10 ms·

A $99.99 Surfboard Upends the Industry

113 points by danboarder 11y ago

bruceb 11y ago
Apparently by $99 in store: http://costcocouple.com/wavestorm-8-soft-top-surf-board/ http://costcocouple.com/wavestorm-8-soft-top-surf-board/ $179 shipped. Shipping is almost same price as the board. http://www.costco.com/surfboards.html http://www.costco.com/surfboards.html
- reustle 11y ago
  Which isn't surprising given the size of a surf board
- noja 11y ago
  It's a non-inflatable surfboard, it takes up space.
- runholm 11y ago
  You are shipping a huge impractically shaped object (too long for many regular shelves).
leejo 11y ago
How long until this happens in the snows sports industry? Mid level snowboards / skis sell in the $500 range, with high end going for $1000+. Most probably have < $50 worth of raw materials and < $100 worth of labour costs. As Signal have shown, you can make a snowboard out of just about anything once you have the machinery (which is where the high initial investment happens i suppose): http://signalsnowboards.com/shows/ett/season-1 http://signalsnowboards.com/shows/ett/season-1
- collyw 11y ago
  I am pretty sure you can go to any ski resort and pick up a second hand board for the close to $100 bucks.
  - leejo 11y ago
    Indeed, and you can pick up gear that is unused but from a couple of seasons ago for significantly less than the new season's stuff. I guess the board rental part of the market currently takes the place of a low cost gear for beginners alternative, and if you're only spending a few days a year on the slopes you might not even be bothered about buying your own gear.
    - rokhayakebe 11y ago
      New season skiboard sounds like new season wrench/plier to me.
  - josefresco 11y ago
    Are you also pretty sure that you couldn't buy a used surfboard for $100? I just did a quick search on Craigslist for my area (somewhat of a surf place) and saw prices from $200 - I'm sure if that's their asking, the sale price is potentially lower.
    - surfearth 11y ago
      You can. However, Wavestorm's disruption is that for $100 you get a new, good quality board that is ideal for beginners. Before Wavestorm <$200 would fetch a used/poor condition fiberglass board. These are somewhat harder to learn on because they pose a greater danger for novices.
      - irl_zebra 11y ago
        And with Costco's return policy, broken boards can just be brought back for a full refund, as it states in the article.
- doublerebel 11y ago
  Just like surfboards, any intermediate to advanced ski/snowboard easily requires more than $100 labor. Not to mention the cost of stocking/shipping such a large item. As another commenter mentioned, the seasonal aspect already provides heavy discounts on older gear. This area is not ripe for disruption, new shred stick shapers pop up all the time and there is gear for every price range. (Also the price floor is higher than surfing because if your gear breaks mid-mountain you can easily die.)
  - nickbauman 11y ago
    I've been skiing downhill since the age of 4. The higher-end skis really do make a huge difference tackling advanced terrain. I don't enjoy mogul fields on cheap skis: I can't read the changes in the terrain as well through my feet, I have to push harder and earlier to initiate a turn and my edges never feel as responsive or planted as they do with better skis. I have no idea what goes into better skis, though. I just know they cost more.
    - matwood 11y ago
      I agree. I've been doing board sports since a similar age, and once you get past intermediate the higher end stuff does make a difference. (Surf|Snow|Wake|Skate)boards all have cheap intro versions, but the high end stuff does make a difference after a certain level. Should they cost _that_ much more? I don't know.
    - nn3 11y ago
      Do you think your findings would hold up to a double blind test? Often expensive items have a strong placebo effect just based on price ("it has to be better")
      - nickbauman 11y ago
        Doubt it. My skiing changed dramatically when as a lad I got top of the line skis. Later, as a ski instructor, I had to use rental skis, I found that I was unable to keep up with my advanced students with the el-cheapo rentals.
- micro_cam 11y ago
  For skis, boards and especially ski boots (i'm not sure how snowboard boots are made) you need to make a whole size run which drives the cost of molds/forms up. Its also more expensive to prototype since you can't hand shape a one off design. Ski shapes were evolving rapidly but have started to stabilize a bit so maybe we'll see costs go down but we're also seeing a push into lighter weight materials (and for the boots and bindings more mechanically complex designs) as backcountry touring gear is the area seeing the most consistent sales growth of late.
