Buying Gear at your LDS VS internet!!!

[cra2]

One thing I discover through all this is: What price is service worth to you as a buyer?
Yes, you might find a better price online store but is your item or items warranty after the sale by the Manufacturer?

You can check on this before you buy online.
Some online sellers are authorized by the manufacturer.
And you can verify which ones with the manufacturer first.
Also, some online sellers offer their own replacement warranty whether the manufacturer does or not.
Plus, I've found "online" sellers who are actually just large LDS who happen to have a website. Their prices are lower online, and yet their physical store stands behind the sale.

"Now I have a place to service my items without fear of not having a warranty..."

What "service" does your LDS do on your computer? Your BC?
The ones I've visited say they don't service such gear at all.
If it's broke - they send it back. They're not computer firmware programmers nor are they able to re-stitch and melt bladder seams together.

If all they're gonna do is send stuff back with proof-of-purchase, I could do that myself.

 

[Tampabay]

Good point...Thanks

 

[Tampabay]

I'm the same way.. I visit two LDS and BS with them.. If I ever get the boot, I'll never deal with them again.

 

[Garyra]

Personally, I prefer to buy most of my gear from my LDS for several reasons.

1) Immediate gratification - I get to take it home with me.
2) Service - I know that i can quickly get whatever I buy serviced, This way I don't have to buy multiple backup gear to preent missing dives.
3) I usually get a good deal at my LDS. Especially when you consider that I don't have to pay for shipping.
4) Most importantly, to support the shop. At the shop that I go to, we are all like one big extended family. It is mor like a club house than a business. I am currently a Divemaster canidate and because of this, I am becomeing more involved in the business side of the shop. I have discovered that many of the small dive shops that are our links to the diving community and training centers are having problems financially. As more and more divers are concerned about saving a buck, they are forgetting what the LDS actually does for them. Personally, I would rather pay a little more, knowing that I am helping a friend than give my money to a starnger.

These days, the only time that I go somewhere other than my LDS is if they do not have what I want or I can buy it online for a drastic discound (50% or more). I don't want to see my LDS go away, and I don't want to see it loose the family atmosphere that I have grown to love. For this I will pay the extra $.

 

[yknot]

Personally, I prefer to buy most of my gear from my LDS for several reasons.

1) Immediate gratification - I get to take it home with me.
2) Service - I know that i can quickly get whatever I buy serviced, This way I don't have to buy multiple backup gear to preent missing dives.
3) I usually get a good deal at my LDS. Especially when you consider that I don't have to pay for shipping.
4) Most importantly, to support the shop. At the shop that I go to, we are all like one big extended family. It is mor like a club house than a business. I am currently a Divemaster canidate and because of this, I am becomeing more involved in the business side of the shop. I have discovered that many of the small dive shops that are our links to the diving community and training centers are having problems financially. As more and more divers are concerned about saving a buck, they are forgetting what the LDS actually does for them. Personally, I would rather pay a little more, knowing that I am helping a friend than give my money to a starnger.

These days, the only time that I go somewhere other than my LDS is if they do not have what I want or I can buy it online for a drastic discound (50% or more). I don't want to see my LDS go away, and I don't want to see it loose the family atmosphere that I have grown to love. For this I will pay the extra $.

Gary-Thanks to you and many like you, divers like me will always have a place to get subsidized air fills. As to your post:
1) Usually the dive shop doesn't even handle the brand or item I want. No difference between waiting for the LDS to get it in or the three day wait when I use the "Buy it now" function.
2) If anyone is handing you a loaner it's because you paid for it upfront. Service on your gear bought in the store is no faster than on mine, bought online. I try to buy good stuff that isn't prone to breakdown anyway, in spite of what the LDS recommends.
3) You are a lucky guy if this is true. I've had LDS's tell me, in no uncertain terms, that good deals come after you've spent a considereable amount already. BTW, how do the items at your LDS get there? Since the ones by me aren't next to a gear factory, they have them shipped. They just bake these costs in with the price. I've also found that what I save in sales tax usually more than covers shipping on online purchases.
4) Please just make sure that you don't drink the grape Kool-aid at the next family picnic. My extended family doesn't charge me a 100% markup. The reason that you are a DM candidate is that you paid for the DM course. Aren't you a little skeptical that part of the course also deals with how to market scuba training and gear to the masses? What does ability to sell gear have to do with being a DM? The fact that you allow yourself to buy gear at less than retail from your good buddies at the LDS sort of brings your credibility into question. If P.T Barnum where alive today he'd probably own a dive shop.

