gruezi said...

Fair price is only in the eye of the buyer....put out an offer, get a bid...that is how the market works I think.

Pre 06 Cabs used to begin falling apart after about 90-130 sessions. The new material used in 07 gear is tops...still can break the 12m Switchy. However, the trim strap broke last week in 25 knots, same as last year's at about this time. Recon the new Cab. material should be good for about 300 sessions. 2K/300 = $6.6666666666666 per session, much cheaper than golf, smoking, drinking, or sex.

My XBow series 1 is still kickin with at least 190 sessions, very modestly calculated, probably closer to 250. I recon it depends more on crash time i.e. how hard core you are trying to be...or how unco you are. I guess I'm neither of these....which makes me kinda boring I supose

sunseeker said...


Is it better to hold onto kites for 2 years? I think if you can stagger so that you're only getting a new one each year would be better for cash flow. About $1000 per year is my budget and I'm way over that with my current strategy.

I think it depends on how good a price you can negotiate on new gear. If you have are a repeat customer each year and buy 2 or 3 kites you should be able to negotiate a good discount.

Imagine having a customer who spends $3K or more a year gaurenteed each year for as long as they can kite- wouldn't you offer a good discount?

If you can try and and limit your loss to about $500 or $600 a kite, thats a cost of $1200 a year (or less) on 2 kites AND you have new gear each year.

Also sell up early, for example, I have an 10m and 12m and sell my 10 around this time of the year as my 12m will be adequate for the winter - that way you get a better price than waiting until Sept / Oct when the 09 models come out.

That just my 2 cents worth and it seems to work ok for me.