Buying abroad, worth it?

who said

I'm looking to buy a new board either here or in the states and wondering if anyone has experience buying abroad and transporting home? Would the exchange rate make it worth the hassle of transporting it home and what is the typical airline charge?

Thanks

rothai

dont know about the us but defo cheaper in england

TheTubes

rothai wrote: »

dont know about the us but defo cheaper in england

+ 1

the_syco

One of the lads here got one in Poland. Seems it was a lot cheaper. I'll ask him about it. Seems one cost €300. Depends on make, etc.

/edit

http://allegro.pl/13538_kitesurfing.html?order=t&view=gtext

1 euro = 4.5 zl

Basically, divide any price by 4. Delivery took 4 or 5 days. Shipping cost about €50.

loctite

If your looking at buying abroad, keep it to the EU or you'll get screwed with a VAT charge too.

England may be cheaper but support your local surf shops... there are deals to be had here too! You might not be so happy when yer brand spank new board arrives with a nice gash taken out of the side of it... you'll prob have to foot the bill to return it too...

TheTubes

loctite wrote: »

England may be cheaper but support your local surf shops... there are deals to be had here too! You might not be so happy when yer brand spank new board arrives with a nice gash taken out of the side of it... you'll prob have to foot the bill to return it too...

I disagree, I don't think that the shops here are anywhere near competitive with the UK.
I got a Bic Magnum delivered from here for about 300e and that included a leash and a good board bag.
The cheapest I could find it in Ireland was 385e for just the board and that was without a leash or bag.

And its not just the board, I've bought wetsuits from there aswell, all way cheaper than I could find here.

There is always a risk of getting a damaged item when you purchase online but I think any good website will package a board properly so its not likely to happen.

I'm all for supporting local business if there isn't much difference in price but when the difference is over 100e the choice is pretty simple imo.

loctite

Tis hard to beat that offer alright.... but two things that I can say from currently working in a Surf shop that is hampering Irish retailers (BTW I just work in an irish surfstore, I don't own it!)

The majority of Irish retailers will have to source boards in the UK and I can assure you that straight away there is no free delivery on boards with some distributors charging up to £50 stg per board for delivery, I sh*t you not.

Secondly, UK VAT is at 15%. Irish VAT is 21.5%. So in reality if you factor those two into the price, it is not the Irish retailers that are uncompetitive... add to this a higher minimum wages... Nothing is going in the Irish retailer/consumer's favour.

But yep it is completely logical to buy at the cheapest price. But in saying that I refuse to shop in the likes of ALDI, LIDL, TESCO etc as they are all imported products, putting pressure on Irish suppliers and reducing irish jobs... perhaps I'm just an Idealogical Nationalist?? (what a rant!)

PjC

loctite wrote: »

Tis hard to beat that offer alright.... but two things that I can say from currently working in a Surf shop that is hampering Irish retailers (BTW I just work in an irish surfstore, I don't own it!)

The majority of Irish retailers will have to source boards in the UK and I can assure you that straight away there is no free delivery on boards with some distributors charging up to £50 stg per board for delivery, I sh*t you not.

Secondly, UK VAT is at 15%. Irish VAT is 21.5%. So in reality if you factor those two into the price, it is not the Irish retailers that are uncompetitive... add to this a higher minimum wages... Nothing is going in the Irish retailer/consumer's favour.

But yep it is completely logical to buy at the cheapest price. But in saying that I refuse to shop in the likes of ALDI, LIDL, TESCO etc as they are all imported products, putting pressure on Irish suppliers and reducing irish jobs... perhaps I'm just an Idealogical Nationalist?? (what a rant!)

The unfortunate reality for Irish surf shops and the like is we are living in a global market now, people dont car about supporting Irish shops if they feel they are getting a much better deal, such as the person above who got a board bag and leash for 85 less than you'd get just the board for here

mac123

I bought a mini mal 7"4 in south africa for 200. no charge to take it home and i sold it here adter 2 years for 300. i also bought a spider short board there for a little under 200 new, again no charge to bring it back, the airline wont insure it though!

loctite

mac123 wrote: »

I bought a mini mal 7"4 in south africa for 200. no charge to take it home and i sold it here adter 2 years for 300. i also bought a spider short board there for a little under 200 new, again no charge to bring it back, the airline wont insure it though!

ha ha we can blame Mac123 for inflating domestic prices... selling 2nd hand boards with a 50% markup!!:D

markY6222

Its not worth it from the US postage will be over 100$
And for something that cost 450$ u pay 90euro custom charges and some times there delivered to ur door witch costs about 40euro so no its not
Unless its from the uk try offaxis

bibbly

I found boards in the States quite expensive and not worth the hassel if your shipping it, but see what you think.

