On here, trusted? Yeah why not, live a little

i had KP look at mine for me before i bought my first kite.

they did it for free without me spending any money (nor walking into their shop before).

rather goto a shop that performs that activities just out of being decent ppl to a newbie than trying to make cash from it.

i hear what you say, but it could be open for exploitation. eg:
"yeah mate your kites fine, BUTTTTTTTT you may need to think about getting the lines replace / bladder done / repainted with lead to repel water / and seeing we have all that stuff here, you can just buy it from us.

Can't see that a shop would want to perform this service, what's really in it for them? I can imagine that if you were buying it from say Brisbane and were based in Melbourne, then a member of the Seabreeze community would be happy to inspect if the seller was happy to bring it to the local spot.

Totally with Turtlehunter on this one.
2nd hand market is just problems waiting to happen. No amount of 'inspection' can avoid all the possible hooks.
At KSS we are constantly suggesting 2nd hand buyers bring kites in for a check - for free - anytime before forking out for what may be:
1) the wrong kite for the buyer or
2) problems that may not be detected on 1st inspection - esp by newbies.

Some do - most dont. But the number that come in after the purchase to try to sort problems is astounding. You really are taking a leap of faith to buy from anyone where the kite has to be delivered site unseen.

Id suggest most shops make for a way better option. Shop kites will probably be thoroughly checked over. You should get good advise as to which 2nd hand kites are suitable for you. Although they rarely come with any warranty at least you have a local to get back to if there is a problem. And shop prices are pretty much determined by market pressure so you shouldnt be paying any more than the kite is worth anyhow.

In my experience kiters chasing the minimum possible $ are are the ones who end up with the maximum possible problem.

speller said...

Got an idea for someone to make a buck (shopguys)?
Used kite inspection service, like Auto Clubs do for second hand cars.
Might take some of the risk out of buying second-hand from the other side of the country.
What do you reckon - would it be valuable to the punters and worth it for the shop? Or would concerns about potential liability kill it? (Although if a termite inspector can do a termite inspection, but not be liable for subsequent termites, you should be fine I'd have thought)
Some less scrupulous business mans might however take the opportunity to offer the seller a couple a bucks more on the spot if its a good deal, although it seems to me that most of the folks in the kite shop business have too much integrity and not enough cut-throat business "skills" to do such a thing.
Maybe even some of the more famous members on here could do it - given their widely trusted opinion?

Its a great idea, however we have never charged for advice on used kites, bar rigging tuning, etc. Don't think we will either.
There are many reasons to not charge that I'd rather not go into here.
Anyone is welcome to get advice on used gear from us.

G'day all,i'm a newbie and i have two kites that i purchased one had issues with home made bridle and different length lines the other had a broken line on bridle but i wasn't sure what to do with them got the boys at kitepower to check them out and replace and adjust lines as needed one cost me $15 the other $35 i was more than happy and now i know they are safe

While I applaud all the excellent service provided by the shops - this isn't much help for the punter looking to buy second hand from the opposite side of the country (via seabreeze or wherever). I was thinking more of a service where the shop (say in WA) would inspect the kite and provide an opinion (i.e. Is in "as described" condition, or not) to the prospective purchaser (say, in Vic).

I would be willing to pay a fee for this ($25-50 bucks maybe) to avoid buying a kite that was much crappier than advertised (and I'd probably try to agree with the seller that they would pay the fee if it was not as described).

From the shop perspective, this could bring a bloke in the door who's just about to sell his gear, and have a pocket full of money - that's gotta be a good thing?