Why are water scoops so over priced $$$$

[tumbleinn2]

You walk into a hardware and can buy a shovel or a pick axx for 15 to 30 bucks post hole digger 25 bucks any kind of hand tool for 15 to 40 bucks
why are water scoop shovels ect. Over 100 bucks why such mark up?

 

[SeaninNH]

Get one of the bend and scoops for $30.

I got one last week and I love it.

 

[jadeblackhawk]

Go buy a shovel. Buy some steel to weld onto the shovel. Find someone to weld the steel to the shovel. Add some holes.

Now take your 15 pound monstrosity to the beach and try to use it. Mine is in the basement. My sweetie said watching me try to use that thing was worth every penny and the time it took to make. No, I am not going to try to snorkel with it.

As for the cheap ones, I bought one of those two years ago. ($24 + tax) Lasted one use. Gave me some experience weaving with steel thread. Maybe I'll post some pics tomorrow...

 

[LM]

You walk into a hardware and can buy a shovel or a pick axx for 15 to 30 bucks post hole digger 25 bucks any kind of hand tool for 15 to 40 bucks
why are water scoop shovels ect. Over 100 bucks why such mark up?

They're a boutique product. Boutique products have much smaller production runs and cost more to produce.
\

 

[stefen]

You're looking in the wrong place...I bought mine for about $30 from a mining store in Santa Ana, CA...

It's price is about the same as other garden tools...

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

Simple... Supply and demand... ever seen what an IR camera costs... > 30K

 

[mlayers]

I been wanting to make me one but I am having problems with drilling holes in the stainless steel. So I gave up on that idea......Matt

 

[NGE]

Most people who buy a water hunting scoop, can get their money back with just one gold item, found in the water. .........NGE

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Supply and demand, there is a demand for millions of shovels and axes, but only a few thousand scoops are needed. Go in the surf, try to recover a target in between swells that are rolling in every 15-30 seconds apart and you will appreciate a good scoop.

You want to be able to recover a target which could easily be a nice high dollar diamond ring or gold ring as quick as possible and move on to the next target, ESPECIALLY if your hunting in the water...

I was told by experienced hunters on here to buy a good scoop when I first started, so I bought what I thought was a good scoop, I spent $60 on that scoop, that seemed like a lot to me, I mean after all $60, come on that is a lot of money for a scoop............It lasted a little less than one month before I broke it. I bought a good scoop after that, a used Beachbrute for $100, I sold it 18 months later for $85 and bought a new Beach Brute II.... That scoop has already paid for itself in gold rings, diamond rings, diamond earrings, and precious stone rings.... I could sell that scoop right now for $150.00 and I have had owned it over 2 years........

A good scoop is just like a good detector, it will pay for itself many times over, and you can still sell it and get most of your money back.......

I have seen some nice home made scoops, if your good with your hands, have the tools, welder and the time to drill the holes you can make your own, or you can do like a lot of us and buy a good scoop and go detecting......

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

You can build one youself, but a good one of stainless will cost something for material, and it doesn't drill easy, so you spend a full day on it. most people earn 100 a day, plus the material. Believe me I thought about making my own too.

A lot of them don't have good design, when full of dirt they are hard to keep upright.

Why do they cost so much. The 20 dollar item comming to the hardware store is one item in a truckload, the shipping on that one item may be a dollar or less. The specially made scoop in small numbers goes to some supplier, maybe another distributer, then to a dealer then shipped to you. The item (scoop may have shipping chardges added to it as many as 4 times, versus shipping hundreds of items one time. It's the shipping that kills. Don't forget the credit card fees that have been added that many times too.

I totally agree with treasure_hunter, don't buy a 30 to 60 dollar one. they will bend up or break, get a good one, and your done.

 

[Frankn]

Several years ago I bought a good SS scoop From Kellyco with a short handle. It was about $40. I removed the short handle and added a long handle made from electrical conduit. I replaced the steel rivets with aluminum rivets and added a few extra. I removed the steel bolts and replaced them with SS bolts. I thinned that rubber tool handle dip and painted the handle. I added a bicycle handle bar grip to the top of the handle.
It's better than new and it has several years use on it.
Morel of the story, pay the big price or invest the labor and time to get jest what you want. Frank

 

[Sandman]

Back when I started there weren't any scoop makers out there that I knew of so I made my own. Failure after failure cause none of them could cut the mustard. After that I have used many different scoops to find the right one that was for me for use in all bottom types. I have settled on the Sunspot. Now it is known as the Sunspot Stealth. All stainless steel basket with large and small holes and a wood handle that floats the scoop upright. The handle is easy to replace if you ever break it and I have never broken mine.

