Certification is costly

[Mr. Ed]

From the beginning I bought my own gear even though I was told to wait until I was certified. I knew right away borrowing someone else's gear was not for me so I invested heavily into the best gear I could afford to get the most from my diving experience.

In the beginning, I had purchase a mask that flooded and fins that were too long from the dive master I started with, only because there was nothing more to choose from. Then I bought a new BCD that was too large that was replaced by another one.

Replacing diving gear is not unusual, I am pleased with my gear but I know it will be replaced like everything else.

 

[Wibble]

I bought unbelievable quantities of Local Dive Shop tat. All complete and utter crap because I knew nothing better. Like those horrible useless yellow scubapro flappy fins.

Once I got to know people who actually know stuff -- and who aren't flogging all sorts of crap out of the shop -- I went for the technical stuff which generally is cheaper and works far better than a lot of the recreational crap

You don't know what you don't know. Only time and experience fixes that.

 

[Belzelbub]

From the beginning I bought my own gear even though I was told to wait until I was certified. I knew right away borrowing someone else's gear was not for me so I invested heavily into the best gear I could afford to get the most from my diving experience.

Ultimately, that’s not a terrible idea. Just like everything, there are pros and cons to buying your own gear. Main con is risk of not keeping up with diving, or getting something that doesn’t suit the type of diving you are doing. Getting gear that doesn’t work well for a type of diving is really only an issue when you get into the tech realm. Not something you should get into right away.

Main pro is that you get to learn in your own gear. As you are learning, you are getting to know the gear that you will be using. I took this approach with my daughters when they got certified. Both had their own gear that they used in the pool and checkout dives.

In the beginning, I had purchase a mask that flooded and fins that were too long from the dive master I started with, only because there was nothing more to choose from. Then I bought a new BCD that was too large that was replaced by another one.

Looks like you stumbled on the con, but sounds like you got it sorted and are now good with your gear. That’s all that matters. As you gain experience, you may make some changes down the road, but for now you’ve got some gear which will make it easier to go diving.

I bought unbelievable quantities of Local Dive Shop tat. All complete and utter crap because I knew nothing better.

I was actually fairly lucky in this regard. I did get an initial set shortly after I first started. It’s basic entry level gear, but worked. It’s now obsolete as the regs can’t get serviced anymore. BC still works, and if needed, I could use it.

and who aren't flogging all sorts of crap out of the shop

This is one of the things that pisses me off the most. There are several dive shops in my area that I refuse to step foot in due to things like that. In fact, there are at least 5 dive shops that are closer to me than my preferred dive shop. I go to the farther one because the staff is great, friendly, and doesn’t bash brands they don’t sell.

 

[boulderjohn]

Hard to figure. You'd have to think that if the students had good gear at the pool and were told they would be getting crap at the ocean they may think "hey, what the....?" I would think "why don't we get the good stuff at the ocean", I'd probably live with the crap at the OW dives and buy all my stuff elsewhere or online.
How did this strategy work out (or had you left by then....?)?

The man doing the presentation owned 4 scuba shops, and he was teaching the methods he used to maximize gear sales. He made enough money with those shops to buy a major scuba agency. At the time, he still ran those 4 shops while running the agency. The agency has since been sold, but he is still there.

 

[Bubblesong]

My hubby paid $800 for his Hockey skates, I couldn’t look at rest of receipts. My son got a used weight rack $800, then had to buy weights, bar, bench, weight rack and training so he doesn’t hurt himself.
What hobby is cheap, but really gets you somewhere you’ve never been before?

 

[Wibble]

My hubby paid $800 for his Hockey skates, I couldn’t look at rest of receipts. My son got a used weight rack $800, then had to buy weights, bar, bench, weight rack and training so he doesn’t hurt himself.
What hobby is cheap, but really gets you somewhere you’ve never been before?

Reminds me of the geezer at an office I worked at who raced motorcycles.

"What kind of bike do you have" asked I.

"A blue one" answered he.

