Starting a Dive Shop

[mempilot]

Someone in the ScubaBoard Market Place is selling a BC for $195,000 and no cents, and oh, a dive shop comes with it. Check it out on your next trip down to Cabo.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=59891

 

[lairdb]

Yes, it is true that the online market place is here to stay...dive gear is available for lower prices. But, there remains a concern with purchasing regs and bcs online...warranties, grey market items, and what about yearly maintenance and service? I would not purchase a reg or bc from an online retailer...but, I might purchase a set of fins or a wet suit.

Fascinating. I would not purchase fins or a wetsuit from an online retailer, but would purchase regs and bc. (Fins and wetsuit are personal-fit items, and require try-on; sizing them at a store and then buying online would be bad form. Regs and BCs are regs and BCs wherever you get them; service is a different issue.

The thing is...a good LDS can maintain training and can sell newbies gear...but a really good LDS keeps customers coming back for more...more training, gear upgrades, GOOD service etc. A good LDS has to wear many hats and has to wear them well...if an LDS is just going to sell quick training and push gear...customers will eventually go elsewhere.

Which is pretty much what we're seeing. The issue is that in most geographic communities, the dollar volume is in the former -- one-time gear purchases. Keep in mind that some huge percentage of divers never dive again after their first year.

Still...with diving...I think most customers interested in staying in diving for an extended period of time want the personal service and the hands on approach with somebody they know and trust...good service really counts.

Fair enough -- but that's what, 5% of the population? You *can* make money servicing that population (see any conventional B-school windowpane in which one quadrant is "Carriage Trade"), but the circumstances are tightly defined, and the business practices are wildly different.

--Laird

 

[dave the diver]

Cudabait - thanks, I'll look into it.

I'm sure it must be possible to do like so many retail industries - have a decent shop, but also have a good internet/delivery system. In that way, you have both options covered, at minimal expense.