Should brands stop selling direct to consumer?

[lordrandall]

I like having options. I support local, Which for me is going to core shops out of town since I don't have that where I live. Sometimes I don't have the time to drive 45 minutes to a hour to go shop. Also I do love ordering decks from skate warehouse. That golden state overnight is awesome.

[secondhandstoke]

Skate companies should support skaters and not making a big profit by ripping off skaters. it prolly cost $3 to make a deck and the rest is profit for them.

[Frank]

it's good for small brands that don't have a distro, popular brands will be distributed either way and good skateshops curate their brand selection in regards to their local customer base. a small brand that is forced to sell only through shops might not even get off the ground unless it's backed by corporate money. direct to customer also usually means better margins for the brand since they can ship out of their warehouse.

i think every brand should sell their wares in whatever way they want and is good for them, and if i think their product and business model sucks i still can choose not to support them. but i try to buy everything at my shop or have it ordered if that's possible.

as someone else said, noble intentions, but it would hurt small brands and shops in the long, seeing as that could actually dry out the ground for new small brands to actually grow beyond locality through d2c. i can't buy proper shoes anywhere in europe afaik since no one carries them, but i can order them on their own site and get them shipped to me.

apart from all that, that is a pretty harsh rule, even if the thought behind it is beneficial. it's almost communism levels of economic control. you want to make it easier for the little guys, but these regulations benefit the big skate cos that have no trouble getting distributed. having worked in a shop for years, i remember i often really wanted to order a bunch of stuff from a sick small company, but sometimes budget or something comes in the way. i still was happy to talk about and refere to them to customers in the shop if i felt they would like them. a shop can't carry everything you might want it to carry simply due to space/money reasons, so i don't think it makes sense to clutter shops up with even more product that's forced onto them.

[secondhandstoke]

it's good for small brands that don't have a distro, popular brands will be distributed either way and good skateshops curate their brand selection in regards to their local customer base. a small brand that is forced to sell only through shops might not even get off the ground unless it's backed by corporate money. direct to customer also usually means better margins for the brand since they can ship out of their warehouse.

i think every brand should sell their wares in whatever way they want and is good for them, and if i think their product and business model sucks i still can choose not to support them. but i try to buy everything at my shop or have it ordered if that's possible.

as someone else said, noble intentions, but it would hurt small brands and shops in the long, seeing as that could actually dry out the ground for new small brands to actually grow beyond locality through d2c. i can't buy proper shoes anywhere in europe afaik since no one carries them, but i can order them on their own site and get them shipped to me.

apart from all that, that is a pretty harsh rule, even if the thought behind it is beneficial. it's almost communism levels of economic control. you want to make it easier for the little guys, but these regulations benefit the big skate cos that have no trouble getting distributed. having worked in a shop for years, i remember i often really wanted to order a bunch of stuff from a sick small company, but sometimes budget or something comes in the way. i still was happy to talk about and refere to them to customers in the shop if i felt they would like them. a shop can't carry everything you might want it to carry simply due to space/money reasons, so i don't think it makes sense to clutter shops up with even more product that's forced onto them.

corporate skateboarding sucks bro.  they shouldn't sell you a deck that cost $3 to make and sell it for $60,

[too fakie]

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it's good for small brands that don't have a distro, popular brands will be distributed either way and good skateshops curate their brand selection in regards to their local customer base. a small brand that is forced to sell only through shops might not even get off the ground unless it's backed by corporate money. direct to customer also usually means better margins for the brand since they can ship out of their warehouse.

i think every brand should sell their wares in whatever way they want and is good for them, and if i think their product and business model sucks i still can choose not to support them. but i try to buy everything at my shop or have it ordered if that's possible.

as someone else said, noble intentions, but it would hurt small brands and shops in the long, seeing as that could actually dry out the ground for new small brands to actually grow beyond locality through d2c. i can't buy proper shoes anywhere in europe afaik since no one carries them, but i can order them on their own site and get them shipped to me.

apart from all that, that is a pretty harsh rule, even if the thought behind it is beneficial. it's almost communism levels of economic control. you want to make it easier for the little guys, but these regulations benefit the big skate cos that have no trouble getting distributed. having worked in a shop for years, i remember i often really wanted to order a bunch of stuff from a sick small company, but sometimes budget or something comes in the way. i still was happy to talk about and refere to them to customers in the shop if i felt they would like them. a shop can't carry everything you might want it to carry simply due to space/money reasons, so i don't think it makes sense to clutter shops up with even more product that's forced onto them.

[close]

corporate skateboarding sucks bro.  they shouldn't sell you a deck that cost $3 to make and sell it for $60,

Do you realize that there is a significant markup on the majority of things you purchase on a daily basis?

[primitive_rage]

With all this shit going on in the world, should brands/distributors stop selling direct to the consumers and only sell to skate shops, forcing everyone to go support their local shop?

I support this.

Discuss.

yes and no. on one hand it would be great to support shops all the time, but on the other as someone mentioned not everyone has a local shop and shops cant carry everything that everyone wants.

[pointandclick]

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Big companies like Zumiez would buy bulk and price small shops out of the market.

I know your intentions are noble, but running a small business is always difficult and never that profitable.

[close]

I've always found this pretty funny how all these brands sold so heavily to Zumiez or other similar stores, but now that they are battling huge corporations everything is buy "core." Like I didn't see DC, Sole Tech, Fallen, Lakai etc at West 49 (Canada's biggest mall shop).

west49 has sold all of those brands in the past, had big smu's with most too. currently they dont because they are owned by the same company as bluenotes and most legit brands are pulling out.

