The Local Dive Shop and Their Advantage

[Knockout Diver]

I became a scuba diver 5 years ago. I went through a phase where I had to get my hands on everything scuba and just master the art. I then gave it a break and now I'm getting back into it. I am a millennial. For some reason, that makes the older crowd shudder. I have a good job, disposable income, and some free time. It's the old mantra: I work to live, I don't live to work. Over these five years I have had the opportunity to visit several LDS across the country, from Oregon to Texas, and I've had a wide range of experiences. I'm still trying to understand some of the mentality of it.

I became certified in Texas. Small shop outside Houston. Great instructor, great training area as well. However, the LDS owner one day confronted me when doing one of my AOW courses about why I have not bought gear from him. He told me that it's an unwritten agreement, I take the course, I buy the gear from him. I am not one to get bullied into anything so I gave him a piece of my mind. His prices were not competitive for the courses, as a matter of fact, he was slightly higher than the area but the instructor was willing to work with me on scheduling. So it was not like he was giving me a special rate for training that I could apply that savings to my gear. His gear prices were "standard for the industry." What I want to know is that why does this "standard" apply to local dive shops but it doesn't apply to online retailers? People move around, chances are that I am not going to take my gear back to this shop in the future for servicing. I will either take it to my LDS or send it to an online shop if there's none around me. Scuba gear is also pretty straight forward, just watch your LDS change out a second stage, it's not rocket science. I would service my own gear if I could get the parts. Anyhow, I digress. Why are LDS so pushy about buying gear at their shop? I feel like I'm going to buy a car every time I walk into one. Even the car buying experience is better nowadays with dealers like Carvana. In this day and age of online shopping, LOCAL DIVE SHOPS HAVE TWO ADVANTAGE OVER ONLINE RETAILERS. That's face to face interactions and immediate gratification. Look at what Best Buy had to do in order to survive and compete against Amazon. They had to improve customer service and price match. Oh I hear the uproar now, "XYZ won't let us sell their regulator for less than 20% off MSRP." Yet, scuba stores online can do it. It's not like they got the gear that fell off some truck. I'm looking at my Legend first and second stage right now, it looks legit and it dives great. As a LDS, you have to tell XYZ that in order for YOU to survive, you have to be able to match online prices. You don't take that fight to the customer. Let XYZ go after the online retailer, it should not be YOU OR YOUR CUSTOMERS that has to suffer. Or just buy the gear that you sell in your shop online and mark it up 20%. Be nice to your customers. I recently wanted to take a regulator repair course from a school in Florida and I got this huge packet. One of the courses they offer is "How to run an LDS" where you learn persuasive selling tactics. Give me a break, if you are still doing this you will not survive with us millennials. You are not "doing us a favor." You are the one that got into the dive shop business. It's a different time to do business than 30 years ago. As millennials, we care about experiences. We will gladly spend our money if you are nice, fair, and competitive. That's just my opinion.

 

[guruboy]

There is a recent thread that discusses a similar topic. I'll post a link later if I remember.

IMO, a good LDS has the following advantages over online retailers-
1) Training
2) Regulator service
3) Equipment rental / air fills
4) A supply of parts you can get immediately. If it has to special order certain things like obscure adapters, fancy dive computers, etc. no big deal. But basic things like hoses, SPG, bolt snaps, etc. should always be in stock.

However, I think for a shop to not only survive but succeed, it needs to be both a good LDS as well as a good online retailer.

 

[Knockout Diver]

I'm sure this topic comes up about once a week on this board . I just wanted to give my two cents. You're right. I recently bought another regulator setup from a dive shop, even though I already have two, because they were really nice to me. Do I need a third setup, no. But it's hard to say no to nice people.

 

[TMHeimer]

I took a few courses including DM at our LSD where I eventually worked. Also, quite a few from a shop in Florida. Neither has ever pushed me in any way to buy gear or have it serviced there. Our shop here (and the FL one) will gladly service anything I give them. Just lucky I guess.
It wouldn't benefit an instructor if I bought stuff from the shop where he works (unless he's the owner). Obviously it would benefit an independent instructor. But I've not really heard of that being the standard practice. Again, maybe just lucky.

 

[tdallen]

A couple of other things that are relevant, IMO:

- Pool access and advice for new equipment configurations.
- Ongoing trust based relationship for advice on all things scuba.

You may or may not get these things from any particular LDS, but if you do they have value. I wouldn't buy gear I didn't want, but I would pay a reasonable premium for gear I did want in order to obtain that value. My "relationship" with LeisurePro and PADI (for the online OW course) aren't getting me much.

 

[Beau640]

As a posted in a similar thread, the dive shop needs to build a sense of community. They need to be the people you dive with for fun, get you to come out diving with them locally, and make you want to stop in the shop and just say "Hi" because they make you feel welcome and like they want to just talk diving with you or about anything else.

I also agree with the above that they need knowledge. The reason you should go to them instead of online is because yeah they may charge you a bit more, but they will give you knowledge. They will show you how to configure your gear if you're adding something new to it or changing something else. They will show you what you should actually buy so you don't have to replace something in 6 months when you realize you bought the wrong thing. They need to be there for you when you have a question.

However I also agree with the OP that if they aren't offering customer service or making me feel welcome, I'm taking my business elsewhere. I'll gladly pay more to buy from my LDS if I can get it quicker, get their advice/knowledge, and feel like its MY LDS and not just "a" LDS. It's not necessary for them to price match.

 

[Knockout Diver]

A couple of other things that are relevant, IMO:

- Pool access and advice for new equipment configurations.
- Ongoing trust based relationship for advice on all things scuba.

