...... Pricing itself out of the market ?
Seems that the recommended retail price of new boards in 2011 is between 2799-2999 bucks, despite the dollar being it's strongest ever!
Maybe it's just me but, I don't know if I will be able to be buying a new board every year anymore :(
Might take up fishing, perhaps golf?
It'll be the same story as usual.... Gear was bought and paid for before the dollar went up thats why its so expensive....
Still I don't think anyone ever pays anywhere near RRP for new boards do they?
Probably not, but still you look at the list price and it scares the bejesus out of ya!
Also remember Australia has pretty much the lowest GST in the world ... Half that of the UK, France etc so they should in theory, all else being equal, 10% cheaper than everywhere else
Where you been lately swoosh? Am Having trouble with availability of specific product as well as price (Must be the GEC)
No Einstein equation, that why I said all other being equal, until someone can provide those figures I can't include them, but if you have the details happy to recalculate
Yes expensive, but we do expect prices to rise. What annoys me is my 2004 boards had a stronger construction than the current ones.
Now they are a little lighter each year (as they think we demand continual "improvement" each year) but with the same construction methods, so in many cases are much weaker. I've repaired plenty of boards and some of them are pretty skint on materials lately
I also think anyone who buys a new board has rocks in their head - last year's board NEW at the shop right now is $1000 cheaper and you know what you are getting as all the reviews are out there. You can't base a board choice on manufacturer's stuff like "feeling the vibe of full carving manoeuvres at higher speeds than ever before" and all the rubbish they write.
PS manufacturers: I don't want a wave board 200g lighter than last year. We reached optimum construction years ago and I'd rather have a 2005 ish weight board as they actually lasted......
And I don't want to hear that it does everything better than last year. We are not dumb and know there are tradeoffs with shape.
I want to hear "0.5mm more vee through the mid section and 2mm less rocker than last yaar but with a shorter planing flat" or similar. Not 1970's disco buzzwords and fruity model names.
if you check the shops you'll find that the prices have actually come down a little this year.
Also, not sure about the comment about "2004 boards had a stronger construction than the current ones". I used to kill at least one board per season back then. Now I haven't been able to break a single board since 2008. Perhaps you need to change brands...
Don't get me wrong, I am not accusing anyone, or suggesting impropriety. Like anything, the cheaper stuff is the more people buy, I am just wondering were the line is? When does expensive become TO expensive?
For example, take a JP pro edition listed at $3000 would you buy it? Now same board, only now it's $2400 would you buy it ?
I am not interested in whether or not you would by JP, or a pro edition .... It's just an example.
How many more windsurfers would there be if it was say 20% cheaper (for example)
I know prices rise, I know politicians lie, these are certainties in life.
Arent all orders placed out of europe, hence the dollar not being that strong? Hence prices a bit higher?
Freight shouldnt be an issue as Jp at least and prob most boards are made in Thailand which is a lot closer to here than Europe.
I would doubt that any international company would be stupid enough to base thier import/export arrangements out of europe, at least i would hope not but you never know. Most dinghy and kayak stuff made in Asia that I am aware of gets shipped straight from the factory in Asia to the country of order.
Also while Im on my horse, I thought most consumer items were decreasing in price due to manufacturing improvements ect.
Mark if you want a better quality board look into the OES ones. Im not a guru on windsurfing but as a boatbuilder i can tell you that the materials and process that guy uses is a lot better than other production boards. (No i dont know him or get any kick backs by the way)
The market here is so small compared to europe, the distribution costs are a lot higher than that in the UK or anywhere else. Also take into account that buying volume = bigger discounts. The guys here sell cosniderably less than overseas so they cant risk having surpluss stock sitting around, many items are ordered on demand.
If windsufing was massive here, gear would be stocked at rebel sports or Anaconda or another major sports retailer, The prices would then be a lot cheaper.
Its basic economic principals at play here. Supply vs Demand and optimum price.
I totally agree about the supply demand thing to an extent. I am honestly supposed to be doing and assignment on it right now but am on here instead. Just not sure about how much difference it makes in this instance.
Regarding how many boards are sold its not until you go to some big hire centre in europe and see how many current boards they have that you realise how few boards we would buy here. One I remember had hundreds not to mention rigs.
