Online Shopping
Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on buying online rather than at a store, what type of things are you more likely to buy online? And buying online do you profer aussie or international stores? Do you buy your snow gear online?
Heyy, I have brought pants, gloves, bindings and stuff from sierrasnowboard online (from the US). If you are looking for a good deal its a great place to look, real fast shipping and well packed. However I always buy by boards in store, partly because they cost quite a bit to ship so you loose some of the savings and partly to still support local stores. Hope that helps
Most Australian stores now have online stores and nearly all of them offer free shipping on orders. Personally I won’t buy from overseas online stores for a variety of reasons, and I certainly don’t encourage anyone to do so either. Warranty is completely void if you buy from overseas. Several big brands won’t allow overseas online stores to ship their products to Australia; Burton being one of them. Stores in Australia pride themselves on customer service, and I think it’s important to support them. Overall you get what you pay for… I would rather pay a bit more for ongoing service, warranty, and knowing I supported my local store.
The deals are tempting at times, I agree, but nothing beats the service gained at shopping at your local shop.
Good customer service and help with product knowledge go a long way.
Also support for problems and returns etc, the online stores dont have these valuable services.
I do buy things online, but it is usually via ebay or something that I cant get any more.
Im also only ever on ebay. I dont think I’ve ever bought anything online from a website 
Oh and speaking of shopping, those in melbourne should check out the Ballistyx store in ringwood as they are moving and the sales they got on now….whooooowooowww
If you are planning to buy online don’t go into a store and waste a sales assistant’s time on asking questions and trying products on if you have no intent on buying from them. If you want to save money and are not sure do your own research, which the staff members do to give you an informed decision or wait until sale time although you will be limited in your choices.
Other than that as rider mentioned all warranties will be void as they are generally not meant to be shipped to Australia as there are suppliers here. I have dealt with people who have bought boards off sierra and have then needed to get a warranty but have not been able to claim.
Also supporting your local store helps you out in the long term with on going service and an warranty issues.
End of the day it is your choice but I recommend support local for tech, support and keeping the dream alive.
Buying frm the US right now isn’t a bad option to saveon big ticket suff ith the way the aussie dollar is right now.
I must ashamedly admit that I bought my current board and bindings from Sierra Snowboards.
When I purchased the setup, being a bum uni student, my funds were limited and wanted maximum bang for my buck. Saving >$700 AUD was extremely tempting and I succumbed to the cries of my hip-pocket. Purchasing board and bindings (including shipping) for less than the local retail cost of my bindings was insane!
However, I managed to purchase all my other gear from my local store (boots, helmet, goggles etc.)
Now that I’m working, I do agree with most of the others in that we should support our local industry which I fully intend to do (already got my new quiver lined up, just need to find time to hit up my store to place the order), but previously with limited finances (which must also be split between gear and actually GOING to the snow) I had to opt for the extremely tempting bargains offered online.
For those that choose to shop online, I don’t blame you for trying to save that extra $$ in order to be able to shred it up for an extra week or so. God knows snowboarding in Australia is an expensive hobby…
If you are planning to buy online don’t go into a store and waste a sales assistant’s time on asking questions and trying products on if you have no intent on buying from them.
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Can someone explain to me why I can buy from the US a Libtech board for $450 but here retail is $890? The aussie dollar is about .92USD right now and only going to climb higher, predicted to hit 1.10USD in the next few months. Seems a criminal waste of money to buy locally to be honest. I did it this year cause I got a good deal, new board and bindings for the the RRP of the board alone and I put some value on the advice and knowledge of the guys at RPS. Now I could probably hit up the same gear from the states and even after shipping be $100 in front. If you know what you want and aren’t in need of expert advice, explain to me why I would waste money locally. You work hard for your dollar so the shops should work hard to get it. I can understand the economics of it and would be prepared to pay about 10% more for expert advice on certain purchases but apart from that I don’t see a reason to spend more than you have to.
I have no idea on board manufacture costs, I can only go on the fact that in the states RRP is about half what we pay here and they are still making money. I know surfboards are a different story, to manufacture a board can cost anywhere from $350-450 depending, then on sold to shops at around $550-600 who then throw on another $100-150. The margins on these are pretty terrible, this was about 3-4 years ago that I was told this so the figures may be a little different now.
In regards to warranty, what sort of catastrophic failures that render equipment useless have people experienced? Aesthetic issues don’t bother me to much so interested to hear from guys in the industry as to what sort of failures they see and from what brands. If you buy decent brands the risk is minimised somewhat and doing a little bit of research on products can provide some piece of mind as well.
I’m relatively new to the scene and I’m not sure as to the mindset of supporting stores and brands that give back? What exactly do they give back? They sell you a reasonable product at a markup of anywhere from 40-100% sometimes more. They are there to make money, they want your money, make them work for it with pricing more commensurate with the rest of the world. If they are not prepared to come to the party, buy somewhere else, OS if needs be.
