First time poster on sways but been reading up for a long time.
I am a small time shaper in QLD Australia and have been shaping and glassing my boards and selling them to mates for the last few years.
Business name - DS Shapes (instagram - DS_Shapes)
This is only part time for me at the moment as I am also attending university full time but I am really keen to increase my production volume and start selling a few boards to shops.
I have no idea how to go about doing it? My boards are quality and I have received good feedback about them so this should not be an issue. Most shortboard/fish shapes are turning out around $230, what would be a reasonable mark up price to expect? Is it best to just cold call shops and ask?
Sorry for all the questions but would appreciate any help or advice
Rather than call shops, show up with a few of your boards just before they open and talk to them; nothing like the tactile nature of surfboards to make people pay attention.
Pricing, make sure you fully model (financial) your COGS. $230 sounds a touch low to me for materials. How many hours do you spend on one board? 20 hours? Might want to think about that for a minute. Also, the shops will typically mark up your board to parity with other similar models from other builders. So perhaps going a bit low to start is OK. Ask the shops their basis for retail pricing. they may or may not provide this information.
I actually have a financial model for materials that go into a surfboard. I’m in the midst of rebuilding it at the moment. It’s written in MS Excel. I’ll see if I can get that together in the near term and post it.
Thanks for the reply gunkie, I’m going to try and head down to a few local surf shops with some boards in the next few days.
That financial model sounds really interesting and I would love to be able to have a look at it when you get it finished!
Do the math this way. Go in the shop and look at similar boards to yours on their rack. Take $150 off of what they sell the boards for and you might be in the ballpark for what they might give you wholesale. A better path would be to ask them to consign a couple for you…that way you are not asking the shop to lay anything out up front (risk) and then they just take a cut of what they sell it for.
My first, simplified cut at a COGS calculator. I was going to make this far more in depth, but after looking at it, I think this gets the job done well enough. Let me know if I forgot something really obvious or in-obvious and I’ll add it in.
WELL, I apparently can’t upload an Excel workbook. Use link below to download…
Mako has good advise but know that being a noob, your boards will have to be priced significantly lower than the name brands to sell in a shop. You might want to try to get some work doing whatever (sand, lam, hotcoat, pack boards, sweep) you can in an established factory to hone your craft.
There are lots of things you need to Know before you attempt to get a shop to sell your boards. First you need to have a real factory. a place that you can produce boards. You have to be consistent in your quality in both shaping and glass work. You need to be able to deliver a board on time when suppling a shop that will mean a few boards on time. Think about this you will be competing for space on the racks with a number of other builders. if they have been in business for a long time they most likely have their act together. The last thing a shop owner wants to hear from a customer is " That Board you sold me is crap." the mark up on boards is not great. They make their bread and butter money off of selling T shirts, clothing and small items. like sunglasses. even fins have a better mark up then Boards. The Shop can get boards from the big companies to fill the racks. The big boys can offer term. Terms like 30 days to pay or even a 90 day window to make payments on those boards. Can you wait 30 to 90 days to get your Money on 20 boards that cost you $400 to build? Something like that is pretty sweet for the shop. You still have to pay for the shop pay anyone working for you and pay the people that supply your resin fiberglass, fin boxes and the rest. Maybe I should have started with this. Let me say this right now no shop will buy a board wholesale from an unknown. If they like your work they will do consignment. They don’t have any money into you boards. If they gather dust it’s your problem. All they have to do is call you up and tell you to pick up your Boards. They need the rack space for Boards that will sell. You better have a thick skin when the local hot 15 year old says your boards suck,all those other groms are listening. When The 20 something surf god says to you yeah your Boards are OK but… When some guy ask for custom and has a detailed computer print out and the thing is a mess then blames you when his wacko idea for a board does not work who will he blame? Take your Time with this. Build Boards for Friends find a solid mentor That can help you learn you craft. Do The grunt work set fin boxes polish boards sand boards finish machined blanks. keep your eyes open. learn and at some point other pros will take notice and respect. keep showing your work to shops and as you gain a reputation they will open up some rack space to you. It really isn’t any easy road. All those big name board builders all paid their dues.
Is that their gig?? Makes sense now that I think about it. Consignment is a way to store boards when I run outta room at my own shop. It’s also away to get your boards damaged hauling them to and from when they don’t sell or if some dweeb college boy decides to thumb dent one. How you been atomized?? Lowel
Not sure of the truth, but i’ve heard hearsay a few times that the more rackspace you give Firewire, the bigger cut they give the shop. In an effort to box out the competition. Industry peeps and shop employees.
A large segment of the surf brick & mortar store merchants make the bulk of their profits off selling softgoods and accessories. They carry surfboards for the credibilty of calling themselves “Surf Shops”. In this business model, consignment makes a lot of sense.
