board sales

[Fasttimes]

WARNING! This will be boring bc its not raver jeans without E.

Does anyone wonder why board costs went up? An American board presser didn't see glue prices go up 30%, etc.

Boards were 44 bucks for over 20 years, covid causes increase? I know I'm late on this but I was assuming when supply on raw materials was down they'd give it back to customer. They all want kids to start right?

Sorry to bother. I would like a local example to understand better.

[TastyBurrito]

The cost of wood went up like mad. That’s one reason.

I would hope boards come down in cost, but I highly doubt it.

[Filip]

Everything went up in the last 20 years, including earnings. Boards still cost the same, so companies are hurting. I feel like its only fair if prices go up at least a little bit. People pay hundreds of € or dollars for some shitty Nikes, if boards are 10 bucks more, and the board company can pay riders, its only fair and OK.

[Mean salto]

Everything went up in the last 20 years, including earnings. Boards still cost the same, so companies are hurting. I feel like its only fair if prices go up at least a little bit. People pay hundreds of € or dollars for some shitty Nikes, if boards are 10 bucks more, and the board company can pay riders, its only fair and OK.

(Not disagreeing with overall point but) Weird times in Aus right now. Nike's are the cheapest they've ever been blazers $120 dunks $160 but boards are close (if not) most expensive passports $120, dlx $140, seen fa/hockey for $200.

[suhdude]

Noticed in the UK that post-Brexit nearly all boards and product went up by at least £5, and now since Covid it seems even more. Nearly all DLX board are now £70+ and some FA/Hockey boards I've seen for upwards of £85-90. On the flip side (no pun intended) it may help to push more homegrown Euro brands with sightly cheaper product as it has to travel less distance to the consumer?

[Big Baby Jesus]

My first skateboard was $50 in 95. I bought a skateboard in 2015 for $50. Im no Mikey Taylor, but how can you run a sustainable business when your prices don’t change with the natural inflation? Razor thin margins. If paying more for a board means that MAnderson, Bobby, AA or Dane Brady get a higher royalty check I’m all for it.

[rukes]

I got a Wet Willy World Industries deck for my birthday in 1998 and it cost $120 Australian dollars.

[veritas]

I was assuming when supply on raw materials was down they'd give it back to customer.

Scarcity creates value. When supply is down, prices go up.

[DanCorteseFromMTVSports]

Even pre-pandemic, a small group of companies tested the $60+ deck window that stayed stagnant at $50 forever. FA comes to mind as the one who I remember seeing institute it across the board. (No pun intended.) I think that was around 2015-2016. People were willing to pay such a price and others followed suit

[BALARGUE]

Wood price is a part of it
Shipping across the globe has been shook because of COVID (40 feet container shipping was around $5000 before covid, it's now around $15k-$20k) and it's probably the biggest factor right now
War in Ukraine is pretty bad in terms of inflation (and for Europe it means Euro is weak and you buy skategoods in $)

and prices were overall too low for a decade

[backside_frontside]

When supply is down people prices will go up. When supply is down and demand is up, prices will go up even more. Covid created increasing demand while supply couldn’t keep up. Now that demand has tapered off somewhat shops have too much product and that why we saw some amazing sales this year. $60+ board prices are here to stay. The price hadn’t changed in like 15 years so it’s about time.

[sacking rails]

distributers charge $39 - $46 for decks at cost in 2022, never heard of a $44 deck that wasnt marked down on sale in my 20 years of skating theyve always been $59+

[Mall Grab Mike]

The sticker shock was what got people. In a little over a year's time skateboards went from $50/$55 to $60/$70. If they gradually went up in price that would have been easier to swallow. Also, companies are flooded with product now. Everything that was being held up overseas and in ports have all come at once. Skateboarding is at the point where it is cannibalizing itself. Too many new companies selling direct because shops only have so much space for wood and the larger companies are discounting what product they currently have. Material costs are off the charts therefore prices went up. Unlike most businesses, skateboard companies will not lower their prices when material costs fluctuate. Aluminum and wood prices do lower and rise, unfortunately the price increases are here to stay and will continue to increase.

[dstrytruitt]

Cost of shipping containers to get product into the country combined with the increased cost of freight being instituted by the carriers bumps everything up. Shocking to consider that decks have been as cheap as they have been for as long as they have. And, as mentioned already, the margins on decks have always been very small so a market adjustment was long overdue imo.

[231st Street]

FWIW unless you need the coolest brand, shaped deck, etc., while prices have gone up, it seems very easy to get discounted boards now in the post-coved world online from the classic "good companies" for 40-55 still either direct or from a place like Tactics.  I think 70 for something "special" or the latest pro drop is frankly more consistent with historic pricing if you take into account inflation more generally so market was overdue as someone said, but for folks concerned can go without the best graphic and get some decent BBS, PS stix or Pensswood wood somewhere if you look for now.  Maybe this will change in the next wave of smaller brands going under

[Beeda Weeda]

I got a Wet Willy World Industries deck for my birthday in 1998 and it cost $120 Australian dollareedoos.

