price of top brands

[SaMoSUP]

It looks like the more competitive the SUP marketplace gets the higher the marketing costs hence higher pricing. Notice the correlation of brands with the glossy two page magazine ads and their higher price points. Most of my quiver of 5 boards came off CL deals. The last board I bought, Fanatic, was the first retail purchase I made but got a good deal. My next board in the works is a custom Bark.

[Beasho]

my carbon air born was about $2900 . .  here on the east coast of Florida.

I can't understand paying this much for a board    I remember this happening with windsurfing when production boards got to be more expensive than custom boards.    

I can buy nearly 2 Jeff Clark custom SUP's for the price of ONE Starboard.  This (the production board purchase) just doesn't make any sense.  

My last 3 boards have been great, used Paddle Surf Hawaii boards purchased for $700 - $900.  Add to this the cost/benefit of used gear you can get a lot for $2,900 aka board, paddle, wetsuit and transportation. 

[Dwight (DW)]

I can buy nearly 2 Jeff Clark custom SUP's for the price of ONE Starboard.  

Right on.

My S glass with carbon patches and vac bagged boards are "lighter" than an all carbon starboard, and they have proven to be really tough. If I was selling them, they'd be half the cost of a Starboard and I'd still make money.

[Beasho]

My S glass with carbon patches and vac bagged boards are "lighter" than an all carbon starboard, and they have proven to be really tough. If I was selling them, they'd be half the cost of a Starboard and I'd still make money.

DW you might be on to something.  I am intrigued by the weight of the Starboard's all carbon.  Jeff Clark's boards can be light.  The last one I tried, a 9' 6" glass/epoxy, weighed in at 18.4 lbs with deck pads and no fins (vs. 25 - 28 lbs for my other 9'2" - 12' boards).

This was on the lighter side but the construction was very thin in places and almost soft to the touch.  I wouldn't described it as 'tough' at that weight.  Maybe you should go into "production" mode.  Any graphene in your near future?

[Tom]

I was talking to a fellow SUPer this week who makes custom boards. He told me the Chinese called him the other day and said they can reproduce his boards for him for about $350 each. Small minimum order too.

[mrbig]

Pat Rawson raw 1 hand shaped custom shipped from Hawaii to Boston 1472 board 225 Delta Air ship. Magic board shaped by a true master. Not indestructible but amazing. Old man Freitas Special. Don't believe Pat goes over 9'4"!

[K-541`]

 I'am with DW s glass -1.5lb foam- carbon deck patch keep it simple. This should be plenty durable for most maybe a problem for those who beat the rails with the paddle. I paid $1150 for a PSH bamboo ripper, at the time I thought it was high $,nice board but the chinese const. was lacking.

[SlatchJim]

I'm astounded at the price of name brand production boards.  I can't imagine it's because they're so durable but that may be the case.  The two most durable boards I've had are a used North Pacific - Sup Sports custom (S-Glass) and one of their custom carbon deck + rail Hammers.   Other than a few minor scratches, they're good as new and tough as nails.  The custom hammer is the lay up I'll be going with for all future boards.  For $750 used and $1500 new (the hammer), I think I hit on a couple of bargans. I think my drop dead line for a new board would be about 1600, and that board would have to be built to my exact specs.

The s-glass board was virtually flawless when purchased and shows almost no wear, even after a year of my wife riding it.  When I'm done losing weight I'll make that my beachbreak big day board, but I have another 35 to 40 lbs to go.  She wants a smaller 8-11 x 31" hammer, so that's the next new board we'll be getting.  I've become quite a fan of custom, home built boards, as long as the shaper knows that durability is a high priority.

[Roundhouse]

I'm caught in that quandary right now. Local Shaper who makes "progressive" boards vs. proven pop out design that is build tough as nails. For an addition to the quiver for the best days, I'm leaning towards the Local Shaper...

[SuppaTime]

I mostly windsurf and am new to stand up paddle surfing, so my experience is mostly with WS boards, but I think it is much the same. I go through WS boards at a pretty good clip and aside from one custom, they have all been production, name brand boards. The reason is not durability, it is convenience.

Production design changes rapidly for WS boards, and from what I can see, it is changing quickly for SUS boards too. I love being able to go demo new designs and figure out whether I like one or not, and if I do, to just have it. I don't want to take the design I fell in love with from the demo, communicate that to the local builder, and wait until it is built. Back on the mainland where I did most of my sailing, the season is not long enough for that. By the time it is built, the season is over!

[supthecreek]

It certainly was shocking to see the price of the new Naish Big Boy line.... at least the Starboards, at that price, are Brushed Carbon.... there must be something going, below the surface, in the industry...maybe a little maneuvering...whatever... I'm not paying that.

There are plenty of good alternatives that are $1,000 less.

If you are willing to buy "last years big thing"... there are deals.
I just picked up a 9'5 Naish Mana from my friend Bob (fellow Zoner) at Matunuck Surf Shop for VERY short $$$$.... he has great winter deals on some nice boards... I urge NE SUPsters to check him out.

And I have bought MANY boards, paddles & wetsuits from Zoner/site sponsor JimK at Extremewindsurfing.com.... he is GREAT to Zoners.... the best prices I have found.  Jim has incredible knowledge about ALL types of board construction.... as well as vast product knowledge.
Whenever I have a technical question.... I call Jimmy

The Zone is probably our best asset, when looking for the right gear, at the right price.

[micksmith]

Great to read responses to this thread, I was interested to see if Oz was being ripped off (as we often are) but it seems everyone is, or at least that's my opinion. Just can't understand why a board made in china, Thailand or most other Asian countries would cost so much. It's also interesting to note a custom is cheaper and often with similar materials or better.
If you know of any legitimate reasons costs are so high let it be known.

[getsupngo]

This one is about a year old now and I'm convinced I'll be just fine with it for a good while more.
I build my own so a custom new shape for me is always a fun option. I use this board all the time in everything and always enjoy the shape and construction. It's also very light and tough as nails (S glass and stuff). Still looks and rides like new. I also have another brand new board I made just in case I ever need to do a repair on it(knock on wood).
I might sell the used one for $2,999.

             

[supsurf-tw]

There isn't much difference in this conversation than custom surfboard vs. a popout from Surftech or something. The one difference is that a properly glassed custom SUP is EXTREMELY strong where as a performance oriented surfboard in most cases is very weak.
 So we have custom SUPs that are close to the strength of a popout and we can get just what we want at a good price. Now that the customs are really progressing with the experience being gained by shapers we'll see a shift in that direction hopefully and also as SUS guys are becoming more aware of design and what works for them they'll be more inclined to go the custom route.

The satisfaction of having a board shaped just for you that is unique is still one of the joys of surfing

 

[SuppaTime]

If you know of any legitimate reasons costs are so high let it be known.

Just a guess here - production guy gets the low price from China by guaranteeing a certain volume of boards, like 2000, in the production run. In order to move those boards he needs marketing and distributors. And shops with employees, and of course team riders. All that stuff adds up. That explains some of the mark-up, but ultimately the price they put on the board is what they feel they can get away with. If we all quit buying production boards and only bought custom, the pro boards will get real cheap. But of course since the demand on custom is then rising, their prices will go up, according to the law of supply/demand.