What do you think the gear a shop carries says about them ?

[oreocookie]

I would give them a shot. I have no experience with scubamax, but my thought is if the big-ticket gear items they sell aren't on your shopping list, maybe they've got some of the smaller ones where brand is totally irrelevant that you do want/need. I'd give them a chance to get established and get their foot in the door with the larger brands before writing them off, however given some time if they don't start stocking other brands, I might think twice.

The brands that a shop chooses to stock CAN say something about the shop, though, in this case I don't think it does. A shop near me recently became a national distributor for a brand that is almost unheard of in north america and dropped a few of the more recognized brands at the same time. They heavily promote that brand and walking into their shop is like walking into a showroom for that brand, though they do sell some Aqualung stuff still. To me, this doesn't encourage customer loyalty, it says "we'll take your money" because if you buy it, even if the customer service sucks, you have to go back because you can't go anywhere else to get your gear serviced.

 

[landonnin1]

Thank you to everyone for your replies

dgreenh "You say low end, I say realistically priced and cost effective. A status symbol brand? Not at all, but I won't pay extra for status. I loathe the term "Top of the Line"
I like the way you look at it sorry I said low end, you are right it is better to say realistically priced and cost effective. Thank you

Matt

 

[mathauck0814]

Thank you to everyone for your replies

dgreenh "You say low end, I say realistically priced and cost effective. A status symbol brand? Not at all, but I won't pay extra for status. I loathe the term "Top of the Line"
I like the way you look at it sorry I said low end, you are right it is better to say realistically priced and cost effective. Thank you

Matt

Just remember that high end and high price don't correlate. Scubapro, Aqualung and Halcyon are far and away the most expensive gear out there. I've yet to do a dive where I required their gear.

 

[Thalassamania]

I know nothing about Scubamax gear, but I do know what the presence of ScubaPro or Aqualung gear says about how the shop operates and what it's pricing plan is. I'd patronize the Scubamax shop myself, and the things that I wanted, that they did not carry, I would discuss with them and buy on-line if need be.

 

[fjpatrum]

Brand is irrelevant to me. Customer service is the magic that gets my business, regardless of what brands a shop sells or doesn't sell.

As for "low end" I don't happen to believe there really is such a thing in modern scuba equipment. The "improvements" being made in scuba gear these days have very little to do with performance and everything to do with brand dominance. I'd buy scubamax in a heartbeat, personally.

So far I own, Scubapro, AMF/Voit (mares), Dacor, and Oceanic as regs. They all get air to me when I need it and there's not a significant difference in performance. A BC is a BC and all the manufacturers use basically the same materials and processes for building them. The only real differences are "bells and whistles" and weight and you can generally find a full range of those from any given manufacturer.

 

[Easdem]

A lot. So far as I can tell shops stock gear so they can sell it to people in their classes. If they're teaching run of the mill, bottom of the rung classes, the gear they sell tends to match. The opposite seems to also be true.

I disagree. Just because a shop stocks a "lesser" brand does not equate bad instruction or bottom rung classes.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[DevonDiver]

What would you think of a Shop that has just opened if the only gear they had in stock to start with was...

I'd think that it was a shop that just opened....

It takes time to build customer base and develop sales. Most manufacturers only sell trade/dealer in relatively high volume. Any astute businessperson/dive shop owner isn't going to invest a fortune on bulk orders of perishable/depreciating dive gear until they've established sufficient customer base to merit that investment.

 

[oly5050user]

For soft goods(mask/fins/snkls/etc), a line such as ScubaMax may be ok as it would be less expensive for a new facility with limited capital to create stock to have in inventory. Very often it for soft gear it all can come from the same OEM factory as the big name manufacturers. For "hard goods" such as bcds/regulators/computers it could be a mistake as there is little name recognition and customer confidence.
Other lines that a new facility can usually get into their shop is Cressi, Sherwood, and Oceanic for their "hard goods. "For exposure suits a new facility can usually get Henderson,Bare,Sea Soft. Not as tightly controlled as Scubapro and Aqualung lines. If i was opening a facility today I would start off with Oceanic and perhaps Sherwood before ScubaMax. Scuba max has a strong presence on the internet as an inexpensive gear line and many LDS may refuse to service it, so it may cause problems for a consumer down the road. It comes down to name recognition and the consumer may more likely trust a recognized name brand over unheard of one.
If a LDS owner is serious about his/her business and actually wants to make a marginal living at it would take a sizable investment to open a store. Look at a minimum of $175,000.-$200,000+ to create a sales floor in a rented space with all necessary store fixtures/insurance/inventory/compressor/and more. In an area like NYC you can easily double that number, more if you have an onsite pool in your facility.
Do it on the cheap and it will take a long time,if ever, to have a decent income to actually support yourself out of it.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Not everyone needs high-end equipment ... in fact, the majority of divers worldwide don't. Why pay extra for brand-name when you can get something for a fraction of the cost that serves your needs just as well?

Not too long ago I had a dive shop owner try to engage me in a conversation about how much better ScubaPro equipment was than the Hog equipment I was using. Not coincidentally, he's a ScubaPro dealer. I refused to discuss it with him ... it's nonsense.

All scuba equipment is reliable. Some performs better than others for specific types of diving, and therefore costs more. If you're not doing that type of diving, you don't really need to spend the extra money on those brands. If people choose to anyway, that's their business ... but to my concern, brands like ScubaMax and other so-called "low end" equipment serve the needs of the typical recreational diver just fine.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have a scubamax bc. Got it for my son. I use it in the pool now once in a while. I'd buy it again at the couple hundred dollars I paid for it before any scubapro or aqualung bc that costs two to four times as much. I'd say the owner is looking to give value and service at a good price and is someone I'd choose to do business with. Other brands want huge opening orders that put pressure on owners to try and oversell new divers. Considering that more and more non vacation only divers end up replacing their initial gear as they can afford to, it seems like a wise decision on this owners part. No need to spend two thousand dollars on entry level gear.

And btw that scubamax mask he may be selling for say $40-$50, is the same one an oceanic dealer is getting $80 for. Juzt with a different badge.