Obviously the best thing to do is bring it back in person, or get a mate who is on hols or whatever,

I bought one in the canary Islands and it was alot cheaper. It is best if you are there in person to check out the board and take it back yourself.

Another thing is if you are transporting it home, consider bringing loads of bubble wrap with you, and get loads of fragile stickers, after taking the fins, and leash off, tightly wrap the board, then squeeze the board into its bag and plaster the bag with plenty of fragile stickers.

i managed to get mine back in one piece. Shipping a board would be too expensive to be worth it IMO.

OuterBombie

who said wrote: »

I'm looking to buy a new board either here or in the states and wondering if anyone has experience buying abroad and transporting home? Would the exchange rate make it worth the hassle of transporting it home and what is the typical airline charge?

Thanks

What sort of board is it?

If it was say a campbell bonzer or something pretty special, that you'd only get in the states then fair enough but I'd be expecting to pay a bit for shipping or transport. It would probably work out at well more than getting the same type board imitated by a local Irish shaper.

If you were heading travelling it would be a different story. I've gone on lots of trips with an empty board bag and picked up a board while on them to use. If it works out well I bring it home. More airlines (international anyways) allow two bags and one of them can be a boardbag. See http://www.surfline.com/travel/boardbag_charges.cfm?id=15425 for more info on airline charges.

In years gone by heading away to get a board was good and the second hand market in a lot of places was much bigger than here and you could pick up a nice board for a good price. However in the last couple of years this has changed for the better in Ireland and there are lots of different boards that you can pick up for pretty cheap that will get you a good experience of that type of board. I've bought and sold a longboard and several shortboards in the last two years via classified.

If its a bic 7'3" you're after then just support your local surf shop, if its something else contact an Irish shaper and talk to them about what you want. Sure boards are expensive but for the work that goes into them and the fact that they are made to suit your specific requirements they work out at good value. Try going in and asking for a custom bicycle and see what sort of quotes you get :eek:.

Finally, chinese mass produced boards suck balls, why join the herd.:cool:

Shane_C

Just a note on transport:

I have taken 3 flights with surfboards. One was fine, the second chipped 3 large areas off the fibreglass in my tail and the third destroyed it completely.

I don't think the destruction was the fault of the airline though. Someone told me little water or air bubbles caused the board to compress at high altitudes. It looked like the board was re-moulded or something: part of the board was 1/2 width and there wasn't a crack.

neon_glows

Thats pretty freaky stuff shane, have never seen that but i can imagine how it would happen.

As for thetubes buying a bic online and getting it delivered for 300euro i could have given you a much better surfboard for way less and with a bag, leash, fins, wax not much more... Unfortunately you didnt shop around enough and yes all surf shops are feeling the crunch... Suppliers are upping there price as china is hitting them uping the price on petroleum made products and the surf shops them selves are mostly undercutting each other now to make more sales, compete with online prices and get people in though i dont know one surf shop owner thats into hardware thats rich as its clothes that the money is in. There is not alot made on boards at all so i can see some of the smaller guys getting squeezed out.

Though if it was a bic you specifically wanted and no other shop could compete with that price i could also not fualt you for taking this route... Though always remember if you snap you leash, break a fin, need some wax when your at the beach kingofwatersports wont be there to help you and neither will your local surf shop if it goes out of business.

TheTubes

neon_glows wrote: »

As for thetubes buying a bic online and getting it delivered for 300euro i could have given you a much better surfboard for way less and with a bag, leash, fins, wax not much more... Unfortunately you didnt shop around enough

I shopped around a lot, I checked lots of surf shops in cork and Dublin and 1 or 2 in Kerry. None of the had an 8' 4" bic magnum, bag and leash for less than 400e. If you can do better than 300e then fair play, let me know where ur located because I've a buddy looking for a board.

Saying I didn't shop around enough is being a bit flippant about it IMO, if that was the case then you wouldn't see posts from dozens of users here buying on that site. We can't all be cash wasting idiots.

Even though I wasn't looking for a "much better surfboard" and am v happy w the bic, I'm curious about what kind of board ur talking about in ur sub 300e offer?

As an aside, I bought my board last summer, before the R, but I'd be surprised if there was a massive difference in prices now.