OP
That's definitely a loss leader. And with the advent of unnecessary government meddling in the production of SCUBA air in Florida, expect the price to rise soon.
Rick
Air fill cost/price
- Thread starter Rick Murchison
- Start date
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Rick
Without figuring the cost of the compressor, fill station, bank, ect...
Just the electricity, filter changes, scheduled ring replacement, and O2 I figure $4~5 per Nitrox fill on a set of double LP104s.
Knock a buck off if it were just air...which it never will be...
Add a bunch of bucks on if the compressor needs a re-build...
I can amortize in the compressor and fill stuff but in reality if I ever want to sell it I will get a good percentage back.
Time spent filling??? I let it fill the tanks and banks while I am in here wasting time on ScubaBoard
The real benefits of your own compressor are convenience and good fills.... priceless!
Just the electricity, filter changes, scheduled ring replacement, and O2 I figure $4~5 per Nitrox fill on a set of double LP104s.
Knock a buck off if it were just air...which it never will be...
Add a bunch of bucks on if the compressor needs a re-build...
I can amortize in the compressor and fill stuff but in reality if I ever want to sell it I will get a good percentage back.
Time spent filling??? I let it fill the tanks and banks while I am in here wasting time on ScubaBoard
The real benefits of your own compressor are convenience and good fills.... priceless!
OP
Which, of course, a dive shop must. As well as paying for the employee's time spent doing not only the fills (generally done by the minimum wage guy) but all the maintenance (generally *not* a minimum wage guy - of course if the owner's doing it himself it's free, right?)
Anyway, I think it's becoming apparent - I *hope* it's becoming apparent - that at the rates charged by most shops, it isn't a matter of how much the shop makes on fills, but how much loss they can afford to absorb.
Rick
There are additional thoughts too. How about the time you are not doing something else profitable in your shop, like selling to your other customers. How about the risk? What is the liability for not having "clean" air? How about the cost of having the air sampled and tested ? How about the cost of having your employees enrolled in a random drug testing program? If you want to know the cost of a fill at a real dive shop then these all are part of it. I'll pay $7 to 10 to have these problems be someone elses.
Dodn't men to get on a soap box but this near and dear.
MNScuba
Guest
Kind of funny... The one thing dive shops could really stick it to us on, and instead they lose money on it. Without air, we're not diving...period. They could charge a lot more and people would still do it. But, to keep repeat customers and gain new customers, they keep the prices affordable to attract new people to the sport (like myself). To be honest, I didn't know how much air would cost me until I bought all my gear and signed up for class. It could have been $20/fill and I wouldn't have thought twice about it. Anyway, I agree that dive shops will have to come up with a nitch to keep competitive. For me, having a place to go for advice (face to face), chit-chat, find dive buds and most importantly, get good air from is by far the most valuable resource in diving and a huge nitch as far as I am concerned. If they end up charging $15-$20/bottle, I guess we did that to ourselves by not supporting the LDS's.
Wow... this is a lot of smack coming from someone who has yet to get his dive gear in the water, huh?
I'll shut up now ;-)
Wow... this is a lot of smack coming from someone who has yet to get his dive gear in the water, huh?
I'll shut up now ;-)
... to see how things sort out in the LDS arena...
The internet is not going away and neither is e-commerce...
People can now get information as well as purchase at lower prices from places other than the LDS....
What they cannot get online is airfills and training... well actually there is a lot of education to be had online but that is another topic...
It would seem then that the price structure is upside down....
The fills and training ought to cost a bundle and the equipment should be the loss leader to tie you into a particular shop...
We will see what happens...
Then there will be folks like myself who elect to go completely independnt of an LDS.... but not everyone can (nor will they want) to set up their own fill station....
What could the LDS offer to someone like me, or someone tempted to be independant like me???
Better service! Good attitude (sans arrogance)! Good/convenient fills (not necessarily cheap fills)! Fellowship/atmosphere! Coffee and reading room, ect....
To survive change will be necessary....
To thrive thinking outside the box will be necessary....
The internet is not going away and neither is e-commerce...
People can now get information as well as purchase at lower prices from places other than the LDS....
What they cannot get online is airfills and training... well actually there is a lot of education to be had online but that is another topic...
It would seem then that the price structure is upside down....
The fills and training ought to cost a bundle and the equipment should be the loss leader to tie you into a particular shop...
We will see what happens...
Then there will be folks like myself who elect to go completely independnt of an LDS.... but not everyone can (nor will they want) to set up their own fill station....
What could the LDS offer to someone like me, or someone tempted to be independant like me???
Better service! Good attitude (sans arrogance)! Good/convenient fills (not necessarily cheap fills)! Fellowship/atmosphere! Coffee and reading room, ect....
To survive change will be necessary....
To thrive thinking outside the box will be necessary....
OP
Oh, yes....
And the insurance
And a portion of the business license
And the ad valorem taxes on the equipment every year
And the fire inspection
And the electrical inspection
And the building inspection
And the fourteen other bureaucrats who want to either tell you how to run your business or collect another piddlin' tax.
Oh, yeah, you can pump it at $2.50
Sorry... *my* soapbox...
Rick
typically air fills run at $5 (cdn) a tank, and nitrox range $10-15
Lucky me, as I DM at a number of stores, I only pay for nitrox fills. Free air fills just one of the perks.
Lucky me, as I DM at a number of stores, I only pay for nitrox fills. Free air fills just one of the perks.
Don't shut up... you are exactly right! And your post coming from a brand newbie is exactly what I was referring to in my post....
Any LDS that takes notice is going to be ahead of the game....
Shoot.... maybe I need to open up a dive shop...
Yeah.... Uncle's Scuba Hangout... Hmmmm....
Actually my garage already looks that way... I just need to move it into town...:mean:
ScubyDoo
Contributor
Murdoch -
I know what you mean about the dive shops hurting due to internet sales. I would love to buy "everything" from my LDS because I just love them to death, but its really hard to do when they charge almost double.....yes double the price I can get the exact same item online for. I did purchase my fins, boots, and regulator from them. They were wanting $750. for the Suunto Cobra computer (without compass), but I got it online for only $440 (including compass and shipping charges). I would have preferred to buy from the LDS but my loyalty to them just isnt worth paying double the price. I will most certainly buy all my air from them though. My LDS is about 10 miles from my home yet I still will go to them even though there is another LDS about a mile away. My LDS is absolutely fantastic and as I said earlier.....I just love them to death. The LDS just down the street from where I live is horrible
I feel bad for not buying more of my gear from my LDS, but then again if they offered more competitive prices I would buy from them.....so its largely thier own fault. Besides, I'm a new diver and I'm sure I will be spending lots of money there in the years to come.
I know what you mean about the dive shops hurting due to internet sales. I would love to buy "everything" from my LDS because I just love them to death, but its really hard to do when they charge almost double.....yes double the price I can get the exact same item online for. I did purchase my fins, boots, and regulator from them. They were wanting $750. for the Suunto Cobra computer (without compass), but I got it online for only $440 (including compass and shipping charges). I would have preferred to buy from the LDS but my loyalty to them just isnt worth paying double the price. I will most certainly buy all my air from them though. My LDS is about 10 miles from my home yet I still will go to them even though there is another LDS about a mile away. My LDS is absolutely fantastic and as I said earlier.....I just love them to death. The LDS just down the street from where I live is horrible
I feel bad for not buying more of my gear from my LDS, but then again if they offered more competitive prices I would buy from them.....so its largely thier own fault. Besides, I'm a new diver and I'm sure I will be spending lots of money there in the years to come.
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