I know all sports are expensive but how nice would it be if prices came down on windsurfing gear

Flog that dead horse

Iv got to Agree After windsurfing for 10 years and kiting for a little while now as well i do honestly think windsurfing products have becoming over priced compared to its counterpart esp with regards to quality used gear?

If they could even keep the prices of gear a little more realistic the sport would get more people involved and then everyone will do better business sorry for beating the dead horse

cost/benefit is still better for windsurfing
The cost is high only if you want to spend much money on it, otherwise you can still have a lot of fun with used gear

I understand just finding it hard to find decent second hand gear at a decent price I'm seeing gear that is 10 years + old and still pricey any ill stop having a sook

sometimes a dead horse needs a floging!! i totally agree its proportional to what u want out of it what interests me is the cost of used gear in each state? its supply thing i guess more gear available = lower resale value?

The problem is that people who buy new boards regularly are often racers or wavesailors where as your average sailor wants a freeride board but those guys buying freeride boards update their gear less often so there is less available. The upside is that freeride boards have been great for a lot of years so an older one is still great. Its still tough though when you see how cheap a 2012 75 l waveboard is compared to a 120 l freeride from the same year.

I have bought a lot of gear over the years and I am amazed by how little I have spent.

Getting started, I thought was costly, however ..... As I progressed I had no trouble selling gear and up grading. The cost of changeover is surprisingly low. There is a very liquid market for SH gear.

My one tip would be, select and commit to a matching brand of mast and sail. A mast brand that matches to a sail brand covering multiple disciplines, is marketing genius and very cheap, long term.

I hear Turnbull's cabinet is considering a Medicare Levy rebate on windsurfing expenditure, in next (election) budget. Therapuetic goods, it all makes sense and I'm voting for it.

Commit and persist, you will be rewarded. It's proving to be way cheaper than my alternatives.

Why is it that a brand new board will demand $3200 or more, then after one year if it doesn't sell, the same shop will try and sell it for $2400, and if it still doesn't sell, they will sell it for $1800...and you can bet your ar$e that they still would be making a couple of hundred on it....

Surely the shops would be better off selling 20 boards at <$2500, than 5 boards at > $3200 ? so why not just sell it for <$2500 to begin with, net result will be better. Plus more people will be inclined to purchase new gear, more people will get back into the sport, more people windsurfing = more people buying accessories and bits etc etc.....

Even OES says in one of his video's that the shops demand too much margin!

I recently purchased a brand new "previous year" board for under $2K, the same board was valued at $3200 on release, I would of probably been happy to pay $2400 for it when it first came out, but at 3K+ will now wait for superseded specials, just saying......

Go try Motorsport and report back...

i Guess its quite simply? buy direct and or support the second hand market were possible. there are overheads to running a business i get that but its also human nature
also if you can get away with moving a product at a higher percentage and still clearing stock? then your gonna do it! after all it's your livery hood. We as customers lap it up and feed it!!!! not just windsurfing buy anything.

Then you have the justification bull S%^T that one store is better than another or service ect> eg we charge $120 p/h where old mate down the road charges $90 but he can't do what i can do Bla bla bla! people are more likely to do business with individuals of like minded personalities and that OK? doesn't mean customers should get
used and abused tho.

If anything the overwhelming desire to keep up with each other or out do each other drives cost up? and that our own stupid fault.

I've been windsurfing for over 20 years, I believe I now get better gear cheaper for todays dollar. If you want, there is nothing wrong with last years run out gear, most of us couldn't pick the difference performance wise from one year to the next. If ya hard up for a dollar (or not) you can get some good deals out there, a mate of mine just bought a solid old Isonic for I think $500 and did 40 knots straight up on it. He's a very good sailor but it shows you don't need the latest to perform the best or have fun. Also you don't need a trailer full of gear, I went for years with one board and sail, that might not be an option for you but think what your most used gear is and how often you use it compared to the rest of your gear. Bla Bla

You can say go try Motorsport out but you can buy a dirt bike new for what you would spend on a new kit at lest you feel you got your money worth when it has a motor hahaha if windsurfing became a bit mor competitive with prices you would see 50% of kite boarders getting back into it

Select to expand quote

Steadyshane said..
You can say go try Motorsport out but you can buy a dirt bike new for what you would spend on a new kit at lest you feel you got your money worth when it has a motor hahaha if windsurfing became a bit mor competitive with prices you would see 50% of kite boarders getting back into it

.......damn, its really a conspiracy to keep those Kiteboarders from changing back to Windsurfing and lowering the average IQ of both sports...

