The Ultimate Surf Shop .....Not really

[propforward]

That's great a forum is about discussing ideas and problems, good work both sides. Good to have arguments refuted inthe open!

[Jabes]

Little bit naive the - "if you can afford to do it then thats the price it should be argument" -

what industry are you in? cause I'm sure what ever it is there is a price you can do something at but doesn't make any profit which if your not making profit your not able to pay for staff, rent, bills, petrol etc etc

if surf stores are making such a killing perhaps you could explain why at least 8 have gone bankrupt just this year!

you know who is really making a killing - electrical/lighting places and electricians, we need to buy high quality lights for our shop - bad lights make everything look bad, - $250 + 25 install fee. 350% mark up plus charging for labour.
used a trade account the exact same light $71 incl gst

[20det]

alot of businesses not just surf shops have gone bankrupt this past year, and its due to the recession.
okay you need quality lights, lights are a one off, you dont need to buy new lights every week to keep to your business going, yet clothing stays the same all year round apart from when there are season sales.
in this case the owner at my local surf shop could afford to half his clothing because if he couldnt why would he then? he would have 25%off sale instead or something, if it doesnt profit its not a business.
all im trying to say is, justify to me why surfshop clothing is so expensive? when the only thing separating it from warehouse, k mart etc is the brand on it.

[EbolaChoobs]

Two words as to why 8 surf stores have gone under this year are you ready for them ........BARRY DEE.... that’s right stores like North Beach or more like chains of stores that are constantly stocked full of current stock and sale stock...They are killing you...They offer big draw cards.....Massive Sale signs ...Radio Adds....They offer free stuff as their buying power across their total accounts is so large they can push down price and take on promotion stock as giveaways etc. These Types of stores are drawing your lifeblood from right in front of your faces. Just the same principal as The Warehouse, it closes small businesses throughout New Zealand. You just simply can't compete can you.... so what's the answer?

Not really rocket science is it.

Price is not the largest draw card for a customer. Rated above price is Service and Convenience for example I am not going to drive from Tauranga to Wellington to get shit service just because it is the cheapest.

You need to focus on service to stay in the business of servicing people.

Why don't you explain to that guy why surf clothing is more expensive than warehouse clothing and go through things like the cotton count of the shirt... the quality of cotton thread used in sewing the garment.. The washability of the shirt... the quality of screen print ink used...The work that the particular company does for surfing ... and the list goes on and on. Just see it more of an educational exercise than a price barrier. Objections are natural when parting with our money, it has been breed in to us to barter and get the best deal, that is what advertising teaches us to do. It is how you overcome or deal with these objections that will set you apart from your competitors.

Good luck out there and careful who you sit next to at the next showing aye!

[Jabes]

Basically its simple economics, say you have bought 10 lemons for $1 each before freight which is 10c per lemon and GST - 15c per lemon making your total costs $1.25 per lemon. You decide to recoup costs and make a profit you need to sell the lemons for $2 each. You sell 3 of the lemons for the full price but after a month or 2 they are starting to look a bit old and the weather is changing and not as many people need a lemon any more so you reduce them a little say 30% off so now they are $1.70 which with your costs of $1.25 means you are still making a small profit but not really enough to cover overheads but better than nothing you sell 2 at this price but then a couple of weeks/months pass and you still have 5 lemons that have been around for ages now and no one really wants. you could sit on them till next year or you could just drop the price out of them and get rid of them so you can fill the rack with celery which is really what people are after now, and the guy who sold you the lemons really wants his money now even tho you haven't sold enough to cover your bill, so you have a 50% off sale and sell them for $1 to get rid of them even tho you are now losing 25c a sale its better to get them out than have them hanging round

so

3 x 2 = $6
2x 1.7 = $3.4
5x 1 = $5

so you now have in your pocket $14.4

you pay your bill for the lemons which comes to $12.5

your total profit is $1.9

out of which you had to pay rent and staff wages and income tax and dont forget your limo driver cause lets face it all shop owners are rolling in it

the other question to ask is why do you buy the surf brands on sale if they are no better than the warehouse clothes?

[Stu]

It's real simple, if you don't want to pay for brands then don't and if do, then do, but don't moan about it later if you choose to pay full price for a brand. Its low to drag a surf stores name though the mud just because you made a wrong choice. I like surf brands & 99.9% of the time I find the more I pay the longer it lasts.

[Jabes]

Its true stu many a person balks at the price of our Cheap skateboards ($135) for example, then come back saying how they got a board from the warehouse for 1/4 our price and it was on sale and we are a rip off. Then often a month or so later will see them again with tail between legs cause the board fell apart and they want to buy a board that lasts from people who know what they are talking about.

[20det]

well when i worked in a homewares factory i was shocked by how us as consumers were being ripped off by 200, 300 even 400% mark ups they had on items.
I have a friend whose parent own a couple of retail stores clothing/homeware etc. and its not uncommon to hear them say there marks ups range 100-300% that gets me thinking hmm how much do we really give to retailers in general.... that lemon is looking pretty cheap right about now.

yes your right stu, if you dont want to pay for the brand dont, i buy from surfshops because surfing is my sport and i want to support the sport that means so much to me, however i dont drag a shops name through mud or moan if i make a bad decision, i know its simply my fault bacause i chose to buy it, but i do wait until i can get what i want at a sharp price like i brought a f-bomb wetsuit last month $750 at 50% off no complaints im a happy guy.

it can go both ways on that one jabes, some things are cheap and nasty some are expensive and nasty

[Jabes]

yeah fair enough to be honest before i started at a shop i used to wait for all the sales too when buying stuff, tho can assure you that we don't have a 200-400% mark up on anything its substantially less on alot of things and crazily less on boards you're lucky if its 10-20% and then people want a free tail pad leash board bag so if you give into one of those then you lose money there too. The other thing is some of the smaller shops in out of way places to add a bit more to their price not too sure why as im sure their rent must be lower than most city places.

we try to keep our prices as reasonable as we can and being an independent store not owned by corporate oz means we have to suffer fairly regularly cause we don't have the clout/purchasing power some of the big guys do

[jedihux007]

should have bought bodyline