I now know from making my first board based upon the time it took me (2 months on and off) and the expense of the materials, there isnt much profit even in a $650 board. I just plunked $750 (plus the shipping $150) down for a Campbell Bonzer made to my specs and I think it was a fair price. Not cheap, but fair.
Funny how consumers don’t want to admit their part in most purchase blunders. If you go and plunk down your hard earned money (any amount) without doing your homework or asking any questions about construction, glass schedule, design etc., you really can’t blame the shaper. If you buy a “Pro’s” ultralight board and get one, who’s to blame? Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh…
In 1999, the stock 9’6" that I had my eye on retailed for $450USD. I asked the shaper about the foam he used (Clark Blue), The stringer (Bass), and the glass schedule (6 - 6/4). I then asked him about a custom - nearly stock measurements. I liked the Clark Blue foam (I think it was called blue??), but asked for a reversed grain stringer, and to add another layer of 4oz cloth to the deck. He told me that it would be $100 more - sold! That was my mainstay performance longboard for 7 years, the extra glass & sturdier stringer extended the life of the board considerably - it’s still in service today.
Ask questions when you shop, and be realistic! $650.00 for an CI doesn’t sound too bad to me, especially given the above posts! I’m getting ready to drop some cash with a new shaper for a custom - He’s answered all of my questions; even come back with reasons why certain aspects of my design wouldn’t work, and the adjustments to make it work (rather than just saying “sure I can do that!” - I feel he’s earned my business and - if the board works! ;-) - repeated business.
650 on a merrick is a fair deal. go with a lesser known shaper who will work one on one with you. Better results guaranteed.
Huie,
I saw your post this morning, but needed to do a bit of perfunctory reading before replying.
immigration causing demand for housing => labour market demand for plumbers goes up.
immigration taking in more IT workers than plumbers => labour market demand for plumbers goes up
historically strong unions in Oz => technically not alllowed to even change a tap washer yourself! => labour market demand for trivial plumbing jobs maintained which diverts labour away from big plumbing jobs and makes plumbers expensive and so on…
strong plumbing labour market => plumbers demand a lot of money for their services.
Why shapers aren’t raking it in:
immigration attracts mainly people who don’t surf (this is just my theory, just what I am observing in Vicco - this could well be the proximity of Melbourne to the surf, I have no figures and of course this is a good thing for those who already surf). Maybe different on the Goldie?
anwyay Surfing population goes up less rapidly than population => demand for surfboards steady.
entrepreneurs moved into the surfboard industry => big organised firms capture huge chunks of the surfboard market. In comparison a factory full of capital equipment is never going to help the plumber change your washer so they resist competition from big firms naturally.
entrepreneurs who use overseas production => local surboard labour market weakens - the plumber in comparison has natural protection from this - can’t ring up a plumber in Asia to change your washer.
Asia starts to produce surfboards with its own organised firms => local labour market weakens
No disrespect intended to plumbers or surfboard shapers - its just there is no point in us encouraging young lads like Scboy or Sickdog to enter the surfboard business - better let the market remain to the already well established shapers and entrepreneurs.
Plumbing is a better trade to be entering right now. Its estimated that it would take a full year of non-stop building in Vicco just to cover the housing shortage for this point in time - and that will change in a years time. It seems the best thing right to enter the Australian workforce now is to have mining skills - eg crane driving and engineering for mines. This is because of China’s need for our resources. The Australian Financial Review said today that there is such a shortage of the mining workers that its holding back oil and gas mining projects. Our government tends to take the easy way out with skills shortage - more selective immigration.
I wouldn’t advise anyone to enter my field either - software engineering - just gives me a harder time! I don’t have numbers on software immigration vs plumbing but here are numbers for software vs electricians. Plumbers are probably similar to electricians
Immigration to Oz year end 2009
3,879 Computer professionals
903 electricians
1,192 mechanical engineers
6,238 Accountants!!!??
Huie, you are fortunate to have entered the surfboard industry to see and experience the changes it has gone through and had a chance to be part of surfboard design develpment.
well that as much truth as i have heard for a while.
**yes you are so right it is all irelavent to me 50 yrs i have seen it all **
just thinking of you young fellas haaa’'**
**
Shit should have gotten my degree in geology and moved to Oz.
buy a used one and fix it
Just seen a UK shop advertising the Fishcuit at £650 or $1040 for conventional PUPE
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Just seen a UK shop advertising the Fishcuit at £650 or $1040 for conventional PUPE
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Nice board, but Rob Machado should drive you to the beach and give you lessons for that price on a PU.
I seriously doubt that any surf shop marks boards up by 50%. The margin is typically a lot slimmer. And, for most consumer goods (clothing,etc) the markup is 100%. Doc ran a shop for a couple of decades. He knows.
Let’s face it, the big manufacturers don’t pay that for materials. Blank is more like $50-60 pr. blank (by the container load). Shipping for a full container may be $10 pr. blank? Cloth is pretty close maybe $5-10 too high, resin way off unless you use a gallon pr. board. (1 gal. RR is $69). so say $35 for a board for epoxy, $25 for polyester??. Production finsets incl. boxes $30-50 for retail, is a 25-30% on that to much to ask if you make 200+ boards a week? Say $125-175 total? Then add 2-3 hours of work in a production environment.
Rule of thumb is a 50% markup from wholesale to retail. Somehow I doubt that’s the case for surfboards though depending on brand it will be close.
The really odd thing is, you can get a complete board from China (sans shipping) for less than the US material cost estimate… go figure.
You’re right, for softgood the markup is usually 100%. However the 50% markup on boards is not pure guesswork, I just did a quick check for a couple of well known brands I know the wholesale prices for comparing to retail prices in online stores and the markup is in the 40-50% range.