[versacekid420]

boards are like $72 before tax and not including grip shit blows my mind i feel bad for little kids whose parents struggle financially

[doublesteveburger]

started skateboarding when status/dna decks were a staple and were about $35.00, pro decks were about $48-/+, i remember we bitched about prices even then


rah rah rah rabble rabble rabble

[headtowall]

The fact that boards essentially cost the same since the beginning of time is wild. Always around the $50ish mark. The cost of everything is higher, they were barely surviving on the margins before making more money on soft goods, but its bad business to not adjust unfortunately. My local i think is about $60 plus grip now

[rawbertson.]

costs did not go up for MANY years. boards were solid $90-100 in Canada the entire 25 years I have been skating.

I will tell you right now, Hard good companies are HURTING. Even your favorite brands right now are hardly scraping by. It is almost impossible to make a deck company right now that will last more than a few years.

Consider how much effort goes into making them. Wood has to ship from Canada, go all the way to mexico, just so they can ship it back here again after its processed. doesnt seem to make much sense. I have a feeling costs are about to go up even more. enjoy those BBS decks while you can, we are probably going to swtiching over to CONTROL permanently in the next 10-15 because the trade taxes are gonna go through the roof. it makes no sense what we are doing either. i see no reason why we cant have a good woodshop in Canada that is competitive with BBS.

[Goodcurbs]

My first skateboard was $50 in 95. I bought a skateboard in 2015 for $50. Im no Mikey Taylor, but how can you run a sustainable business when your prices don’t change with the natural inflation? Razor thin margins. If paying more for a board means that MAnderson, Bobby, AA or Dane Brady get a higher royalty check I’m all for it.

Why do you have to be a Nazi to understand board prices?

[Doroteo Arango]

I get the fact that board prices have been relatively hovering around the same price since the 80's but plenty has changed since then. In the 80's boards were mostly handmade and manually silkscreened which was a quite laborious process especially multicolored graphic decks and all this was done in the USA.

Fast forward to current times, I would guess 85% of boards are made in china, 90% the boards coming out of mexico are getting heat transfer graphics applied with heat transfer paper from china. That should be keeping pricing down. Large brands like Girl/Dwindle for example probably make all their decks in China where you could get a top-qualityfinished deck with graphic for around $10.50 landed in US(container prices are dropping like crazy as demand has dropped like a hot sack of potatos). How boards are $65-$75 retail is strange. China>Brand>Shop>consumer. Looks like a lot of margin for the brand if they are selling decks at wholesale from $38-42 to shops and then $65-75 to end consumer. Somebody chime in if I am off.

Bareback has raised their pricing quite a bit in the last couple years, pricing from them has shot up to around $22 if you are a large brand maybe even higher for the smaller brands last time I read somewhere on here. Somehow Grant makes enough margin to still sell boards to Generator(Generator does not make boards nor have their own factory in mexico) who sells them to other brands who still have to sell them to shops and on to the end user. Makes you wonder how much margin is built into Bareback wood. Bareback>Generator>Brand>Shop>consumer. $?, $?

[manysnakes]

FWIW unless you need the coolest brand, shaped deck, etc., while prices have gone up, it seems very easy to get discounted boards now in the post-coved world online from the classic "good companies" for 40-55 still either direct or from a place like Tactics.  I think 70 for something "special" or the latest pro drop is frankly more consistent with historic pricing if you take into account inflation more generally so market was overdue as someone said, but for folks concerned can go without the best graphic and get some decent BBS, PS stix or Pensswood wood somewhere if you look for now.  Maybe this will change in the next wave of smaller brands going under

Yeah, people on here are always complaining about board prices when I haven’t paid more than like $45 for a deck with grip in a few years, because I just shop sales and buy discounted decks. And almost always name brand stuff - my two favorite shapes come from Polar and Primitive, not exactly B-brands.

If you’ve gotta skate a brand new FA deck, you better be ready to pay for it. If you’re in a position to, when someone like Skate Warehouse is offering 20% off of closeouts, you’d be wise to stock up. 

[GrayCellGreen]

Expand Quote

FWIW unless you need the coolest brand, shaped deck, etc., while prices have gone up, it seems very easy to get discounted boards now in the post-coved world online from the classic "good companies" for 40-55 still either direct or from a place like Tactics.  I think 70 for something "special" or the latest pro drop is frankly more consistent with historic pricing if you take into account inflation more generally so market was overdue as someone said, but for folks concerned can go without the best graphic and get some decent BBS, PS stix or Pensswood wood somewhere if you look for now.  Maybe this will change in the next wave of smaller brands going under

[close]

Yeah, people on here are always complaining about board prices when I haven’t paid more than like $45 for a deck with grip in a few years, because I just shop sales and buy discounted decks. And almost always name brand stuff - my two favorite shapes come from Polar and Primitive, not exactly B-brands.

