Defender Marine Price More Than Double Competition

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by lesterbutch

the buyer must be responsible for their purchases, not the seller..

Please understand I live on the west coast of Canada and Defender marine is where ... Waterford CT?

I believe I was responsible ... i paid the bill and did not argue with them. I simply view it as "lesson learned".

The one thing that should be recognized here is, "value of service and availability" offered by our local dealers ... and that in my opinion, is certainly worth the extra cost. My local dealer is probably very happy I have returned to him.

[pwmullins]

I bought 2 gals of bottom paint from Defender for $155.00 / gal and West's price in the store was $225.00 / gal.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by witzgall

The ONLY way to make a fair comparison would be to look at a US supplier. Defender does not import these, they buy them from Indel in Florida. Indel controls the pricing to an extent with their wholesale pricing, and that will be the same for any reseller, assuming they are buying the same quantities.


I kinda consider the OP to be trolling....


Chris

I don't think it's trolling at all. I think it's a fair and interesting comparison. As a person who travels between the U.S. and Europe, I am especially interested in where what is best to buy.

This particular case might not be Defender's fault -- it could be rape and pillage by the U.S. distributor.

It is not uncommon for European-made marine products to be sold at ridiculous markup in the U.S.. Sometimes that might be due to product liability (e.g. liferafts); part of it just gouging. The Smartgauge, made in the UK and sold in the U.S. by Balmar, is about double the cost in the U.S., compared to the price in the UK when you consider VAT.

As to Defender -- I bought a lot of equipment from then when I did my refit two years ago. I got a special "refit discount" and personalized service. I was pleased with it. But even with the "refit discount" not all the prices were the lowest, and without it, Defender is sometimes downright expensive. But for that extra cost you do get an extra level of service, so sometimes worth paying it.

You pays your money and makes your choices.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Sailorbob8599

Please understand I live on the west coast of Canada and Defender marine is where ... Waterford CT?

I believe I was responsible ... i paid the bill and did not argue with them. I simply view it as "lesson learned".

The one thing that should be recognized here is, "value of service and availability" offered by our local dealers ... and that in my opinion, is certainly worth the extra cost. My local dealer is probably very happy I have returned to him.

I think it's importantr to support local bricks & mortar stores, especially when they are small businesses.

[jhstacy]

I like to shop at Defender frequently and have spent thousands with them. The price of the item is almost always the best price. That said, when there is a problem, their customer service is rude, obviously considers themselves above their customers and their shipping charges are nothing short of gouging.

[yotpop]

I'm wondering why so many suspect the OP to be "trolling". Sounds genuine enough to me. He even got the correct VAT rate for Italy at 22%. The only other place with that rate is Slovenia. I note that the OP joined the CF in 2011 - so cannot believe he's waited 4 years before "trolling". There are massive price differences on everything these days which is why you'll frequently notice New Zealand boaties surfing around globally in an effort to avoid being shafted locally. Well done to the OP for highlighting just one of those big differences.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by AD28

this might be clickbait... a first-time post with a link and complaint. SPAM is becoming more subtle, I'll give it that

My first thought exactly. Especially with a link to the "deal"

[boeing1]

I do not find Defender prices double, I have used them on several things and find their prices are inline. however I do search the web for the best price on the product that I am looking for, sometimes it is defender and sometimes it is not,

[Cuttyhunk]

You are not including shipping to the US and any duty. The more realistic comparison would be to other US vendors. On this item, Defender is only $5 cheaper than West Marine, which is a very low difference for them. I saw another US vendor that had this item at $1645. That vendor was not one I have ever heard of, and they say it is out of stock and call them. Defender doesn't have it in stock, either. I would guess this is an extremely low volume selling item and nobody in the US is going to have a great price on it. I'm sure you could find plenty of items that seem cheaper in the US than in Europe. Buy the thing and have it shipped and see what the true cost is.

By the way, Defender is doing just fine. I visit that store frequently and I worked there for a year (spent all I made, and more, on boat stuff). I wish I lived closer than I do; I would still be working there.


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[MorganSailor]

That's a real laugh, calling my post a click bait. What am I trying to do? Direct traffic from Defender to an outfit in Europe? Obviously you have never tried to have anything shipped from anywhere in Europe, especially something that even Defender requires shipment by common carrier because it is too big for Fedex or UPS. Nope. I spent over $20,000 last year with Defender on a complete refit of my boat. I have been buying from them for more than 30 years. I know that they used to be very competitive. They no longer are. I had so much confidence in them that when I spent the large sum last year I hardly compared any of their prices with their competition because I had used them for my first refit 20 years ago and was certain I was getting the best price. This is no longer the case as I realized that I wasted a lot of money doing a complete refit with them. Now, as I need an item I comparison shop and almost every time I do better with Defender. I just do not believe they are they same company they used to be. I find they make little effort to accommodate their customers. I just have a sense that something has changed in the company and I was looking for an explanation, i.e., company sold, owner retired, new CEO? A few years back I had my boat in the Med and found everything higher than here so I was quite surprised when I found Defender charging more thasn 2X for the same item. Company's with the purchasing power of Defender have to be pretty indifferent and non-competitive if they allow a U.S. distributor to force them to pay double. I don't think the old Defender would have allowed that to happen. That's all. I have no axe to grind. I just wanted other sailors to be aware that the company has changed.

[MorganSailor]

Yo, Windbag! Say, you are in the Northeast. Could you possibly have an interest in Defender? Seems you have gone to a lot of trouble and research to justify them charging double. Just wondering why a disinterested party would do that.

[transmitterdan]

A quick check of other US based retailers finds the Defender price is close to the average. So it may be that the wholesale price in US is more than in Italy. Also, Euro is down significantly to the dollar so that surely skews the comparison.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

A quick check of other US based retailers finds the Defender price is close to the average. So it may be that the wholesale price in US is more than in Italy. Also, Euro is down significantly to the dollar so that surely skews the comparison.

Precisely the reason why it should NOT be 2X more expensive here but same as or even cheaper than in Europe.

[Nicholson58]

I also find Defender high more than low. They did sell us our ROCNA though by a wide margin. I was pleasantly surprised last week to find the best deal on a SIMRAD auto pilot system at We$t of all places. They had a thanksgiving day on-line only 15% off and were otherwise close or even with the others. Collecting the points on this major purchase also helped.

As noted by others, you must check around especially on big stuff.

What I find eye-opening is the difference between the on line pricing for anything in the US against pricing on line form any seller in the UK. UK is usually 150 to 200 % of US pricing.

[mikequig]

At first, I thought you were talking about West Marine and comparing prices to Defender. But then I re-read the post. I suspect your fridge experience is an anomaly - I've found Defender to usually be the price leader on almost everything, and certainly cheaper than WM.