Do any of you have experience selling custom-made boards? I am a college student and have been making boards for myself and my Surfrider Club at the school and hope to venture out to sell them custom per order as a side hustle. I’m from South Jersey and surf at Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks during my time at school and know a few guys who own shops in those locations, but am unsure of how to go about making the first step.
Shops are so tight right now that they will seldom buy boards outright. Your best bet is to run them by one or two shop owners/managers and see if they will consign one or two of your boards. There are glitches in doing consignment. But either you sell the board or you don’t. Demand is what it is about. Take a few pictures of the boards. Put a time limit on how long you will consign a board. 30–90 days. Have a written agreement. Consignment boards if not sold often come back to you in less than perfect shape. Shop dings from customers handling and reracking the boards etc. Better not to provide any fins with your boards and let the shop sell the customer a set of fins. If you provide a set of stock fins for a shortboard, those fins will wind up being sold by the shop or installed on another shapers board. Pitfalls my friend.
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Thanks for the advice!
Hey dude!
Nick from AkuShaper here. Stoked you are considering venturing out selling your own boards. Who are you linked up with down in VB? Do you know where you will be selling your boards primarily? Up in Jersey? I can link you up with some guys. We also have some new tools through AkuShaper if you are considering setting up a website. Shoot me an email sometime and we can have a deeper chat about all of this. Nick@akushaper.com.
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Thanks, just shot you an email!
I guess that was me 45 years ago… So much has changed , but one thing remains the same… Your chances of getting rich making surfboards is slim… The current surviving business model, Shop out the front factory out the back… To make enough from selling to shops, at the going wholesale price, ( thats even if they take a few on consignment ?) you need to be making 25 to 40 boards a week, meaning staff and dramas… If you sell 3 really good quality boards a week, made start to finish by yourself, in a cheap space, you will make enough to get by, with way less stress… try that for a few years and see where it goes… Keep overheads as low as possible…
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Thanks for the advice. I’ve been building boards with the money out of my pocket for some time now, and I am more interested in selling custom boards so I can keep making boards without going broke. I’m in college (and currently work, so the money isn’t the driving factor), and in 2 years will have a crazy full-time job, so for now, I just want to have fun with it and share some of my boards with customers. If I happen to make some money, great, but I’m more focused now on having fun, learning, and getting my name out there because that is how I know I will be able to make the best boards.
The owner of Island Trader Surf Shop in Stuart Florida has a place in Seaside Park, New Jersey. He’s a great guy. Perhaps you could contact him and see if it might be possible to consign a board or two with him. I think he transports boards back and forth between the to places. Island Trader Surf Shop – Stuart FL New & Used Surfboards, SUPs & Gear
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Great, thank you.
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I have two view points.
My first is the positive, optomistic, morivational one.
- Go for it! Don’t give up! Everyone, including those who had menttor shaper Dad’s…Merrick, Rusty… Everyone, Lovelace, Matt Parker, ryan Burch, Josh Hall and many others…all started from scratch, square one. And they probably have more successfull businesses than other shapers with more experience and equal or better craftsmanship. So, in a positive , optomistic light, “there is plenty of room at the top”.
- It an uphill climb, not for the faint of heart.
You walk into any surfshop, and you will see Pizel, Lost, CI, a bucnck of white grey specked boards, white boards with black rails, Dark Arts here and there…why, xause that is what sells…
In a way, its almost as if there are surfboard manufacturing oligarcs. But i i wouldnt go that far. Watch a surfboard teview video…its rare to hear any nehative feed back, cause everyone is trying to grow there yourube channel.
Come on, even great shapers create models not worrhy of a trophy, even in an "everyone gets a yrophy world.
I am a par level surfer, but I can see when a guy teviewing a surfboard is struggling with it, cause also see when they are ripping on other models.
The big pharma surfboards have the edge, they don’t want the small guy to encroach on their business.
Having said that…I still say, go foe it! You may be the next Ryan Burch!
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To make a business with custom boards you need customers that order you boards. Have orders is the key, then be able to make them right at right price is the problem.
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Steve2, I completely agree with what you said. Instead of jumping straight into custom boards, I reached out to shops to see if they would do consignment, and it was tough; however, I got lucky enough, and a shop is giving me a great opportunity. I’m making 2 boards to bring over there now. I attached a picture of the one board so far. The fin boxes were set and are drying as I’m typing this, hope to glass it later today and finish up by the weekend!
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Congrats!
Looks like a nice board.
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Fantastic looking board, well done. I’m a 70’s kid and a sucker for chequers though!
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Thanks! It’s my take on a retro shortboard so I thought it was only fitting. Will be one of 2 of the first boards I’m putting up for consignment in a local shop!
I hope they sell for you and help you get some traction. Anything Retro here (NZ) is pretty popular so you could be on to a winner!
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Its a fine hobby but if you want to make money its a numbers game. When I looked into trying to make a career out of it the number I came up with was 400 boards a year that I would have to shape, glass and sell in order to make what I’d consider to be a lower middle class living. The shaping and glassing is the easy part. The real question is how to sell 400 boards. Good luck.
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hello , i don’t know if you like the idea or if it’s interesting in your area.
where i am from lots of shapers sometimes do a build your board workshop, so the person ordering the board pays the price for the custom board plus a little extra for a 5 days workshop and they get to keep the board.
also teach how to do minor ding repairs if they are doing some at the moment.
they normaly do this when they are not very busy
normaly its like one day for the outlines
second day plane, cut outline, shape rails route fins, fin boxes.
third day lamination.
day 4 hot coats and leash plugs.
day 5 sanding and polishing.
people get really happy to participate and learn.
its just an idea.
for example when i make a board for a friend they keep showing up at my place and always want to watch and see whats happening, how things work etc…
good luck and follow your dreams, make it happen.
cheers and good waves.
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Just got my first custom order, and I’m selling 2 on consignment at a shop. Been a hustle but it seems to have been worth it so far. Here’s one of the boards in progress that I’m selling at the shop, the other is above:
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She purdy !
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