It is really this type of situation that allowed some of the internet dealers (like us) to grow. We had a policy since day one... never wait to order anything. If I'm a shop without a tank boot, and a customer wants one... then obviously, I need at least one to go and one to show.... so what da' heck. I call up and order 2, (or in our case now... 200) But even if I thought I would never need this item again, I'd order the one and get it shipped that day. Would I make a profit?? Probably not. My cost of shipping would probably match the margin I would get on the boot... so I would be selling it and make nothing... But, if that customer asks for his money back, and gets it somewhere else - I still make nothing - and I have a customer that may not come back to us in the future as we did not take care of him.
Tank boots normally are made by UK (underwater Kinetics) and are also distributed through 2 other distributors we deal with, and all three sources will sell and ship just one if I order it... And while I'm ordering the tank boot, maybe I pick up a few lights I'm out of, or a knife or two, or a wetsuit hanger... Or through the other distributors, they sell thousands of products - so perhaps some mouthpieces, a reg hose or two, whatever. You can always find a few products to add to a single order that you need so as to split the shipping cost among several products.
With our inventory, we normally have most all items in stock - but honestly, there are times when we might be missing something. If that is the case, we probably already have it on order, and if not, we order it. Then we email, and call the customer and give them the projected date from the manufacturer when it will arrive. We date that order with the arrival date, and if it does not arrive on that date, we get a status update from the manufacturer and again, pass that info to the customer.
Inventory control is very important - but good communication with customers is even more important.
So in my opinion, this is a case of someone too worried about making 5 bucks profit on a small item and not seeing the big picture of customer service.