magillamelb said..NNSUP said..ActionSportsWA said..
Hi Peeps,
As the initiator of this thread, I feel I should post where we are at right now.
We made some huge decisions in the aftermath of the Winter pricing. We ended up dropping one brand, have throttled back severely on the high end race gear although having said that, I believe the new Fanatic Strike is the fastest flat water board currently available and the Falcons have been doing really well too, so I guess from the results thus far the money IS worth the performance if you are at the cutting edge of racing and need that little bit extra to make the difference.
We have also dropped much of the niche wave boards and only order in less popular sizes or extra expensive products on customer request. On a positive note though, we have populated our racks with some of the more affordable budget range from the big brands and have gone light on with the middle and top tier constructions of all brands in SUP.
To the credit of the big manufacturers, they have produced some pretty amazing products at realistic value for money, so we, and our customers are pleased with the offerings.
Happy to say that the value is still there as long as you can sit comfortably knowing you haven't bought the top end construction. This shouldn't matter to most as few are in need of the top level of anything when considering their ability.
All good in 2016, not gone, just changed.
Happy paddling all
DM
Great summary of how the good shops have catered to customer need. For our sport to prosper we need to support our local retailers. They're the guys who support the events, clubs and lessons. There are a lot of guys selling cheap stuff but I haven't seen one of them support a club, a race or do anything to promote the sport and see it prosper.
In defence of one of the guys selling the 'cheap stuff' as you have referred to them (and I'm not affiliated with them in any way) they have been a supporter of our club's activities and recently supported our winter series. They've been quite a supporter of social based events for years now.
It also depends on your market. Some are keen to sell their products to hard core racers and surfers, some sell a lifestyle that includes a board and a paddle and there are a whole lot in between.
I've bought from stores where you know the product comes with fantastic service and you happily pay for that, and I've bought from a store where the service was non-existent and story after story came with each delay of the delivery of the product I bought when a straight out 'sorry, but we can't deliver your product until X..." would have been the best approach by far and there are some that are just plain shifty, selling someone a board that wasn't even close to being fit for purpose, but was in stock.
So while I'd love to say you get what you pay for, it's not always the case...
