Air Fill Argument

[Tigerman]

Or maybe they never would have folded at all if they had dropped their prices to competitive levels or adjusted their business model appropriately.

BTW, our Gander has nitrox. Are you sure it's not just a temporary thing? And the availability should get better as more of their people get up to speed.

if(expences >= income)
{
if (cost >= retail)
{
fold();
}
}

Edit: And no, you have no idea what I do for a living and as such have no way to know wether im a "newb" or not.. sorry, but thats just the way it is..

 

[ekewaka]

college classes for diving are great. that's what i do (i know this is a little late for this thread) you actually get more education than an LDS.
dano

The scuba class at UGA is just the standard PADI class. The instructor is not bad, but you don't really get anything extra.

 

[jpsexton]

If I wanted to I could set up a webshop from my appartement, using my already existing computer and internet connection... And you wouldnt have a snowballs chance in hell of finding out that my "storage" actually was my garage or who my suppliers where..

I think you are underestimating what it takes to set up a professional web store and presence.

 

[Stu S.]

Well, Mr. Hound, I don't know the particular circumstances on why each store closed. I work at night, and stopping by the dive stores during the day, they were paying sales help with few customers to serve. I was usually the only person in the store.

Those tanks I bought as a convenience last year are getting to be a pain to own. Gasoline is too expensive to be driving tanks around in an F-150. Do you figure I'd have any problems selling an LP85 and an LP95?

 

[Tigerman]

I think you are underestimating what it takes to set up a professional web store and presence.

If you saw my CV you wouldnt..

 

[ams511]

Well divers, me and my neighbor Net Doc are in the same boat. Our local dive store with air and nitrox closed in January. The next closest one closed last November. I called another one about a half hour further away in Orlando, and they no longer had air, as they were closing. Our new sporting goods store, Gander Mountain, has air (no nitrox) and only when the right guys are in. Getting fills now involves about 50 more miles of driving than it used too.

I've bought gear locally, and on-line. I always figured there would be enough people who wanted to pay the dive shop prices to keep the compressors operating. I figured wrong. Maybe they would have folded if we gave them more business, anyway.

Stu, where you diving at? For many of us the LDS is not an issure for air. If you dive in a commerical park they are going to have air/nitrox. If you dive in the ocean their should be an LDS close to it. If you dive off a commerical boat they can supply tanks (granted not with exotic mixes).

 

[ams511]

I think you are underestimating what it takes to set up a professional web store and presence.

JP, you can have a website built and hosted very inexpensively and very professional looking. Also you can have a local pick-pack operation (small warehouse) handle the shipping of orders. Although you need to make sure they are bonded and you need tight inventory controls or stuff will disappear. It really is not all that difficult depending on the amount of inventory items and the competency of your vendors. To me the big problem is finding someone to sell you the inventory being you are not a dive shop. You could go direct to the OEM, but divers a leary of buying unbranded items. You may buy an OMS but not an AMS. lol

 

[ReefHound]

if(expences >= income)
{
if (cost >= retail)
{
fold();
}
}

Edit: And no, you have no idea what I do for a living and as such have no way to know wether im a "newb" or not.. sorry, but thats just the way it is..

Well your homepage-level javascript doesn't change my opinion, newb.

 

[SkullDeformity]

I realized something about my LDS as I was reading this thread. I shop at 5th Dimension in Issaquah, so I get to meet lots of cool people and talk to Mark about technical diving. Watching all his videos of the cave and wreck diving trips gave me something to work towards. I've met lots of people through the LDS, and I'll continue to shop there because I know there is always sound advice and I want to support him. It helps that he gives me free air =)

 

[Tigerman]

Well your homepage-level javascript doesn't change my opinion, newb.

Javascript? Well, whatever you say..
It wasnt intended to prove anything about programming, it was intended to describe to you in terms that you should understand how simple it is to "just lower your prices"..