The Most Overpriced Boaterbits Ripoff$$$

[forsailbyowner]

Im sure by now were all aware that we get targeted by marine retailers. Every time i start a project anew I find some little item that amazes me how overpriced it is. Ive run into the $80 exhaust manifold gasket etc... Here are a couple. Whats the worst one youve seen and did you go for it?


this is a ferrous teleflex clamp about an inch long retails for over $10




This gasket with shipping is $34





This little baby goes for $31 plus shipping at boaters world.





One way to beat these prices is look outside the boating retailers. i got the above seal for $3 from an online seal store, I found the same gasket from a tractor parts store for $2.50 the little clamp was replaced with a tiny ubolt picked up at a hardware store for less than a buck. whats the worst example of gouging youve come across?

[mikecin]

My buddy bought a cheap little stick-on clock for five bucks at Target. Whenever anyone asks about it he tells them its a marine chronograph for $49.95 at the marine store...and people believe it. What's that tell you about the industry?

[skipmac]

Freshwater pump for a Westerbeke W58. $230-$260 from marine dealers. $89 plus shipping from a tractor parts shop. Identical pump.

By the way, a Westerbeke W58 is just a Perkins 4.154 series 200 that was painted red.

[Jim Cate]

A wide variety of seals and bearings are common rip-offs... all available from your friendly industrial supplier... essentially anywhere in the western world, and in a surprising number of very third world areas. After all, there are cars, tractors and such everywhere these days, and they all need fixin' at times! Here the markup is from around three to as much as a factor of ten. (Lip seals for my Johnson water pump">raw water pump $1.80 each vs $22 from Nanni).

My particular pet peeve is o-rings, which are often priced at several dollars each from marine sources, yet are only a few cents from the seal shop -- a factor of nearly one hundred. Grrr!

Cheers,

Jim

[rognvald]

Another bash the capitalist thread? The marketplace is governed by supply and demand. A short supply means higher prices. Some manufacturers who produce items in a small quantity must charge higher prices to offset their costs. Also, items of a higher quality demand a higher price. Therefore, the "high" price of the item you needed. You, however, solved the problem intelligently and found other sources although the clamp you bought was definitely of an inferior quality and not "marine." So, consumers speak with their pocketbooks and vendors must charge a price that justifies buying and selling the product. Don't always blame the evil manufacturer/businessman because you don't like the price. You could also live in Cuba where a new Peugeot costs between $91K and 262K and the average Cuban's salary is $20. Now that's a rip off!! Good luck, good sailing, long live capitalism.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Another bash the capitalist thread? The marketplace is governed by supply and demand. A short supply means higher prices. Some manufacturers who produce items in a small quantity must charge higher prices to offset their costs. ...

Yes and no. We are required to carry a bell as part of our safety equipment. That bell, at the marine store, was $50. The exact same bell, by the same manufacturer, built of the same materials, was $10 at the hardware store. The difference? The bell at the marine store had a mounting plate shaped like an anchor, the one at the hardware store had one shaped like a horseshoe. Needless to say, we have a horseshoe mounting plate on our bell.

I do get the limited production run argument, and I agree with you on the capitalist front, it's up to us to vote with our wallets and take business elsewhere if we don't like the pricing. For some items substitutions (and they may not even be substitutions) may be just fine, for others they could be quite costly.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I do sympathise with the thread (and a useful heads up for New folks into boats), but for those prices you are buying 2 additional things:

1) knowledge
2) convenience

Imo it is fairplay to charge for those

The good news is that it is not compulsory to also buy those........but that comes at a cost to you in time and effort - which approach is the best deal will depend on each person.

one thing I have discovered about capitalism is that folk like it until they on the wrong end of it .

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I do sympathise with the thread (and a useful heads up for New folks into boats), but for those prices you are buying 2 additional things:

1) knowledge
2) convenience

Imo it is fairplay to charge for those

Eloquently put, but does this still hold true today as it might have done a dozen or so years ago.
There has been a proliferation of online chandlers over the past few years, and my experience is that their sales team lack knowledge of the product.
In many cases, these chandlers are nothing more than re-sellers, which can prove to be very inconvenient. The customer usually finds out when having waited a week for delivery, calls the seller to inquire about expected delivery, only to be advised that the seller is waiting for his supplier to deliver.

