Sea Lions Dive Center and the Internet
Most Dive Shop owners and employees – including those of us at Sea Lions Dive Center - get very defensive when the subject of buying dive gear on the Internet comes up. We work hard to offer products and services to our customer at prices that are fair and keep us in business. Many Internet sites skim the cream. They sell you the high priced high margin dive gear at a discount but do not offer the meat and potatoes services that are less profitable and raise our overhead such as courses, air fills, tank inspections and service.
At Sea Lions Dive Center we strive to be not just a dive shop but a center for diving activity in the western suburbs of Chicago. In additions to selling dive gear we offer classes, equipment service, visual inspections and hydro testing of SCUBA tanks, dive opportunities (see our blog and main website.)
We also strive to offer accurate advice on the sport of diving, dive gear, and local and not so local dive sites. On our blog you will see links to many articles we have written to help you select the best gear for your level of experience and for the diving you will be doing.
In our show room we have a large screen TV where we show videos on diving. Anyone interested in diving is welcome to come in a look through our collection. We also welcome donations of videos from new sites.
We understand that today everyone has a computer. It is easy to go on line and find multiple prices for dive gear and sometimes what appear to be very cheap prices. Some are good prices and some are…. well rip offs. In the last few weeks we had a customer who bought a “new in the box” dive gear off the Internet and came in to our store to try and buy the “broken in the box” parts. We also had a customer bring in a regulator that “blew up” – his words- the first time he used it. We also understand many people have bought gear on the web and it has worked out fine.
The Internet is a wonderful/terrible Place to Buy Dive Gear
It is good for doing research on dive gear and even for purchasing some items. You can in a very short period of time research products and get prices on those products. But what you cannot do is look the sales person in the eye and know that if something goes wrong you can come back to the store with it.
We use the Internet as well to research the prices on our products and we have found on comparable items we are competitive. The key is comparable items.
Buy Dive Gear on the Intenet
We value you as a customer and as friends. If you find an item on the Internet and think it is such a good price that you cannot pass it up we ask that you do two things 1. talk to us and let us show you why it may not be such a good buy and 2. if it is a good buy, we cannot match it and you still want to support our local diving efforts please use the links on this site to purchase the gear. If you purchase through our site we get a small commission that will help us keep the doors open offering the services you cannot get on the internet and being the center of diving activity in the area.
Dive Gear - helping student divers and experienced recreational divers make informed dive gear selections.
This site is operated in cooperation with Sea Lions Dive Center a PADI Five Star training facility located in Hanover Park , IL. by Tom Robinson a PADI Open Water Instructor and passionate diver. The site was established to help student divers and recreational divers select gear and make the best decision not just the cheapest. If you have a gear question or if you have a comment or suggestion please email me below and I will respond as quickly as possible. Have a good time and dive safely.
Please visit our Sea Lions Dive Center Blog for the latest news from Sea Lions Dive Center and diving in the Midwest and beyond.
