RonFrank
Contributor
For those instructors and DM's out there who are working for "Da Man" (the LDS), to what extent does the LDS tell you what brand and type of equipment you can dive with and/or discuss in an OW class?
Does the LDS push Brandname via the Instructor?
- Thread starter RonFrank
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Usually they like you to be in something that the shop sells. If you behave long enough, the shop might start to carry the equipment that you would choose anyway, and at that point you become honest. I'm not much of a sales-man. I can only sell stuff I like.
Scubakevdm:
I agree with that. I know our dive shop requires me to dive the gear they handle and I believe that a staff member should. As some of my students have pointed out to me, the gear they bought was stuff i was wearing and since I was wearing it they believed it to be good gear. I only wear gear I feel comfortable in and know that it is a good piece of gear. I believe in supporting your LDS, beacause without them around then where do I get my tanks filled, continuing education, and a great social atmosphere too. My LDS has also asked all its instructors on input on what to carry and I believe that is a great tool the owner uses.
Old Data:
The shop I worked thru offered cost+10% deals to instructors to keep us in top of the line store gear. Some mfrs offered discounts too, got a drysuit for about half of retail and an Orca Edge computer (engraved with "instructor") for about the same deal. Wasn't required to "push" anything, but many students bought what the instructor wore.
The shop I worked thru offered cost+10% deals to instructors to keep us in top of the line store gear. Some mfrs offered discounts too, got a drysuit for about half of retail and an Orca Edge computer (engraved with "instructor") for about the same deal. Wasn't required to "push" anything, but many students bought what the instructor wore.
Wayward Son
Contributor
I dunno what the deal behind the curtain with the instructor was, but I audited a PADI OW class last year when my wife took it. The instructor didn't push any specific brand. they had one session where he showed a lot of gear, different models, & multiple brands were present. I think all were ones the shop carried, which I think is reasonable.
That shop has a policy that students get a discount on anything in the shop until they graduate, and packages are discounted 30%.
That shop has a policy that students get a discount on anything in the shop until they graduate, and packages are discounted 30%.
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
no different from a car salesman driving the model/brand he is selling or a nike employee wearing nike shoes - same with dive shops and instructors.
if you ask to see your instructors last non dive shop vaction photos you might get a better idea of what brand they choose to wear in his/her own time. but in saying this, our last vanuatu holiday hubby took his shop gear so i like to believe that most instructors push gear that they are comfortable to sell to newbies.
if you ask to see your instructors last non dive shop vaction photos you might get a better idea of what brand they choose to wear in his/her own time. but in saying this, our last vanuatu holiday hubby took his shop gear so i like to believe that most instructors push gear that they are comfortable to sell to newbies.
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The LDS I work for doesn't carry most of the brands I owned when I joined the staff. I made it clear when I interviewed for the teaching position that I already had over $20,000 worth of gear in my garage, and I wasn't interested in re-outfitting. The owner said he was cool with that, but did ask me to talk up the gear the shop does sell. That's understandable, and since the shop carries predominantly Halcyon/DUI/Apeks gear that's not hard to do with a straight face. We also offer some recreational brands, and I commonly address students questions about why that gear is significantly less expensive and when it's appropriate to consider purchasing it.RonFrank:
After my first class, he did ask me to teach in one of the shop's wings ... since one of the students came into the shop and asked for a setup "just like Bob's" ... and there wasn't anything on that setup that the shop was selling. But he gave me a sweet deal on the wing, and I simply added it to my collection.
Since then, my employer has given me good deals on gear on an "as wanted" basis ... so I am slowly starting to acquire more of what the shop sells. But I see that as a "win-win", since students tend to buy what the they see the instructor wearing and I'm a compulsive gear junkie.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Most SCUBA companies offer "key man" discounts for staff and instructors. This discount is, normally, about 20% below the stores usual wholesale buying level. Stores vary on how they pass on this discount. It makes sense, of course, for the store to have instructors outfitted in the equipment they sell. The manufacturer benefits from having instructors use and evaluate the newest gear.
No. Since my LDS's policy is that we can get just about any gear a person wants we are not 'obliged' to push anything. Most of the instructors were trained by this LDS and so have gotten their gear from the shop. Others have not. We tell the students that they will see lots of gear and lots of gear configurations, to ask questions (since divers love to talk about their gear and how they set it up) and then make a decision.
In fact, more than one customer in the dive shop has commented on the owners lack of pressure selling. He will talk for a long time about gear, pros and cons, but never really pushes one brand. True, the shop has one or two brands on hand, but as I said, we can get just about anything out there if a customer wants it.
In fact, more than one customer in the dive shop has commented on the owners lack of pressure selling. He will talk for a long time about gear, pros and cons, but never really pushes one brand. True, the shop has one or two brands on hand, but as I said, we can get just about anything out there if a customer wants it.
The shop I work with appreciates it if we use brands carried by the shop, and gives excellent discounts to staff members. It is not, however, required, and I do use several pieces of gear that are brands not sold by our shop--those would be some of the more tech-related parts of my gear, since our shop is mainly set up to cater to the Carribean vacation divers.
theskull
theskull
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