- shanecleveland 11y ago
  Would love to see it, but you'd need disruption beyond just the gear. It is incredibly expensive to gain access to the passes (lift tickets, etc.). Even after purchasing gear, a family could spend hundreds of dollars for a day of skiing. But that might be more bearable if the barrier to entry (cheaper gear) was lower.
  - leejo 11y ago
    The interesting thing about lift passes is, at least here in Switzerland, you can save a significant amount by being resident in a ski resort. I bought my season pass last week, at a discount of around 40%. Other savings i made last year was by following the local ski club around, giving huge discounts on race days. Of course, the tourists get charged quite a bit more...
  - gonzo 11y ago
    I get a Vail "Epic" (season) pass every year for a Christmas present. Experiences, not things.
- hahamrfunnyguy 11y ago
  You can buy $50 snowboards at Walmart, but it's nothing that should be ridden outside of the backyard. You can find bare boards for $75-$100, and bindings and boots for around $50. So yes, to some extent it's already happening in the snow industry. I doubt it is going to get too much cheaper than it is now.
reddytowns 11y ago
I learned how to surf on one of these. It's a nice beginner board, easy to catch waves, and soft enough that it didn't hurt when it bonked me in the head while I was still learning.
- rcurry 11y ago
  "soft enough that it didn't hurt when it bonked me in the head while I was still learning" That's a really good point, I always forget about the safety aspect. There's nothing like getting slammed in the back of the head by a 9'6" fiberglass school bus.
talsraviv 11y ago
This is one of my favorite boards to go out on, whether I'm in Hawaii or Florida - it's really good quality. I never gave it much thought, so it's very cool to learn the business story behind it.
apryldelancey 11y ago
These boards are especially great for mushy days. Another great board is the 5'8" Sushi fish if you like shorter boards. I have one for the smaller, weaker days and it's a blast. http://reviews.costco.com/2070/100114919/keeper-sports-products-california-board-company-sushi-58-fish-surfboard-reviews/reviews.htm http://reviews.costco.com/2070/100114919/keeper-sports-produ...
ryanackley 11y ago
Surfer here, this isn't really "disrupting" the surfboard industry. It's actually helping it because it lowers the barrier of entry and in turn introduces the sport to more people. There is still a very big market for performance surfboards in the ~$500 range.
- forgetsusername 11y ago
  >There is still a very big market for performance surfboards in the ~$500 range. Data? From the article, the number of surfers is growing at 1.7% annually, yet this company now sells 5 times more boards than anyone else. The majority of those sales were taken from other companies. If this isn't a disruption story than I don't know what is.
  - _-__--- 11y ago
    your statements don't conflict, it's just an interpretation of the term "very big." Lots of people are buying the softtops, but those people might not be the people still investing in high-end hardtops (if that's the term). If sales of one item are increasing without a concurrent, statistically significant and apparently causal decrease in the sales of supposedly competing items, then it's not really disrupting a current market. It's just making it a lot bigger and getting most of the new volume. You could say that the market is almost tangential to the existing surf shop market.
    - forgetsusername 11y ago
      >but those people might not be the people still investing in high-end hardtops (if that's the term). Without knowing the underlying numbers, sure. It's possible. But the bigger point is that these small surf shops that sell both mid-priced soft-top and expensive hard-top boards are no longer selling the soft-tops, because an equivalent board can be had for $99, exclusively from Costco. That has to put pressure on the industry, and the supply of higher end boards.
  - mrharrison 11y ago
    I would imagine its the type of board that sits in people's garage and gets used once a year. Once you really get into surfing you then upgrade. People who can really surf wouldn't use something like this. Sorry no data, but this what I see everytime I go out to a break. Beginners on these foam tops, intermediate and advanced on a $600 firewire, CI or vintage custom.
