tuflite shortboards

[joeblow]

I pick up mine tomorrow. $799 or thereabouts.

let us know how it goes

[buzzy]

Ok, finally I've been able to take the Doc Lausch out for a surf (I've been sick the past few weeks). Test waves were at north steyne this am. It required a bit of adjustment after the McCoy nugget that I've been surfing lately. It was just that extra bit reactive. Which, while I'm also still trying to find the best place to stand on the board, was disconcerting. First few waves were 4'-5'ish but fat and lacking power. The board frankly sucked in those kind of waves compared to the nugget. However, later in the session I started surfing some smaller but more powerful waves and the board ripped. It was very reactive and held a line well.

[stuey]

For $800 bucks it would wanna be better than that! strewth, I never pay over 500 for a board. Usually 450. Thats almost two boards for one, each for different conditions. No bloody contest. You must have money running down between yar legs matey!

[Lard Lad]

1234

[stuey]

Good on ya Lardy!
Don't give money away to dem fellas when ya can look after yar own.

[joeblow]

For $800 bucks it would wanna be better than that! strewth, I never pay over 500 for a board. Usually 450. Thats almost two boards for one, each for different conditions. No bloody contest. You must have money running down between yar legs matey!

I read recently in some surfing mag that the stores tend to put between $250 to $300 markup on a tuflite whereas only about $100 on a normal board. I wonder if thats so they don't piss off their regular brands or if they just figure they look like they should be worth more so people will pay it?

BTW Dick Smith would be proud of you stuey & co. I hope you don't eat vegemite.

[stuey]

Its all jizm. If ya know anythin about wholesalin, ya'II know dat dee shops buy the damn product for half o what they sell it for. And so on it goes down the line. I used ta get me oakleys that way. I used ta pay 25 bucks from the guy that brought em in ta oz. In Dec I was at a shop in Melb, some nincompoop chick sales assistanr asks me what Im lookin for, I say wetties and she gives me the shop catalogue by mistake. I nearly laughed when I saw the prices the shop paid to the distributor. Yes half the retail price. Come in sucker!

[tiger]

Yeah Stu the mark-up in shops is 100%, except for surfboards. W/sale on boards is generally between $400-$500. The shops usually whack on $100-$200 margin. They make jacksh1t out of boards, all their money is in the 100% markup stuff, from a block of wax right thru to a wettie. There are some stores that actually buy boards w/sale and sell them retail at the same price. They have brand new boards on the rack for $395! They are prepared to actually lose money on a sale just to appear like a real surfshop and not the franchise surf boutique they really are. Why they do this I have no idea. I suspect they think they are taking money away from their competitors. The people they are hurting are the local shapers and original hardcore surfshops. Their actual competitors (the other shopping centre located surf boutique franchises) don't feel a thing, the consumers still march out of there bags loaded with surf gear thats got the 100% mark. Selling 3 t-shirts makes them more money than selling a surfboard (and takes up a lot less floorspace). I actually think regular surf boards should retail for around $650 and wish retailers would put 100% markup on their w/sale price. I could waffle on for ages about this subject, but i guess what I'm trying to say is support your local shaper and your local struggling surfshop, you know the one with the guy behind the counterwho actually surfs and knows his stuff. Not the one with the oonce-oonce music and the sneering adolescent shop assistants.

[buzzy]

Would I spend $800 on a conventional board? No. They deteriorate too quickly. But an extra $100-$150 is easily justified to me if the board lasts a year or two longer, and that's what tufflite may provide. We'll see.

I personally don't buy into the "support your local shaper" stuff. I haven't been part of a "scene" for years and years. I don't know shapers anymore. I have bought McCoys and they cost the same as Tufflites.

[stuey]

Well Tige, I only buy me boards direct from the shaper. I never buy them from those surf-shop supermarkets. And, in fact, I rarely go into dem places 'cos it all feels so fake. Even the people who work in dem joints seem ridiculous. They have attitudes like they are surf heroes or sumptin. Oh another thin tige, notice how everyones out surfin 'cept u and me. Post away comrade, post away! ahhahahh

[joeblow]

An interesting business model might be to try to emulate the amazon (or dell) model for surfboards. I.e. no real shop, just an online store for surfboards with a lowish margin (eg $50), no real inventory, just place the orders with the surfboard manufacturers.. i.e. cater to people who want standard issue boards at a good price. Probably work best with the evil big brands like al merrick & the tuflites would probably do well at that price.

You could even play the doof doof music if that appealed to the mindless mob. [Have to say I'm rather partial to the odd bit of doof doof]

Who knows maybe that's a way for realsurf to make some money :?

BTW buzzy I'm with you. I just bought an off the rack al merrick and it rips. Its absolutely transforming my surfing. If I was to go to a local shaper then not only would he need to be as good as merrick but I would need to be able to tell him what I want changed. And I have no idea. So unless I get to that stage then theres no real point for me to go custom.

