if money is a concern.

[Bay Breeze]

We like having the access to marine supplies, even if higher priced than Defender and Hamilton and other internet sources. Our local store is helpful - maybe not always up on our needs, but try. BUT - what a waste of time to try their technical help - or intercession with their vendors (Raymarine) - Customer service tries but fails when it comes to technical support - here is the answer I got when asking the technical support at West to pass along my questions that their AIS expert could not answer to Raymarine:

"Sorry, you will need to contact Raymarine yourself."

Frustrating - but in 40 years of boating and seeking "expert" advice - it all falls back to personal responsibility and depending on one's self to ferret out the answers.

[Suijin]

I shop at West Marine only when I absolutely have to. If you're in any sort of boating community there's likely an independent chandlery that matches or beats their pricing which is not hard to do. Also, look for hardware stores that also sell marine stuff, and you'll see even lower prices.

An example of West Marine pricing logic. They sell both Trinidad SR and Trinidad PRO. It's EXACTLY the same paint, with the only difference being that Pro is supposed to be sold only to the trade and has a black and white label. West Marine sells SR at $280 a gallon and PRO (which I believe they should not sell at retail) at $320 a gallon. WTF.

The discount you get with a port supply account is directly related to the amount of $'s that flow through that account. The more that gets charged to that account, the better the discount. It's why brokers and marine repair shops are pretty much happy to give you their port supply account number; it means better pricing for them. If you get access to an active account, the discount on consumables and things like rope is considerable. Hard stuff, like electronics, not so much, if even any.

Some branches will just let you give them the port supply number and you're good. Others want to know the name of the account holder and some verification that you're associated with that account. Was an issue in Annapolis a couple of years ago as it seemed everyone and their mother had a port supply number and it was clear that the system was being "abused".

[Celestialsailor]

I stopped shopping there after they decided to eliminate their fastner section to a couple of shelves. They have no problem increasing their clothing section. I'm sure the profits are greater with clothing than hardware. After that I would go in to look at a product, see the price and compare it to Internet prices. Ultimately, I found a chandlery where I get anywhere from 25-40% off having a business license and am a regular customer.

[Mark Stillwell]

I always shop around for cloths and supplies. My Henry Lloyd foul weather coat and bibs I got on sale at the Chicago Strictly Sail Boat Show. I have other foul weather jackets from Bass Pro. Most of my stainless steel bolts and screws I get from Ace Hardware. 3M wax and Star Bright deck cleaner from the local Wal-Mart.

My current boat shoes and sandals and my Taylor fenders are from West Marine.

I just bought a Raymarine e97 chart plotter from Defender.

My Fortress FX-23 came from Puerto Rico via eBay ($125 delivered)

Shop around and you can save alot!