Major Industry Change re: Online Scuba Sales....

[mulefeathers]

First off I am online shopper. If I can buy it and never set foot in a store great. If I know what I am shopping for. When it came to scuba gear I had no idea what I wanted so for me I needed to try thing on. After trying several things I did internet reaserch picked out what I wanted and found the price on the internet.

When I went to the LDS I discovered ( they actually brought up the subject of a discount for cash) I can get the same pricing from them as I could online.

On somethings they actually beat Scuba.com and leisurepro.

i.e I purchase a Oceanic Probe LX for $375 brand new paying cash.
Scubatoys was $360 plus shipping.

Just my little experience

 

[daniel f aleman]

Actually, I'd like fewer shops, and fewer divers: once-a-weekers, poor dive-bums, fat-white Yankees stinkin' up my boat... ahhh, the joys of owning your own compressor and tanks....

 

[all4scuba05]

Well if just one manufacturer, let's say Scubapro, decided to let retailers sell their equipment at whatever price they want, and sell it online if they want, I bet all other manufacturers will follow suit for fear of losing a whole lot of customers to Scubapro.

 

[Swan1172]

The whole thing is really about economies of scale. If you look at the sales of most local LDS, their sales are not usually high enough to get the best wholesale pricing from the manufacturers. Therefore, they don't really have any savings to pass onto the customer. On the other hand, an internet dive shop usually generates a lot more sales and buys at a lower price from the manufacturer. This gives them the ability to see equipment in many cases below the price the LDS is paying.

As a consumer, this is a good thing. Some LDS have been operating as virtual monopolies and charging outrageous prices because there was no competition in the area and more importantly, because they could. With the advent of online retail, this is no longer the case, as consumers have a choice and can get the same goods at a lower price. Either the LDS changes its business model or it goes under.

The same thing has happened in virtually every industry -- so what we are seeing in the dive industry should not come as a surprise.

 

[ArcticDiver]

From my perspective this is just acknowledging reality. Online/catalog sales in just about every retail industry are very profitable and growing. PADI is just very slowly encouraging others to catch up with marketing reality. But, they miss the primary problem with just about every LDS I've ever come in contact with.

Most, not all, LDS owners are just Very Poor business people. It is way too common for customer calls not to be returned; for customer's lack of knowledge to be taken advantage of; for customers being told to go somewhere else if they don't follow the LDS' particular dive philosophy, for customers being told that since they didn't buy their gear at that LDS they can't get fills there, and so on.

Too often a very skilled diver who really enjoys what he does decides to "go pro" and own a dive shop/boat. But the new owner is very poorly prepared to move from skilled technican to business owner and manager. He is dive oriented instead of being customer oriented.

This is a start by a recognized agency. But, until the LDS owners and managers are well grounded in customer service shops will continue to struggle and sooner or later they will fail.

 

[ReefHound]

When I went to the LDS I discovered ( they actually brought up the subject of a discount for cash) I can get the same pricing from them as I could online.

In these online/LDS discussions there are inevitably a handful of posts such as this that mention their LDS matching or beating online prices. However, I have never once actually seen one of these phantom shops and I've been in many. Whenever I'm in a new area I like to hit a LDS or two just to check things out. Maybe once in a while there will be the oddball accessory that an LDS is trying to close out but I'd sure like to get a specific name and phone number of one who matches (or even comes within 10%) of online prices for the better part of their inventory.

 

[DepthCharge]

It is such a shame the world is coming to this money for nothing and cheaper is better attitude. Do you buy your groceries on line? Lets all start doing that and push the local grocery stores out too. What started out as a good information source has turned into a beast for get rich people for nothing that are not willing to put in a little old fashon hard work and the cheap consumers have fallen for the bait.

Actually, I do order some groceries on line. Things that are not carried locally, or that are high in price. Sometimes it's cheaper to have it shipped in. I don't mind paying for something, but don't want to get raped either.

 

[mdb]

Is this possibly the first "crack" in the hard-line resistance to on-line sales from that small industry group of large and vocal detractors of internet sales? Is this the beginning of a mass business model change for the local scuba store? Will this change in corporate position from PADI result in change in those companies that are the sole purveyors of the "hold the high price at any cost" mentality?
Phil Ellis

Phil: About time. The LDS may, finally, have the opportunity to actually compete in the modern market.

 

[mike_s]

For those who might not like to order online and prefer to pay full price as a "old style" local-dive-shop, I think you'd be surprised at how many full-price-shops (which have very low volume moving) have a problem ordering stuff. Most manufacturers have minimums on the orders processed. So how do these small-time-shops order product sometimes to meet their customers needs?

It's simple. They order stuff sometimes from online dive shops that carry the same product lines and don't have minimum order requirements. It's cheaper for them to do business this way. (No I'm not kidding.... this happens. IF they can get it 30-40% off online and sell it it for MSRP, it's not a bad system for them).

So chances are that regulator that a small-time-shop ordered in qty 1 and would be in next week might have been ordered online from someone else. Go figure huh?

 

[mulefeathers]

In these online/LDS discussions there are inevitably a handful of posts such as this that mention their LDS matching or beating online prices. However, I have never once actually seen one of these phantom shops and I've been in many. Whenever I'm in a new area I like to hit a LDS or two just to check things out. Maybe once in a while there will be the oddball accessory that an LDS is trying to close out but I'd sure like to get a specific name and phone number of one who matches (or even comes within 10%) of online prices for the better part of their inventory.

Deep South Scuba Ridgeland MS Located on County Line Road
601-957-DIVE
The owners name is Walter
The whole package I purchased was

Oceanic Probe LX
Oceanic Reg with slimline octo/Gauges
Soft weights

$800
Cash

JBL Gulf Magnum XHD with breakaway tip fully rigged $260

The deals are there if you pay cash not credit cards