Zincs

[jaxfishgyd]

I had to buy zincs at my marina last month as the diver was here (last time before he was going to be out of town for 6 weeks).
I was charged (ripped off/mugged) for a price of $188 for two shaft zincs and four 4" pancake zincs.......
And they were CHEAPER than "Worst Marine"....
So went online this week, found the same 6 ones (cept the shaft zincs were HEAVY duty ones) and it costed me $121....with free shipping...
Will check for better rates as I now have many months before I need to reorder...
But a $ 67 savings I can live with... That will buy a lot of beer

[gmcairns]

OUCH!

[atoll]

Originally Posted by jaxfishgyd

I had to buy zincs at my marina last month as the diver was here (last time before he was going to be out of town for 6 weeks).
I was charged (ripped off/mugged) for a price of $188 for two shaft zincs and four 4" pancake zincs.......
And they were CHEAPER than "Worst Marine"....
So went online this week, found the same 6 ones (cept the shaft zincs were HEAVY duty ones) and it costed me $121....with free shipping...
Will check for better rates as I now have many months before I need to reorder...
But a $ 67 savings I can live with... That will buy a lot of beer

hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[CapTim]

was that price installed? or did you pay extra for install?

[jaxfishgyd]

PLUS installation...... he only charges me $4 per zinc.... Price for the bottom cleaning is $ 72......

[David M]

I know that seems expensive but I don't see that as an unreasonable markup to compensate him for his time to go purchase the anodes. This is over a price difference of 67 dollars. The diver has to make a living as well. Some marine related professionals charge over $100 per hour for their time.

[Just a Tinch]

Google USA Zincs....check his prices. I get my zincs there. My diver installs them... USAzincs.com Last time I ordered from them they were offering free shipping on orders of $94 and up...still are at present. They are CAMP zincs.....

[fstbttms]

www.boatzincs.com

The biggest selection I've ever seen and free shipping on orders over $100.

[jaxfishgyd]

David,
The diver does not provide the zincs....He wants them there waiting on him so I'm not taking anything away from him... But if he was to make an extra $67 plus what he's charging to put them on and clean the hull, I'll start doing it myself

Just a tinch,
That's the place I bought them from

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by jaxfishgyd

David,
The diver does not provide the zincs....He wants them there waiting on him

I do not understand hull cleaners who do not provide zincs. He could also buy them from your online source (or wherever), add a modest markup and save you the inconvenience of having to purchase them and leave them where he can get to them. That's money in his pocket and less time and hassle for you. Ponderous.

[zeehag]

i only knew of one dive company out of 6 in sd who provided zincs, and no one does here--you must have your own.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i only knew of one dive company out of 6 in sd who provided zincs, and no one does here--you must have your own.

I know many hull cleaners in San Diego and to my knowledge, they all sell zincs. A hull cleaner would be crazy not to. It's just good business.

I buy my zincs wholesale from Svendsen's here in Alameda or sometimes from BoatZincs.com, because they carry some hard-to-find items, like Gori zincs, Flex-O-Fold etc.

[jaxfishgyd]

Dispite "common misconception".. us powerboaters do not like to throw money away any more than sailors.....
A diver will spend an ave of 30 mins cleaning my hull and walk away with $72-100 cash (depending on what marina I'm at) You figure he does 5-6 boats a day (his numbers, not mine) and now he's making $400-600 a day, tax free.
I will gladly buy the zincs and have them onboard...... he makes more than enough already

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by jaxfishgyd

...he makes more than enough already

You clearly have not spent a day cleaning boat bottoms.

I usually do not install customer-supplied zincs, and here's why:

A few weeks ago I serviced a new customer's boat. He (being an employee of West Marine) wanted to supply his own zincs since he can get them cheap. I reluctantly agreed. Well, his boat uses 1" shaft zincs but he left me 7/8" zincs to install. Wonderful. Fortunately, I carry a pretty comprehensive inventory and had a couple of 1" shaft zincs with me in the boat that I installed. If I had not had the zincs, it would have meant a trip to my shop to get the correct zincs and then another trip back to the customer's boat, gear-up, get into the water and install them. Total time lost- maybe an hour. That eats into the profit margin pretty deeply. And this kind of thing has happened to me more than once.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by jaxfishgyd

PLUS installation...... he only charges me $4 per zinc.... Price for the bottom cleaning is $ 72......

Eh? you pay him $24 to change all the Zincs, well I wouldn't get the diving kit wet for that price, so marking up the price of the zincs he probably makes enough to live.

As for 5 or 6 boats a day, well he might but then he has some serious cylinder filling to do afterwards. That's also hard graft to do it properly. I wouldn't begrudge him the $188.



Pete