Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Topic started by: Dgfreeman on January 30, 2015, 04:53:32 AM
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So I just got into SUP Last season after a lifetime of surfing. I really fell in love with the fact I can go out on the water and have fun heather or not there is any surf. There is virtually NO paddleboard market in my area currently, which I feel is about to blow the heck up, so I am attempting to get involved by offing rentals and instruction this coming season. I was browsing and for affordable options for some extra boards for my fleet and just happened across an Imagine Surf CARVE AST for $388 brand new and shipped to my door! What the heck is up with that, seems Waay cheap. However, when I look for info on the Carve Model, I pretty much don't find any, other seeing a few brick and mortar stores still showing some inventory, listing around $1200.00 typically.
Do any of you have any experience with the Imagine Surf product line from 2012/13 or the Carev AST in particular. I'd love to know opinions on the product. FWIW I went ahead and bought the Carve AST as I have never seen a lesser expensive board available of any type. I figured I might as well start building a fleet as affordable as possible. I am planning on getting some BIC SUPs for rentals as well or something that is highly durable at least.
Thanks for any info y guys may have! I'm going to get in the water...
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I can't comment on the Imagine Carve but I did try the Imagine Snap 8'6" and really liked it. I was impressed with the durable construction yet the board was very light. It also had a great deck pad and good stock fins. It was the first time I had seen or surfed an Imagine SUP and I was really pleased.
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too good of a deal & that board looks fantastic.
if you didn't buy it, you might not have a shot of that price again.
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too good of a deal & that board looks fantastic.
if you didn't buy it, you might not have a shot of that price again.
I don't see that price. Is it a scam? How does that work on Amazon. lost leader?
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Yeah that deal doesn't seem to exist anymore. I got it for $388.37 shipped. I have tracking info and it is scheduled to arrive motor freight on Tuesday. I'll post the arrival of I remember it. I've never seen any board for $388 we'll see what it looks like on Tuesday!
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SCORE!
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Great Allrounder and Great Score !
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damn. now that's a deal!
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Yeah that deal doesn't seem to exist anymore. I got it for $388.37 shipped. I have tracking info and it is scheduled to arrive motor freight on Tuesday. I'll post the arrival of I remember it. I've never seen any board for $388 we'll see what it looks like on Tuesday!
Great score. I managed to pick up a deal on a Surftech 9'6" in much the same way for $320.
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The Snap is $1649 on Amazon. The specs look pretty good though it's no bargain.
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Imagine Carve 388.00…shipped? Surftech 9'6" 320.00.?
Show offs!! :)
I've been watching Amazon for days…no deals right now.
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It ain't $300, but $848 shipped is a pretty stellar price for a 2014 Naish Nalu 10'6 GT
http://www.amazon.com/Naish-2014-Paddleboard-10-Feet-6-Inch/dp/B00G4ZEEK2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422942671&sr=8-1&keywords=naish+nalu+10
How are us brick & mortars supposed to compete, man?!
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I would much rather deal with a brick and mortar dealer, but I couldn't pass a $388 deal. I just unloaded the board and unpacked it. It is SOOOO much lighter than my Walden Magic Sup 10'10" and looks super fun. There is one small ding on the bottom, I'm pretty sure this is why Amazon had it so cheap. Anyone know what type of resin I should use for AST repair? I'll post a few pics.
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Wow, it's real! Nice score. Looks super fast. Epoxy is always good.
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That Imagine deal is amazing! I missed the boat on that one but made an impulse buy of the Nalu from Amazon this morning after reading this thread. Now I've got to figure out where to store it until I can sell another board and free up space in my garage! :-)
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The defect is trivial for the discount, but I would have to ask, are these discounts for specifically distressed, gray market, or B grade goods? Do they come with full warranty from the Mfr.?
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From what I can gather, the Imagine was a board in stock that was marked as damaged (based on its packaging) that Amazon wanted to clear out. The packaging had a decal on it that stated, "ready to ship - Damage". Now this was not stated on the Amazon item listing, but at $388 I assumed that it would have some defect. The ding, as pictured earlier, is about half the size of a pencil eraser and about 1 mm in depth, a simple repair. I can assume that there is no warranty in place for is item, but I've never had a warranty that I'm aware of with any surfboard, so I'm cool with that. It would be a nice implementation for Amazon to include this information in the item listings in the future. With free truck freight to my door and seeing the size of the ding, I decided not to pursue a return w/ Amazon for this item, cause I know I ain't getting a mother one for this price.
I'm off this morning to procure some epoxy for the repair and maybe some flat white Fusion Paint , although I SERIOUSLY doubt that the paint will match with what's on the board. White is like the hardest color to match.
I'm eager to get it in some surf, but it looks flat here for a while to come. I'll be trying it in flat water after I make the repair and see how it goes. I think it is a bit under volume for my current weight/experience level, but I mainly got it so I could have two boards on hand to paddle with a friend or the lady friend if she ever decides to give it a go, lol. I know she'll love it, but I doubt she's getting in a wetsuit for it!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069LO61S/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1BWWVN06DKYVJ&coliid=I165QA8DFGYD7L&psc=1
Somebody grab this deal.
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got mine today but it was a 11'6" but still a steal! wish i had 9 more for my rental biz!!
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069LO61S/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1BWWVN06DKYVJ&coliid=I165QA8DFGYD7L&psc=1
Somebody grab this deal.
Now the price is back up again. It was $561.00 when you first posted it. It must have sold.
Says 3 left and more on the way. I guess they have a lot of them. I don't get why the prices drop and fluctuate so much. It's almost like the computer at Amazon has gone haywire.
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Prices are fluctuating. Don't know why. I made a wish list and am watching for the big price dips. Looking for the mini Mitcho to dip so I can get 2 for the kids.
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DG,
We're losing another Brick & Mortar outlet in Charleston, SC - 2 hrs south of the OP. I'm surprised because he had an adjacent store selling skate supplies in addition to the main store selling kiting gear, SUP and surf gear. I expected the non-SUP stuff to keep him alive. Anyway, he's having a closeout sale and here's the link http://catchsomeair.us/ Might be worthdriving down for a daring daylight raid.
Lots of cheap adjustable paddles, quite a bit of neoprene and some SUPs, new and demo. I didn't have time to a thorough check.
Interestingly, what has thrived is SUP ecotours and rentals, if you can avoid a high monthly nut. The two surf stores remaining have a high
grommet component of their customer base.
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This is the problem with brands like Surftech. They sell directly. Why would a retailer risk carrying their boards when they know Surftech themselves will blow the prices up at the end of the season and then they'll be stuck with a bunch of stuff that they can't even get wholesale cost back out of.
Sell to retailers, or sell direct, but don't do both. If you think you are better served by having professional sales people who are paddling experts sell your products, do that. If you think you are better served by cutting out the middle man and getting your customers a less expensive product (but with no on site expertise or service), then do that. Pick one.
rant off