…is exactly like Artz is saying plus several more things like:
-First consignment is a no no due to you are starting with your underwear down; very down. If Firewire do that is because several factors like to have a big factory so you are only the CEO not the guy doing the work…and that you have ALL the marketing with Mr Slater et all.
-You can cut your teeth like Artz says sanding and installing fins BUT you NEED to have competitors friends to give lots of free boards if not you will sanding etc forever.
See all these “pseudo shapers” that the top pro uses. All were sanders or like that but made friends the “right” way for their interests…
Or you can be a great surfer with all the time in the world etc like this Tommo guy and sell the marketing etc and then you ll see your boards everywhere.
Or, not your case, you need to be a guy from California or a transplant then sell your image to the Japanese (like many)
Or, like couple of old members here (Caro, Lovelace) hanging around couple of older well known Californian (this is a must) shapers then they can sold pretty good their work to many hipsters in Japan, France, Portugal, Spain and Aussie land.
–I sell boards to a local surf shop. 4 months ago I made a special semi gun and I gave a final suggested price; they told me that they needed to charge EVEN more to only earns 100 Dollars…they gave me a long explanation about that retailer high price.
So I sold that special board for 640 Dollars if I remember right and the final price to the customer was (5 days on the racks only until sold it) 1100 Dollars!
The guys here believe that I charge too much or that I earn a lot…but those are the real numbers after they and I payed all the taxes, the % of the shop sellers etc.
There’s only a few real surf shops left in the world . Since the days of "build 'em out the back , sell 'em out the front " , we’ve lost a fair chunk of our surfing culture . We need to go back for many reasons , not just to restore profitability , but to restore independence and cohesion in a unique industry with a genuine culture and history .
True Reverb , you can’t turn back the clock on it…but you can analyze the old business model , and see how substantial the benefits are…i.e. servicing the needs of your local area - being able to provide great personal service (with back-up) - low overheads - contributing to your local community and it’s homegrown culture . I applaud anyone who taps a good export market also , but as soon as they get any corporate involvement , they quickly get sucked back into Herdsville by the accountants .
All put forth valid advice…
Aloha Artz, reverb & kayu…
My advice, just starting out (paying your dues) and if your good enough.
Consignment is pretty much what I had going locally.
Make the “rack boards” way on the conservative side and flash won’t hurt.
Last year, lost my most my repair and prospect or “rack” boards.
when my local “shop” folded.
Customs are rare for newbies and hard to get the value of your work.
All about $$$
unlike my successful friends, never got the financial backing
basically, cuz of my Pat Curren style personality.
Yeah, I am ancient
never quit
but I did get a day job.
Fame and money doesn’t = success
Build to advance the sport, not “mob” it with junk…
Dan,
I took a look at your Instagram, only saw a few pics. Would be cool to see more of your work man!
Gunkie, your numbers/spread sheet looks VERY similar to mine. Very cool… must supplies just cost a lot more
When I started thinking about selling board… even to friends I got analytical quick to make sure I wasn’t giving boards away or ended up paying out of my own pocket. I did the same thing as Gunkie and broke everything down for pricing all the way down to the spray adhesives and razor blades. The difference is that I factor in paying myself for my hours. I provide unique stock boards to a local shop- consignment. Some have gone VERY quickly and some just sat on the rack. Im a total back yard guy and make most of boards for customers who want total custom builds. I agree with the comments regarding consistency of build quality. I have a VERY small niche here on our small island. I could be building boards everyday, but it cost me WAY more than the average guy to get blanks and supplies out here. Oh, and I am in the Marine Corps full time! Ha ha. At the end of the day the way I’m doing it just doesn’t pay (even as I have refined the process and don’t have much overhead). Just being honest. I build boards because Im a little nuts and love designing/building my own stuff.
Now I know my numbers are totally different than those in mainland. Blanks cost me more than DOUBLE what I was buying them for when I was back on the east coast. So I am fighting tough numbers right out the gate… even being one of the only english speaking shapers on island.
I would love to hear more about other guys margins and what they believe is “acceptable” to stay in business, even if its run from your home in a professional manner with consistent production capability.
I’ll be updating my Instagram with some more boards in the near future so give me a follow if your keen!
I really appreciate the advice being given and it sounds like consignment might be the best way to go as well as trying to make some solid contacts in the industry. However it’s easier said then done when I don’t know many pro shapers…
One way to get in the inner circles is to order some boards from shapers you like and take some of your shapes to get glassed. You can wind up sneaking a peak at some of the work and people within the boardbuilding community will start to know you and see your skills and see you progress. You are not a total competitor but your success is bringing them some work also. Then when someone flakes out or gets hurt or goes for a surfing walkabout, you are positioned to be the guy that get the call ‘hey man we are backed up can you come rubout some boards?’
