I think no matter what the business is the public is looking for service, to be greeted and treated in friendly fair way. The public are not stupid like some business people think, they know we have to turn a profit to keep the doors open but nobody wants to wants to pay good money for a product of any type and get loosey after sales service. More happy customers means a bigger piece of the pie for everyone.
Ontario Dive Industry
- Thread starter tcarr53
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squidguy
Contributor
"I saw the gear sale at COSCO and didn't trust them"
Well Sparky30 - the gear I saw at my local Costco (Mississauga Heartland) this summer was offered by Waterline Sport, a shop located in Toronto... on Avenue Road I believe....
Well Sparky30 - the gear I saw at my local Costco (Mississauga Heartland) this summer was offered by Waterline Sport, a shop located in Toronto... on Avenue Road I believe....
taz22
Contributor
I wouldn't say everyone!
Cliff at Limestone runs a decent op and he has had it up and running longer than northerntech under the current ownership.
sparky30
Contributor
The local costo was sponsored by an LDS as well.. However, there is nobody at COSCO to give advice.. I ended up getting some nice mid range gear that will last me a long time the first time around, instead of buying entry level gear that I would have outgrown already. That advice ended up saving me money in the long run.. Since I started diving last July I got a drysuit, some singles, doubles, TransPac II, and a nice mix of yoke and DIN Scubapro and Poseidon regs.. I'm pretty much all set, short of some extreme technical stuff..So from now on in I only need some minor updates.. Good thing I didn't buy at COSCO.. But they did get me started
Rooster1
Guest
Hey yKnot. you can checkout the 2 different links below for the lds around here
http://www.benthicscuba.com/
http://www.mmiscuba.com/
btw if you come over to shop your U.S dollar is worth at least $1.50 here
There are folks that come over from Michigan to the dive shops to cash in on the big $1.50 on the U.S dollar
Groundhog246
Contributor
I think all of them were "co-hosted" by an LDS. The US Divers stuff here was mid-range. I've been kicking myself for not grabbing another AL80. My LDS worked the one here and London and I think maybe one other. they were supposed to have someone on site all the time to advise, promote and check C-cards.sparky30 once bubbled...
The local costo was sponsored by an LDS as well.. However, there is nobody at COSCO to give advice.. I ended up getting some nice mid range gear that will last me a long time the first time around, instead of buying entry level gear that I would have outgrown already. That advice ended up saving me money in the long run.. Since I started diving last July I got a drysuit, some singles, doubles, TransPac II, and a nice mix of yoke and DIN Scubapro and Poseidon regs.. I'm pretty much all set, short of some extreme technical stuff..So from now on in I only need some minor updates.. Good thing I didn't buy at COSCO.. But they did get me started
ninja
Guest
Ditto on that!! Dan's dive shop in St. Catharines has been around since 1974. Selling everything including loads of tech gear since the early 90's. I was offered a hogarthian ring way back than ( wich is now DIR
)...My opinion on the ontario dive market is saturation!!! too many manufactures and too many guys that are divers and not business men thinking they will open up a dive shop to get rich!!
The only way people will obtain longevity is to offer value and above all service service service!!!! People will pay for a reasonably marked up product but you got to stand behind it! And not get too greedy
Fair trade pricing is the only way too properly sell most lines IMO.... Halcyon for example started this a hold their dealers to strict pricing regimen and it works..Len
Groundhog246
Contributor
Pricing regimens almost always mean higher prices for us, not lower or fair. In Canada it is illegal for the manufacturer to set prices. They can suggest a price, but any attempt to limit discounts and control the retail price is against the law. (They can limit the "advertised" prices, thus ads with prices that are too low to mention). The problem is enforcment, so it does indeed happen.
That doesn't mean I think all dive dtores are ripping us off. I don't think any of them could survive on a 10% or 20% markup on gear, as the volumes aren't there. Compare to the restaurant business, where the cost of the food is 20% to 30% of the selling price, having the dealers cost of the BC be 75% of the selling price doesn't seem too unreasonable. The problem is people stop seeing 25% markup and see $250 on a $1000 BC. Something like unions and their employers. They don't see 5% profit on $100 million in sales as a fair rate of return (which it isn;t from an owner/investment viewpoint), they see $5 million dollars and think the company made too much their members should get at least half of it.
I agree on the service service service. You should get value for your dollars (advice, fitting, try in the pool).
taz22
Contributor
I think the above quotes of yours are the most telling! Dive shops need to make a fair profit and the oe's that service customers the best are the one's that will do the best.
We need our local LDS's to get air, suggestions and to advise us on dive locations etc.
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