leadweight
Contributor
It seems these days that more dive shops are closing than opening. When I say this to other divers their initial reaction is that divers are buying their gear on line. My conclusion is that the problem is more severe for the retail dive shops. Divers in increasing proportions are not buying gear at all. They are renting instead.
We all know the standard retail dive shop business model. Certify as a loss leader and sell gear at a profit. The sales pitch is that you will be more comfortable in your own gear and that rental gear is in bad shape. The business about comfort is subjective. Whether it is true or not is not important to this discussion. However, the condition of rental gear has improved greatly. This is a major disincentive to buying.
The typical new diver will probably quit the sport before 50 dives are completed. This causes the choice between buying and renting to favor renting if only economics are considered. People buy for intangible reasons as noted above. Since 911 changes in the travel industry are providing additional reasons not to buy. Increased security makes traveling with dive gear a bit of a pain. The latest development is the 50 pound limit per bag on international flights.
When I was in Thailand last fall very few divers had their own gear. I frequently doubted my own sanity for dragging my gear all over Thailand when only a third of the trip was spent on diving.
All of the rental gear I saw in Thailand was in great shape. Very few divers (mostly from EC countries) had gear with them. Some English divers mentioned that the few dive shops left in the UK were operated out of holes in the wall and needed on line sales to survive.
Certification patterns have also changed. A lot more new divers are being minted in resorts. It is the PADI 3 and a half day wonders. A diver who starts without a relationship with a LDS is less likely to buy gear.
This is not about whether one should buy gear or not. It is simply about where things appear to be going.
We all know the standard retail dive shop business model. Certify as a loss leader and sell gear at a profit. The sales pitch is that you will be more comfortable in your own gear and that rental gear is in bad shape. The business about comfort is subjective. Whether it is true or not is not important to this discussion. However, the condition of rental gear has improved greatly. This is a major disincentive to buying.
The typical new diver will probably quit the sport before 50 dives are completed. This causes the choice between buying and renting to favor renting if only economics are considered. People buy for intangible reasons as noted above. Since 911 changes in the travel industry are providing additional reasons not to buy. Increased security makes traveling with dive gear a bit of a pain. The latest development is the 50 pound limit per bag on international flights.
When I was in Thailand last fall very few divers had their own gear. I frequently doubted my own sanity for dragging my gear all over Thailand when only a third of the trip was spent on diving.
All of the rental gear I saw in Thailand was in great shape. Very few divers (mostly from EC countries) had gear with them. Some English divers mentioned that the few dive shops left in the UK were operated out of holes in the wall and needed on line sales to survive.
Certification patterns have also changed. A lot more new divers are being minted in resorts. It is the PADI 3 and a half day wonders. A diver who starts without a relationship with a LDS is less likely to buy gear.
This is not about whether one should buy gear or not. It is simply about where things appear to be going.
