LeisurePro purchase

[Oxy]

Was just in my closest LDS (i think i'm gonna love all these acronyms) 4 blocks away, to get a visual on equipment. (can't do that online) The owner wants to work with me BUT. His last customer had to send an item back to LP who found out they could NOT fix it and had to return it to the manufacturer for repair and would not replace it. Poor guy is gonna be as dry as me on memorial day. So, what I cannot buy from my LDS I buy at my own risk. The LDS charges more (has to, to stay in business) online is cheaper to get but the support is well risky. I want to save money but I don't need any of this crap if I can't get service or air.

 

[shoturtle]

Was just in my closest LDS (i think i'm gonna love all these acronyms) 4 blocks away, to get a visual on equipment. (can't do that online) The owner wants to work with me BUT. His last customer had to send an item back to LP who found out they could NOT fix it and had to return it to the manufacturer for repair and would not replace it. Poor guy is gonna be as dry as me on memorial day. So, what I cannot buy from my LDS I buy at my own risk. The LDS charges more (has to, to stay in business) online is cheaper to get but the support is well risky. I want to save money but I don't need any of this crap if I can't get service or air.

Is this hearsay or fact, just curious.

 

[Rhone Man]

It is kind of interesting to look at the theme of these discussions (buying gear from LDS or online - not the first time this has come up in the very short time I have been on this board); the gist of many LDS complaints being that they certify divers and fill tanks essentially as a loss leader, and rely upon making money from gear sales. That particular model is badly undercut by online gear sales.

I suspect what they would say in Harvard Business School is that LDSs should try and change their business model. But I suspect that LDSs would say that it is nigh on impossible to do that, because if you stop running services as a loss leader, everyone else will continue to do so and you will be bankrupt before you know it.

I suspect people a great deal smarter than me have tried to work have tried to work out successful business models for a LDS, but it is an interesting conundrum. In this part of the world dive stores are at least solvent for the most part (if not exactly wealthy), but they do very little in the way of gear sales, take refills of even training - they make almost all of their money leading dive tours. But I suspect that is a business model which doesn't really work in, say, New England.

 

[BlueFrog]

Too many people on this site blame the LDS or even LP in the grey market discussion but the real bad guy in this fight is the equipment manufacturer. The LDS owner gets told, by Aqualung, if you want to sell AL products, here is the minumum you have to spend with us each year to keep the line and here is the minimum you have to sell it for. This price is already over the LP price before you add in a profit for the shop. Then Aqualung tells you that you are not allowed to sell online so you can only sell to local customers and if you don't like it, it doesn't matter because they'll just sell it through your local competition. After all of that, they turn a blind eye to LP and what they do so they can get a bigger payday on the back-end. So, in fact its AL, Scubapro and the rest who screw the LDS over. It's the manufacturer's business model that is outdated and works against the little guy trying to run a shop but they don't care, they get their money.

The LDS owner has a right to be angry because their only choice is to do the right thing and not deal with AL, Scubapro and watch their customers go across town and buy from his competition. LP is just a business and trying to serve their customers and make a profit.

 

[ReefHound]

The LDS has a reason to be angry with the manufacturer but not the customer. His recourse is to drop onerous brands like SP/AL and carry more customer friendly brands. That's what Scubatoys did and it hasn't slowed them down a bit.

 

[Oxy]

Buying online is for rich easy to please people with patients to wait for shipping, handling, and unforeseen delays. Able to repack unfitting items and return them for another size wait for another attempt to try one on.

Me i always seem to get the wrong color, size, style, or worse yet, "sorry we are out" but it's on back order.

So what size suit should I order? and boots, and gloves, and bc (i've never had one on).
this one manufacturer has 12 sizes listed and shouldn't I wait for the wetsuit to come in before I try on bc's to make sure it fits over the suit? if the suit fits.
I dont want a (johnny cash - one piece at a time) diving setup when im 90
no mater how much I save.

when I was a kid my mother bought mail order shoes for my brother and I. While my brother grew into his shoes I grew out of mine over night (wore them once) and could NOT return them.

Because people are too willing to buy GRAY MARKET, Brick and Mortar shops have to inflate prices to stay in business.
It is NOT the manufacturers fault the gray market exists.

 

[ReefHound]

What a load of crap, too much to even respond to.

 

[shoturtle]

What a load of crap, too much to even respond to.

I agree, that was one of the silliest thread I have ever read against LP and online. but 2X

 

[Oxy]

Try getting your air online!

 

[shoturtle]

Try getting your air online!

Here we go again