Also there is little point trying to resist change. Change may not always be to your liking but you're not going to stop it none the less. If the mob likes the production line pop out boards that they buy in the surf supermarkets with the doof doof and the wankers behind the counter then thats what they'll get. We may mourn the local surf shops (like you may have mourned the corner stores when the supermarkets hammered them years ago) but you won't stop it.

And for what its worth I do think we are at the start of a new era in surfboards. I think the surftechs of this world are about to transform the industry.

BTW I am only posting now cause I am having a rest between surfs. Sorry to rub it in stuey

[admin]

Who knows maybe that's a way for realsurf to make some money

Guess what? We thought of that idea a long time ago and when we finally got the shop online, we started doing it.

What we've done is approach a number of shapers and put a simple proposition to them. We tell them we'll run their boards in our shop and take deposits only. When the deposit is paid to us, we pass the buyer's details along to the shaper so that the two of them can sort out all the other matters arising. This means we don't have to mess around with inventory, fulfillment, etc.

When the buyer gets their board, the shaper notifies us and we remit the deposit less the agreed commission. Not rocket science.

When we're setting up the deal, we always start out by asking the shaper to tell us the price they'll offer the board at and how much commission they'll give the site for the sale. We don't set these numbers. The only stipulation we make, and it's more a request than a condition, is that they offer boards at a price that most people would generally regard as reasonable. By this, I mean the kind of price that you'd get if a shop knocked a little off 'just for you'. I don't mean a team rider price!

So, anyway, you might think that since we're not setting any price constraints, not injecting ourselves between shaper and buyer, and not charging anything to put the product in our online shop where potentially thousands of surfers might see it... well, you might think they'd be interested.

But only today I had a knock back from one of the big long board brands who thought it all sounded interesting (ie no risk, set your own price, only pay for actual sale), but who reckoned their channel wouldn't like it. Go figure.

If any of you would like to recommend shapers who you think I should contact with this offer, just email the names and numbers and I'll call 'em.

FWIW I think Haydenshapes and Gecko (have sold between them something like 20 boards to RealSurfers). The site has earned around 7% on each sale. I'm happy with that number because it means (I hope) that the RealSurf buyer is getting a better than average price, the shaper's getting enough to stay in business, and with any luck the site's income will build as the volume increases.

[Al]

These boards are made somewhere in asia using low cost labour working under dodgy health and safety regulations (much like nike and their shoes) and then they have the gall to whack on $150. When you go to the shop ask them.

Stick with Australian gear!

[buzzy]

Stuey, got my surf in this moring. Sorry mate. If it makes you feel better I can tell you every bottom turn on every good wave I got I stopped dead in kelp/seaweed. Still, good to be out there (on my conventionally made, Australian shaped and glassed nugget) .

[joeblow]

What we've done is approach a number of shapers and put a simple proposition to them. We tell them we'll run their boards in our shop and take deposits only. When the deposit is paid to us, we pass the buyer's details along to the shaper so that the two of them can sort out all the other matters arising. This means we don't have to mess around with inventory, fulfillment, etc.

When the buyer gets their board, the shaper notifies us and we remit the deposit less the agreed commission. Not rocket science.

When we're setting up the deal, we always start out by asking the shaper to tell us the price they'll offer the board at and how much commission they'll give the site for the sale. We don't set these numbers. The only stipulation we make, and it's more a request than a condition, is that they offer boards at a price that most people would generally regard as reasonable. By this, I mean the kind of price that you'd get if a shop knocked a little off 'just for you'. I don't mean a team rider price!

Your approach makes sense although IMHO for it to really take off I reckon you would need the big brands at wholesale + a little bit. i.e. what amazon did with books.
If its true that the markup on tuflites is really as much as $300 then I reckon some al merricks, byrnes etc tuflites with a $50 (or less) markup would surely do well. If you did that I can almost guarantee that I would get my next board through you (in a few years - just got my new one a month ago).
Of course getting the big guys on board might be challenging but I'll leave those litte details to you

So, anyway, you might think that since we're not setting any price constraints, not injecting ourselves between shaper and buyer, and not charging anything to put the product in our online shop where potentially thousands of surfers might see it... well, you might think they'd be interested.

But only today I had a knock back from one of the big long board brands who thought it all sounded interesting (ie no risk, set your own price, only pay for actual sale), but who reckoned their channel wouldn't like it. Go figure.

Yeah I can imagine that is your biggest hurdle. At the end of the day they are driven by their bottom line (& fear there of). Maybe if your volumes start to grow then they may be more inclined to risk upsetting their existing channels.

The surfboard industry is not unique. Surely amazon faced a similar hurdle when they started out. Can't imagine too many publishers these days that would be scared to put their books on amazon for fear of upsetting the real bookstores. But I can imagine real fear of not being listed on amazon.

[stuey]

Cobberz, a little bit o spank popped up this arv. Shoulder ta head gutless onshore peaks and cold, but awww it almost felt goooood. Get stuffed ya bastards. How many freakin good waves have yaz had. I see no one even seems to remember the weeks of flatness that preceeded the swell yaz just had!

[_cant_touch_this]

that swell erased any memories of the flat spell....it also erased any emerging signs of insanity...