Cost diff between in person and online

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I did notice that some shops were very specific about logging them as your destination. This place said to mark them in the list but if I missed it it's not a big deal.
I am definitely not trying to beat up the shop on the price. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here and that I am signing up for the right class. $50 either way no biggie but $150 anyone would pause.
Yeah, that is a tightrope for a shop to walk - how hard do I work to get the student to do the right thing by me and be sure to send the revenue share my way? And how much if anything am I willing to "penalize" them if they don't do as requested or signed up before they ever contacted me, thus risking the ill feeling and possible loss of a customer? There is no 100% right answer.
 
I wrote PADI and this what I got. Sounds like he think I meant open water.

thanks for your email. The price is different since the course materials given at the store do not include all videos and assessments, which will be covered with a PADI instructor during your classroom sessions.

The eLearning purchased directly via padi.com instead covers ALL theory components, which means that you don't have to do them locally at the dive centre, reducing your course time to only the in-water portion of the course. That will allow you to save over 10 hours (depending on the local store's logistics) of classroom sessions.
 
I wrote PADI and this what I got. Sounds like he think I meant open water.

thanks for your email. The price is different since the course materials given at the store do not include all videos and assessments, which will be covered with a PADI instructor during your classroom sessions.

The eLearning purchased directly via padi.com instead covers ALL theory components, which means that you don't have to do them locally at the dive centre, reducing your course time to only the in-water portion of the course. That will allow you to save over 10 hours (depending on the local store's logistics) of classroom sessions.

Maybe in theory. As someone above stated, its up to the shop and the instructor. I took an on-line Nitrox course. I then had to sit through a 'review' of the material which was just as long as the course and just as expensive. I basically paid twice. I will never take another PADI course on line.
 
Maybe in theory. As someone above stated, its up to the shop and the instructor. I took an on-line Nitrox course. I then had to sit through a 'review' of the material which was just as long as the course and just as expensive. I basically paid twice. I will never take another PADI course on line.
I would suggest he talks to the shop before you enroll in the PADI online class to get a quote on the price and clarification about whether they will do the theory again.
 
Maybe in theory. As someone above stated, its up to the shop and the instructor. I took an on-line Nitrox course. I then had to sit through a 'review' of the material which was just as long as the course and just as expensive. I basically paid twice. I will never take another PADI course on line.
Your issue is with the shop, not with PADI. Of course, there will be some others on this forum that applaud them for spending so much added time going into detail making sure you are well grounded in the material. Of course I am making assumptions on how much time you actually spent - "just as long as" doesn't tell me if you spent 1 hour, 4 hours, or something else.

I tell my eLearning EAN students to plan to spend an hour with me at the shop after they have completed it. We do the 10 question eLearning Quick Review, we discuss any questions about the course content, and I use a "show and tell" to go over some basics about EAN markings, O2 clean versus not O2 clean, VIP labels, various types of stickers and logs, use of their personal dive computer for EAN, and then do the two tank analyses. Before eLearning included the c-card in the course cost I would just collect enough to pay for the card. Now that it is included, I am happy to simply book the eLearning revenue share as compensation for the hour of my time.

Assuming it was several hours you spent in the classroom, this might be an instance of a long-time shop with a well established way of doing their thing treating eLearning as just a replacement option for the book purchase. Rather than embracing the flexibility and options allowed by eLearning, they may be resisting the convenience and making as few accommodations as possible for the technology. A similar way to describe it is that they may routinely schedule multi-student classes using traditional classroom, and just insert an infrequent eLearning student into that same class rather then tailoring an additional version solely for eLearning.

I think the most important take-away from this and similar threads, is NOT to start by purchasing the eLearning course and then look for a shop. Contact the shop first to understand their options and the way they handle eLearning, and depending on the answers decide if you need to do a little comparison.

Again, PADI shops and instructors are independent entities, not franchisees reporting to a corporate parent. Look to the front line provider with your pricing questions, not to PADI.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I guess I just don't get the $145 price diff for the same thing. Seems odd. If anything online should be cheaper. It probably comes down to the cost split. The school prob pays $35 for the book. Seems like PADI is up charging the online.

I am torn. I would prefer to be done ahead of time and spend more time at the beach but that is a decent amount of $. I have to decide by tomorrow.

Doug, there has been a LOT of confusion, driven by misconception, since PADI introduced their "online" learning years ago. Most people assume online should be cheaper. But the PADI situation is different.

Traditional class: the dive op buys class materials, typically the textbook, from PADI and resells it to the student for a small markup. For the AOW class, the book costs the shop $30 to $40 from PADI. Most shops include the cost of the book with their price for the class. But the AOW class is mostly about diving, so the cost of the class is typically driven by the cost of the shop taking you diving... which could mean several boat trips.

