reputable shop=retailing business = more likely to benefit from low priced chinese wholesale pricing.

Don't forget that ,fools and thier money are soon parted.
Just because it's cheap doesn't mean you have to pay for it.

billboard said...

We should be very careful that we don't over-generalise with the quality of chinese made sups because the majority of our "reputable" and biggest selling brands are make in china.

exactly i had done alot of research on well branded boards and found the majority come from thailand cobra factory but some major brands moved into china which unknown to me, but was this for a reason of "better quality" or strictly price driven?Coz the price of these boards are still $$$.
hmm well we all know start going for the cheaper and somethings gotta give.
thats my 2 bobs worth.

My take on this is there is going to be two markets the lets give it a go market flat water non serious & the hard core surf /race market .When I started I paid $2000nz for a aircraft carrier endorsed by a well known Hawaian surfer it was terrable next came a Starboard which was a hundred times better for less money & it surfed really well .
Local shaper for me is not an option & I think most people mking custom boards are not getting good enough margins any way trying to compete with this problem (we have just had one board factory close).
The winners are going to be the likes of PSH Starboard the people doing R&D
I don't see any advancment from the likes of GSI .
TB

look at it this way it gets another into the great sport we all have here and whats wrong with that likely when they get hooked which they do and realise they need quality they will upgrade to a custom or bigger name chinese pop out all good the retailer has done its job... they will be back

I think its the way the worlds going unfortunately. My old boy used to Run and manage a very success fixing/wire/ manufacturing workshop in Welshpool, they would make nails, screws, rolls of wire things along those lines.
That got shut down and de-comissioned as it was cheaper for them to produce the goods in China, same quality, just cheaper to produce over there, he went there for 6 month to help set up the company and then him and all his staff were made redundant.

I dont think that everything made in china is **** quality, but when a majority of everything we buy and consume comes from there, it stands to reason that more faulty goods would come from China as they seem to dominate most of the market.

i know for a fact that grb sup designs and designs by micah are doing them all locally made on the gold coast

billboard said...

chopsyify said...

i know for a fact that grb sup designs and designs by micah are doing them all locally made on the gold coast

Excuse my ignorance but I have never heard of either brand - are they surfboard shapers or just sup shapers ? More info' please. I am shocked that anyone can buy blanks cheap enough and pop out a sup locally for a grand.

they will make you anything you want and you obivously dont know where to get blanks from because we have no dramas getting them for a good price its amazing what you can get when you shop around

HA HA HA HA AAAHHHHH CHINA WHAT S*****T!!!!!!!

supphantom said...

HA HA HA HA AAAHHHHH CHINA WHAT S*****T!!!!!!!

yeah go the sup grom

dtm said...

look at it this way it gets another into the great sport we all have here and whats wrong with that likely when they get hooked which they do and realise they need quality they will upgrade to a custom or bigger name chinese pop out all good the retailer has done its job... they will be back

I know of a company here in WA who have just baught out their own brand of board and have openly admitted it is aimed at just getting people out on the water. They don't try to sell it as a high performance machine, they sell it purely on it's merits and at a price targeted for that market.

I've only just bought my first board which I wanted for....you guessed it....cruising around the river, putting the kids on it as well and learning the ropes in micro beachies down the track.
I've read through all the forums 100's of pages, this one and standup zones and talked to as many people as possible, including sup'ers I've met and shop staff. Taken in the shop peoples sales talks and read reviews and let it all sink in.
I come from a lifetime surfing background and was keen to buy a good quality board.
I was amazed at the amount of pop outs (whether made in China or Thailand) and the willingness of every shop to sell them.
I tried to find a good second hand cruisier but was un-impressed with the condition of used boards shops were trying to sell me for around $1000 or more.
So I went to see Tully at Noosa surf works as I knew they made boards there.
They also do a range of Surftechs.
I ended up with an 11'4 diamondtail cruiser shaper with a 2+1 set up in eps/epoxy brand new for $1250.
He also did a great deal on deck pads pieces so I could do my own deck grip on a budget and a carbon paddle for a great price. He even threw in a free legrope.
So I was set up with a hand shaped board with a good shape that will allow me to keep it for a long time and was locally made.
My wife also wanted a sup so ended up buying an M8 10'4" (which I'd assume is Chinese made) which has a Cutch (local shaper) designed blank brand new for a princely sum of $700 new. The original new price on the M8 was (gulp) $2100.
I'll soon find out if I only get what I paid for.
This will be only paddled on flat water by my wife but has a planshape that will let me surf it when I'm ready.
The day I bought it I made sure the local shops didn't have anything decent used for her from any big name brands but they were all unimpressive in both condition and price.
So I've tried both local hand shaped and pop out. It will be interesting to see how both stand the test of time.