Kiwi stores are so far behind the times it's just not acceptable , demo boards should be availble anytime anywhere
even to the point of freighting them to other city's but yes at the cost of the person doing the demo and then the freight cost to come off the board if purchased.

i for one don't swallow the bull that this can't be done and if no demo availble then discounts should be made to the purchase, but no no no we can't have discounts on Chinese boards there's no money in them

The more custom boards the better I say at least we might have a basic chance of getting the right board

this lack of commitment from our stores is going to drive the punters away and I for one am close to this point

Not all Kiwi stores. We offer demo paddleboards and surf boards here at Watercooled Sports in Dunedin. Sending boards around the country is doable but the freight is cost prohibitive for demos as the customer would have to cover it and don't see anyone willing to front upwards of $200 for freight (there and back) then the cost of the demo on top of that. Never had a single enquiry about shipping a demo board around the country in all our time here. Having to deal with freight companies all the time and receiving damaged goods etc I can understand why most shops would be reluctant to freight demo boards as any damage can take months to resolve through channels. Its not quite so black and white as you suggest Foam. What part of NZ are you in?

Like anything it depends where you are, I have 3 shops within 20 minutes drive (north shore, Auckland) all have demos and very happy for them to go out.

You mean fanatic and fanatic

I agree with Kitemantim, at least from an Auckland perspective. I've had good demo experiences with SUPcentre and Watersports somethingorother (the one in Barrys Pt road) and I can't forget Dean at Sunnova once he got a demo board! Those three alone cover a range of manufacturers. Underground surf also seemed to do pretty reasonable demo deals. The only difficulty is coordinating a demo with some east coast surf!

Hi Foam

were are you based ? as the main centers in I have been involved with over the last few years as I have moved around NZ demos for most major brands hasn't been a issue

Great what brands do you have on demo surf sup wise

I am not in the trade but locally I have tried with no issues

Laird
Starboard
Agenda
Naish
JP
NSP
Art in Surf
Walk on Water


Gulliver & Fanatic was available but didn't try

I ended up with the Laird 10'6 surfer & and a Starboard 8'10 WP as the best fit for me for his season

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PeoplesChamp said...
Not all Kiwi stores. We offer demo paddleboards and surf boards here at Watercooled Sports in Dunedin. Sending boards around the country is doable but the freight is cost prohibitive for demos as the customer would have to cover it and don't see anyone willing to front upwards of $200 for freight (there and back) then the cost of the demo on top of that. Never had a single enquiry about shipping a demo board around the country in all our time here. Having to deal with freight companies all the time and receiving damaged goods etc I can understand why most shops would be reluctant to freight demo boards as any damage can take months to resolve through channels. Its not quite so black and white as you suggest Foam. What part of NZ are you in?

What you offer is a very bad experience

"Demo boards should be available any time anywhere"? Are you kidding me? Where does that happen in the world let alone the miniature SUP market in NZ?

That's the point a miniature market that needs to look after the customers or loose sup sales altogether
I don't know how many have had to hand over $2500 $3000 $5000 with ouT a demo.
It's either they have a he'll of a lot of expendable income or its presure I'm guessing presure you want to sup here you go pick a board pick the **** out of it on the breeze good luck but no demo.
Dam wrong size , wrong board argggg ok let's put down a few more grand and so on .
The sales that must have not happened due to no demo must be huge and the cost to hold a demo board in say the top 3 sizes is not huge either and they will be sold off as demo boards anyway and normally at the cost price or near to it

Now if I was a agent for say u mmm xyz brand and the most popular was size 8,10 in one model and a 9 in another and a 10 longboard style why would I not have the three as a demo
I am the agent I own the demo boards as my own normal at cost price and end of the day they get sold and replaced with new models .

There is a good reason you hear of a lot of kiwis going to oz to demo and bring back boards.

Like "Hi. It's Gaz here calling from Great Barrier a Island. I'd like to demo a Hypernut on Tuesday please"? Look. I sympathise with the issue but I think you've got first world service expectations from a third world market size.

Not third world prices though eh so why expect less

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Hawaiiheke said..
"Demo boards should be available any time anywhere"? Are you kidding me? Where does that happen in the world let alone the miniature SUP market in NZ?