Companies very rarely do anything for free, there needs to be a return on investment business case to warrant spending. Board demo days, sponsored camps, comps and the like are all designed around brand awareness and you can bet your last brass razoo that if they weren’t able to show return on these investments they would stop doing them. It’s simple business sense, these companies are not charities. Maybe I’m just a little cynical but break it down and thats pretty much what it amounts too. Flame suit on…....................
Can someone explain to me why I can buy from the US a Libtech board for $450 but here retail is $890? The aussie dollar is about .92USD right now and only going to climb higher, predicted to hit 1.10USD in the next few months. Seems a criminal waste of money to buy locally to be honest. I did it this year cause I got a good deal, new board and bindings for the the RRP of the board alone and I put some value on the advice and knowledge of the guys at RPS. Now I could probably hit up the same gear from the states and even after shipping be $100 in front. If you know what you want and aren’t in need of expert advice, explain to me why I would waste money locally. You work hard for your dollar so the shops should work hard to get it. I can understand the economics of it and would be prepared to pay about 10% more for expert advice on certain purchases but apart from that I don’t see a reason to spend more than you have to.
Well take into account the fact that the boards are ordered 8 months minimum in advance. So when they are ordered the dollar at the time is taken into account. Whatever the dollar is at the time now doesn’t take into account the need for the snow season we have. The point of cheaper boards is understood but if you want your local store to help you when it comes to service and up keep. support them no matter what. I did that now i work for them and I can see the whole picture.
Staff and shops can only do so much help them get further by buying local them the prices will start to reflect the demand.
the prices will start to reflect the demand.
The local prices here will never fall to the point where it is comparable to the US, merely because the demand there is so much greater as there is a bigger market there.
Ultimately, no matter when/what, overseas costs will be cheaper than here.
the prices will start to reflect the demand.
The local prices here will never fall to the point where it is comparable to the US, merely because the demand there is so much greater as there is a bigger market there.
Ultimately, no matter when/what, overseas costs will be cheaper than here.
True but if you want to support an overseas market then live in the overseas area. We have a market here that is small and can’t compete with demands compared to the states/Canada. Our lifestyle is more towards the water so look at the price of surfboards compared to other countries. So the more we help our industry the better it is for our industry.
If people just kept buying from the net we would soon have no need for distributors in Australia. Then who will be able to fix warranties. Shops would have no customer base so then no need to carry product. The Australiann snow industry needs our help and we are the ones that can help it out.
You post a very valid question….
The best answer is that Australian distributors buy from Manufacturers at the same price of American retailers. However, the Australian distributor is also responsible for shipping cost, import tax, GST, advertising, warranties and repairs and the fact that they have a small window of opportunity to make money enough to cover them for costs of the year. I’ll be honest with you and say that distributors rarely make more than 30% on everything they import. Most import and manage brands because they love it, and yes some do make an ok living from it, but none of them exploit their fellow riders to make themselves a fortune. Most of them are just common snowboarders like everyone on here. So why not support them by supporting the local shops and the fellow riders that they all employ.
Or you could just give your money to an online international retailer owned by non-snowboarders and contribute to destroying the australian snowboard retail industry and the people that struggle to make a living from it….
You post a very valid question….
The best answer is that Australian distributors buy from Manufacturers at the same price of American retailers. However, the Australian distributor is also responsible for shipping cost, import tax, GST, advertising, warranties and repairs and the fact that they have a small window of opportunity to make money enough to cover them for costs of the year. I’ll be honest with you and say that distributors rarely make more than 30% on everything they import. Most import and manage brands because they love it, and yes some do make an ok living from it, but none of them exploit their fellow riders to make themselves a fortune. Most of them are just common snowboarders like everyone on here. So why not support them by supporting the local shops and the fellow riders that they all employ.
Or you could just give your money to an online international retailer owned by non-snowboarders and contribute to destroying the australian snowboard retail industry and the people that struggle to make a living from it….
Distributors also need to cover warranties from their own pocket. So if overseas boards need warranties they can’t cover that and the boards they buy. These things contribute to costs as well.
The sad thing is that most board manufacturers don’t sell direct to the distributors in Australia, they have to purchase from wholesalers in America. There is so much back and forth that also adds to the cost. The dollar being strong is one thing but taxes and transport are another. TRAV has been covering these important points well.
Some distributors struggle immensely and if they didn’t love the sport would seriously have packed up and left years ago.
Retailers are provided a recommended retail price and if you think they are laughing at you as they stuff their pockets with cash think again. They have their own overheads to cover and staff to pay. Without board shops in Australia where are you going to go for tune ups and accessories or that possible warranty.