First time gear purchases for new divers can be frustrating and intimidating, but I’m here to help! Read further for ways to find discounts on your dive gear….
If you ask a new diver what their biggest turn off is when it comes to diving, one of the first answers you’ll likely hear is how overwhelming it is to decide what gear they need and the cost around the initial investment to purchase their own set of gear. Diving is an extremely rewarding activity, but let’s face it, dive gear is expensive. And as we all know, buying dive gear can be stressful and frustrating, especially in the beginning. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but for the majority of us who dive regularly, gear purchases don’t stop after the initial purchase – they are seemingly never ending. As someone who paid full retail for dive gear for the first decade of her active diving pursuits, including a full sets of recreational and technical gear, I feel your pain. Allow me to share some tips I learned along the way that I wish I knew about when I started my journey.
Support your LDS, but don’t be afraid to buy gear online
I’m all about supporting your local dive shop if they are supporting your local dive community. That means that in addition to gear sales and equipment rental, they meet a number other criteria to serve their customers and their community. Some examples include:
- They have a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. I’ve touched on this in other posts. This is a leisure hobby and your dive shop should be an enjoyable place to visit.
- They provide meaningful guidance with both dive gear and classes. This often means providing fair and unbiased advice on a brand they may carry or provide references for a class they do not teach.
- They create a sense of community, which includes organizing local diving opportunities (where possible), socials to bring divers together and help them connect and find buddies and dive travel options to exciting places.
- They don’t price gouge their customers on dive gear. If they’re selling above MSRP or what you can find online, and refuse to come down, they don’t deserve your money. A well-rounded dive shop makes their profits on classes and travel and not just equipment sales.
Even more important than supporting your dive shop, you need to make sure you have the right gear for your diving. There are lots of dive shop that only carry a couple of brands, and whatever their reason for choosing those brands (best margins, preferred brand of the owner, demand from community, etc.), this is your investment, not theirs. Remember that what your shop carries may not be the best brands out there, and they may not have what you need.
Don’t be afraid to buy the specific gear you want for the best price you can find, even if that means shopping online. The internet is a strange and wonderful place, and if you can’t find it in your local shop, order it. If you’re worried your shop will be “mad” at you for shopping elsewhere, find a new shop. They should be competing for your business, not punishing you for their poor business skills.
Do your research and ask for a price match
So how do you support local but still get great deals? Well for starters, do your research online and ask your local shop for a price match. There are a number of shops out there that will price match deals you find online – But you have to ask for it. There are even online shops with price match policies where you don’t even have to speak to a human lol.
Get discounts from online brand affiliates or become one yourself!
We’ve all seen the scuba influencers, selling their souls trying to get you to buy a cheap light or waterproof phone case with their discount codes on Tik Tok. Eye roll. As annoying as most of them are, affiliate marketing has really taken off and many brands are taking advantage of social media and word-of mouth. There are two ways to take advantage of this marketing trend.
- Follow brand affiliates/ambassadors/influencers. Chances are, you’re already doing that. Many of them post regularly about the brands they’re associated with because they usually get some sort of kickback when you make a purchase. Start by looking at their bio – There is often a special link to click or they’ll have a coupon code that gives you a discount. If it’s not clear in their profile, send them a direct message and ask, or look for someone else who reps the brand(s).
- Become an affiliate yourself! You don’t have to be a dive pro or have 100k (likely fake) followers to become an online affiliate and make money by recommending products to your friends. My favorite site/shop for this is Dive Right in Scuba. DRIS is not only a great local shop for divers in Illinois, but a phenomenal online shop for those of us outside of the area. They have unparalleled customer service and carry pretty much any brand you can think of (I’ve checked). The way it works – You sign up for their affiliate program using this link. Then you share the link with your friends or post to your social media accounts. When someone clicks on the link and completes a sale, you make a small percentage of that sale. It starts off at 5%, which may not sound like much, but if you’re sharing the link with someone making a big purchase or lots of people place orders through your link, it really adds up. You can also sign up for affiliate programs through Amazon or other businesses, but I find it less complicated to just stick to one.