Ocean addicts, Sunshine Coast Luke and the boys are sensational which doesn't help your situation in NZ. I guess its all about demographic and cost if you have to ship demo boards as already stated.

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Foam said..
There is a good reason you hear of a lot of kiwis going to oz to demo and bring back boards.

Which is why I'm buying all my boards here before coming home, I have 2 Hokuas and 1 Nalu along with all my other short and long boards, my quiver now sits at 8,... hmmmm the FOne Manawa's are looking good

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Foam said..
Now if I was a agent for say u mmm xyz brand and the most popular was size 8,10 in one model and a 9 in another and a 10 longboard style why would I not have the three as a demo
I am the agent I own the demo boards as my own normal at cost price and end of the day they get sold and replaced with new models .

Whaaaat! How,how,how much(sorry I just spilt my coffee)...ummm ok do this, budget for a holiday in good old Oz allow 1K for a new board then come over enjoy your holiday and demo, demo, demo I have done this for the last 13 years (before I decided to live here) believe me it will be worth it!

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Foam said..
That's the point a miniature market that needs to look after the customers or loose sup sales altogether
I don't know how many have had to hand over $2500 $3000 $5000 with ouT a demo.
It's either they have a he'll of a lot of expendable income or its presure I'm guessing presure you want to sup here you go pick a board pick the **** out of it on the breeze good luck but no demo.
Dam wrong size , wrong board argggg ok let's put down a few more grand and so on .
The sales that must have not happened due to no demo must be huge and the cost to hold a demo board in say the top 3 sizes is not huge either and they will be sold off as demo boards anyway and normally at the cost price or near to it

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Foam said...
Not third world prices though eh so why expect less

Third world exchange rate plus import duty plus 15% GST.

Frankly, I am not a reseller, but I guess if I were one, I would be more than happy for "customers" as Foam to shop ... somewhere else.

These kind of never happy, vindicative people can be so much more pain than they are worth, you really do not want them. I know Gong refunds them and then refuse to sell them anything when they get mental (but it happen very infrequently, as they cannot demo boards).

Plus, there is a strong probabilty that they will demand to demo all the boards at their local shop in stock for free, and then order their board elsewhere on internet to save $10 and get a free t-shirt...

I wouldn't be quite so condemning. Encountering a casual "it's close enough to what you ordered / she'll be right" attitude is not uncommon NZ retailers generally (I.e. Across the board not surf/SUP in particular). At the moment I'm grappling with whether I can be bothered returning a SUP deck grip shipped from Australia which is not the colour combo I ordered (and I have an email!). Foam's 2015/16 experience is a bit extreme though. Free range demo'ing is good in theory but not so in reality. I was in a shop the other day and some muppets only had to haul a fresh out of the box Nalu 800m to the beach and back and had still managed to drop it off their roof racks scratch it to smithereens and take a chunk out of the deck.

Demos are tricky for retailers, the distributors should really offer a demo fleet to support their re-sellers. The problem with SUP market is that there are very few reviews of boards by people who know what they are talking about and are unbiased. There used to be a website that allowed people to write reviews and I have written detailed reviews of the 9' Hokua and 8'4 Fanatic Prowave but this website has now vanished!: http://www.standupboardreview.com

I bought a new 7'4 Deep Minion without a demo and that was a massive leap of faith for $2,700!!! I read the Minion thread on Seabreeze many times and came to my own conclusion...but risky to spend that much money on a little board without really knowing how stable it is!

I recently got to demo a new Sunova Acid 8'11 via a private seller and that was really important as it needed to be my choppy water, bigger wave machine and work in crappy conditions as well. I hadn't even heard of the Sunova brand and the shaper Bert Burger. Turned out it is a beautiful board and does everything I need it to do exceptionally well and I found out who Burt is and that he knows exactly what he is doing! But I would have been nervous about buying another new board without a demo.

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colas said..
Plus, there is a strong probabilty that they will demand to demo all the boards at their local shop in stock for free, and then order their board elsewhere on internet to save $10 and get a free t-shirt...

I have done a bunch of different sports. Yeah I buy some gear on the internet but I also buy big ticket items from a good local retailer who is committed to the sport, and provides good advice and service.

