Al Mialkovsky:
You are going to save 15K by shopping the internet? That's serious shopping. That is what an average compressor runs.
But wherever you want, but when your local diveshop dies, oh well......
As far as local dive shops closing and people not being able to get their tanks filled... Don't think that is too much of a problem. All the shops are not going to close... There will still be one or 2 in each city - the ones that can stay competitive because the run strong business models, keep their overhead low, buy right, market well, etc. Also, I'm not sure about your area, but in Dallas here - the only person who needs a tank filled is someone who wants to get in a pool. If you are going diving - you are heading out to one of the rock quarrys, or lakes, and they have fill stations there that fill tanks. Also a lot of Fire Depts have compressors and will fill tanks.
And 15K for a compressor?? Wow... If a dive shop has 15K in an item that brings them very little profit - maybe that is why they are going out of business. I bought a 12 CFM Bauer with under 1000 hours and full panel, filters, and 2 bank bottles for under $7,000. I also have a 3CFM Oil less Rix for nitrox fills that I bought for $2700. So I have no where near that investment in a Compressor and we certify over 1000 students a year, have an on site pool, and a 10,000 square foot show room.
I believe there is, and will be, major changes in this industry. The only difference is I saw them coming 6 years ago. I started complaining about the net... but complaining didn't make me any money. So instead I studied my ass off, learned to write HTML and ASP code, bought graphics packages, analyzed buying trends, search engine optimization, net marketing, and buried myself in my office working on pages. I started talking to my vendors, looking for special quantity buys, where I could save a few bucks and pass it on in specials to draw people to our site.
Now I'm not saying a dive shop has to be on the net to be successful. I have friends with very successful shops that don't do any net sales. They fill trips like crazy, get very high return rates for continuing education classes, carry lot's of specialized and custom gear that people really won't feel comfortable buying on the net - market to local businesses to put together scuba classes and trips as team building experiences for their employees, and more.
To the dive shops that are doing poorly, I'd have to ask the owner, can you list the 3 things you did today to increase business and revenue? For a vast majority that will not be 1. Called on American Airlines to put together a promotion for their employees for a Free discover scuba day. 2. contacted a large apartment complex for a Saturday by the pool dive experience, and 3. Called the last 50 students that only have OW cert that had marked their folder that they might be interested in advanced education to invite them to join our next advanced class starting in 2 weeks.
For a vast majority of the ones I see, ask them the 3 things they did for their business that day it will be, 1. Called up the Mares Rep and complained about internet pricing. 2. Called up the Tusa Rep and complained about internet pricing. 3. Refused to sign up a student for a nitrox class because he bought his computer on line.
Gee... why are they not successful?
If a business can't figure out what the future brings, and mold their model accordingly, it is unfair to ask the consumer just to pay more money because that business man is incompetent.
Someone once asked Willie Mays what makes a great outfielder. He said, "that's easy. A good outfielder knows where the ball is.... A great one knows where it will be."