Dive shop versus online

[Sas]

Which is precisely why that same guy will continue using them as a trial shop rather than a more loyal customer. Treat me like you treat your regulars and I just might become one.

Yea exactly. I don't see why in the scuba industry people are expected to support their LDS completely or they don't get the extras. Some stores I go into (one in particular) will do things like help me set up my gear and so on for free, even if it has been bought elsewhere. That kind of service when I am not a regular customer is far more likely to mean I will become a regular customer than if they don't start to treat me nice until I've bought a bunch of stuff.

I had an LDS owner tell me one day that unless customers are loyal to him, he will make things difficult for them (and in fact I have seen this occur). This attitude is just stupid.

 

[Stu S.]

I often talk about how well my LDS treats me and how competitive they are. But I am a regular and I support them. I pay one price for items. The guy who frequents the shop thinking he is fooling everybody when trying on wetsuits, fins and masks then says he wants to think about it (because he plans to buy on line), pays another when he is in dire need of a missing piece of gear. (They crack me up when they put the game face on.)

Does your favorite store post the prices? A local store here doesn't, and I had to ask for the price of a mask. It looked like a typical $30 or 40 mask. He said $80. Thanks, but that's out of my price range.

Some consternation flowed from that store owner. It was a sour experience that would not have happened if the price was marked on the item.

Happy ending: My pal John had a near-new mask the leaked due to his moustache. He gave it to me.

 

[Splitlip]

I use 3 local shops. 2 post prices, the 3rd not always. Doesn't really matter though. Just like my LSS, my LGS and my LBS: I support them, I am a regular I get the discount.

Where in Florida are you located?

Edit: surf shop, gun shop and bike shop.

 

[on_two_wheels]

I support them, I am a regular I get the discount.

So do I....by shopping around.

 

[NoVaScuba]

Does your favorite store post the prices? A local store here doesn't, and I had to ask for the price of a mask. It looked like a typical $30 or 40 mask. He said $80. Thanks, but that's out of my price range.

Some consternation flowed from that store owner. It was a sour experience that would not have happened if the price was marked on the item.

Happy ending: My pal John had a near-new mask the leaked due to his moustache. He gave it to me.

I'm far from expert but for me at least a mask almost has to be bought in a store. I tried on around 20 before I finally found one that fit. I suppose I could have then gone and found the same mask online but it would only have been a few dollars cheaper and shipping would have eaten most of it.

I also got my fins from the shop, same price as online.

However, I'm seeing some good deals on Craiglist for other gear.

 

[Splitlip]

So do I....by shopping around.

I don't have to shop.

Plus I get to use their pools and drink free beer at their parties. :cool3: And one even lets me use their bench for minor adjustments. The others make adjustments on my regs for -0-. They also give me free air fills (for my daughter) and deliver stuff I need to my office. If I need a port plug or an o-ring or shock cord etc, I grab it and go.

I am often reminded of Floyd's barber shop on the Andy Griffith Show. The personal attention is worth a few extra bucks. I have mostly Scubapro stuff. And the shops here still beat any internet price. Granted, they make it up with fills and trips. But still worth it to me.

(I am also reminded of the old SNL skit when Eddy Murphy was made up like a white guy and found out how "white people really live". LOL)

 

[Stu S.]

I use 3 local shops. 2 post prices, the 3rd not always. Doesn't really matter though. Just like my LSS, my LGS and my LBS: I support them, I am a regular I get the discount.

Where in Florida are you located?

Edit: surf shop, gun shop and bike shop.

North of Orlando, right where urban and country meet. We have had numerous dive retailers close and open around here. The closest town, Apopka, had a good one that closed.

 

[Splitlip]

North of Orlando, right where urban and country meet. We have had numerous dive retailers close and open around here. The closest town, Apopka, had a good one that closed.

LOL. Yeah, I have to admit. I kind of live in Oz. As some of the guys refer to Jupiter/Palm Beach as a "Dive Mecca". Rules, I suppose are a little different.

 

[on_two_wheels]

I don't have to shop.

Plus I get to use their pools and drink free beer at their parties. :cool3: And one even lets me use their bench for minor adjustments. The others make adjustments on my regs for -0-. They also give me free air fills (for my daughter) and deliver stuff I need to my office. If I need a port plug or an o-ring or shock cord etc, I grab it and go.

I am often reminded of Floyd's barber shop on the Andy Griffith Show. The personal attention is worth a few extra bucks. I have mostly Scubapro stuff. And the shops here still beat any internet price. Granted, they make it up with fills and trips. But still worth it to me.

(I am also reminded of the old SNL skit when Eddy Murphy was made up like a white guy and found out how "white people really live". LOL)

Okay....now be completely honest; let's say you're a new or future diver and go into that shop just to get an idea of budget, look around, try on some gear. Then you go back later only to find out their prices are obviously higher than any online retailer or even the shop down the street (since you're not a regular). Would you have become one? For that shop to spitefully charge more money because they know the guy isn't loyal is saying they don't need anymore customers. I don't know of ANY successful business that doesn't need or want more customers. Especially these days!!

Additionally, you said the non-regular pays a different price when he's in dire need. That's called gouging. I don't know anyone that thinks gouging is an acceptable business practice (except the businesses that do). That is why more and more are going online and/or to corporate places that have to answer for their actions.

I understand those that support their LDS and certainly can respect their decision. I do, to a degree....just not religiously. I simply shop around, get the best price, give them the chance to compete with it and then decide.

 

[SteveAD]

As an LDS owner let me put in my two cents.

I treat everyone fairly until they give me reason not to. Granted the "regulars" (read as friends) will often get special deals, but I don't gouge the first time visitors, because I hope to turn them into regulars.

Even the individuals who use my shop as a fitting room before buying online don't get gouged. However, when I see a pattern of someone who consistently "shops" at my place, tries on stuff, and picks my brain for details for hours and then always buys elsewhere, I politely invite them to take all of their business elsewhere.

I fully realize that I will not get ALL of anybodies business, there are some brands for which I am not a dealer, but the folks in this threat who have actually advocated using an LDS as a fitting room when they already intend to buy online are treading dangerously close to theft of service. If you know you're not going to buy from me, please don't make me waste my time.