But I still dont buy the fact that it is more expensive here. I would say after years of travelling that most goods are priced at the highest a local consumer can afford to pay.
Supply and demand is actually only a factor when there is a disparity between the two, for instance when supply cannot meet demand prices go up, conversely if demand is lower than supply prices go down. The biggest impact on prices is likely to be the presence or absence of competition and the effect this might have on supply.
The economic factor that is related to quantity / volume discounts is related to economies of scale, but globally we should benefit from these anyway since, as I understand it, most boards come from the same factory anyway so the economy of scale is there .
2011 JP boards are actually bit cheaper than then last season.
Also, I used to work a part time job in a shop in Europe back in the late 90s. I remember we used to get wholesale rebates based on order volume. North for example would have offer wholesale rebates of up to 40% when you order 200+ sails (If I remember correctly). That meant paying a bit over $200 instead of $400 for a sail... wholesale. We would then sell those at 20% to 30% mark up which was well below recommended retail and usually less then what most smaller shops could sell at.
The only reason why this worked was because we would shift several hundred sails and boards in a season.
Now look at your average Australian shop. I doubt they would shift boards in the hundreds. There simply aren't enough people windsurfing in Australia.
All that said look at real estate prices in Australia... some say they are up to 40% overvalued... well, guess what it all has a carry on effect. Your local windsurf shop owner I am sure also wants a roof over their head. Well that costs money... don't forget groceries, fuel, trades people, energy bills etc etc. They all are proportionally more expensive here in Australia compared to overseas markets.
Select to expand quote
I think he just did.
Cut n paste is your friend
You will pass for sure, trust me.
Sadly it has to be about the price of rice in Sri Lanka.
I just realised that price and rice rhyme so mabey i should record it as a rap song, might be worth extra marks. Just need to find a word that Rhymes with Sri Lanka....
I don't think that windsurfing is really that expensive.
The board you bought for say $3K will either last a decade, or be worth $1500 trade at the end of the season, if you buy another $3K board next year.
Importantly, once you have that board, there is no "per use" cost attached to it. Sail it for an hour or ten hours, won't cost you a bean, not even board wax.
I don't count reasonable fuel costs, as it's a given that I'll get off my butt and do something on the weekend.
Personally, I don't buy new boards every year.
Yes, If I went and bought 3 new boards every year, and trashed them so they were worth nothing by the end, it's gonna get pricey.
All the bits and pieces, sails, booms, extensions add up a bit, but they also last for decades too, so that cost gets defrayed over a long period. I'm still using stuff I bought 15 years ago.
If you are going to wreck gear, yeah, it's gonna get expensive, but try racing and crashing a motor-bike and see how much that costs you, as an alternative.
My 2 cents - I don't think the retailers are milking it - I'm glad they haven't shut down the windsurfing stock lines.
Considering kite surfing is much more affordable and popular / gear fairly simple - they'd be doing better trade from that.
Kitesurfing is to Windsurfing, what body boarding is to surfing - they are half the price and almost anyone can do it.
Browsing some online stores in Europe, makes me think that it would probably be cheaper buying there and taking a massive hit on transport. But after doing some math it all falls apart.
Drew a small comparisson based on a new 2010 Starboard Rio.
UK cost: $1056 (after removing VAT 17.5%)
AU cost: $1599
So there is around $550 dollars there, all of which will probably be used up for shipping if you use a standard Royal mail parcel service (aprox $500 via air). A sea freight service will probably cost you a third of that but you will wait around 3 months, and I dont know if any of the sellers would agree to this.
The only time this would be worthwhile is if you had a friend over there who would ship it to you via sea bringing the costs down to about $100, but who knows what condition it would arrive in.
It just doesnt seem woth it.
Most sailboards are overdesigned for the majority of sailors, so most of us don't really need the latest release of whatever brand you want.
So, if you are prepared to buy superceded stock, then you will certainly pick up a bargain which is still basically a brand new board.
I bought a 2006 Mistral Syncro Fish in 2009 for $1299 compared to its original price of $2100. Absolutely no regrets. Best board I've ever had.
There are many cheaper superceded boards - just ask.