anotherhacker 11y ago
This isn't disruption. It's just "make something that's cheaper and/or better". It's a 75+ year old idea called called Creative Destruction.
johansch 11y ago
There are so many different kinds of markets like this. Just to pick another example: (In Europe) You can today pay 800 Euro for a chinese-made electric bike that sorta works, or 2000 Euro for something built in Germany that really works (with a drive engine made by Bosch taking most of that profit margin). I'm pretty sure the difference in price isn't down to the cost of the raw materials, but rather the know-how. This know-how will become common knowledge soon...
mkaziz 11y ago
Man, I came here expecting an article about Motorola Surfboard modems. I really need to get out more.
c3534l 11y ago
This is the first news story I've seen with an explicit tl;dr line at the bottom.
- joosters 11y ago
  Plus the obnoxious Bloomberg habit of writing a sentence, then writing it immediately again in A HUGE FONT SIZE for no obvious reason.
- Kluny 11y ago
  When it's a news article, they're supposed to put that at the top.
vinautomatic 11y ago
Title misleading, expecting a super cable modem
tswartz 11y ago
This video came out in 2013 of a pro surfer riding the Wavestorm in the big waves of Jaws. It helped fuel Wavestorm's sales, if it rides pretty well at Jaws, it will be just fine in a 2 or 3 foot beginner swell. https://youtu.be/0s2cCHg5EEs?t=1m51s https://youtu.be/0s2cCHg5EEs?t=1m51s
awl130 11y ago
the open secret about surfing is that most people only try surfing once--usually on vacation. this is because to be a "surfer", (a) you have to live within a 20 mile proximity of a very select area of coastline; and (b) it takes many different sessions, spread out over a long period of time, in order for you to become proficient. this is largely due to the fact that you need to paddle out to the wave. compare this to snowboarding. your first time on a mountain, you will absolutely "snowboard". there's a lift that carries you directly to the top of the mountain. surfing is like going skiing or snowboarding without a lift. you'd have to hike up a mountain every time you wanted to ski. think of how many people would end up being proficient. that is why this $99 surfboard has really taken off. there may be 2.7 million surfers as the article states (which i find highly doubtful--this is way too high a number), but there are many more times that inland people that try surfing on their holiday and then never go again.
- the_watcher 11y ago
  > this is way too high a number I assume you've never lived in Southern California? You'd be astounded at the number of casual surfers (by that, I mean someone who surfs at least once a month) who own surfboards. And that's just one high concentration surf area.
  - giarc 11y ago
    And the other 4x states that don't have a coastline don't really contribute any data.
  - awl130 11y ago
    i live in socal but on second thought 2.7mm is pretty realistic i guess. hard to get a baseline. there are around 30mm golfers in the us; but for surfing, 1/3 of the usa lives on the coastline (123mm people); maybe 1/3 of that is surfable (basically ca, fl, hi, and then maybe or, wa, nc, va); so anyway 1/9 of golfers? makes sense
    - the_watcher 11y ago
      Basically every state with a coastline has some amount of surfers. All the Pacific and Gulf states have well-known breaks, as do the southern Atlantic coasts. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have fewer "quality" surf spots, but they're all surfable. Even Alaska has a well known break, though AK's population limits its contribution to total surfers.
kin 11y ago
Wave Storms have been around for years so this story really doesn't cover anything new. It's also not really disruption because Wave Storms are considered entry level boards that if anything drives demands for more expensive boards once someone actually makes it a hobby. When I read the article I was hoping for a stylish mass produced fiberglass board. Now that would truly disrupt the market.
- rhodysurf 11y ago
  Well i mean were close. With all the current Mass produced boards made by like JS (for example). They are glassed in china and should not cost even close to what they charge for them. The only problem is profit margins from the companies that actually are able mass produce boards.
gonzo 11y ago
"Surfing sucks. Don't try it."

