Purchasing own equipment online/lds?

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Those 15 are dive stores that were selling to a place like LP, that would then sell them extremely cheap with no warranty. Im sure those shops were actually doing good as LP was selling the product for them....and thats just one Manufacturer that Im talking about that does this. There are many that dont monitor that close because its expensive. Im not saying its enough, but at least they are trying........ When MAP price is enforced, you should see the same price at your LDS as at an online store that is an authorized dealer.....

Swan, its great posting with you by the way you have some great points!

 

[TimAZ]

If your LDS is a place where you like doing business, print the online offer and see if they will beat it. As noted before, extreme price differences are usually the difference between authorized dealers and "grey market." If you ask though, your authorized dealer may just bend the rules for you. Just don't hose the dealer by giving the actual purchase price when you register your warranty.

 

[Swan1172]

Mike, thanks! This has been a great conversation.

Did you happen to see the "Divers, the Internet and the Industry" article in Undercurrents? If you haven't, it is worth reading. A couple of key points that I took from the article:

1. Over the past 7 years, there has been a net loss of about 50 dive shops.
2. Dive shops that are near the coasts, lakes or quarries have an advantage as their clientele is more likely to dive frequently and use their services often.
3. Dive shops that are doing well are increasingly focusing on travel and training.
4. Dive shops that aren't doing as well are often run by hobbyists, are only open part-time, and don't carry very much inventory which means they have to special order many items.
5. More than half of the respondents to their survey found warranties to have little or no importance. An example was a diver that didn't see any value in paying $50-$100 per year to maintain the warranty on his regulator.
6. Increasing number of options for service through factory authorized third-parties with lower prices and quicker turn-around than some LDS's.

I took from the article that the traditional LDS business model is rapidly changing toward a multi-channel (i.e. retail and online) hybrid. Successful dive shops are adapting by adding value for their customers while keeping prices competitive. They are also tapping into different revenue streams by adding travel services. The hobbyist-type stores with limited hours and limited inventory are the ones that are really feeling the internet squeeze.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Yep Great article by the way, and you picked out some great points. As for living close to a lake or quarry, yes they will do alot better as people want to do more training and practice..... If you dont remain competitve and one step ahead you will feel the affects.....There have been about 5 dive stores lost in my area in the last few years....Yet I opened one They didnt fail for any reason other than what you stated above....being open part time, bad staff, not caring......

Trips are key...if your not doing trips for your customers your doing a disservice to them and yourself. Again with being fairly new to running a divestore, maybe I just havent falling into the routine yet that alot of shops seem to have and not care......I know this wont happen though, Im not that type of person. Joy comes to me when I see a happy customer or someone that takes that first breath underwater and if I cant keep that fun and joy going, I will pass the business on to someone that will have the same fire and drive that I have and keep the torch going

 

[plot]

Yep Great article by the way, and you picked out some great points. As for living close to a lake or quarry, yes they will do alot better as people want to do more training and practice..... If you dont remain competitve and one step ahead you will feel the affects.....There have been about 5 dive stores lost in my area in the last few years....Yet I opened one They didnt fail for any reason other than what you stated above....being open part time, bad staff, not caring......

Trips are key...if your not doing trips for your customers your doing a disservice to them and yourself. Again with being fairly new to running a divestore, maybe I just havent falling into the routine yet that alot of shops seem to have and not care......I know this wont happen though, Im not that type of person. Joy comes to me when I see a happy customer or someone that takes that first breath underwater and if I cant keep that fun and joy going, I will pass the business on to someone that will have the same fire and drive that I have and keep the torch going

Is your shop for scuba only? If so, you might want to branch out to something else as well. At the very least, some cold weather activity to keep you going during the winter.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Ya we strictly do scuba......I will let you in on a quick secret for what Im doing right now to get thru the "slow winter season" I have 4 trips planned and running......the main thing Im doing is I have a kiosk in our local mall. They get over 4 million people thru it during the holidays. I have been here since Nov. 15th and I leave Dec 31........I have been selling classes and equipment like crazy!!! but shhhhhhh dont tell anyone

 

[Cheekymonkey]

As to branching out there is a shop up here in Connecticut that does scuba and kiteboarding, which supposedly i'm told by him share alot of vacation destinations.

 

[Swan1172]

I have seen a few that do diving and paintball, because a lot of paintball players are switching over to compressed air tanks from CO2. Compressed air doesn't cause the guns to freeze-up like CO2, but you need to be able to get air fills from a place with a compressor, hence the tie-in to the dive shop. The shops also sell the paintball markers and paintballs. A good example is Larry's GatSplat shop at ScubaToys.

 

[matts1w]

So does one fill a kids scuba tank w/o a c-card? We dont.

I have seen a few that do diving and paintball, because a lot of paintball players are switching over to compressed air tanks from CO2. Compressed air doesn't cause the guns to freeze-up like CO2, but you need to be able to get air fills from a place with a compressor, hence the tie-in to the dive shop. The shops also sell the paintball markers and paintballs. A good example is Larry's GatSplat shop at ScubaToys.

 

[Hoosier]

The shops also sell the paintball markers and paintballs. A good example is Larry's GatSplat shop at ScubaToys.

Man~~~They are a billionaire as I look... It isn't a tiny LDS in the mid-west...:no
Every sides of the wall are all packed with the equipment, even on a ceiling....

There is no crap, push, and hassle... Even shop monkeies are ready to help the customers.

I was a little bit skeptical on those big Texan guys, but there were all good people. Two things I don't like are that it is very hard to leave without getting anything and there is always regret not to get more stuff when I was there.