I have no problem with the small local chandlers found around boating communities. They usually have lots of knowledge, can be very convenient as they just have that bit you are so desperate for. As their turn over is likely to be low, and overheads no less than any other retailer, I do not begrudge them their margin, plus I feel a little better spending my money in the local community.
I have learned to avoid the online chandlers like the plague.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Fair point, but I wasnt talking about knowledge of product provided by people, but simply provided by the business selling the product.

You want a wotsit that fits a thingy on a boat? Or simply fulfils a function on a boat?.... .....We have something that will do the job (that knowledge provided simply by them offering an item and a product description) .......if a customer needs personal advice or guidance on top of that then they either pay for it from an old style Chandler, from a tradesman or from time spent doing own learning.......not the job of a vendor to sell the products of a competitor. Or give either product or knowledge away .

[nigel1]

OK, see your point now.

If yous have the time, pays to do your own research, but that time has a value.
One advantage of the internet, it speeds up the process of gaining knowledge.
You just need the sense to disregard the dross.

If people cannot be bothered to research and find the same product for half the price, you cannot blame the seller for setting the price, after all he has saved them all that time.

[Aussiesuede]

Here is a post I made re: price gouging after researching parts for my Land Rover. It's not supply & demand. It's preying on different anticipated levels of ignorance. The manufacturer simply sells the same part to different suppliers at different prices based on how much he anticipates that supplier can resell it for. In this case, AC Delco sells the SAME part to Chevy suppliers for one price, Cadillac suppliers for a higher price, and Land Rover suppliers for a comparatively astronomical price, betting on varying levels of ignorance of the end user. The word for that is: profiteering.

Just figured out another bit of useful information I thought I'd pass along. The AC Delco part number for the IACV-Stepper Motors on '94 & '95 -DI's is:

AC Delco #217-437

The average price new at shucks & NAPA is $42 (vs $190 from Atlantic British). Even better news is that this was the most common IACV used on GM V8 & V6 trucks & vans from 1989-1996. You can goto the AC Delco website and do a search by the partnumber, and it'll give ya every GM vehicle it was installed on (hundreds of models). Before making the order from NAPA, I decided to stop by my local self service wrecker today. Damn near every 90's GM truck & van with a V6 or V8 had this stepper motor. I grabbed the two cleanest looking ones I could find after walking around for 10 minutes and took em to the register. they charged me $3 each. Went out in the parking lot, unscrewed my malfunctioning unit, screwed in one of the used units - and voila, no more erratic idle. Works PERFECTLY, for $3 !

Atlantic British ($190):Stepper Motor - Intake Air Control Valve - 1994-1995 (Part # ERR5199) - Land Rover fuel injection from Atlantic British



RMS Auto Parts ($48) RMS Product Details: 217-437 - EFI Idle Air Control Valve, Fuel System, 217-437

[forsailbyowner]

Another example would be comparing automotive gps systems to marine.
the charts are free as are the streetmaps. At least in usa. You get charged $400 more for a gps loaded with charts that were free from noaa.The automotive gps comes loaded with the free streetmaps, more intuitive software and costs a tenth of the price or less.
'

[David_Old_Jersey]

Preying on ignorance vs maximising return on knowledge - for me the line is only crossed when the person doing the paying has no choice (that not the same as. "can't be bothered " ).

Of course the socialist approach of folks pooling and sharing resources (that includes knowledge) for no direct monetary return but instead for the greater good of all, now and later, (including for self) does impact negatively on the capitalist approach....... Which is why capitalism hates socialism. And education.

I just wish there was a way for folk to adopt socialism online in regard to boats : .Maybe in some sort of forum for sharing knowledge?

[SaltyMonkey]

Cam cleat: $460 + 239.67 AppleCare at the Apple store Apple

same cleat at

DirtyDawgs Boat Party:
$6.82 + shipping and tax