[GMB]

Theres is no such thing as "free market". It never happened in any time period or location in the history of mankind. "Free market" is just a propaganda term people use to maintain the exploration of labor people. The very nature of capitalismo is monopoly, not "free competition". The capitalism always always tend to monopoly, its the nature of the limitless acumulation. Mankind never experienced such thing as the so called "free market".

[hateboard]

most skate shops are on borrowed time, surprised they lasted this long. Get ur plan b ready boysss.

[artskool]

most skate shops are on borrowed time, surprised they lasted this long. Get ur plan b ready boysss.

True of basically every retailer that runs on credit terms. Especially true of skate shops though. The entire distribution/wholesale/retail structure is crumbling across the entire country.

[Vomit Lust]

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it's good for small brands that don't have a distro, popular brands will be distributed either way and good skateshops curate their brand selection in regards to their local customer base. a small brand that is forced to sell only through shops might not even get off the ground unless it's backed by corporate money. direct to customer also usually means better margins for the brand since they can ship out of their warehouse.

i think every brand should sell their wares in whatever way they want and is good for them, and if i think their product and business model sucks i still can choose not to support them. but i try to buy everything at my shop or have it ordered if that's possible.

as someone else said, noble intentions, but it would hurt small brands and shops in the long, seeing as that could actually dry out the ground for new small brands to actually grow beyond locality through d2c. i can't buy proper shoes anywhere in europe afaik since no one carries them, but i can order them on their own site and get them shipped to me.

apart from all that, that is a pretty harsh rule, even if the thought behind it is beneficial. it's almost communism levels of economic control. you want to make it easier for the little guys, but these regulations benefit the big skate cos that have no trouble getting distributed. having worked in a shop for years, i remember i often really wanted to order a bunch of stuff from a sick small company, but sometimes budget or something comes in the way. i still was happy to talk about and refere to them to customers in the shop if i felt they would like them. a shop can't carry everything you might want it to carry simply due to space/money reasons, so i don't think it makes sense to clutter shops up with even more product that's forced onto them.

[close]

corporate skateboarding sucks bro.  they shouldn't sell you a deck that cost $3 to make and sell it for $60,

Weird take considering deck prices haven’t changed in at least the 35 years since I got my first real board.

[BALARGUE]

why not ignoring a guy who thinks a board cost 3$ to make ?

[secondhandstoke]

why not ignoring a guy who thinks a board cost 3$ to make ?

how much does it really cost than bro?

[MusclesMarinara]

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why not ignoring a guy who thinks a board cost 3$ to make ?

[close]

how much does it really cost than bro?

Give or take from $15 to $20 range for manufacturing a decent pro model board. Those costs go up if the manufacturer is also applying the heat transfers to the boards as well for the board company. The price is even higher when you consider if the skate company is hand screening a board by themselves or another outside source after the manufacturer ships them out to the brands. Honestly it's amazing deck prices have stayed at around $60 range for so long. I'd consider buying one for even more if it came down to it. But I also don't go through boards like I used to. So that factors into my take on it.

[ok boomer]

I buy local when it comes to trucks, bearings, wheels, the occasional shirt. BUT shoes and boards I usually buy online. They never have shoes I want in my size and I'm a picky bitch about boards too. So I don't mind. Back in the day, you had to settle for shirts in shitty colors or a wrong size just to have the shirt, always hated that.

[ThePeoplesChamp]

Theres no way any company would willingly do this. You buy a board for $16-$21. Why sell it to a shop for $35 when you can sell it online for $55? It would be nice if all companies cared about skate shops and fully supported, but they have to keep themselves open too.

[secondhandstoke]

I buy local when it comes to trucks, bearings, wheels, the occasional shirt. BUT shoes and boards I usually buy online. They never have shoes I want in my size and I'm a picky bitch about boards too. So I don't mind. Back in the day, you had to settle for shirts in shitty colors or a wrong size just to have the shirt, always hated that.

I dont buy local bcuz all the local shops are out to rip off the local skaters.  i don't care about the local shops

[skatingisntspecialstupid]

I think eventually only certain cities will have shops and the rest of america will order everything online, except for their shoes. Those will still come from the vans store. It's sad but not every region is gonna have that sense of culture.

[Yesterdays-pop]

My now closed favorite shop owner told me that he made more money off a shop deck sold for $35 than a pro deck for $60. So I bought shop decks from them. So there is no profit margin on decks.
I only buy sale shoes so there is no profit margin there.
Don’t see much of a profit on $3 hardware, bearings or wheels. I’d never buy a shop short because most shops have terrible names and even worse art direction.
So even if I spend $100 at the shop what are they gonna make $30, big whoop you just paid one hourly salary and got some hometown hero on the shop team a deck. Don’t feel like I’m supporting shit. I mostly go to local shops but honestly spend $30 on shoes twice a year, 1 set of wheels a year, trucks last over 2years and I maybe go through 3 decks a year. I like to wear my shit out. Over the years I have a lot of stuff I can fall back on also. I know my $350 I spend at the shop each year makes a difference but does it really?
Most shop are either selling lots of clothes and shoes at full price, 20grand in debt or laundering money.

[Uncle Poseur]

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most skate shops are on borrowed time, surprised they lasted this long. Get ur plan b ready boysss.

[close]

True of basically every retailer that runs on credit terms. Especially true of skate shops though. The entire distribution/wholesale/retail structure is crumbling across the entire country.

This is 100% true. I used to own a small record store. Eventually, I just couldn't complete with cheaper prices and overnight shipping. I see most small skate shops heading in the same direction.

I never blamed customers for not buying from me though. If anything, I blamed myself for not setting up a more robust online presence when I had the chance.

[johnes]

Opening your own skate shop is a really bad idea if your goal is to make money. How many shops are doing great? 20% maybe?
Should skateboarders really be expected to support people’s bad financial decisions? Or directly support the brand they like instead?