Supporting my local dive shop(s) is frustrating

[lowwall]

A lot of divers have two piles of gear, the small pile that works, and the large pile of mistakes.

Beautifully written and absolutely true.

 

[formernuke]

A lot of divers have two piles of gear, the small pile that works, and the large pile of mistakes. One small pile is all you need.

Pile number one got boxed up and sent to the dive clubs gear swap. If it doesn't sell it gets donated to the high school dive team.

Just got sick of storing it.

 

[Scuba Client]

Lot of ancillary discussions here. What the OP spent, when he's buying etc. is largely irrelevant to the discussion in my mind. It's his money, if he wants to spend it immediately that's his decision. I had the exact same problem with my LDS, the bottom line is while his prices may be able to compete with online retailers, his catalog most definitely cannot, and his refusal to accept that people may have different goals in their diving growth may be different than his was a major turnoff to me as a customer. Combine that with his and his staff's blatant and unapologetic scare tactics to get a sale is major turn off to me to ever send my dollars there. If you have to guilt or scare yourself business, you don't deserve to have a business, period. If you can't compete with selection or delivery from other (online) retailers, it's time for you to shut down the doors on sales of those goods. OP should not feel bad whatsoever if he ends up buying online.

Dive shops do their best work on hypochondriacs.

 

[potbellied yeti]

As far treating your customers bad, guilt scare etc, I totally agree.

But to say that you should shut your doors because the manufacturer doesn't have any gear to send you really? You cannot get gear...... big difference between cannot and will not. Right now we have manufacturer delays in the base materials, some scuba gear factories cannot get the materials to make the gear because of COVID, then they have delays in manufacturering once they do have the materials. Then further delays in shipping.

All of this is the small business owners fault that they cannot get the products, are you serious?

Why do online retailers have equipment to send that arrives at the customer's door in a couple of days? Do they really tie up thousands and thousands and thousands in inventory? Or do they just have a better partnership with their distributor?

And yes, that's business... at least in my mind. If you can't compete, you adapt or close.

Is that really so wrong?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I want to train with the gear that I will use going forward, as opposed to whatever gear the shop has in their rental pile.

Trust me, if you can afford to, you won't be using the same gear going forward.

Rent now. Get certified and wait to see what kind of diver you're going to be. Wait until you have some skill and experience and get the right kit.

As to the OP topic... I work very close to Leisure Pro. Lots of choices and temptation is not a good combination.

 

[Lostdiver71]

Why do online retailers have equipment to send that arrives at the customer's door in a couple of days? Do they really tie up thousands and thousands and thousands in inventory? Or do they just have a better partnership with their distributor?

And yes, that's business... at least in my mind. If you can't compete, you adapt or close.

Is that really so wrong?

It is a little bit of both, items that they sell a lot of they tend to keep in stock. Other items that they don't sell a lot of, especially if they are expensive, they have a relationship with the manufacturer to direct ship as many online retailers do. Smaller shops can also become an affiliate with some of the online shops, like LeisurePro, and make a commission on sales.

 

[Centrals]

I want to train with the gear that I will use going forward, as opposed to whatever gear the shop has in their rental pile.

You have absolutely no diving experience.
What make you think the equipment you have in mind has anything to do with your future diving?
You have been reading far too much for your own good.

Yellow hose, grey hose, yellow cover etc? What have they get to do with diving?

Your money go ahead!

 

[Marie13]

Why do online retailers have equipment to send that arrives at the customer's door in a couple of days? Do they really tie up thousands and thousands and thousands in inventory? Or do they just have a better partnership with their distributor?

And yes, that's business... at least in my mind. If you can't compete, you adapt or close.

Is that really so wrong?

Nobody can get steel tanks from Faber in Italy right now. Combo of covid related issues and shipping problems, which is a huge problem right now. DGX is saying HP100s might not be in stock until late June. LP50/85s maybe a bit earlier. Maybe not.

 

[halocline]

It looks like this thread has morphed from being about the retail environment to a "why would a newbie buy gear for a sport he knows nothing about.".....

I'm in this situation. I'd rather use my own gear while I am training. It makes no sense to me to train on gear I don't intend to use after I'm trained.

I think the reason it makes no sense is not so much because it's true, but more because at this time you lack the experience to realize how unimportant some of these gear choices are. It's all still diving, and you will need to learn the same basic skills regardless of what regulator you're using or what BC you're using. The details of your procedures might change a bit, but the big picture issues are the same. The one immediate gear decision that will make a huge difference is getting a well fitting exposure suit that is appropriate for the water temperatures you'll be training in. You absolutely MUST be able to try it on before buying it. Wetsuit purchases can be a pain online for that reason.

It makes more sense to me, as a very experienced diver, to just start your initial training on adequate gear (assuming the shop you train with can provide that), and make bigger and more permanent gear set-up choices when you have the experience to evaluate the various choices and develop your own preferences. You might be amazed at how differently things look after just a few dives.

Getting back to your question about local vs online shops, I totally get your dilemma. Many local dive shops in most parts of the country have woefully inadequate selections and are beholden to a specific brand or two. The knowledge and skills of dive shop staffs vary wildly; so it's tough to know who to trust.

Finally (sorry for the long post) it is your money, and you should spend it as you see fit. If you're not worried about spending more than you need to, then enjoy yourself!

 

[Damselfish]

Besides the fact thats its tricky to pick gear when you’ve never dove, or that diving may not work out for you for a variety of reasons - training on different gear is actually a great idea. You may intend to always use your own gear. But someday you’ll need to rent something because you forgot something, lost something, broke something. Because you’re someplace and have an opportunity to dive but it didn’t make sense to haul all your gear along. Because you have a chance to do an aquarium dive, like Disneyworld where they do not allow most other gear. Whatever. Much better and safer if using different gear sometimes is not a big deal.