The Great local dive shop vs. online debate

[large_diver]

Always a hot topic.....

I can get a Suunto Vyper with full warranty for about $270 from simplyscuba.com (a Suunto-approved retailer -- 100% legit warranty). My local retailers will give it to me for the bargain price of $450. Comments above about making sure the e-tailer you are dealing with is legitimate and has mfr. backing (i.e. your warranty is valid) are good advice. That being said -- there are legitimate mail-order/internet businesses out there who can sell you great equipment at great prices with the warranty 100% valid.

That being said, I am not rushing out to by everything from simplyscuba.com. Just like any purchase I make, I look at the value the dive shop is giving me for the given purchase. Certain "commodity" items I buy at Wal-Mart. Other things (computer) I will consider using the internet for. Still other gear (namely regulator and drysuit) I will only buy from my shop because service on these items is so important to me.

I agree that I want my local dive shop to stay in business, but I won't pay double for everything I buy for diving just because they are facing thin margins.

 

[large_diver]

Continuing from my last post.....

Apeks Tx-100 with Tx-40 octo & a Suunto Vyper.

My local shop will charge me about $700 for the reg/octo set-up and $450 for the Vyper. simplyscuba.com will charge me about $410 and $270.

$1,150 vs. $680 -- now that is a significant difference. In some ways I feel my local shop is robbing me blind on this. I understand comments above about MSRP and agreements with suppliers, but when prices are this far out of whack in Europe vs. US, it's no wonder gray mkt. operators continue to spring up and why so much gear os for sale on E-Bay.

As you can tell, this is a sore topic with me. When I bring up this priving disparity with my local shop, he won't budge on price.

 

[dbteel]

Real One,

I suggest looking at Diveinn.com. I recently made a purchase from them and was very pleased. I have also made purchases some other outfits and was less than than satisfied.

I think the bottom line is shop around and negotiate with the shops for the best price. If they are not willing to bargain...there are other options.

Good Luck and happy hunting.

 

[buff]

My wife and I ventured into a few local shops here in Minnesota. I am a great diving fan-have been all my life-and my wife is certified but does not carry the zeal for the underwater world as I do. I approached our outings as if I was about to bond with my other underwater breatheren-these people are shop owners, dive instructors-the top of the diving food chain. These people were fellow divers-people I could be proud of.....at least that's what I expected.
I have never met a more pompus, overbearing, egocentric group of people in my life!!!!!!! They treated us as if we were idiots(my wife is a physician and I have a degree in physiology). They told me all about the equipment-most of it incorrect(I know since I looked it up on the manufacuter's web site) they made us feel small and insigificant(at least tried I have too big of an ego). I felt so embarrassed for the sport. Whenever I talk about diving I speak in spiritual terms and how diving is for everyone, and how we must preserve the oceans for future generations. These bozos make people feel like they OWN the oceans and lakes and you shouldn't be visiting without their o.k. I have been to dive shops in other areas and didn't get this treatment-so it doesnt' happen everywher but it just takes one....just one.

 

[joewr]

Degree in physiology, huh? Did you ever think of writing comedy? I hear there may be a writers' strike in H'wood; you could get your big chance!

At any rate, I, too, have occasionally run across the nattering nabobs of nonsense (to misquote a former VICE president) and they make me gag! But, to be really honest, they have been in the very small minority! The guys and gals I deal with here in the San Francisco Bay Area are really great!

Joewr

 

[JoelW]

buff,

Depending on where you are in Minnesota I can sympathize. There are few stores here in Minneapolis that I have found to be a bit questionable in both attitude and aptitude. I don't claim to be any sort of expert in this hobby, but I am not completely uninformed either. Being treated so tends to set me off. There are a couple of stores I won't go to at all.

One store here in town I really like and it is definitely not the biggest. I was out diving with some of the guys from there last night. The owner is easy to talk to and has no problem taking the time to answer questions.

JoelW

 

[svs3]

try diving without a network of LDSs. Try getting a tank filled or getting an o-ring replaced at the last minute online or getting good up to date reports on local dive conditions.

I said this before on another thread and I'll repeat here: SCUBA diving as we know it and do it would be impossible with the support of the LDSs. Do any of you honestly think that your LDS could stay in bussiness doing only lessons, tank fills, and dive trips? The answer for most shop is they can't stay in bussiness or would have to offer their services at a greatly increased price.

How much diving would you be doing if you had to drive 1 to 3 hours to get a tank with perhaps questionable gas from an industrial supplier who could care less about scuba diving?

Just something to think about the next time you're at your LDS recieving a cheap air fill thats being subsidized(sp?) by your friends and fellow divers that buy gear from that shop.

Sam

 

[joewr]

Couldn't have said it better, Sam--maybe spelled it better if I slowed down my typing. I am a real fan of local dive shops (I presume you meant that and not the Mormon Church.), but when guys like DiverinAk reveal huge differences in prices, it does make you think a little.

This ongoing battle between brick-and-mortar stores and the internet probably does not have one right answer, BUT, as you said, when that emergency comes, it sure is nice to hop down to the LDS and get what you need.

Egad, too bad the world is not a simpler place...

Joewr

 

[buff]

I am a big proponent of online ordering of dive equipment. However, after typing a post that took jabs at the local dive shops I returned to the same ones. What a difference.....what a difference in people. Differnent staff=different people=different attitude. If you want to charge double the price for something that can be purchased online you can't just rant and rave and say "you have to keep us open-we're the local dive shop"-and I will say that I walked away greatly impressed with the dive shop staff I met this time-and I think I'll be spending a little more dough at the shops and not online-not because they are the local shop but because they provide added-value.

 

[svs3]

but not their prices. Could most stores trim some off their prices, yes. Still, I believe when taken as a whole, the prices one pays at a GOOD dive shop is a fair deal for the overall value, service, and support received.

Sam