Hahaha

To a certain extent I think it's supply and demand. I think it's the customers fault as much as anything. Too many junkies hooked on kit because they don't have time to sail, which causes kit envy. Severne came out with a budget sail in recent years but it wasn't supported so go figure. Further, I couldn't single WS out as many sports are the same - cycling being a reasonable example. I'd like cheaper prices but requires customers to vote on mass. Truth be told, the real currency is time to sail, regardless of what kit you are on.

Shop around. My 2014 RRD Quad was $700, used twice and the 2015 model was exactly the same rrp $2k+. Same with sails, I just buy the previous year, no way am I paying $1k for a sail.

All valid points as yes the cost if sorta justified by the RnD, price of carbon, shipping costs, fkd Aussie dollar etc etc. But what is wrong with making a cheaper option?

Like if a board manufacturer made a glass-only board (still styro / pvc sandwich) SAME shape as the "normal" one - but with no carbon, no dyneema, no gee whizz stuff at all, very basic graphics (or none), no straps and fin cos the buyer already has sone,..... for say $1500 new instead of $2500? It would be 500-800g heavier maybe (mayyybe heavier?) but wavesailors and freeriders would buy that.
I reckon if a major manufacturer did that they would sell tons. Starboard making technora and wood and carbon and tuffskin is not what I mean, I mean a truly cheaper one. Geez, seeing as though they deliberately do cheap rubbed off paintjobs now that look like an apprentice spraypainter's fk-up you could just give it one coat of thinned out white and sell it.


The sort of parallel I draw is Severne making the SWAT sail about $200-$300 cheaper than all the other wavesails they (and others) made. It may or may not perform quite as good, I dunno never tried one but if you wanna buy a full quiver and you are not an expert, saving a GRAND on a set of sails is a big deal. And from what I see on secondhand market it is not like resale on SWAT's is that bad.

How about K4 fins? I don't like them myself but they offer a cheap alternative.

So it is open for a board manufacturer to do something huh

New board prices are crazy, but the second hand market is awesome.

You just need to know what you want and watch it closely. Bargains pop up all the time.
Their are always low volume wave boards going cheap because many of the people who have them are right into it and therefore also like to update their gear regularly to have the latest stuff.

Cheap light wind boards for beg--> Int, don't come up as often and are snapped up quick, but they are still out their...

this one on ebay right now will make someone happy for not much money.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Windsurfer-/262275548288?hash=item3d10d74480:g:aKMAAOSwXshWsxzO

Select to expand quote

Steadyshane said..
I know all sports are expensive but how nice would it be if prices came down on windsurfing gear

Not a chance while the Australian $ is sill falling against the Euro and US $. Prices are just going to keep going up. All windsurfing gear is bought in US $ or Euro.

Select to expand quote

Mark _australia said..
All valid points as yes the cost if sorta justified by the RnD, price of carbon, shipping costs, fkd Aussie dollar etc etc. But what is wrong with making a cheaper option?

Like if a board manufacturer made a glass-only board (still styro / pvc sandwich) SAME shape as the "normal" one - but with no carbon, no dyneema, no gee whizz stuff at all, very basic graphics (or none), no straps and fin cos the buyer already has sone,..... for say $1500 new instead of $2500? It would be 500-800g heavier maybe (mayyybe heavier?) but wavesailors and freeriders would buy that.
I reckon if a major manufacturer did that they would sell tons. Starboard making technora and wood and carbon and tuffskin is not what I mean, I mean a truly cheaper one. Geez, seeing as though they deliberately do cheap rubbed off paintjobs now that look like an apprentice spraypainter's fk-up you could just give it one coat of thinned out white and sell it.