Did this recently for my wife and I getting into SUPing and buying boards and all, yeah we could have saved bucks shopping around. But I want to be able to demo boards, ask questions and pick their brains and if I have any issues get them to sort it out. Costs more but I get more back in the long run.

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Hawaiiheke said...
I wouldn't be quite so condemning. Encountering a casual "it's close enough to what you ordered / she'll be right" attitude is not uncommon NZ retailers generally (I.e. Across the board not surf/SUP in particular). At the moment I'm grappling with whether I can be bothered returning a SUP deck grip shipped from Australia which is not the colour combo I ordered (and I have an email!). Foam's 2015/16 experience is a bit extreme though. Free range demo'ing is good in theory but not so in reality. I was in a shop the other day and some muppets only had to haul a fresh out of the box Nalu 800m to the beach and back and had still managed to drop it off their roof racks scratch it to smithereens and take a chunk out of the deck.

If your referring to my recent purchase, this issue here is a spent many days going over my decision and ordered a 2016 jp surf .
I rode the board all good but I had a concern regarding the specs.
Now when I was getting advice on both the 15 and 16 it was apparent the 16 was a different shape more pulled in nose and tail but 128 litres vs the 15 at 126 litres now the litres are not far enough to bother me but the shape is.
So emailed shop and said I'm after the new JP surf
Board ordered over the phone after a talking it over , I then found out after a few surfs and looking on the jp site that I in fact had a 2015 not the 16 I asked for.
You can make this mistake if you have not owned a jp surf as the graphics are the same so how would I know I assumed I was riding the 2016
So on the phone to the shop explaining my issue
The shop responded that's all the supplier had...
You can imagine my response .
Then I'm told by the shop I never put it in writing that I ordered the 2016 so I was to suck it up.
This is beyond belief to be subject to such a response and in writing.
So I guess my mistake for making a phone order and taking the store on faith as they are somewhat a sup hire school ad knew a little about what they were talking about and at least knew what year we are in mmm or not.
Now I could just ride the board as I had done but the reason for going for the 2016 was to be on my limit and then my next board choice would be easier based on my max limit on the 2016 jp.
I feel reAly let down by the shop , I'm told you got a good deal on the board and hey are not prepared to back track even though it was there mistake.
I a now in the process of selling the board at a loss so I can then get what I ordered
I has confirmed that the dealer in this store s very much short of a few marbles .
If two boards look the same on the net in photos same graphics then you would not know what you are looking at even in store unless you had owned the 2015 before but a giveaway is the litres on the side 126 this is a 2015
But again I was not looking to question the year as I was of the assumption this board was in fact the 2016 I ordered

So I am not in the wrong here but as the store pointed out I have no proof .
As mentioned in another post who shops for a board talks to the dealer then says ok I will take one of those and then says I will just go home and email you my request as I don't trust you to get it right.

I also add I have no issue with the board it surfs great but not the 2016 I ordered which surfs better but a little more unstable

But after much thought I went for the 16 based on the recommendations
I no longer will spend my money in this store ..fanatic agent
Very condescending and very good at fabricating story's

I'm at sure I will not be the last person to be shafted like this so I do recomend if you need to order a board in to get the invoice / receipt that states what you did order.
My experience over this has left me very bitter

The store needs to own up to there mistake which they reAly have but stating oh that is all they had .
Why turn away future sales because you don't want to be stuck with the order .
I don't understand the logic

But let's get back to demo boards ok I do understand the cost involved in the dealers having to stock demo boards but if you want to be a retailer you need to have demo boards we are not talking about trying on a T shirt it's a major purchase
But as it was mentioned it could well be upto the main manufacturer to supply these to retailers
At least the ast versions anyway

That is a bugger dude! I had a similar issue when I ordered a new Fanatic windsurfing board. I had to wait for 2-3 months and when it arrived it was not the model I ordered. The store had ordered it correctly but the Fanatic dispatcher at the factory in Thailand had made the mistake - so sometimes it is not the store's fault. I didn't buy the board though.

As I mentioned, I reckon the distributors of the brand need to stump up with demo boards, not the retailer as the distributor gets the best prices and should support the shops. But then, they are busy being distributors and not dealing with the punters...well mostly.

