Biggest thing killing dive shops?

[muzikbiz22]

. We were in Mammoth last weekend, and she decided it's time she buys gear and stops renting. At a local shop in Mammoth, she paid $650 for a pair of boots and was going to get the skiis there too. Turns out the exact same, new pair of boots costs $500 on Evo. We returned the boots next morning and ordered online.
.

That's a little different. Buying ski's at a ski resort is like buying sunscreen or toothpaste at a resort/hotel gift shop. Of course it's going to be more money. I'm sure you could have gotten a better "brick n mortar deal" , down the hill from Mammoth or close to your home. Not to mention , EVERYTHING is more expensive up there, or at any resort, be it ski, dive, etc.

 

[TMHeimer]

Mostly I think it's purely economics and diving in its entirety not just local dive shops. The pool of prospective divers is shrinking. It is an equipment and travel intensive activity. Aside from the lucky few who live within an hour of diverse dive sites, high quality local diving is not very plentiful. The person who can dive the same low vis muck hole (not meant to be derogatory) month after month is the exception, and more power to them. Most folks probably have to drive two hours or more each way making for a very long day or adding a hotel/motel stay to the dives driving the cost of a two tank dive well over $200. If you look at income distributions and average budgets. There are not a whole lot of people with required discretionary income to support a serious diving habit. Vacation diving starts to look more affordable, you can get a week in paradise including 10 dives or more from $1500pp or so plus air. Even still that is a large expense, for a single person with a decent job, let alone some one with a family.

I don't disagree, but have to ask---Wasn't this the same situation like, forever? I recall my mom asking "how can someone (or a family) afford this or that in this day and age"--that was circa 1970. There have always been a huge majority that live very far or inconveniently far from the coast. Actually, with the migration to the Sun Belt states the last few decades, more people may live closer to warm ocean waters.

But I could be wrong, since I have no idea what charter boats and other related expenses were decades ago (well, gas was 25 cents a US gallon). Maybe those who dived 30-40 years ago can shed light on how different the costs are considering inflation.

 

[gcarter]

Apple enforces prices too and if you don't play, you don't carry their products. Businesses get around this is by offering extras (screen protectors, holders, etc.), store credit cards and discounts on other items at time of purchase. Couldn't LDS'es do that same?

None of that works if you don't want any of the extras, just the thing you came in for.

 

[scubadada]

I don't disagree, but have to ask---Wasn't this the same situation like, forever? I recall my mom asking "how can someone (or a family) afford this or that in this day and age"--that was circa 1970. There have always been a huge majority that live very far or inconveniently far from the coast. Actually, with the migration to the Sun Belt states the last few decades, more people may live closer to warm ocean waters.

But I could be wrong, since I have no idea what charter boats and other related expenses were decades ago (well, gas was 25 cents a US gallon). Maybe those who dived 30-40 years ago can shed light on how different the costs are considering inflation.

I was around at 25 cents per gallon. I don't remember many dive costs. I do remember one. When we took the ferry to Catalina, we would put dollar bills in our wetsuit. There was a floating fill station that charged a dollar per fill. 3 or 4 tanks and back to San Pedro. Maybe @drbill remembers this? There were many Blue Sharks around too.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

We returned the boots next morning and ordered online.

So did you tell the shop when you returned the boots that you bought online?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That's a little different. Buying ski's at a ski resort is like buying sunscreen or toothpaste at a resort/hotel gift shop. Of course it's going to be more money. I'm sure you could have gotten a better "brick n mortar deal" , down the hill from Mammoth or close to your home. Not to mention , EVERYTHING is more expensive up there, or at any resort, be it ski, dive, etc.

From the way I read it, it wasn't at the resort, it was in town. That was a major ___ move. If you are going to buy online, don't go into shops. Part of the justification of these shops is the service.

 

[divinh]

Sure Apple enforces price schedules and I suppose shops could throw in non regulated freebies. But what if there was a place on the internet that would sell you a grey market Apple product for a third less than retail because they got the item for half price from a European source and are not restricted from cut rate pricing because they are not an “authorized dealer”. That’s what I’m talking about.

Grey market products don't usually have full warranty. I might not care with something like fins, but for regulators, I would make sure I had full warranty if I was buying new. If I couldn't afford new, then I'd consider alternative brands and models.

 

[divinh]

These days, should I have an expectation that a LDS present me with info that would best suit me or best suit what they have on hand to sell?

With the internet, I can do all my research online and buy online. Wouldn't it make sense for the LDS to focus on service and not so much on gear sales?

 

[Wookie]

From the way I read it, it wasn't at the resort, it was in town. That was a major ___ move. If you are going to buy online, don't go into shops. Part of the justification of these shops is the service.

Crap move or not, they do it. What is the retailer going to do about it is the question? It sounds like the poster may have said something to the store clerk who may have had the opportunity to match price. I agree that bringing something back is a crap move, but it is incumbent on the B&M to ensure that they want the opportunity to meet any price for in stock items. I don't mean meeting the scratch and dent at Amazon.com

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Grey market products don't usually have full warranty. I might not care with something like fins, but for regulators, I would make sure I had full warranty if I was buying new. If I couldn't afford new, then I'd consider alternative brands and models.

That’s true, grey market provides no factory warranty, but sometimes the seller will provide their own in house warranty which can mean a lot of things from worthless to OK. A lot of people don’t card about warranty they just look at price. Some divers who use simple regs like SP MK2 for instance and buy a gang of them for deco regs and do their own service, they may not care about factory warrantees because they are self sufficient anyway and just need a great price.