Ive had a few surfshops come to me wanting to sell some of my surfboards to them but how would i try to sell surfboards to a surfshop that didnt come to me first is there any tips you guys can give me i dont want to go into a shop and make i jackass out of myself. any help?
Thanks
Cain
Get a booth at the ASIA or whatever the current surfing Association is, shows…
Sell tons of surfboards to the locals, then walk into the shop looking at boards. If they know anything, they will approach you.
Suggest to your customers that they bring their boards…that you shaped, into the shops for comparison to the shop’s boards.
If you boards are good enough, they’ll take YOU to the surfshops without any extra work on your part.
Make up a 1 or 2 page flyer with photos. Explain how long you’ve been making boards, how many so far, other customers, etc. Print in some small photos of examples and maybe some of your shop. Attach a business card to the flyer. Visit the shop when the owner (or other person of responsibility) is there, briefly tell him what you do, and give him the flyer and leave. Don’t be a pesky salesman. If you don’t hear from them in a couple of weeks, follow up with a phone call. Lots of shops don’t want to take any sort of risks, so if they have suppliers that are working OK, they tend to stay with them. Other may want to reduce costs, so they’ll try and get you to work for free. Don’t get involved in any contracts to build a qty. of boards until you’ve worked with them enough to trust them. Good luck.
Wardo,
Take a “best example” of your work to a shop. Ask if they would consider selling it on consignment for you. That would be ZERO inventory cost to them. Shop owners love that. You may also get some orders from that board, or boards. The more examples of your work on display, the better. Once your product begins to sell on a regular basis, you can wean the shop onto paying for boards upon delivery, or two week billing. Play it by ear, but get your work under somebodys nose that makes decissions. Don’t worry about looking the fool, be confident. After all, YOU are the board builder, they only sell them.
Here’s my take on it. There are the oldline accounts that you couldn’t get rid of if you tried, they love your boards.Then there is trying to bust down the doors on new accts. This has always been really difficult for me, ego and feelings get in the way. Do I charge enough for my boards, do they like me? You know all the questions that plague lable owners. One of the obsticles that face builders is, will you undersell to people off the street, rather than sending them to your local shop? Velzy could have had Stewart selling his boards in San Clemente, but wouldn’t agree to not sell boards from the house cheaper.
Hansen discontinued a local Encinitas builder because of this recently. The street rumor was don’t pay RETAIL, Go to Joeshmo and get it cheaper.
The solution I have come up with is, getting a reliable rep who isn’t gong to get his ego bruised when the flatly say no to carrying my boards. The price is the price and that’s how it is. They main item is keeping your word on delivery, price and standing behind your reputation. Beyond that, you can only go upwards