 

[Tampabay]

Owning a business is not easy. So many factors and long hours that go with it.. Once, you take into account the overhead and binding contracts with different companies, equipment and so on.... It takes years to see a profit.. I will always support my LDS as long as the trust and friendship is there. They too need to make a living......

Good Things should be free...........Best to my fellow Divers

 

[CaptSaaz]

I'm new to the sport, working on my OW right now and just wanted to put in my 2 cents....

One of things I see when it comes to equipment in the OW course descriptions is "fit and comfort". Unless you try the equipment on at your LDS or if one of your buddies has one in your size how will you know if it is right for you? Doesn't fit, ship it back and try again? Who pays for shipping? Have a problem with it? Who do you take it to? Ship it all the way back to the manufacturer?

At least at the local LDS you can try on many different brands and sizes and be assured of getting the right one for you. I hear you about some LDS not really caring or being interested in putting any time in helping you out a little in either service or price. I guess I'm lucky that I have several choices of shops and the one recommended to me absolutely rocks.

Cheers and be safe down there!

 

[Web Monkey]

I usually try to avoid the LDS vs Online threads, but sometimes, I cant resist.

2) If anyone is handing you a loaner it's because you paid for it upfront.

What's your point?

Do you have another method of getting an on-the-spot loaner?

Service on your gear bought in the store is no faster than on mine, bought online.

My LDS fixed a leaky quick-disconnect on my Smart-Com in 10 minutes while I waited.

They also tweaked the cracking pressure on my reg while I waited because I wasn't quite happy with it. It didn't bother me enough to pack it up in a box and mail it somewhere for service. It's nice to be able to have things tuned without making a major production about it.

I try to buy good stuff that isn't prone to breakdown anyway, in spite of what the LDS recommends.

Everything breaks eventually. Even life-support machines in hospitals need service.

4) Aren't you a little skeptical that part of the course also deals with how to market scuba training and gear to the masses? What does ability to sell gear have to do with being a DM?

SCUBA is a business.

The only thing that keeps it alive is consumers taking classes and buying equipment and services.

There's nothing wrong with this, and is how the global economy functions.

If you don't like the model, you don't have to participate in it. however, you should note that by supporting my LDS, I've had to miss exactly zero days of diving due to equipment problems or empty tanks. I don't mind if they make money. It keeps them in business.

Terry

 

[yknot]

SCUBA is a business.

The only thing that keeps it alive is consumers taking classes and buying equipment and services.

There's nothing wrong with this, and is how the global economy functions.

If you don't like the model, you don't have to participate in it. however, you should note that by supporting my LDS, I've had to miss exactly zero days of diving due to equipment problems or empty tanks. I don't mind if they make money. It keeps them in business.

Terry

You really should spend a little time researching history. The dive shops didn't invent scuba diving.The pioneers of the sport bought their gear mail order direct from the manufacturers because there weren't any LDS's. They also dove without the benefit of "C" cards or other training. Are you going to quit diving when the LDS in your area goes out of business? I don't mind any business trying to make money but it's my perogative as a consumer to say how much I am willing to let them make. The internet has brought prices and choices that simply wouldn't exist otherwise.

 

[Web Monkey]

You really should spend a little time researching history. The dive shops didn't invent scuba diving.The pioneers of the sport bought their gear mail order direct from the manufacturers because there weren't any LDS's.

So you like it better when there's no local store?

They also dove without the benefit of "C" cards or other training.

Back then, my father sold asbestos at a hardware store and smoked cigarettes.

It eventually killed him. Are you saying the world would be a better place with no education, C-cards or places to get a nice clean 3000 PSI fill.

Are you going to quit diving when the LDS in your area goes out of business?

Absolutely not. I could get by with an air-compressor and mail order, however, it would certainly not be as easy or as much fun as it is now.

However, if they're gone, it means that thousands of other people in my area would never have the opportunity that I did.

I don't mind any business trying to make money but it's my perogative as a consumer to say how much I am willing to let them make. The internet has brought prices and choices that simply wouldn't exist otherwise.

The internet has only put price pressure on dealers who carry non-exclusive lines, and made them compete with every other online dealer based solely on price. This in turn puts pressure on the manufacturers to lower their wholesale price and will eventually cause the collapse of many online dealers as well as a number of manufacturers.

It's just like groceries.

I can shop at Aldi's, which has whatever they can sell cheap, or Wegman's which has phenominal produce, great seafood, friendly staff and an on-site bakery that makes real bread. It also costs more. I shop at Wegman's. Some people obviously shop at Aldi's, since they're still in business. I just don't happen to be one of them.

Terry