If you’ve gotta skate a brand new FA deck, you better be ready to pay for it. If you’re in a position to, when someone like Skate Warehouse is offering 20% off of closeouts, you’d be wise to stock up.

I've been running shop boards from my local for years. I normally pick up like 3 boards w/ grip at a time so they hook it up with a little discount. I probably should be buying from core companies but I like supporting my local. Shoutout to Overcast Skate Shop.

[Lou Strux]

I've been running shop boards from my local for years. I normally pick up like 3 boards w/ grip at a time so they hook it up with a little discount. I probably should be buying from core companies but I like supporting my local. Shoutout to Overcast Skate Shop.

90% of local shops out there are already more “core” than any skate brand as it is: you’re doing fine.

[Frank and Fred]

Yeah while the  cost of decks has gone up dramatically it seems like sales and deals have never been easier to find. I like to mix it up by supporting my local shops and evening it out with a Holiday online deal from good independent shops.

[IUTSM]

Economics is a bullshit "science" based on choice and decisions made in board rooms. The price of wood is up because it is a wall street commodity. I live in timber country and the mills have be FLUSH like I've never seen in my 10+ yr around them. There's no shortage of anything, so don't buy that rap.

Look for comments made by the CEO of autozone, who recently stated something to the effect of " although our costs ate going down, and profits up, we won't be lowering prices because people are willing to pay these prices." Its the same with everything and the whole "people are willing to pay" makes as if we have much of a choice. Sure, you can say we have a choice to not buy things, but I beg that, thanks to intense marketing psychology/propaganda most of us have been hardwired in a way that makes shifting a lifestyle like beating an addiction.

Gas is 6.90/gallon where I live in California. My 15 yr old subaru gets 18mpg and I've gotta drive 45 miles round trip to work. Costs me close to a hundred bucks per week to use my car. I have a choice, right, I could ride my bike or something, stay home more, etc when I'm not going to work. Just like if I can't afford a deck that's gone from $54 to $70 in the past 3 years, I don't have to skate.

Was the whole 52.50 deck with grip sustainable? I have no idea, but this rant stems from the notion that commodity trading and economics is a can of bullshit that has always and will always degrade the quality of life for all beings.

[GrayCellGreen]

Economics is a bullshit "science" based on choice and decisions made in board rooms. The price of wood is up because it is a wall street commodity. I live in timber country and the mills have be FLUSH like I've never seen in my 10+ yr around them. There's no shortage of anything, so don't buy that rap.

Look for comments made by the CEO of autozone, who recently stated something to the effect of " although our costs ate going down, and profits up, we won't be lowering prices because people are willing to pay these prices." Its the same with everything and the whole "people are willing to pay" makes as if we have much of a choice. Sure, you can say we have a choice to not buy things, but I beg that, thanks to intense marketing psychology/propaganda most of us have been hardwired in a way that makes shifting a lifestyle like beating an addiction.

Gas is 6.90/gallon where I live in California. My 15 yr old subaru gets 18mpg and I've gotta drive 45 miles round trip to work. Costs me close to a hundred bucks per week to use my car. I have a choice, right, I could ride my bike or something, stay home more, etc when I'm not going to work. Just like if I can't afford a deck that's gone from $54 to $70 in the past 3 years, I don't have to skate.

Was the whole 52.50 deck with grip sustainable? I have no idea, but this rant stems from the notion that commodity trading and economics is a can of bullshit that has always and will always degrade the quality of life for all beings.

I really felt this. Gas prices are fucked right now. The Subaru that I drive only takes premium so it really stings when I have to fill it up. Oil companies have been raking in the profits since Russia decided it would be based to invade Ukraine. They are also using the "People are willing to pay" logic to keep the price of gas inflated.

[Ourladyoftheflowers]

I use the sale gear thread religiously and haven’t paid more than 48 for a deck in a while (love the shape so I almost always get FA/hockey) I just save up, wait for sales and buy as many as I can afford. If anything it’s been easier this year cause shops are so overstocked with hard goods. Looking forward to winter sales. That being said seeing 70-80 dollar dlx/baker/FA at my local has me worried sale decks are soon gonna be 60

[hayduke lives]

one thing that's never explained when discussing need for price increases is that brands/woodshops saved a lot of money by switching to heat transfers and moving production to mexico and beyond. hard to know how much of price rise is a result of a real increase in production cost and how much they are using covid and the general idea that "cost of everything is going up" to push profit as much a they can vs. just keeping their margins the same as they were pre-covid. would be interesting to know the cost of say, a dlx/bbs made in america and screenprinted in the 90's vs. a made in mexico heat transfer and then adjust that for inflation.