List of 10 Boating Supplies, Boat Part, and Marine Product Stores
Filed under: Boat Safety and Boat Safety Equipment, Marine Electronics, Marine Navigation Products, Marine Products, Solar Boating Products
We just gave you some tips on how to get cheaper boat parts, boat supplies, marine products, and solar marine products (including Solar Dock Lights, Solar Deck lights, and more). However, with the holiday’s quickly approaching your marine electronics are sure to be going on sale. But, where will you get the best deal? What boat supplies store should you visit first? If you like to cut to the chase, then here is a good place to start. We’ve done our research and created a top 10 list of online boating supplies and marine product stores just for you. It isn’t necessarily stack ranked, but we did look at factors such as quality of their website, product price, total price, shipping, taxes and customer service. Many of these stores are connected to a large retailer or Boatyard (such as Go2Marine). Others are drop shipping direct from either a distributor or Manufacturer.
Here is a quick list to get you going:
1. Go2Marine (owned by Mariner Supply)
3. Boatersworld
4. Consumer’s Marine (owned by Overton’s)
5. iBoats
6. West Marine
7. Cabelas
8. Defender
10. Gander Mountain (also an Overton’s site)
If you can’t find what you are looking for at one of these sites, then it probably doesn’t exist! Good luck.
How to Save Money on Boat Parts and Marine Products
Filed under: Boat Safety and Boat Safety Equipment, Marine Electronics, Marine Navigation Products, Marine Products, Solar Boating Products
In today’s economic climate everyone is looking at how to reduce their expenses. No where is this more prevalent than in the boating industry. Unfortunately, whether you own a sailboat, fishingboat, or powerboat things are going to break (or there will be new boat parts that you want to add). However, how to get the best deal may not be so obvious. You have more then likely been heading right over to the nearest West Marine store and paying sticker price. Well, if you’re looking for a deal, you won’t find it there. But if you need the part or are too anxious to get that new boat part that you can’t wait for UPS to deliver it, then yes, that is probably your best bet. If you have a little bit of time on your side and are willing to do a littler web surfing, then you’re ready to Save, and save big! Here’s how:
1. West Marine sells almost everything at MAP or MRP. Simply put, these are the prices that the Manufacturer sets for all those vendors selling their products. They cannot sell below these prices without getting blacklisted by the MFG. Why this is legal is beyond me, but that is for another story. However, small internet only vendors are out there fighting it out, often using the same distributor who has cut margins so thin that there really isn’t much left for the ecommerce business. This leaves many ecommerce-only shops having to break the rules and “get around the system” however they can. So, you will often find much lower prices on the very same product that West Marine is forced to sell at MAP or MRP (Minimum Advertised Price or Manufacture Required Price).
2. There are a couple key ways to search for the lowest prices. First and foremost, you can go to Amazon.com. Type in what you are looking for and you are off and running. From there you can pretty much see every vendor and sort them based on price and shipping options. Most shipping options will be Free or Flat rate. Most stores can’t make money off of shipping and some even lose as there is no system that works well to mix and match products that may be dropped shipped, special order, by weight, etc. So, again the consumer makes out, the vendor rarely does. The second way is just to do a Google Search. Here you’ll get lots of options based on some key factors that will involve Google Ads at the top and side of your pages. These may or may not have what you are looking for as they are really just grabbing keywords. You’ll also get a few selections with pictures in the middle of the search category. The first three results in the search will be those vendors that have spent the most money to be considered “relevant” by Google (yes, the company that “owns” the internet and messes with all the ecommerce business’ success whenever they so chose.
3. Always look to see where the ecommerce business is located (which state they operate out of). If you live in that state, go shop somewhere else if you want to avoid paying Sales Tax. Again, the playing field is not fair in any way. For a Marine business based out of California (one of the biggest boating states) they cannot compete against a competitor based in another state such as Utah as they would have to charge all those Californian’s Sales tax. That immediately cuts their margins by nearly 10% and increases your costs the same. So, if you live in CA, be sure to look for an ecommerce vendor outside the state when purchasing (and so forth for all other States).
4. Look for Free or Flat rate shipping. If they don’t have it, keep looking. It is another standard out there that is a given.
5. Refurb’s. The distributors will offer up many refurbished marine products and boat parts to the dealers to sell. This happens all the time. make sure to look for them or search under “Refurbished xyz” to get even bigger savings. These products usually come with factory warranties and are excellent choices.
More tips to come soon. Enjoy your time on the water.
Marina Safety Starts with Dock Lights
Filed under: Boat Safety and Boat Safety Equipment, Marine Products, Solar Boating Products
Yes, we are still in the midst of hot August nights, but the winter season is not too far off. More importantly, safety takes no vacation. As a marina owner, boat owner, or live-aboard you want your marina to be safe to you and your guests ALL the time. Better yet, what if you could make safety even less expensive to implement. One of the simplest ways to increase the safety of your marina is to ensure it is well lit.
Light Provides Safety
With solar dock lights you can ensure that your marina is safe. Dock lights will increase the security of your boats by adding more light around them at night reducing any would-be crooks from thinking they can sneak aboard a vacant boat undetected. Dock lights will also reduce the number of accidents that could increase the number of insurance claims and thus increase your insurance premiums. And implementing a solar dock light system does not have to be expensive.
Just4Boats is one company that offers dock light systems that are powered by natural light. Yes, solar dock lights are here to stay. Only use the highest quality, such as Lake Lite solar marine products. Their products are brighter, stronger, and longer lasting than any home improvement store model. These are truly marine-grade solar dock lights. In the end, you can increase the safety of your marina and at the same time reduce your energy consumption and cost. I think this is what they call a 2 for 1 deal.
Don’t wait either. Shopping for dock lights is most productive in the off-season when sale prices are abundant. There are many models to choose from including piling lights, high and low profile dock lights, and even solar buoy lights.
For more information on Solar Marine Products stop by Just4Boats.com.