The sort of parallel I draw is Severne making the SWAT sail about $200-$300 cheaper than all the other wavesails they (and others) made. It may or may not perform quite as good, I dunno never tried one but if you wanna buy a full quiver and you are not an expert, saving a GRAND on a set of sails is a big deal. And from what I see on secondhand market it is not like resale on SWAT's is that bad.

How about K4 fins? I don't like them myself but they offer a cheap alternative.

So it is open for a board manufacturer to do something huh

I can still remember the Belmont Holden...a basic, no frills version that had the same shell as the Kingswood. Recently I saw a plain epoxy board, last years model, price tagged at around $1700. According to Mark, this could become even cheaper if the paint job and graphics were simplified. On the other hand, it is no good when cost cutting affects the build quality. Equipment would have a shorter life and probably bend where it shouldn't. The only real downside of a cheaper, heavier board is that your mates will sail on past you. On those occasions you may have to invent a new excuse or two, like, "I must be getting older" or "Oooo, my back is playing up today."

Bring back the Bombora X-it

^^ MarkSSC, I am not suggesting cuts to build quality
In many ways a plain glass board is more durable than carbon and the stiffness loss is one that a great many sailors would not notice - or are happy to sacrifice.

You could copy ANY waveboard or FSW in styro/divinycell/glass and it would jump just as high and handle the same. Tiny bit more swing weight for waveriding turns, not much loss for us mere mortals.

You could copy ANY 45kn capable board in the above construction and do 44kn. Same for freeride and in fact I'd suggest freeride is the category MOST in need of a board with a great shape and cheaper construction. Imagine a Tabou Rocket in all white, no fin, just glass no flash stuff, and it is $1500 new. Will sell like hotcakes.

Much of the cost saving is in final finish (graphics are labour intensive) and not including the straps and fin that many sailors already have (saves on packaging cost too) and carbon at $60/m vs glass at $15/m ........... NOT saving money by making a **** fragile board.

Select to expand quote

firiebob said..
Bring back the Bombora X-it

Or the Zot! Damn that thing was fast. Buggered if I could turn it though

Select to expand quote

firiebob said..
Bring back the Bombora X-it

Got one in the shed! You can have it for the "superseded" price of $2000.....gotta be a bargain!!!! EFT the money and it's yours...

With all the "reduce the price and sell more " comments I doubt this adds up , the windsurf companies aren’t out to not make money they will be pricing gear at what will maximise their profit they would have way more knowledge on this than us the market for windsurfing gear is extremely limited making it cheaper won’t make more windsurfers appear. They could always lower the quality and not honour warranties. The cost of r&d adds up quick , i have been working on a few products and even simple things take alot of work to go from concept to in packed in a box. As for the shop margin generally i think shops mark things up to much, but my local shop has good service especially when something goes wrong so id rather pay a bit more than have to deal with a warranty claim my self.

Not this little puppy again!
Its been pointed out time and time again , if you work out prices of 20 plus years ago and factor in inflation our equipment today is chaeper than 20 years ago!
The price is consumer driven, your always going to have people who want to plane earlier with a lighter board, go just that small fraction faster and they want what they consider is the best for themselves and they will pay top dollar. People are competitive and will pay for that edge its good for their ego and self esteem.
Mark I'll make you clear resin board with no paint fins pads or straps (it'll look ugly) for a good price only thing is im a bit slow, should have it done by 2020

I reckon anyone who complains about the price of surfing, windsurfing and kiting equipment should venture out to their back shed and try making something or at the very least go to a place where things are manufactured and see how much time and effort goes into it.

Then one of two things will happen

You will make more kit for yourself exactly the way you'll want it

or

You will shut the fLlck up and pay the price and be grateful that you don't have to do it again.

The local shop has new Bic Techno 133 litre Freeride boards for $1,299 and less if you bundle with a sail.

I treat my WS stuff like I treat electronic stuff, I've never been one to wait in line for the latest computer, iphone, or flat screen TV. I always wait at least one year minimum, depending on the product and how bad I need it.
Waiting 3 years for new electronics can save you $1000's easily.
Waiting 1 year for a new board (last year's model on clearance) can save you $800 to $1300 and/or around $150 for a new sail.
Patience pays.