113 points by danboarder 11y ago

Apparently by $99 in store: http://costcocouple.com/wavestorm-8-soft-top-surf-board/ http://costcocouple.com/wavestorm-8-soft-top-surf-board/ $179 shipped. Shipping is almost same price as the board. http://www.costco.com/surfboards.html http://www.costco.com/surfboards.html

reustle 11y ago
Which isn't surprising given the size of a surf board
noja 11y ago
It's a non-inflatable surfboard, it takes up space.
runholm 11y ago
You are shipping a huge impractically shaped object (too long for many regular shelves).

leejo 11y ago

How long until this happens in the snows sports industry? Mid level snowboards / skis sell in the $500 range, with high end going for $1000+. Most probably have < $50 worth of raw materials and < $100 worth of labour costs. As Signal have shown, you can make a snowboard out of just about anything once you have the machinery (which is where the high initial investment happens i suppose): http://signalsnowboards.com/shows/ett/season-1 http://signalsnowboards.com/shows/ett/season-1

collyw 11y ago
I am pretty sure you can go to any ski resort and pick up a second hand board for the close to $100 bucks.
- leejo 11y ago
  Indeed, and you can pick up gear that is unused but from a couple of seasons ago for significantly less than the new season's stuff. I guess the board rental part of the market currently takes the place of a low cost gear for beginners alternative, and if you're only spending a few days a year on the slopes you might not even be bothered about buying your own gear.
  - rokhayakebe 11y ago
    New season skiboard sounds like new season wrench/plier to me.
- josefresco 11y ago
  Are you also pretty sure that you couldn't buy a used surfboard for $100? I just did a quick search on Craigslist for my area (somewhat of a surf place) and saw prices from $200 - I'm sure if that's their asking, the sale price is potentially lower.
  - surfearth 11y ago
    You can. However, Wavestorm's disruption is that for $100 you get a new, good quality board that is ideal for beginners. Before Wavestorm <$200 would fetch a used/poor condition fiberglass board. These are somewhat harder to learn on because they pose a greater danger for novices.
    - irl_zebra 11y ago
      And with Costco's return policy, broken boards can just be brought back for a full refund, as it states in the article.
doublerebel 11y ago
Just like surfboards, any intermediate to advanced ski/snowboard easily requires more than $100 labor. Not to mention the cost of stocking/shipping such a large item. As another commenter mentioned, the seasonal aspect already provides heavy discounts on older gear. This area is not ripe for disruption, new shred stick shapers pop up all the time and there is gear for every price range. (Also the price floor is higher than surfing because if your gear breaks mid-mountain you can easily die.)
- nickbauman 11y ago
  I've been skiing downhill since the age of 4. The higher-end skis really do make a huge difference tackling advanced terrain. I don't enjoy mogul fields on cheap skis: I can't read the changes in the terrain as well through my feet, I have to push harder and earlier to initiate a turn and my edges never feel as responsive or planted as they do with better skis. I have no idea what goes into better skis, though. I just know they cost more.
  - matwood 11y ago
    I agree. I've been doing board sports since a similar age, and once you get past intermediate the higher end stuff does make a difference. (Surf|Snow|Wake|Skate)boards all have cheap intro versions, but the high end stuff does make a difference after a certain level. Should they cost _that_ much more? I don't know.
  - nn3 11y ago
    Do you think your findings would hold up to a double blind test? Often expensive items have a strong placebo effect just based on price ("it has to be better")
    - nickbauman 11y ago
      Doubt it. My skiing changed dramatically when as a lad I got top of the line skis. Later, as a ski instructor, I had to use rental skis, I found that I was unable to keep up with my advanced students with the el-cheapo rentals.
micro_cam 11y ago
For skis, boards and especially ski boots (i'm not sure how snowboard boots are made) you need to make a whole size run which drives the cost of molds/forms up. Its also more expensive to prototype since you can't hand shape a one off design. Ski shapes were evolving rapidly but have started to stabilize a bit so maybe we'll see costs go down but we're also seeing a push into lighter weight materials (and for the boots and bindings more mechanically complex designs) as backcountry touring gear is the area seeing the most consistent sales growth of late.
shanecleveland 11y ago
Would love to see it, but you'd need disruption beyond just the gear. It is incredibly expensive to gain access to the passes (lift tickets, etc.). Even after purchasing gear, a family could spend hundreds of dollars for a day of skiing. But that might be more bearable if the barrier to entry (cheaper gear) was lower.
- leejo 11y ago
  The interesting thing about lift passes is, at least here in Switzerland, you can save a significant amount by being resident in a ski resort. I bought my season pass last week, at a discount of around 40%. Other savings i made last year was by following the local ski club around, giving huge discounts on race days. Of course, the tourists get charged quite a bit more...
- gonzo 11y ago
  I get a Vail "Epic" (season) pass every year for a Christmas present. Experiences, not things.
hahamrfunnyguy 11y ago
You can buy $50 snowboards at Walmart, but it's nothing that should be ridden outside of the backyard. You can find bare boards for $75-$100, and bindings and boots for around $50. So yes, to some extent it's already happening in the snow industry. I doubt it is going to get too much cheaper than it is now.

