ONLINE VS RETAIL

Dose anyone care about the core skate shops anymore?

When I say "core" I mean the shops that you can walk into and get advice from an actual skateboarder, shops that have a team of skateboarders they support, shops organize & pay for events for skateboarders, shops that buy their product from other skateboards.

Why do I ask?
I worked in physical skate shops for years before I started Herstwood and I've seen/been apart of all the hard work that goes into running one.
I always believed there was a right way and a wrong way to go about running any skate business ...but today I'm having my doubts.

Online is generally cheaper because the overheads are so small..BUT they are putting a lot of skaters out of work and for the most part don't give as much back to the skateboard community.

So my question to anyone willing to read my rant is..
WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT MORE??????

A.) Cheaper skate products as long as it's quality.

B.) Supporting the industry that supports skateboarders.

C.) *your own answer*




SIDE NOTE
Anyone claiming to have a "1 YEAR WARRANTY" on skateable WOOD, then in the fine print say:
"We will deny any claim that does not meet our criteria"
"You must pay a postage AND handling fee"
"If you make too many claims we don't have to send you shit"
...and so on to the point the warranty means NOTHING!
..Yeah those guys can suck a fart out of my sweaty ass.

What a novel topic.

Sorry geebz..
WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT MORE?

A.) Cheaper skate products as long as it's quality.

B.) Supporting the industry that supports skateboarders.

C.) Tits, beer & footy.

skateboard.com.au shop.

is it better to support a core skate brand like emerica or lakai but buy them from a surf shop or buy converse or nikes from a core skate shop?


what about non skate products? what if instead of spending $100 on jeans or a jumper from a skateshop you just went and bought some cheap stuff from rivers etc?

theres a lot of grey area

my 2 cents and obviously I have a massive conflict of interest since i half own a shop and the shop sells online..

do the following if you can...

If you got a local skateshop that's owned/run by skaters, employs skaters, puts back, then try and buy from them first (they are hopefully buying from oz dists who do a heap of shit to support/sponsor the oz skate scene)

if you don't have something like that near you and you got to buy online, try and buy online from a shop like I described above

if you dont have the cash to do the above, do what you gotta do.

buying online takes to long. skateshops are fun to go in, hang out, buy shit. ill pay an extra 20 bucks for something if i get it that second. instead of paying an extra $20 for express shipping from the states and still waiting a few days.
hoorah for skateshops

"do what you gotta do" honestly Drew, you are my hero.

Skateboarding has been a harsh mistress to me this week & I didn't know where else to vent.
..we've seen harder times & will stay together forever.

After reading the one year warranty thing you wrote I did some investigating, and it turns out it will cost you $38 to get your "free" board, which is 84% of the original cost. Talk about shady scamming.

To be honest I don't really care much for online retailers anymore. Mainly because of a few shitty experiences I've had. These days I'd much rather go into a skate shop and make sure clothes or shoes are properly fitted before I hand over the coin for them.

If we're talking skate hardware, most of the time I feel more confident that I'm getting value for money if I can hold the board, wheels etc and check out the shape or whatever first.

For me it's more about being able to suss shit properly before paying for it and then walking away with it immediately, rather than going on some kind of crusade to support the local scene.

support ya local, if they support you! i no we support the Tasmanian skate seen and in return we get a lot of support back from skaters etc, I hear ya Curtis, it can be frustrating at times, like when ya see a kid on a board he got online and at the same time he is complaining there are not enough comps etc etc but at the end of the day i have realized that as long as we keep supporting skating then skating will support us!

i am very lucky to have a legit ex sydney skateboarder running our local store in town. he gets the best products and the freshest gears for all the customers. plus the amount of shit you can talk, watch skate dvds and just hang out is awesome. i go there a few times a week id have to say. and its always dope seeing new products coming in and you can go through them and get so amped

just get it from brimmo

As far as business ventures, investing in skateboarding is a fairly poor decision.

You have to ask your self "Am I enjoying the business side of this?" Does the enjoyment outweigh the sacrifice? Sure there are some people that make coin out of skateboarding in Australia but look at the hours they put in to make the modest gains they achieve.

It is a tough gig, I really take my hat off to people that are putting the hard yards to make thier living from it and still put back into the skate community.

Whatever happens your profit/passion ratio is going to be upside down. Most skaters I know care about supporting their local industry. The reality is as far as target markets go skaters are usually fairly broke, and if it means they can get product cheap they will jump at it and consider those who provide the support second. It could be the difference between a new board and a long neck or just a new board

I cbf'd saying all of this again, but yeah...

http://www.skateboard.com.au/forum/read.cfm?forum=13&thread=87773&p=1

Support my local by buying wood, bolts, and trucks maybe wheels. buy the rest online either here or ccs cause it's cheaper and theres more choice.

just befriend spono cunts

The thing that is pretty lame are people who claim Tommy Fynn or Jake Hayes is their fav skater but then proceed to buy from CCS... Not really supporting their fav skaters with that move.

It seems like supporting your local skate store is an easy and good option if you have a store run by skaters, that focuses on skating only. My home town has a couple of stores where you can pick up a board, shoes and all the rest but they also cater to a wider demo. knowing that weather or not you buy your shit there, they will still be making most of their cash selling wakeboards, watches, board shorts and ugly Globes etc makes it less of a "helping out your local bro" sort of thing. That being said i still pick up shit from there when i can afford it, and ill hassle the homies who work there on the reg.

sk8parx shop seems to be on par with most online store plus it comes really really quickly. And this morning when I bought some stuff I got a 30% discount for being a forum head, can't fuck with that! At the end of the day, the two most influencing factors for me are price and product. I'm willing to pay a little more in the shop but if they ain't got the product I want, online is pretty convenient.

sk8parx is my local. has a good community ranging from mad jaded cunts through to your grizzly grip enthusiasts, plus all the skate discussion you could want. also it has good shit in store that takes 1 day to arrive. cheerin . i don't really blame hell poor dudes for buying ccs and whatnot, it's when dudes can afford to buy australian yet dog it because they're a tightarse that gives me the poos. fuck ya

yeah if ya cant afford a passport gmta 4 etc step out from behind the counter take ya apron off stop making coffees and work a trade like a real man. if you go to uni your probs a poofo vego cunt and your already dead inside so why bother

skateparx carrying welcome, so long overseas shops!

Tits, beer and footy... not in that order. I like tits but still not in that order.

pretty sure it's cheaper to buy from here/your local than ccs or other american sites now that postage rates have gone through the roof anyway