West Marine's monopoly prices.

[BK]

It has been a couple of years now that W/M bought out BoatUS. I feel prices have gone up since they are the only game in town and thought they would as soon as I heard of it. I was at W/M and bought a small bottle of boat wax and then went saw it at another store for $2 less. I was looking into buying a radar there and found it 25% less on the internet. I know they have leader sales but the thing you want is never on sale when you need it. On the whole I think prices would be lower if BoatUS was still competition. They bought out their major competition that made them keep prices low to compete. Arn't there laws against this?

[dclark]

good points and I hate both WM and BoatUS for the same reasons. They are good for one thing...I can see it before I order it somewhere else. Things I buy there fallinto two categories. Either it's something that is not practical to order online (a battery for example) or last minute odds and ends (nuts and bolts for example).

I've always wondered this...They say they will price match. So if I bring in an internet price will they match it? And what if it's a no tax no shipping cost order, will they still match that? I never tried but have been tempted.

[Mark Prouty]

I am amazed that they can charge what they do. A glaring example is stainless steel screws, nuts, bolts, washers and the like. These items can be purchased at a hardware store for a fraction of the price.

I think it would be hard to prove they have a monolopy. Is there anything they sell that can't be purchased somewhere else?

[mike]

Though I really like shopping at our local West Marine, when the situation permits, I try to get what I need from Boater's World (which is closer to my work)... their prices are usually significantly lower than West Marine (though the seem to focus more on powerboat stuff).

On a couple of occasions, I've brought in print-outs from websites for West Marine to price-match, and they've never given me a hard time about it. But their high prices on stuff that's not practical to go through the trouble of price matching (screws, cleaners, etc.) is rather annoying.

--Mike

[Divecoz]

I dropped a grand there last night and never left the office
The Prices were right (cheaper for the most part sometimes a couple bucks $2 a few times $10 and $15 and more). .. . I checked just about, every item against the major 4 ( yep I had some time to burn Ms.Audrey was out and about ) Boaters World beat them most the time and free shipping and No tax . I will have to let you know how it goes from here . Monopoly BTW its got to be Outboards !! Try and find a deal on those ....

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

West Marine will price match. Different managers are easier to deal with than others. When I bought my autopilot last year I had them price match the Boaters World online price. The guy at their Seattle store initially complained that it must not be the same item, but after some phone calls and 1/2 hour of my time he matched their price.

The gal who manages the Bellevue store is much better to work with. She will readily match any price, even from the net. I had them match Capt Jacks online price for my Canadian region P1 charts and they even matched a lower online Boat US price for my fancy dinghy electric pump.

Just those 3 items last year saved me over $250 last year.

I find Boaters World usually has the lower price, but they almost never have the item in stock.

[mtc]

I'd have to agree on the pricing and WM's dealing. I just dropped a grand on stuff, but saved over$400 on discounting after smoozing with the mgr.

It's like anything - the smart shopper pays less. My fortress FX11 anchor was $149 at BW and $129 at WM. The FX7 fortress was $110 at BW and only $94 at WM.

Cool.

Gotta haggle - it's business.

Michael

By the way, we drive to Mobile tomorrow to drag Yin Yang home with the Jeep . . .

Wish us luck!!

[Rick Mathews]

Here in Portland, Oregon, we have a Boater's World and a West Marine close to our house. We purchase from both. Boater's World prices are almost always lower, but West Marine has a larger selection and more often has the item in stock. I sometimes compare West Marine to the legendary Powell's Bookstore here in Portland. Powell's will charge you top dollar--but they have it. West Marine is similar, and so in my mind their higher prices are perhaps justified from that standpoint. I know I wouldn't want to see them go out of business in Portland, so I try to patronize them as well as Boater's World.

[ronacarme]

An alternative= www.defender.com and will send a paper catalog if asked.
Have not ordered from them for several years so service is a "?".
Some items cheaper, e.g.Fortress F-16 is $169.99 vs. $194.99 at WM.

[Mark Prouty]

I noticed this on the defender page. I bought something like it for my dinghy. It really works out nice. Store a pump, first aid kit, jackets and misc stuff there.

[Andy26M]

I've also had luck getting WM to price-match web prices. The other thing WM will do is have the item shipped to their store so you can save shipping charges if they don't have it in stock.

Like you guys have posted, it seems like being friendly and getting to know the people is important - I believe the local managers have considerable latitude in pricing, especially if you are a regular customer with an Advantage Club card.

As to fasteners - I have actually found that WM's price on quality SS hardware is competitive with the local hardware stores, and is of known quality whereas the hardware store couldn't tell me what is in the bin.

Service and expertise is also important to me. I have a Boater's World nearby as well as WM, but I find that WM seems to always have at least one experienced sailor on staff who can help out with specific detailed questions, whereas at Boater's World you may as well just ask if they can let you read the user's manual and figure things out yourself. The high school kid stocking the shelves knows nothing beyond where stuff needs to be stacked.

The WM folks are never real busy, so they they're always happy to spend 30-45 minutes if needs be to help me make the best selection.

- AndyS

[baldbaby2000]

I've bought a lot from http://www.sailnet.com