I mean, the backyard shapers are struggling, and eveytime someone buys an Asian popout or whatever, its is hitting the custom backyardie right where it hurts. Still whatever floats your boat.
I understand that people (big business) want to make profits, but at what cost to the small guys?
Maybe in the end there will be no more custom board makers?
Welcome to the world 'ado'. It's called capitalism. The big guys are out to destroy the little guys, that is their job (as they see it), that's how it works. Once the backyard operators are run out of town the big guys can increase the price and drop the quality.
I can't see how surfboards are going to go any differently to every other manufactured product. Look at any manufactured product virtually. All furniture used to be hand crafted - now 99% mass produced. Mass produced doesn't mean shite quality, it just means that you have to look around to avoid getting caught with shite, and the uninformed will inevitably buy shite.
There are still people around who make furniture by hand, but Matt is right. The only way they can survive is to charge a lot more than for a mass manufactured piece. What do you get - an individual product that is never the same as someone else's. An original. So they will survive if they can convince enough punters to pay more for their specialised product.
And then there are others who will turn their hand to making their own just cause they love to do it, even if it costs them more in dollars and time.
By the way, I got my webber for under $600. If the price was $725 or more I would have got something else.
As for capitalism, I suspect (and hope) that its days are numbered. I just hope that what comes round after it is better, but I doubt it
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.