Online class: PADI's online learning takes the place of the book and the time the instructor spends with you reviewing the material in the book, which for the AOW class is relatively minimal. PADI doesn't subscribe to the idea of "online should be cheaper"... their philosophy is "online offers students a very valuable service and is much more convenient for the students", and so PADI charges a premium (in your case $183) for this service.

This is why the PADI online seems so expensive... PADI figures they can charge that and people will pay it anyway. And it also explains why the cost from the shop is pretty much the same for both versions of the class: most of the work the shop will do for you is in the diving, i.e. the several boat trips and instructor time, which is the same for both versions of the class.

Hope this helps...
 
I don’t get how you come to $145 difference: I already posted it but let me repeat again in case it was missed due to the other replies.

I believe that the first price includes the practical dives and the last one does not. So there is no difference as you’d pay probably $145 for two days of practical dives ...

What the OP is saying is accurate:

Version 1: pay the shop $380 for all dives and the book; do traditional classroom with instructor

Version 2: pay the shop $345 for all dives; pay PADI $183 for the online learning (which replaces the book and traditional classroom.)

So the OP is wondering "if the classroom portion is worth $183, why is the Version 2 price for the dives still $345??" And the answer is "because the classroom portion is NOT worth $183.

In both cases, the work by the dive shop is worth $345. At that point there are two options:

Version 1: pay additional $35 for traditional classroom (i.e. book and instructor...)

Version 2: pay $183 to PADI for their "premium, you are so lucky to have this opportunity" online learning

Because so many people start with the assumption that "online must be cheaper", they miss the fact that PADI is charging a huge premium for use of the online learning. And of course the local dive shop gets the blame for the pricing.

Disclaimer: as a PADI instructor I have no problem with people choosing online or traditional. I do have a problem, however, with the lack of transparency in pricing for which local dive shops are unjustifiably blamed by uninformed consumers. And, naturally, PADI has a vested interest in keeping the consumers uninformed.
 
Your issue is with the shop, not with PADI. Of course, there will be some others on this forum that applaud them for spending so much added time going into detail making sure you are well grounded in the material. Of course I am making assumptions on how much time you actually spent - "just as long as" doesn't tell me if you spent 1 hour, 4 hours, or something else.

I tell my eLearning EAN students to plan to spend an hour with me at the shop after they have completed it. We do the 10 question eLearning Quick Review, we discuss any questions about the course content, and I use a "show and tell" to go over some basics about EAN markings, O2 clean versus not O2 clean, VIP labels, various types of stickers and logs, use of their personal dive computer for EAN, and then do the two tank analyses. Before eLearning included the c-card in the course cost I would just collect enough to pay for the card. Now that it is included, I am happy to simply book the eLearning revenue share as compensation for the hour of my time.

Assuming it was several hours you spent in the classroom, this might be an instance of a long-time shop with a well established way of doing their thing treating eLearning as just a replacement option for the book purchase. Rather than embracing the flexibility and options allowed by eLearning, they may be resisting the convenience and making as few accommodations as possible for the technology. A similar way to describe it is that they may routinely schedule multi-student classes using traditional classroom, and just insert an infrequent eLearning student into that same class rather then tailoring an additional version solely for eLearning.

I think the most important take-away from this and similar threads, is NOT to start by purchasing the eLearning course and then look for a shop. Contact the shop first to understand their options and the way they handle eLearning, and depending on the answers decide if you need to do a little comparison.

Again, PADI shops and instructors are independent entities, not franchisees reporting to a corporate parent. Look to the front line provider with your pricing questions, not to PADI.

You pretty much nailed my thinking on it as well. Unfortunately, PADI is the name people remember. They are also the ones that are offering the elearning. If they want it to work they really should deal with shops that over charge.
 
You pretty much nailed my thinking on it as well. Unfortunately, PADI is the name people remember. They are also the ones that are offering the elearning. If they want it to work they really should deal with shops that over charge.

For an AOW class, $345 for eLearning vs $380 for traditional is not an "overcharge". The AOW course is almost all diving, and diving is costly... especially if it involves three boat trips (as an AOW course with only boat diving would require.)

New divers come to Scubaboard for advice, and that advice can often leave a long lasting (and sometimes erroneous) impression of the industry. See my posts above for a more detailed explanation. It's not the shop that is overcharging in the OP's original question.
 
Disclaimer: as a PADI instructor I have no problem with people choosing online or traditional. I do have a problem, however, with the lack of transparency in pricing for which local dive shops are unjustifiably blamed by uninformed consumers. And, naturally, PADI has a vested interest in keeping the consumers uninformed.
Out of curiosity, as an instructor that gets students that have done the online learning, how much time do you end up spending reviewing material with them to make sure they learned everything they needed to from the online learning?
 
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