Why do the dive shops try to sell you the most expensive gear?

[swimmer_spe]

I went to my LDS to get a replacement clip for my fins.

They did not have any in stock. They could order me some, but the clerk mentioned... spring straps.

I had been thinking of going to them because of how cumbersome my fins are to get on.

Instead of talking with me to figure out which ones would be best suited to me, the clerk went for the most expensive model. My strap clip broke because they were complicated, and a little part is broken.

I ended up going with the simplest ones, which were the least expensive. They are a spring covered with a rubber housing.

I have noticed all too often that all dive shops seem to want to do is sell the most expensive gear.

 

[TSandM]

All business exist to make a profit. The high end items in the store are often also the items with the largest profit margin for the shop. Sometimes, a shop will try to sell you something expensive that they truly believe is better, but often it's just because they make more money selling that item, or the manufacturer has given them a quota of that item that they have to move to keep their dealer relationship.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Because we ALL want to make as much money as we can! If it was big chain shop they're probably working on commission, if it was a small brick and mortar shop they're trying to maximize their limited business.

 

[SOFDiver]

It is true that your LDS is trying to make a profit, and they hope to do so on everything they sell. Now that we are past that we can move on. Several things come to mind. Consider that often the largest profit margin is on the least expensive items, but these items may not be the best constructed or functional items. The sales person may have been trying to present the best product, in this case spring straps, because he/she knows they will provide better service to you. In our shop we stock and sell the items we (staff and instructors) use and know that work well. I have never heard of any manufacturer establishing a quota on any item, but they do provide a very small price break when we make large orders. I just can't figure out why so many divers think their LDS is trying to get over on them, but can only attribute it to the lack of a solid relationship. Most LDS are staffed with experienced divers, who really would like to help you make the right choice. Give them a chance to help you, or at least explain the choices rather than make a choice simply based on price.

 

[Bob DBF]

I just can't figure out why so many divers think their LDS is trying to get over on them, but can only attribute it to the lack of a solid relationship. Most LDS are staffed with experienced divers, who really would like to help you make the right choice. Give them a chance to help you, or at least explain the choices rather than make a choice simply based on price.

It could be that some LDSs are trying to get over on them. Lets face it, some businesses are unscrupulous, and others, like my LDS, are stuck in a business model that ignores the change in the marketplace that there is now competition for dive equipment sales. I have made several efforts to buy equipment they do not stock through them and each time the price is at least twice what I can by it for over the internet (not gray market), they want the $ up front, not to mention that it will be in my hands much sooner if I don't deal with them. I don't mind paying for a service but I have my limits.

I have a good relationship with the shop and the guys are ok, I buy what they have that I need and the price is fair, but they don't stock or sell for my type of diving.



Bob
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I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[boulderjohn]

Consider that often the largest profit margin is on the least expensive items, but these items may not be the best constructed or functional items. The sales person may have been trying to present the best product, in this case spring straps, because he/she knows they will provide better service to you.

This is true, and it is something most potential customers don't realize. I learned all the strategies when I participated in a week-long scuba marketing seminar.

Let's look at a common practice you see at a shop: package pricing. You can get a discount, often a substantial one, for buying a full set of featured gear. Here's why they can afford to do that. The big ticket items--BCDs, regulators, fins--are what you are really looking to buy, and that package price means you will be purchasing those items at a lower profit margin than the shop can sustain long term and stay in business. On the other hand, the package includes a lot of lower priced items that you might not have purchased on your own.Those lower-priced items have a higher profit margin, and even at that discount they provide enough profit to put the entire package up to a sustainable profit margin.

The key word in there is "sustainable." Believe it or not, the people who own the shop and who work in it are not doing it as a form of charity work. They are trying to make a living. In our area, two dive shops went out of business in the past couple of years. That means two owners and a bunch of employees lost their means of income. One of those shops was just about the only way a tech diver could get helium fills, so customers are suffering as well. All businesses in the world are trying to make a profit so they can survive. All businesses in the world use sales practices designed to increase sales. I don't understand why so many divers think scuba should be different, that scuba shops should work at a loss and have their employees go hungry so that their customers can get better deals on equipment.

And yes, it may be that the employee wanted to put you in a better quality spring strap, one that you will like for years to come, rather than one that will not be as good and with which you might become dissatisfied in time. Sometimes better quality merchandise costs more than lesser quality merchandise, and sometimes the price difference is worth it.

 

[Superlyte27]

This is exactly the opposite approach of my dive shop. And it pisses me off to no end. The owner in my shop ALWAYS tries to sell the cheapest first. This is a stupid approach. Here's one reason why in my opinion...

Often, you get what you pay for. Or, you don't get what you want when you get what you pay for. About a year ago a friend of mine went into the dive shop to buy dive gear. The owner talked him into Oceanic's $800 package. It came with a decent BCD, adjustable regulator, octopus, and computer console with Nitrox capable computer. It was a great package with lifetime parts guarantee for $800 bucks. The problem is... I knew my friend wanted to be a cave diver.

Nearly everything he bought was NOT conducive to tech diving. 3 months later, he bought everything over again.

That sucks. I hate when that happens. I would much rather buy gear right ONE TIME, and never have to buy it again than to buy it twice. It's the reason why I push the Petrel computer so hard. By the way, our markup on a Petrel is lower than any other computer we sell. So, why do I push it? Because you'll never outgrow it. It'll should never die, even if you drove over it with a car, I'm confident Shearwater could fix it. But, am I pushing you to a more expensive computer? Yes, because you'll be happier longer with it, and you'll go a decade without having to upgrade it.

Yes, I often times push more expensive gear. But I do it because I want you to be happy over the long run and not have to spend money twice. Anyway, that's just my opinion, and I could be completely wrong. But I haven't had an unhappy customer yet.

 

[redacted]

Consider that often the largest profit margin is on the least expensive items, but these items may not be the best constructed or functional items. The sales person may have been trying to present the best product, in this case spring straps, because he/she knows they will provide better service to you.

I suspect this is very misleading. Sure, expressed as a percentage, the profit margin on a pack of gum is much higher than the profit margin on a new car. But, within competing items, like fin straps, that is unlikely to be generally true unless the retailer just likes to f&^$ with customers.

The problem with so many dive shops is that they seem to be deceptive - perhaps dishonest. And the not uncommon bad apple makes the rest of them suspect.

 

[chrpai]

I'm curious, what fins do you have now and what brand/cost were the spring straps?

I like spring straps, but you might be throwing good money after bad. All new fins might be the better choice...


Also I think it's dishonest to imply that only expensive gear is suitable for tech. It's not a difference in price, it's a difference in design. There is cheap and expensive recreational gear and there is cheap and expensive technical gear. I know what I prefer.

 

[agilis]

So the shop selling the moderately priced package to the future cave diver made out financially best of all, selling two complete sets of equipment in 3 months.

Isn't it possible that all of these shops are actually motivated by altruistic motives, by a desire to do good rather than by some crass and reprehensible desire to suck as much money out of those customers vulnerable and weak minded enough to follow their suggestions rather than by doing their own thinking and research and having a strong idea what it is they really want before they walk in the door?

It could be that these dive shop owners/salespeople understand that if such customers are not relieved of the excess cash available to them they might be victimized by fraudulent telephone solicitations and TV ads selling hair restoratives, vitamin supplements, car care products, diet aids and various other worthless junk that... "WAIT! ACT NOW AND GET A SECOND ONE FREE"...will quickly deplete their cash reserves and 18% interest credit lines. Perhaps these dive shops are performing a necessary public service.