reddytowns 11y ago

I learned how to surf on one of these. It's a nice beginner board, easy to catch waves, and soft enough that it didn't hurt when it bonked me in the head while I was still learning.

rcurry 11y ago
"soft enough that it didn't hurt when it bonked me in the head while I was still learning" That's a really good point, I always forget about the safety aspect. There's nothing like getting slammed in the back of the head by a 9'6" fiberglass school bus.

talsraviv 11y ago

This is one of my favorite boards to go out on, whether I'm in Hawaii or Florida - it's really good quality. I never gave it much thought, so it's very cool to learn the business story behind it.

apryldelancey 11y ago

These boards are especially great for mushy days. Another great board is the 5'8" Sushi fish if you like shorter boards. I have one for the smaller, weaker days and it's a blast. http://reviews.costco.com/2070/100114919/keeper-sports-products-california-board-company-sushi-58-fish-surfboard-reviews/reviews.htm http://reviews.costco.com/2070/100114919/keeper-sports-produ...

ryanackley 11y ago

Surfer here, this isn't really "disrupting" the surfboard industry. It's actually helping it because it lowers the barrier of entry and in turn introduces the sport to more people. There is still a very big market for performance surfboards in the ~$500 range.

forgetsusername 11y ago
>There is still a very big market for performance surfboards in the ~$500 range. Data? From the article, the number of surfers is growing at 1.7% annually, yet this company now sells 5 times more boards than anyone else. The majority of those sales were taken from other companies. If this isn't a disruption story than I don't know what is.
- _-__--- 11y ago
  your statements don't conflict, it's just an interpretation of the term "very big." Lots of people are buying the softtops, but those people might not be the people still investing in high-end hardtops (if that's the term). If sales of one item are increasing without a concurrent, statistically significant and apparently causal decrease in the sales of supposedly competing items, then it's not really disrupting a current market. It's just making it a lot bigger and getting most of the new volume. You could say that the market is almost tangential to the existing surf shop market.
  - forgetsusername 11y ago
    >but those people might not be the people still investing in high-end hardtops (if that's the term). Without knowing the underlying numbers, sure. It's possible. But the bigger point is that these small surf shops that sell both mid-priced soft-top and expensive hard-top boards are no longer selling the soft-tops, because an equivalent board can be had for $99, exclusively from Costco. That has to put pressure on the industry, and the supply of higher end boards.
- mrharrison 11y ago
  I would imagine its the type of board that sits in people's garage and gets used once a year. Once you really get into surfing you then upgrade. People who can really surf wouldn't use something like this. Sorry no data, but this what I see everytime I go out to a break. Beginners on these foam tops, intermediate and advanced on a $600 firewire, CI or vintage custom.

