Suggestion Is there a forum for Dive Shop Owners?

[divepa]

Is there a place for dive shop owners to post? Does anyone else think that is a good suggestion?

Divepa

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Dont you have a Federal ID # for tax purposes? Oh wait, that would only be good for US dive shop owners...

 

[divepa]

Federal ID would work, but in most cases that is the owner's social security number. I would imagine that most wouldn't give that out.

Divepa

Dont you have a Federal ID # for tax purposes? Oh wait, that would only be good for US dive shop owners...

 

[Scubaroo]

Um, what's wrong with a simple email that comes from the dive shop? As long as the email comes from "someone@adiveshop.com", "bob@somediveshopincalifornia.com", "tom@tomsdiveshop.ca" or something like that, it's easy to determine that the person signing up is at least an employee of the dive shop. Probably covers 95% of the people who would sign up. Anyone without business email can send a phone number that can be verified to belong to a dive shop - and then ring it. Simple. Why bother stuffing around with paperwork etc???

 

[Ted S]

I don't think any one criteria factor would be required but rather we would give a list of several factors and depending on what was submitted, a decision would be made.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I don't think any one criteria factor would be required but rather we would give a list of several factors and depending on what was submitted, a decision would be made.

It is a good idea for businesses to talk with each other. But there are a couple factors that could rise up to bite you in the butt if you aren't careful. A couple:

These are Businesses. How much profit they make isn't the issue. They are Businesses. So, do you want to give them a free service? If so, why? If this has a value they should be expected to pay a fair price for the service.

Sometimes it is a short step from talking in generalities to monopoly generating actions like price fixing, etc.

Now it is your Board and how you run it is really none of my business. But, I really like it and would hate for your good intentions to get tangled and mess it up.

 

[Steve_S]

1) Another method to verify a Shop Owner is to obtain their reseller number/permit. This may not work everywhere but certainly any shop who buys wholesale and sells retail needs to have one.

2) A virtual presence only in the marketplace would seem to fit. Like, a Web only store and or pure mail order with no retail presence. Some may not even have a web site or a retail location but the synergy would be great.

3) Would you include other B2B dedicated Forums or lump them all into the same Forum? Like:

Dive Shops (Retail, Mail Order, Web)
Charter Boat Operators
Travel Agents
Lodging/Hotels
etc.

Or simply create these Forums when the demand is present?

4) Everyone should understand that SB members and lurkers without clearance/approval would not be able to view the Forums we are discussing. Also, your competitior around the corner may in fact be reading your posts so you need to be comfortable with this.

 

[Steve_S]

It is a good idea for businesses to talk with each other. But there are a couple factors that could rise up to bite you in the butt if you aren't careful. A couple:

These are Businesses. How much profit they make isn't the issue. They are Businesses. So, do you want to give them a free service? If so, why? If this has a value they should be expected to pay a fair price for the service.

Sometimes it is a short step from talking in generalities to monopoly generating actions like price fixing, etc.

Now it is your Board and how you run it is really none of my business. But, I really like it and would hate for your good intentions to get tangled and mess it up.

AD, you raise some valid points. Iv'e had exstensive experience placing one merchant along side another in a Community enviroment. Some thoughts:

1) It's a trade off. A free B2B Forum in exchange for organic growth via word of mouth plus the potential to generate advertising revenue for SB from these merchants. Since the Forums are "private" which means your retail customers can't view them then this makes it easy for you and others to promote the rest of SB to your customers.

2) Their will certainly be abuse and moderation is a must. No offense intended but thats just the nature of the beast. Some cases that will arise:

Fights between competitiors
SPAM to everyone in the Forums
Agenda posts
Shill posts
...and more stuff which I would prefer not to post about

Edit: 3) The Moderators for these forums must be very very very carefully chosen and I'm confident that SB has the necessary talent already around. IMHO, they should not be in the "business", they should not sell anything Scuba related. This significantly reduces the perception that a given Mod has a conflict of interest and will enhance the environment.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I was more concerned with SB getting tangled in a Restraint of Trade or Monopolistic Practices issue just because they were the communication medium facilitating the activity.

Or, this could turn into a Manufacurers vs. Dealers legal war with SB having to spend money and time either defending itself, trying to keep out of the fray.

Either could mess up a good deal for the rest of us.

 

[Dive Source]

I was more concerned with SB getting tangled in a Restraint of Trade or Monopolistic Practices issue just because they were the communication medium facilitating the activity.

Or, this could turn into a Manufacurers vs. Dealers legal war with SB having to spend money and time either defending itself, trying to keep out of the fray.

Either could mess up a good deal for the rest of us.

Believe it or not the first thing I want to discuss with other shop owners is not how to monopolize the dive industry but how to make it better.

By having owners talk to each other maybe we can find ways to get more people involved in the sport, make it safer, find new products, avoid suspect ones etc, etc..

More people diving or enjoying the sport means more demand for products/services which eventually leads to lower prices for everyone and better services for all.

 

[Steve_S]

Amen DS

You said: "I was more concerned with SB getting tangled in a Restraint of Trade or Monopolistic Practices issue just because they were the communication medium facilitating the activity."

I'm not an attorney but I have been involved in the legal aspects of running a Community. Thats the way I prefer to post this so no more gory details please Your concerns and any real world occurance of same, are at the very bottom of the list that any Community faces. Matter of fact, I'm not aware of any Community/Forum landing up in court over the issues you raise. Not even a C and D or a formal legal request for back room information like an IP number etc.

On the other hand, I could give you a short list of a few issues that have and will continue to place a Forum owner like Commander Petie and crew in legal jepordy.

Obviously, the Forum we are discussing would require another set of sticky posts rules and procedures to help everyone and if anyone is in doubt, then you better see your attorney for an official opnion.

Note: I edited my previous post in this thread and I'm not sure if you saw all the stuff in it.

Case #1: That "very pushy" manufactuer sales rep who won't stay out of your shop and continues to hammer you for more sales leads.

Your new answer: Hey DuckPond, your the largest manuf of regulators in the world. If you want your products in more shops, then pay to advertise in the NEW SB Dive Shop Owners Forum. Talk about a target market and a stress reliever.