Know when to look for sales
This one may seem a little obvious, but many shops/manufactures have sales on gear throughout the year. Knowing when those sales are likely to happen will help you save big and save you from buying right before something goes on sale. So, when is the best time to look for scuba deals?
- Black Friday/Cyber Monday – Just like the rest of the world, dive shops/brands take advantage of this internationally growing “holiday” to discount their products and clear out their inventory. A quick google search will help you find online sales, and your shop’s social media should start advertising what is going on sale a week or two ahead of time, many of them running sales the whole month of November. I also post deals I see in Anarchy Scuba Spot, as do others in the group.
- DEMA Show (usually the first or second week in November) – DEMA is the Dive Equipment and Marketing (lol) Association trade show for dive pros to check out new gear offerings, take industry related classes, and socialize with other dive industry members. Many manufacturers have DEMA Specials to bring on new dealers or introduce their existing dealers to new products. Ever wonder why your shop lists their new travel schedule in December? It’s got nothing to do with it being the end of the calendar year – They’re finding travel deals at DEMA. Anyway – If you’re looking to make a big purchase, ask your shop if they’re sending someone to the show and ask them to get a price for you on that item – even if it’s from a brand they don’t already carry. You’ll also see online deals from some of your favorite manufacturers during this time. Keep an eye on their social media accounts to snag the best deals.
- Scuba Trade Shows for Consumers – The biggest one in the US is the Scuba Show in Long Beach, CA in June. Lots of shops and manufacturers have deals, but you need to show up in person for this one. It also looks like Beneath the Sea in New Jersey is back after skipping last year. Their show is in March.
- Time to Dive Show (April-ish) – This is an online show hosted by Dive Right in Scuba where most of the big scuba brands do a web presentation about their latest and greatest products, answer questions, and raffle off prizes (like, good prizes) to people who tune in. DRIS also runs great discounts during the show and does a big raffle at the end. This one is a must for divers interested in dive gear and deals.
- Memorial Day – Beginning of summer season sales in most local dive shops to get divers ready for local diving.
- Labor Day/End of Season sales – Shops moving the extra inventory dive shops had stocked up during the dive season.
- “Sale” sections of online stores – Most online stores have these and you are likely to find some really great deals if you check the Sales page from time to time.
Buy used gear from quality sources
Used dive gear can be intimidating to a new diver, and with good reason. You want to know your life support gear is going to… well, keep you alive. There are some good options to buy safe and reliable gear at really great prices, if you know where to look. (Disclaimer – “Always have used dive gear serviced so you know it works and doesn’t actually kill you… blah, blah, blah…”) Okay, where were we? Where to buy used gear:
- Your local dive shop – Many dive shops have a bin in the corner with used gear for sale. Make sure you ask them if the gear has been serviced and/or comes with a warranty – or if it’s being sold “as is”.
- Online dive shops – Same idea. Local dive shops with a strong online presence usually have a section on their page for used gear.
- Facebook – Out of the slow decline with online scuba forums there has emerged the beast that is Facebook gear swap groups. There is likely a regional group in your area for local swapping. And then of course there are the larger, national (or international) swap groups. I obviously am going to recommend Anarchy Scuba Swap. This was the original group that started the whole online Anarchy Scuba presence. The group is frequented by some pretty great, well-known divers, and has gear ranging from open-water recreational gear, to advanced technical diving gear. When I’m looking for something I want to buy used but can’t find it, I post what I’m looking for and 100% of the time (at current writing lol) I’ve found what I was looking for. The other advantage to the group – While I don’t see every listing that goes up, there are a number of moderators who keep an eye on what’s going on and will remove suspicious posts or call out items that are overpriced or look like they’re dishonest in some way. (If you ever want me to review an item in there, just send me a message on Facebook and I’ll vet the item and the seller – quite a few of whom I can personally vouch for.)
So there you have it. Some sure-fire ways to save some cash on dive gear. Keep an eye out for future posts relating to dive gear and let me know in the comments if you have any other recommendations for saving money on dive gear. I hope some of this information was useful to those of you just starting out with your diving.
Dive Safe!
Trace