New policies at West Marine

May 6, 2010
472
1984 Oday 39 79 Milwaukee
A recent discussion talked about the severe curtailing of the WM price matching policy. I called WM earlier this week to order an item not on their website and when I mentioned it to the person I spoke with, she volunteered that not only are they curbing their price match policy, but they are raising prices across the board. As part of my current refit I have had a number of items in a shopping cart to avoid looking them up repeatedly, and when I looked at my cart I realized almost every item has gone up in price, not insignificantly. One example is Samson 3/8" MLX, which went up 13% since I put it in my cart three weeks ago. I understand that sailboaters aren't the big market for them but 50% of my local store's floor space is devoted to water toys and clothes, the sail related items in the store account for less than 5% of their inventory. I have been happy to shop their website and have it delivered to the store but with the price increases and no price match (no other stores within 50 miles) most of my business will go elsewhere. Not sure how this helps their bottom line but I hope next year's CEO will have a more customer friendly view.
 
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Likes: Parsons
Apr 7, 2016
184
Beneteau First 305 Seward, Alaska
Yeah I feel the same way. But wm is the only way I can get stuff sent to me without paying shipping. We don’t have any other retailer for marine stuff. And, well... I’m a cheap ass so I mostly try and buy things on sale.
 
Apr 7, 2016
184
Beneteau First 305 Seward, Alaska
WM is like a boomerang that doesn't always come back to you.
Or more like that syphilis you picked up in college. Never really goes away, just cure it with other remidies for a while...
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Or more like that syphilis you picked up in college. Never really goes away, just cure it with other remidies for a while...
geez.... that's disgusting.
 
Apr 7, 2016
184
Beneteau First 305 Seward, Alaska
geez.... that's disgusting.
Sorry? It literally is the only gig in town. I frequently get upset but it doesn’t do any good. I get online and order more stuff...
 
Mar 14, 2019
6
Catalina 380 Longport, NJ
Support your local marina store. We are coming full circle as West Marine low prices drove many of them out of business and now West Marine may be not be long for this world as Amazon may run them out. Cruel world out there! Full disclosure from a wholesale marine sales rep of 39 years. Buy your stuff where you keep your boat!
 
May 27, 2004
1,964
Hunter 30_74-83 Ponce Inlet FL
Juice, sign up for Amazon Prime and your shipping is free 90% of the time, regardless of order dollar total.
 

AXEL

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Mar 12, 2008
359
Catalina C30 MKIII WEST ISLIP, NY
They only just reinstated the price matching last year and now they are taking it back?
Every time I get one of those WM surveys I say the same thing to them (obviously no one over there cares).
"West Marine has taught me that Google is your friend. They taught me how do use the search engine and usually with in 15 minutes or less save BIG BUCK$ for the same exact gear."
Sure when you need it in a pinch you either have to pay or in my case drive a bit out of the way, which I do often out of principle.
It was nice for a short while, while it lasted. I can not understand the greed of that company. Defender will sell an item for $50 and still turn a fair profit. WM will sell the same item for double with a straight face. When they were price matching I literally saw a cashier's face blush when I compared WM price to Defenders. She was embarrassed.
 
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Apr 11, 2018
71
Hunter 340 Dowry Creek, NC
There is value in a local brick & mortar store. Sometimes you need to run down the road to West Marine to pick something you have to have right now.

Most of the time, though, you can wait a day or two, or five. With overnight and especially second day delivery less costly than local retail overhead, WM is fighting a losing battle. Expect the financial kids who now own it to bleed it dry of cash then start closing stores and liquidating inventory. You'll see it happen within a year or two.
 
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Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Sorry? It literally is the only gig in town. I frequently get upset but it doesn’t do any good. I get online and order more stuff...
I was commenting on you syphilis analogy.... everybody's been bashing WM for years... nothing new there.
 
Apr 7, 2016
184
Beneteau First 305 Seward, Alaska
I was commenting on you syphilis analogy.... everybody's been bashing WM for years... nothing new there.
Oh sorry... I usually save that one for special occasions. That and sometimes I forget to use my inside voice. I’m back to PG.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
There is value in a local brick & mortar store. Sometimes you need to run down the road to West Marine to pick something you have to have right now.

Expect the financial kids who now own it to bleed it dry of cash then start closing stores and liquidating inventory. You'll see it happen within a year or two.
The store in my town is closing in a month. There are two other WM stores 30 minutes away, if I absolutely need something quick.
 
Mar 20, 2004
1,729
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
I used to be a fan of west marine when it was run by sailors, but now....... I happen to need a bluesea inline ATC waterproof fuseholder; Escape's still buried in snow so no rush, but WM $12.99 and one of the local WM stores had one; Amazon, 2 day free delivery to my door, $5.99;Really?? Worse yet, Amazon shows list price as $9.99 - that's something I've seen recently with WM, but charging 30% OVER list isn't going to work for long today.
 
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Jun 2, 2004
3,390
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
I would like to see them offer internet competitive prices and free delivery to the store. Or you pay for express shipping to get it there quickly if needed. When the new guys took over they had no idea what was in the warehouse folks at the store were going bonkers. I see less and less traffic in the local store and fewer and fewer boat items on the shelves. Plenty of tshirts coolers and paddle boards though. I will be surprised if they do not go the way of Sears within a year.
 
Sep 23, 2009
1,475
O'Day 34-At Last Rock Hall, Md
I am a WM fan. The local store in Rock Hall is staffed by great people who know boating, they have a dyi rigging table, very generous return policy and sale prices are very good. Don't forget that bonus points drop prices about 5 percent.
I am willing to pay a bonus for in stock inventory, physical shopping and a great return policy .
Ironically , WM no longer prints catalogs while Defender and Hamilton do.
Sears had idiot managers for decades. They started out as mail order and should of lead the internet but would be executives who admitted to reading books were never given a second interview. Maybe that is the reason they missed the boat when they could have owned Amazon .