The NZ market operates in this dynamic:
SUPs are big/bulky, difficult and expensive to ship, prone to transit damage, take up a lot of space and don't have massive margins for the effort involved in selling them. NZ is a long way from the major markets and distribution centres so not a priority for orders.
NZ is a small market and it is already saturated with over 50 brands.
New SUPs are a luxury item and the top brands start at $2,500 and the new race boards are looking at $4,000!
Distributors and Retailers need to order x-amount of stock to keep their commercial agreements in place with the brands - which is a big capital outlay for them.
They also have to deal with warranties and disgruntled customers. (I have had two new boards go in for warranty replacements!)
Cheap generic Chinese boards are in the market and being sold direct online.
The big SUP brands release new models every year which puts pressure on the sales channel to order new stock and dump 'last years' models on the market.
TradeMe has a pretty good selection of good second hand boards to choose from if you are patient and know what you want. Want to save $1,000+? Buy last years model with a few scrapes. (I sold a third hand board recently for $300 more than I paid for it from buying well on TradeMe)
Kiwi's want a bargain and the distributors will sometimes sell direct to their mates or friends of friends or even online as well as supplying retailers. (Why not? Less aggravation than dealing with a shop and cash up front)
Surf retailers are notoriously slow to pay their suppliers as they have working capital tied up in stock.

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Foam said...

Hawaiiheke said...
I wouldn't be quite so condemning. Encountering a casual "it's close enough to what you ordered / she'll be right" attitude is not uncommon NZ retailers generally (I.e. Across the board not surf/SUP in particular). At the moment I'm grappling with whether I can be bothered returning a SUP deck grip shipped from Australia which is not the colour combo I ordered (and I have an email!). Foam's 2015/16 experience is a bit extreme though. Free range demo'ing is good in theory but not so in reality. I was in a shop the other day and some muppets only had to haul a fresh out of the box Nalu 800m to the beach and back and had still managed to drop it off their roof racks scratch it to smithereens and take a chunk out of the deck.

If your referring to my recent purchase, this issue here is a spent many days going over my decision and ordered a 2016 jp surf .
I rode the board all good but I had a concern regarding the specs.
Now when I was getting advice on both the 15 and 16 it was apparent the 16 was a different shape more pulled in nose and tail but 128 litres vs the 15 at 126 litres now the litres are not far enough to bother me but the shape is.
So emailed shop and said I'm after the new JP surf
Board ordered over the phone after a talking it over , I then found out after a few surfs and looking on the jp site that I in fact had a 2015 not the 16 I asked for.
You can make this mistake if you have not owned a jp surf as the graphics are the same so how would I know I assumed I was riding the 2016
So on the phone to the shop explaining my issue
The shop responded that's all the supplier had...
You can imagine my response .
Then I'm told by the shop I never put it in writing that I ordered the 2016 so I was to suck it up.
This is beyond belief to be subject to such a response and in writing.
So I guess my mistake for making a phone order and taking the store on faith as they are somewhat a sup hire school ad knew a little about what they were talking about and at least knew what year we are in mmm or not.
Now I could just ride the board as I had done but the reason for going for the 2016 was to be on my limit and then my next board choice would be easier based on my max limit on the 2016 jp.
I feel reAly let down by the shop , I'm told you got a good deal on the board and hey are not prepared to back track even though it was there mistake.
I a now in the process of selling the board at a loss so I can then get what I ordered
I has confirmed that the dealer in this store s very much short of a few marbles .
If two boards look the same on the net in photos same graphics then you would not know what you are looking at even in store unless you had owned the 2015 before but a giveaway is the litres on the side 126 this is a 2015
But again I was not looking to question the year as I was of the assumption this board was in fact the 2016 I ordered

So I am not in the wrong here but as the store pointed out I have no proof .
As mentioned in another post who shops for a board talks to the dealer then says ok I will take one of those and then says I will just go home and email you my request as I don't trust you to get it right.

Just to clarify. My above comment was in response tothe preceding post by Colas. Understand you position Foam. I'd be pissed too.

Yes, thank you I felt his post was a bit rude