Apparently he's had 10 different blue ones and has no grief from his wife who's (allegedly) never noticed them change.

 

[Miyaru]

Certification is not costly at all.

Any kind of diving certification has the same fee (with my agency).

Equipment costs have nothing to do with certification. During OW you probably rent the gear, for which you pay a price.
After OW it is assumed that you have your own gear.

So, open water.
You want a regulator that breathes easy.
My insurance company wants my students to use regulators serviced by a licensed technician, service report with stamp and serial number of the regs used.

The accompanied expenses are determining the course price.

So when the price for a course with good reliable gear has been determined, marketing is next. The competing price will attract the most customers. Even the Groupon kind of people. That group will complain and bitch about every price detail.

My approach is to make the course a hundred bucks more expensive. It weeds out the kind of divers I don't really want to teach anyway. Call it arrogance or call it headache prevention.
Usually these people think it's fine to pay 50/hour for tennis lessons but 25/hour for scuba lessons is consired criminal.

 

[MiloR]

Certification is not costly at all.

<snip>

So when the price for a course with good reliable gear has been determined, marketing is next. The competing price will attract the most customers. Even the Groupon kind of people. That group will complain and bitch about every price detail.

My approach is to make the course a hundred bucks more expensive. It weeds out the kind of divers I don't really want to teach anyway. Call it arrogance or call it headache prevention.
Usually these people think it's fine to pay 50/hour for tennis lessons but 25/hour for scuba lessons is consired criminal.

I use the same approach with the Labor rate at my business. People that are constantly searching for the lowest price are not good Customers because their focus is on price. Quality, service, warranty, etc mean nothing in comparison to price and they are also typically the ones to have complaint about every situation, real or imagined. By adding a few extra dollars we are able to focus what we do on the people that are looking for total value as opposed to cheapest price.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The man doing the presentation owned 4 scuba shops, and he was teaching the methods he used to maximize gear sales. He made enough money with those shops to buy a major scuba agency. At the time, he still ran those 4 shops while running the agency. The agency has since been sold, but he is still there.

I've heard you tell this story, but I really find this kind of manipulation distasteful. Probably makes me a horrible businessman, but I believe in providing a good product and training. I'm not against having students trying bad gear to know the difference (that's educational), but I wouldn't have them doing open water dives where they are performing skills. That's just inhibiting their learning.

 

[drrich2]

One suggestion was to provide high quality gear throughout the pool sessions and then rent crap gear for the OW dives. The idea was that if the students knew that doing their OW dives with good quality equipment would require them to purchase their own, they would be more likely to purchase a full set of gear prior to their OW dives.

I've heard you tell this story, but I really find this kind of manipulation distasteful. Probably makes me a horrible businessman, but I believe in providing a good product and training. I'm not against having students trying bad gear to know the difference (that's educational), but I wouldn't have them doing open water dives where they are performing skills. That's just inhibiting their learning.

I agree with your distaste, but the characteristics of the LDS market might support what he did economically (if not morally).

1.) If the business model relies on gear set sales to new divers, and not a lot of repeat business, then a focus on 'value for customer' may not pay off long-term as well as, oh, say, selling a car to someone who comes to you a few years later when the family needs another.

2.) 'Crap' gear doesn't necessarily mean unsafe or miserable. Analogue gauges, worn looking BCD, not weight-integrated, ratty-looking wetsuit, unintuitive cheap dive computer - it might not look good sitting next to a shiny brand-new ScubaPro gear package, but could work fine for checkout dives.

Analogous situation - let's say a car dealership offered driver's ed. classes. They might use a rough-looking old 'beater' car for road instruction, unless the student brings a car. That old beater might work fine for driving (maybe the AC and radio are out).

3.) Cognitive bias may be in your favor. Once students buy the gear, they can admire it and view themselves as the proud owners of high quality gear (after all, deep down, don't you want the best?), or as gullible fools who got taken.

I'm not approving of what the guy suggested. If I were a student and learned what he was doing, I might take their classes but buy my gear off the Internet.