You may or may not get these things from any particular LDS, but if you do they have value. I wouldn't buy gear I didn't want, but I would pay a reasonable premium for gear I did want in order to obtain that value. My "relationship" with LeisurePro and PADI (for the online OW course) aren't getting me much.

I agree with you about the advice and equipment configuration. Where I was coming from is that some dive shops still feel that sense of entitlement. A "reasonable premium" is fair but at the end of the day, the reg you buy from them at twice the price you get it from Leisure Pro is still the same reg. They have to offer value in other ways because they are unable to match prices elsewhere.

 

[oly5050user]

I took a few courses including DM at our LSD where I eventually worked. Also, quite a few from a shop in Florida. Neither has ever pushed me in any way to buy gear or have it serviced there. Our shop here (and the FL one) will gladly service anything I give them. Just lucky I guess.
It wouldn't benefit an instructor if I bought stuff from the shop where he works (unless he's the owner). Obviously it would benefit an independent instructor. But I've not really heard of that being the standard practice. Again, maybe just lucky.

It does benefit an instructor if you purchased at the store he/she works at. It is able to stay in business and the instructor will more likely get more opportunities for a class over an instructor that does not sell. Try to look at this from a business view point.
We do price match here, in fact, we look up online retailers constantly to be sure we stay competitive.

 

[Knockout Diver]

As a posted in a similar thread, the dive shop needs to build a sense of community. They need to be the people you dive with for fun, get you to come out diving with them locally, and make you want to stop in the shop and just say "Hi" because they make you feel welcome and like they want to just talk diving with you or about anything else.

I also agree with the above that they need knowledge. The reason you should go to them instead of online is because yeah they may charge you a bit more, but they will give you knowledge. They will show you how to configure your gear if you're adding something new to it or changing something else. They will show you what you should actually buy so you don't have to replace something in 6 months when you realize you bought the wrong thing. They need to be there for you when you have a question.

However I also agree with the OP that if they aren't offering customer service or making me feel welcome, I'm taking my business elsewhere. I'll gladly pay more to buy from my LDS if I can get it quicker, get their advice/knowledge, and feel like its MY LDS and not just "a" LDS. It's not necessary for them to price match.

First off, thanks for correcting my grammar . I saw the "an" after I published it. I think you are also touching on this interesting point. I've bought the wrong thing a few times. I've also had the wrong thing pushed on me by a dive shop and at twice the price. Now, the shops I have had good experiences with do bring knowledge and customer service. They also offer little courses on how to do basic stuff. They have a free BC class or a quick refresher on XYZ for $20. It's nice. There's no card or certificate with this, just a build up of knowledge. Next time I need something, I will go to that LDS and see what they have and if it's a reasonable premium, they can have my money. Like I said, I bought a third reg for NO REASON... LOL

 

[Trailboss123]

I became a scuba diver 5 years ago. I went through a phase where I had to get my hands on everything scuba and just master the art. I then gave it a break and now I'm getting back into it. I am a millennial. For some reason, that makes the older crowd shudder. I have a good job, disposable income, and some free time. It's the old mantra: I work to live, I don't live to work. Over these five years I have had the opportunity to visit several LDS across the country, from Oregon to Texas, and I've had a wide range of experiences. I'm still trying to understand some of the mentality of it.

I became certified in Texas. Small shop outside Houston. Great instructor, great training area as well. However, the LDS owner one day confronted me when doing one of my AOW courses about why I have not bought gear from him. He told me that it's an unwritten agreement, I take the course, I buy the gear from him. I am not one to get bullied into anything so I gave him a piece of my mind. His prices were not competitive for the courses, as a matter of fact, he was slightly higher than the area but the instructor was willing to work with me on scheduling. So it was not like he was giving me a special rate for training that I could apply that savings to my gear. His gear prices were "standard for the industry." What I want to know is that why does this "standard" apply to local dive shops but it doesn't apply to online retailers? People move around, chances are that I am not going to take my gear back to this shop in the future for servicing. I will either take it to my LDS or send it to an online shop if there's none around me. Scuba gear is also pretty straight forward, just watch your LDS change out a second stage, it's not rocket science. I would service my own gear if I could get the parts. Anyhow, I digress. Why are LDS so pushy about buying gear at their shop? I feel like I'm going to buy a car every time I walk into one. Even the car buying experience is better nowadays with dealers like Carvana. In this day and age of online shopping, LOCAL DIVE SHOPS HAVE TWO ADVANTAGE OVER ONLINE RETAILERS. That's face to face interactions and immediate gratification. Look at what Best Buy had to do in order to survive and compete against Amazon. They had to improve customer service and price match. Oh I hear the uproar now, "XYZ won't let us sell their regulator for less than 20% off MSRP." Yet, scuba stores online can do it. It's not like they got the gear that fell off some truck. I'm looking at my Legend first and second stage right now, it looks legit and it dives great. As a LDS, you have to tell XYZ that in order for YOU to survive, you have to be able to match online prices. You don't take that fight to the customer. Let XYZ go after the online retailer, it should not be YOU OR YOUR CUSTOMERS that has to suffer. Or just buy the gear that you sell in your shop online and mark it up 20%. Be nice to your customers. I recently wanted to take a regulator repair course from a school in Florida and I got this huge packet. One of the courses they offer is "How to run an LDS" where you learn persuasive selling tactics. Give me a break, if you are still doing this you will not survive with us millennials. You are not "doing us a favor." You are the one that got into the dive shop business. It's a different time to do business than 30 years ago. As millennials, we care about experiences. We will gladly spend our money if you are nice, fair, and competitive. That's just my opinion.

Get ready to Binge Read-- LOL!
The changing Scuba Industry