How do companies sell their gear to stores?

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Centexbear

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Location
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I guess there are many ways to "get into" the scuba diving industry.

Do companies sell direct to scuba shops and online retailers or are there some large resellers or manufacturer reps?

For those that own scuba shops, who walks into your door to sell gear and what company(ies) do they work for?

I couldn't figure out where to post this on the board. Thanks in advance.

Jeff
 
A regional representative walks in to your store and hands you a catalog. Usually they bring samples with for you to inspect.

The opening order varies manufacturer to manufacturer, as little as $500 cost...the highest I've seen is a $10,000 cost. Sometimes a discount is applied to all items on the opening order, or free freight is given on orders greater than a dollar amount, usually +$1k, or +$1.5k. However, orders are usually processed directly through the manufacturer / distributor. Online ordering systems are used in most cases. Ordering stock is no harder than ordering from Amazon. There is also MAP pricing. You are not allowed to print a price lower than a certain amount, or you can potentially lose your dealer privileges.

My favorite representatives in the Michigan area are for Aqualung, Tusa/Waterproof (Tabata Inc), Fourth Element, and McNett/Sealife.

If you are a new shop, you will have to contact the manufacturer first. They will ensure that they are not screwing themselves over by oversaturating a market with their brand. Aqualung seems like they keep about a 35 mile spacing between stores in Michigan.
 
Some smaller mfgs do not use reps. They sell direct to the dealer. Eliminates a step in the supply chain and can also lower the costs. No reps equals one less mark up.
 
I believe there is a minimum inventory that you have to commit to stocking in your store in order to become a dealer for that brand. No? With brands like Scubapro there is also some kind of agreement that you will only carry their brand and you will push certain amount of sale to continue being a dealer. This is the vibe that I have gotten. I do not know if I have understood this correctly. Perhaps someone can shed more light into this sales / stocking phenomenon.
 
I believe there is a minimum inventory that you have to commit to stocking in your store in order to become a dealer for that brand. No? With brands like Scubapro there is also some kind of agreement that you will only carry their brand and you will push certain amount of sale to continue being a dealer. This is the vibe that I have gotten. I do not know if I have understood this correctly. Perhaps someone can shed more light into this sales / stocking phenomenon.

I think they've changed policies. That was the 90s when they first implemented that.
 
Thanks a ton for the replies all! I'm coming from the angle of me being the sales/manufacturer's rep as I've been in sales my entire career. I'd like to get into the industry some way and sales was something I was pondering. I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and didn't want to have to move to be in the corporate office of the manufacturer so I thought if they had territory sales reps, that might be a fit.

I didn't know how these companies sell their gear and I appreciate the information you have given me...helps a lot!
 
I think they've changed policies. That was the 90s when they first implemented that.

So anyone can be a Mares or Apeks dealer without regards to minimum inventory? If you are an independent instructor teaching 5 students a month. You can still advertise yourself as an Apeks dealer? I was under the impression that a lot of manufacturers including scubapro want to know if you are a full time brick and mortar store with compressor and airfills etc before they let you display their stuff. Has that changed now?
 
So anyone can be a Mares or Apeks dealer without regards to minimum inventory? If you are an independent instructor teaching 5 students a month. You can still advertise yourself as an Apeks dealer? I was under the impression that a lot of manufacturers including scubapro want to know if you are a full time brick and mortar store with compressor and airfills etc before they let you display their stuff. Has that changed now?

Apeks is distributed by Aqualung in the USA. Aqualung requires you to be a brick & mortar shop. Mares, I'm not sure. But the Scubapro brand myopic rule I think died.

Thanks a ton for the replies all! I'm coming from the angle of me being the sales/manufacturer's rep as I've been in sales my entire career. I'd like to get into the industry some way and sales was something I was pondering. I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and didn't want to have to move to be in the corporate office of the manufacturer so I thought if they had territory sales reps, that might be a fit.

I didn't know how these companies sell their gear and I appreciate the information you have given me...helps a lot!

They usually only have one rep for a 200-300 mile territory. Sometimes a larger radius. They tend to hire new reps from existing dealers that are already familiar with the product line.
 
I didn't know how these companies sell their gear and I appreciate the information you have given me...helps a lot!
I know the aqualung rep for New Mexico is a contractor, not an employee. I've met the Huish Outdoors rep, but I'm not sure how he works. No idea beyond that.
 
I'm pretty sure Scubapro still has their radius dealership rules, along with MAP pricing requirements, minimum sales requirements, and tier pricing schedule on overall aggregate sales on their entire line (the more you sell the better discounts you get). This makes it so shops only want to sell their stuff and phase out other lines to minimize brand competition.
When I was an Oxycheq dealer along with Trident, I just called them up ordered what I needed and gave them a credit card. Oxycheq had a $1800 min order and Trident didn't as I remember. At first Trident didn't want to sell to me, but I convinced them I was a manufacturer and needed their components to assemble my product so they sold to me any quantity. None of them let any merchandise leave their facility without full payment.
When Scubatoys was ordering plates from me everything went along fine on their first order. Then they started wanting credit and the answer was no, so that was the end of that. Nobody in the industry that I know of (unless they maybe have an established relationship) let's anything get out door unpaid.

I'm eventually going to try and get the plate system into dive shops somehow (Brick and Mortar), but that's has proved to be a very tough nut to crack. Online sales is great but limited to only people who go online. There is a whole other world of walk-in's that I'm not reaching right now.
Eventually I will be looking for a rep simply because there is no way I can do that type of boots on ground marketing and try and keep the manufacturing going too. What it really takes is to have someone walk in and physically show off the product since very few dive shops actually go to DEMA anymore. Plus most small upstarts can't justify the costs of showing at DEMA.
 
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