Suggested Prices / Markup for a custom surfboard

General Discussion
1

Okay… I’ve been trying to get a solid grip on a reasonable markup value for making/selling surfboards.

When I first started shaping, I never intended to get into it to make money. However I keep getting requests and

questions from people who like what they see and many are interested and asking/nagging me about getting their

hands on a custom board.

So… is there some basic guide lines to marking up the total production of a board? Do you mark up the materials that you

use and buy? Adding color, tints, polish, pinlines etc?

Just trying to get some input. Thanks

Tyson

2

I used to work for a custom woodworker who charged heaps of $$ for his work (we did one bedroom set- headboard, two night stands and a dresser- for $150,000). I thought that was an exorbitant amount. I asked him how he figured out how much to charge. His answer-

“Whatever the market will bear.”

I think that goes in your case too. If you say $700 and they walk away, you know you went too high.

And another story along those lines- I went to live for 3 years in West Africa (Sierra Leone). I was told never to pay what they asked you for at the markets. “You have to haggle. Try offering them half of what they ask you for.”

So the next day I went to one of the markets armed with this invaluable information. I saw something I liked and asked how much. The seller said, “1000 leones.” Yeah right. “I’ll give you 500,” was my reply. “Sold!” came the immediate response. Ooops. I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to go. I eventually learned to offer a ridiculously low amount. 1000? I’ll give you 5. And then you work your way to a fair price.

How much for a board? Tell them $1000. If they refuse, ask them what they want to pay and sooner or later you’ll find a middle ground.

Or calculate your materials and overhead and chargthem for your time what you earn at your “real” job, kind of like what Danny Hess did. YOu may end up like Danny- making surfboards for a living.

3

service mark up is normally anywhere from 15%-25% above cost.

This is what you normally pay for pretty much everything you need to function in the real world.

Grocery mark up is the worst only around 10% or less because what they carry is perishable that’s why they hate people who bounce checks and why their bounce check fees are so high, because their margins are so low.

famous production shapers working in the largest of factories may make only $90 or less a shape all cash and carry no benefits. Benefits can add 30%-40% to the expense of an employee outside of their actual income.

so as you price your work think of the guys slugging it away in this industry paying their dues 15-20 years slaving for label after label making $75-$90 a pop and think about how your work is that much better than guys like Terry Martin, Greg Griffin, etc etc… Guys who ghost shape something 80%-90% complete for peanuts only to have a “master” come in to fine tune for 15 minute and make more per unit. The business is full of these folks…

Go into a shop and try and sell them a board to put on their shelves for what you’d sell it directly to a client for and see them laugh in your face bacuse they’ll want it for half in order to make their cut…

That’s the business aspect of this industry…

As far as the “I do this on the side” or “I think I am special” side of the industry…

The price of anything is based on what people will pay not how good anything really is.

develop your customer base and they will tell you where you fall pricewise deserved or not.

Just remember as you get bigger you can expect the next up and comer to be low balling you for your clients sooner or later… So your stuff better have the “juice” to keep it “special” or it’ll be a short ride and you’ll end up in a factory pumping out product for someone else’s logo…

A cheap compsand’s raw materials run about $150 complete I would assume a PUPE to be around the same if not less not including labor. If it’s a one person operation is easy to figure out the rest, if you outsource your glassing it can be a completely different problem in both time to market and labor. That should give you something to start with.

Whenever I make something I let them decide what they think it’s worth, It’ll tell you where you are at both talent wise and customer wise and eliminates the sales aspect of the transaction… which is always 20%-30% BS anyway…

4

Ask yourself how much you would pay to get a custom board?

5

Well… I made a spreadsheet for each board for a while and gave it to the prospective buyer so they’d know where we were. Materials at retail, labor at ten bucks an hour, plus a $20 “allowance” for small stuff like tools, acetone, electricity, sandpaper, tape, brushes, and so on. In the end, I was charging half to 2/3 of what the shops were getting. After a while the price is right off the top of your head, from having done it frequently. Half in advance, the remainder on completion.

Many of my customers were first timers that didn’t have the ego/logo requirements of “real surfers”. Almost all were longboards. I made a few wallhangers, including a clear triple stringer laminated wood nose/tail block box fin Christmas present for the president of Pixar… $425 about two/three years ago.

The boards looked good, though to me there were always some little cosmetic flaw or other. They were all (including my own) better boards than the customer was a surfer.

I do/did no marketing… just let 'em come, maybe up to ten a year, plus the occasional board for myself.