Are the majority of dive shops bad?

[In2theabyss]

I am quite pleased with my LDS so give them as much business that i can. Nobody is perfect but they do go above and beyond to get what i need. So with the many shops in Eastern FL i give this one my business unless I am on a dive trip and have no choice....even then i have my particular shops i use

 

[Aaron Harmon]

This is the best thread that I've ever read lol. I like my LDS they are good guys, but my guess is that with the crazy mark ups on this stuff, a lot of dive shops will eventually fail. The fact that they are all selling these items for the exact same price is telling. I remember when Nintendo was sued years ago for price fixing. I get it, they are low volume business and they need the markups to survive, but if you are going to put a crazy markup on a product, you better offer exceptional service,

 

[Compressor]

3 diveshops where I live. None of them get along with each other (unfortunately). 1 is on the verge of going under. Sad state of affairs for divers in Upstate NY.

I get along with all 3.

 

[pauldw]

often much of the revenue comes from dive travel, not just selling gear or training.

I am ever curious about how the industry works. Can you explain exactly what the nuts and bolts of that are? It seems like travel agencies have died because people just go online. How do dive shops make money on travel? Are the just middlemen taking a cut of a package that someone else sets up, and they market? Are they setting up and selling packages themselves?

And to the OP, yeah, dive shops often suck. In my inland state there are several LDS (that's actually a pretty funny joke), and I've been in all but two, and they each have issues that if they didn't have they'd be more successful. Some are their fault, and some are not (suppliers seem to be a major problem in the industry, which is odd). Where I'm originally from on the coast, every single dive shop there that was ever on the coast has died, except one small one (which I've not been to, but which has a mixed reputation). It's clearly tough to make a go of it.

 

[wnissen]

Are dive shops worse than, say, music shops, or wine shops, to look at another niche specialty retailer? Not really. I get the feeling that the local longstanding music shop mostly gets by selling student instruments, others have gone out of business or switched to selling toys. Wine stores tend to be opened by hobbyists as a labor of love, and I frequently see dusty inventory, changes of ownership, and scattershot merchandising.
We're not talking paint stores, which is a specialty retailer that everyone will need at one time or another. A place that will be lucky to attract 1% of the population is always going to be a bit quirky.

 

[aquacat8]

Another factor here is employees. Dive shops generally do not pay a living wage, and while diving is fun, working retail really sucks. So employees get bitter and indifferent or actually openly or passive aggressively take their resentment out on the customer. This happens in all areas of retail. And to the guy who suggested tantrums to get better service, you need to watch the movie Fight Club.

 

[jgttrey]

I am ever curious about how the industry works. Can you explain exactly what the nuts and bolts of that are? It seems like travel agencies have died because people just go online. How do dive shops make money on travel? Are the just middlemen taking a cut of a package that someone else sets up, and they market? Are they setting up and selling packages themselves?

I don't claim expertise on all of it, but I know that when they serve as a booking/travel agent, they can get commissions (hotel/boat, not airline anymore). My LDS isn't marking up to take a profit, but if I use them to book, say, El Presidente in CZM, they make money. Perhaps if I worked it hard myself I could get a "deal" directly. But what I get from my guys is at least as good as what i get from the hotel if I booked direct, and they make some money. So, I check prices myself and if LDS can do same or better, I let them book it so I can support them.

I'm not an insider, I just know anecdotally (from LDS folks) that some LDS make a significant amount of their money from travel.

 

[Cap335]

You do realize that younger generations buy mostly online, right?

while some of the younger generation buys online most new students buy at the store that the instructor is associated with. Most stores make the majority of profit on mask, fins and snorkels.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

while some of the younger generation buys online most new students buy at the store that the instructor is associated with. Most stores make the majority of profit on mask, fins and snorkels.

Is there that much profit in those things? I see shops require them for ow classes. I see a lot of purchases of dive computers, regs, BCDs, lights coming from online (including CL)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My LDS branched into surfing, clothing, and more vacationer snorkeling stuff. They wouldn’t be able to make it on scuba alone. Abalone diving got shut down and that was a huge part of their business with all the freediving gear rentals and sales of ab diving gear including suits, masks, fins, gloves, booties, snorkels, floats, weight belts, ab bars, measurers, goody bags, etc.
So now they’re trying to sell more exotic trips to a higher end clientele, when years ago they were chartering boats in Monterey a few times a month to a bunch of rag tag locals.
There were a lot more local divers around here years ago. Not so much anymore.

To answer the OP’s question “Are all dive shops bad”. I think it’s evenly split 50/50.