Old news to many though, but a sign of the times still.

www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-01/local-surfboard-makers-are-being-wiped-out-foreign-drop-ins/6362240

Old news,its been going on for years China screwing Australian Made.

Personally I haven't heard of the shaper in the story but I don't confess to knowing everything,selling one board a month as he said wtf ????

Theres no doubt that the imports have put the squeeze on local board builders but there will always be a market for customs and local boards. The better ones will survive.

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smh said..
The better ones will survive.

Spot on. Got to feel for theses small businesses, but things evolve, thats why some of the best shapers in the world, have boards made by surftech.
At the end of the day, the best shapers will always have a following.

Mr Colk said while business boomed in the 1970s, now he was lucky to sell one surfboard a month.

If he did some deals with some seabreeze folk he could double production

If your doing a reasonable volume you are would be be paying about $200ish for the materials on a short board...whack on 8 hours labour at $50 an hour and your talking $600 for the finished board...this cost goes up obviously if your doing longer sticks. A lot of the guys down here don't do sell into shops or have a retails setup so they are reduce there over heads...generally its a shaping bay and glassing room with a few board racks out the front maybe some wax and shiz....no clothes...no wetsuits....

Not saying these blokes are not getting shafted by cheap often inferior chinese products just saying that there are alternate business models/setups for guys to try and make a buck...

SDR is so busy he can't keep up with orders.

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Tux said..
If your doing a reasonable volume you are would be be paying about $200ish for the materials on a short board...whack on 8 hours labour at $50 an hour and your talking $600 for the finished board...this cost goes up obviously if your doing longer sticks. A lot of the guys down here don't do sell into shops or have a retails setup so they are reduce there over heads...generally its a shaping bay and glassing room with a few board racks out the front maybe some wax and shiz....no clothes...no wetsuits....

Not saying these blokes are not getting shafted by cheap often inferior chinese products just saying that there are alternate business models/setups for guys to try and make a buck...

Yahoo Surfboards in Dunsborough. A real surf store with boards from three different local shapers who do custom orders as well as all having boards on the racks. Next to these local boards is a selection of pop outs and where you can buy your hypo krypto to go with the beard you are working on. In the shop right next door is another local shaper who has the machine that cuts the pre-shapes for everyone. All these shapers then send their boards to The Factory for glassing by yet another bloke who does custom boards. None of these store sell board shorts or t-shirts.

By working together these five shapers - and others - utilise each other's skills, minimise overheads and specialise in an area to maximise revenue. So, like Tux and others have said, there are different models for business and the good shapers survive.

TheDrip, nice example. Thanks for sharing.

Apparel has been decimated by SurfStich apparently. Even the big brands bow to him in some way. A movie could be made about it I hear.

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Tux said..
If your doing a reasonable volume you are would be be paying about $200ish for the materials on a short board...whack on 8 hours labour at $50 an hour and your talking $600 for the finished board...this cost goes up obviously if your doing longer sticks. A lot of the guys down here don't do sell into shops or have a retails setup so they are reduce there over heads...generally its a shaping bay and glassing room with a few board racks out the front maybe some wax and shiz....no clothes...no wetsuits....

Not saying these blokes are not getting shafted by cheap often inferior chinese products just saying that there are alternate business models/setups for guys to try and make a buck...

Spot on Tux. If you pare things right back, you can still make it work. You need to stay focussed to your craft... You need a realistic business model to make it work...

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Simondo said..

Tux said..
If your doing a reasonable volume you are would be be paying about $200ish for the materials on a short board...whack on 8 hours labour at $50 an hour and your talking $600 for the finished board...this cost goes up obviously if your doing longer sticks. A lot of the guys down here don't do sell into shops or have a retails setup so they are reduce there over heads...generally its a shaping bay and glassing room with a few board racks out the front maybe some wax and shiz....no clothes...no wetsuits....

Not saying these blokes are not getting shafted by cheap often inferior chinese products just saying that there are alternate business models/setups for guys to try and make a buck...

Spot on Tux. If you pare things right back, you can still make it work. You need to stay focussed to your craft... You need a realistic business model to make it work...

what about rent and insurance and blah blah blah