a view from a dive shop

[Bonairetrip]

Here an idea ... why don't you charge them a "consulting fee"?
Put in your shop a nice rate sheet for consulting fees ... with the notice that those will be waived if - and only if - they purchase gear from you.

I can think of no better way of driving customers away. If a shop did that, I would leave and likely never return.

 

[Garth]

Don't make your avocation your occupation is what I've been told. If I had a million dollars to lose I would make a hell of a dive shop.


Sent from my She-er-water Per-redator!

 

[Bonairetrip]

abyss_scuba,

<SNIP> If we're not careful scuba outside of warm water will become an underground sport with the lone holdouts scrambling for air and other stuff that UPS doesn't do so well with. As a reference, here in the state of Maine where we have more coastline than California (the glaciers had fun) I can count the dive shops on my fingers. 3 are a family owned chain and at least 4 are diversified beyond scuba to make ends meet. This sport has a hole big enough to drive truck through for the entrepreneur that can develop a community of active divers and you sound like you are working in that direction, kudos. <SNIP>
Pete

I think some cold water areas still have vibrant local dive shops. Within a 10 minute drive, I can go to Capital Divers or Underwater Sports. If I make it 30 minutes, I can add Tacoma Scuba, Scuba Set, Hood Sport, Lighthouse, and another Underwater Sports location. And then we can add in the greater Seattle/Bellevue areas...

I do know that some manufacturers make it very hard on the shops. There is one shop where they wanted to carry a well known brand. This shop is very local diving focused with a bit of tech bent. The manufacturer insisted that he would need to carry a complete selection of their skins and shorties. This shop would probably sell ten dry suits for every shorty -- in other words the manufacturer essentially makes it impossible for him to carry that gear.

Tough business...

 

[Bigd2722]

My local shop used to beat the internet on almost everything from the get go, never mind having to ask about a price match. For example, they would sell an Atomic Cobalt computer for $850.00 (everywhere I see advertised for $1200.00). The main partner now has a 2nd shop a couple hundred miles away and the junior partner has raised the price on almost everything including gas. My first reaction was (##@@**), but after thinking about it, I realize he's just trying to make a buck. Fortunately for him, it's not worth it to me to go across town for gas. Now I research a little more (before I go into the shop) than just accept that they will have the best price.

 

[uniqueloginname]

In my country retail prices for diving gear are quite ridiculous. I'm talking $400 for a BCD shipped from the USA that is $650 here (genuine example from last week) - there is clearly an extra layer of profit for an importer in there. So my LDS is deprived of a sale because I am not creating a consumer demand for that aspect of their business. I specifically want boat dives and maybe some courses down the track. If those services aren't priced appropriately, and they are subsidised by the retail arm of the business, then I'd prefer they look at the business model and adjust prices accordingly. I don't feel I should subsidize other activities of the shop, some of which I may not use, by over-paying for gear. As you can see from my example I'm not talking about 10% or 20% but 50% or even more. If one of the LDS downscales to only do tank hire/fills and charters, then so be it, they will probably do well out of it.

I hope this does not sound harsh or lacking empathy, I really do feel for so many businesses out there. It is uncertain times, and like so many industries, change is afoot.

 

[jaycanwk]

Very true. Good point.So, how would you recommend that this LDS owner 'adapt'? It is easy to tell someone else 'adapt or fail'. But, what does that mean? What would you suggest that the OP do to adapt? Just curious.

Well, for one thing I fully realize that I'm am not a business minded person, or have any business experience what so ever, so I would never attempt to open and LDS just because I was passionate about diving. Ever watch "Shark Tank"? There are alot of people that are very passionate about, and have great ideas about things, yet have absoulutly no clue how to construct a business model that would profitably monitize thier idea.

So to answer your question I would have to look at shop like say Scuba Toys, or Dive Right In Scuba. They seem to have a model that is working at the moment for example.

 

[abyss_scuba]

jaycanwalk, those are great shops that do well on the web and have from what I have heard great local shops. But and this is the big but here rents in my area arethrough the roof. TX and FL seem to be a lot cheaper. The largest online dealer LP has a building in NY but I know that their shipping comes out of a NJ commercial area where the prices are much lower. And here is the big thing for me, I want to teach as much as sell, which means I need a store front for my customers to come into. Maybe a new business model would be knock down the class room make all my students do elearning and have more selling floor, but at that point I will close the doors. If I cannot have a say in how future divers interact with the aquatic realm then I might as well open a UPS store and leave it at that. Sometimes in life it has to be about something worthwhile.

 

[redacted]

Altamira: selling at a lower price "to make a sale" does not always work for the small reatiler. If I sell too low yeah I may have made the sale but may not cover all the cost I need to, cost of goods, fixed cost, variable cost and oh yeah a few dollars to make a profit. There is a certain pooint where you just can't stay in business if you sell ay lower.

Dive Nav: this is actually related to what I said to Altamira. I have seen things at the big online stores that pretty much are just about what I pay wholesale for the same product. How can you say no to the big boys when they want 1000 at a time and I can only order 3 or 4? Not blaming the customer for wanting the lowest cost or the manufacterer for want to sell the most numbers.

---------- Post added November 24th, 2012 at 12:48 AM ----------

Bumanok I am aware that online forums and shopping are not going away and I have no problem with either. My job as a reatiler is to look at you and help you make the best decision, I'll ive you an example. Most manufateers are moving to strchier wetsuit material. I know from experience that with the wetsuits I sell most people should move dwn one size from what the manufaterer has printed on their size chart (which were made using the older materials) or that the top of the line regulator is only cosmeticly differet from the next lower one which cost less. BTW I think it is stupid not to sell bp/w setups. As a business I want to sell you bp/w and everything else I can as a fellow diver I want you to have the best gear for your type of diving.

The Aqualung Dealer sign pretty much says that there won't be any price negotiation.

 

[beaverdivers]

abyss_scuba, you started your LDS in " hopefully " the toughest time. You have survived the storm(s).

Keep up your hard work and your ideals.

As long as you still enjoy your work and you are not having to pay to work too often, then I believe you will make it another 6 years.

Good Luck & Good Diving!

 

[abyss_scuba]

awap: why the hang up on price? How about service, ability to jump in the pool and all the other things I do to keep folks active divers. Even if it was another brand should I buy it for $10 and sell it for $11 even though that means I do not cvover my cost? Even LesiurePro had to bring their prices inline wit MAP when the becam fully authoized ScubaPro dealers. Heres an example I sell a reg/bc/computer set for $850. A customer found it online for $699. When he brought it in he had a collection of boxes so now add putting it all together, fine tuning the regulator to the divers preferences the ability to dive it in the pool and a no charge overhaul that I add for value. By the time all is said and done it would have been cheaper to buy it from me, but what he saw was an initial price and thats all. Look not just at price but at the value of dollars spent.

---------- Post added November 24th, 2012 at 02:41 PM ----------

beaverdivers, yes not just for myself but all those folks out there who are unemployed/under employed I hope we turn the corner and learn from our collective experience. And yeah nothing beats the email I recieved the other day from a former student who decided to go to the Bahama's with her mom for a girls dive trip. That makes it worthwhile. and hey hanging out in a scuba shop all day long aint so bad either