Scoops for the water are expensive because they only make them in small numbers and they are labor intensive where as shovels are available in any hardware store or Home Depot.

http://www.gold-scoop.com/thescoop.html

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Back when I started there weren't any scoop makers out there that I knew of so I made my own. Failure after failure cause none of them could cut the mustard. After that I have used many different scoops to find the right one that was for me for use in all bottom types. I have settled on the Sunspot. Now it is known as the Sunspot Stealth. All stainless steel basket with large and small holes and a wood handle that floats the scoop upright. The handle is easy to replace if you ever break it and I have never broken mine.

Scoops for the water are expensive because they only make them in small numbers and they are labor intensive where as shovels are available in any hardware store or Home Depot.

http://www.gold-scoop.com/thescoop.html

Sandman has a quote at the bottom of his posts that says it all............
"TIME IS THE ONLY THING YOU NEVER GET BACK, WHY WASTE IT SWINGING A DETECTOR THAT ISN'T UP TO THE TASK."

It applies to scoops as well.....Why waste time with a scoop that isnt up to task, the faster you can recover your target the quicker you can move on to the next target especially when your in the water waist to chest deep.

My first scoop was 6 inches wide and 8 inches long and lasted a month cost me $60, my BeachBrute II now is 10" inches wide, 12 inches long and 6" inches high, It can quickly dig deep holes and recover my target. It is worth every penny I paid for it, and the good thing is I can still sell it used if I wanted and recover at least 75% of what I paid for it if not more......

 

[Frankn]

If you are talking about water recovery, my method is a little different from most. I go in the water to neck deep and then dive down to the trough area where most don't touch. I use a home made weight belt, a silicone mask and a snorkel with a shut off valve. My detector of choice is a Vibra-Tector and my scoop is a very old and used Wilcox yellow plastic floating hand scoop. I dive down, work the detector over the sand and when I feel the vibration in my left hand my right hand scoops. I can recheck the hole and the plastic scoop. If i get something the sand is gone before I surface and I see my catch. This method is actually faster and more accurate than probeing with a long handle scoop. Frank

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If you are talking about water recovery, my method is a little different from most. I go in the water to neck deep and then dive down to the trough area where most don't touch. I use a home made weight belt, a silicone mask and a snorkel with a shut off valve. My detector of choice is a Vibra-Tector and my scoop is a very old and used Wilcox yellow plastic floating hand scoop. I dive down, work the detector over the sand and when I feel the vibration in my left hand my right hand scoops. I can recheck the hole and the plastic scoop. If i get something the sand is gone before I surface and I see my catch. This method is actually faster and more accurate than probeing with a long handle scoop. Frank

Your method works good as long as the surf is mild.... For me the Vibra does not go deep enough, but your method works great on calm days and in shallow water with a good water detector with a short dive handle....

 

[Frankn]

Treasure_hunter, It works better for me in choppy surf than surface hunting. The only problems are the surf closes the snorkle abruptly and I have to be careful of Rip tides. When I surface and notice I have been carried out I swim parallel to the beach untill I am out of the rip tide. Those things are strong on the mid Atlantic coast. Frank

 

[HCW]

I made my own from a livestock feed scoop. (blue plastic) I drilled a series of randomly spaced 5/8" holes in it every 3/4" or so. I don't remember exactly but I think I spent around 10 or 15 bucks.

 

[jadeblackhawk]

Plastic is great... unless you live in Michigan, land of hard clay. And soft, sticky clay. Don't forget the rocks. Big ones. Farmers grow them here. (at least that's what my grandpa tells me)

I have a couple of homemade plastic scoops, but they just don't work outside of deep sand.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Treasure_hunter, It works better for me in choppy surf than surface hunting. The only problems are the surf closes the snorkle abruptly and I have to be careful of Rip tides. When I surface and notice I have been carried out I swim parallel to the beach untill I am out of the rip tide. Those things are strong on the mid Atlantic coast. Frank

I know exactly what you mean....I was hunting the outer sandbar off of Daytona beach one day when I got a really nice low tone on the back side of the sand bar, I was mid-chest deep drying to recover it when the bar collapsed on me and I found myself underwater about 7 foot deep on the backside of the trough trying to walk back up the sand bar carrying my 5 lb scoop and 4 pound Excal, dang sandbar kept giving way and I was not making any progress back up the sandbar, I am a very good swimmer but I was at the verge of letting go of both my scoop and Excal thinking drowning is not really an option in this hobby when I was able at last to gain footing and make it back up the sandbar...........Lost the dang target to boot...

I have been in a couple rip currents myself, and know enough to swim parallel to the shoreline till I am out of the ripcurrent, people that drown usually try to swim to the shore and that is a lost cause, it is like trying to swim up river against a an impossible current...

Good luck and good hunting to you sir.....

 

[Bugsterx2]

Treasure_Hunter,

Where can you get the Beach-Brute II or do you have a link?