anotherhacker 11y ago

This isn't disruption. It's just "make something that's cheaper and/or better". It's a 75+ year old idea called called Creative Destruction.

johansch 11y ago

There are so many different kinds of markets like this. Just to pick another example: (In Europe) You can today pay 800 Euro for a chinese-made electric bike that sorta works, or 2000 Euro for something built in Germany that really works (with a drive engine made by Bosch taking most of that profit margin). I'm pretty sure the difference in price isn't down to the cost of the raw materials, but rather the know-how. This know-how will become common knowledge soon...

mkaziz 11y ago

Man, I came here expecting an article about Motorola Surfboard modems. I really need to get out more.

c3534l 11y ago

This is the first news story I've seen with an explicit tl;dr line at the bottom.

joosters 11y ago
Plus the obnoxious Bloomberg habit of writing a sentence, then writing it immediately again in A HUGE FONT SIZE for no obvious reason.
Kluny 11y ago
When it's a news article, they're supposed to put that at the top.

vinautomatic 11y ago

Title misleading, expecting a super cable modem

tswartz 11y ago

This video came out in 2013 of a pro surfer riding the Wavestorm in the big waves of Jaws. It helped fuel Wavestorm's sales, if it rides pretty well at Jaws, it will be just fine in a 2 or 3 foot beginner swell. https://youtu.be/0s2cCHg5EEs?t=1m51s https://youtu.be/0s2cCHg5EEs?t=1m51s

awl130 11y ago

the open secret about surfing is that most people only try surfing once--usually on vacation. this is because to be a "surfer", (a) you have to live within a 20 mile proximity of a very select area of coastline; and (b) it takes many different sessions, spread out over a long period of time, in order for you to become proficient. this is largely due to the fact that you need to paddle out to the wave. compare this to snowboarding. your first time on a mountain, you will absolutely "snowboard". there's a lift that carries you directly to the top of the mountain. surfing is like going skiing or snowboarding without a lift. you'd have to hike up a mountain every time you wanted to ski. think of how many people would end up being proficient. that is why this $99 surfboard has really taken off. there may be 2.7 million surfers as the article states (which i find highly doubtful--this is way too high a number), but there are many more times that inland people that try surfing on their holiday and then never go again.

the_watcher 11y ago
> this is way too high a number I assume you've never lived in Southern California? You'd be astounded at the number of casual surfers (by that, I mean someone who surfs at least once a month) who own surfboards. And that's just one high concentration surf area.
- giarc 11y ago
  And the other 4x states that don't have a coastline don't really contribute any data.
- awl130 11y ago
  i live in socal but on second thought 2.7mm is pretty realistic i guess. hard to get a baseline. there are around 30mm golfers in the us; but for surfing, 1/3 of the usa lives on the coastline (123mm people); maybe 1/3 of that is surfable (basically ca, fl, hi, and then maybe or, wa, nc, va); so anyway 1/9 of golfers? makes sense
  - the_watcher 11y ago
    Basically every state with a coastline has some amount of surfers. All the Pacific and Gulf states have well-known breaks, as do the southern Atlantic coasts. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have fewer "quality" surf spots, but they're all surfable. Even Alaska has a well known break, though AK's population limits its contribution to total surfers.

kin 11y ago

Wave Storms have been around for years so this story really doesn't cover anything new. It's also not really disruption because Wave Storms are considered entry level boards that if anything drives demands for more expensive boards once someone actually makes it a hobby. When I read the article I was hoping for a stylish mass produced fiberglass board. Now that would truly disrupt the market.

rhodysurf 11y ago
Well i mean were close. With all the current Mass produced boards made by like JS (for example). They are glassed in china and should not cost even close to what they charge for them. The only problem is profit margins from the companies that actually are able mass produce boards.

gonzo 11y ago

"Surfing sucks. Don't try it."