Paulo1599968582

did the helmet have a stupid looking flower on it (-: Or has he take that of yet

I almost agree, but the 13m is the sweet kite in the range. I would keep it if I were you, the V13s (1 and 2) are in my belief are great kites.

But then IF the manufacturers did lower the prices, the prices in Europe would go down as well, so would have the same problem. I can only guess that some of these online Europe kiteshops seem to do well because they buy in bulk so get good innitial deals, or are just good at marketing. In a similar way that the big supermarket chains do so well commercially.

I am glad that it winds you up. Maybe then as a brand importer you will work harder to entice us 'the customers' to buy your imports. It is pretty dumb to blame customers for the failure of shops. Are you really saying that a shop in lets say Germany is "cheating" because it can offer me a better deal. The problem in the UK is some sort of islander mentality. In the rest of Europe it is accepted that competition is Europe wide, especially since the Euro was introduced. As for warantee, European shops offer that as well, I have had to use it as well and had no problems. Some of the European stores even offer free courier service to the UK

wow!! u learn something new everyday Hey Kingralst - off topic, are you EH dealer as implied in your avatar - have you got online store/site - you can pm me if more appropriate. Flew EH beast a few weeks ago and think have to say it is the best Tube Kite I have ridden.

You're going to the wrong shops. I travel around a lot with work and always visit a kite store if there's one near where I'm working. They are all different, some do haggle some stonewall. I did an O.K. deal on my last kite, but it would have been even better had it been a 2007 model, they are going real cheap. I mentioned that deal that went down with a Slinger Link whilst I was in there the other day, that must mean there's more margin than 30% or someone's losing money. I think a lot depends how badly you want the absolute latest deal kite, they asked me not to say anything so I certainly aint broadcasting details publicly but if you find two stores who aren't to far from each other and bat em against each other, that worked for me. Or I guess once you get to a million posts on a forum they give you stuff like 'King Colin eh? I bet he gets a great deal, not that I'm jealous (I am I just aint around enough to post as much as he does, then he doesn't get to be a porn star like me) If you really arn't ars*d about latest deal, then second hand is the big winner at the moment

this stinks of disgruntled kiter v kiteshop and the an ALIARSE is pulled out from the dead...fpmsl...that you Spar? I'm in a good mood - actually got out on the water at the weekend for first time in month. Just interests me that European Kite Prices ARE in general so much lower.

The man's a fkin genius, He's Solved the entire UK kite retailers problems. Get a decent Business plan. Pronto. Quick, phone all the ones that went bust in the last 2 years, Paulo's got the model. I wish, then I wouldn't have to sit in this fcking office checking out kite prices in Europe and trying to find a better deal in the UK I just happened to have a similar conversation with kiteshop owner a short while ago, as much as I don't really like sport shops that sell mainly clothing, it seems that sometimes it is the best way - if you want to maintain a real premises. I guess then, if you are going to do well, you need to be a sports fashion brand expert as well.

Therefore my arguement that you need a good business plan. If you want to make a decent living, then maybe you are going to have to use the kites or other headline product to attract customers, maybe then have other products that give you higher profit margin, maybe products that attract other sports persons, or in fact other customers. Another way would be to find a way to get better trade prices on the headline product. It isn't rocket science, but it requires a deal of thought, and a good business plan, some work, and some luck, before you have a good business. Oh, and very rarely do you get free shipping from Europe!! but you can still find a better deal

So there you have it - 25-30% mark up for shops. That sounds reasonable. NOT SILLY SMALL, It means that shops that are doing ok can offer 10% on some of their products in order to entice buyers, and can afford to offer bigger discount at end of line, without going negative. If 25-30% is not enough to give you a half decent living, then you probably just don't have the best business plan, because it is possible to run VERY successfull retail businesses - take a look around. Some of the bigger shops in Europe buy in Bulk at obviously lower prices so can offer bigger discount. Personally I like buying cheaper kites from Europe sometimes when I am in bargain hunting mood, since I don't really have any local kiteshop, if you buy from your local, then you can build up better relationship - and customer service - given decent dealer.

I guess that given that you can get an old but perfectly working car under £100 - why not a kite. The more kites on the market, the cheaper the second hand ones will be Probably the reason that new ones cost so much is to cover all of the R & D

It is true that more often, directionals offer better upwind and lightwind performance, this is usually because they are bigger and offer more planing surface. ALSO, you control direction more with the fins, rather than pressing an edge into the water and causing a lot more friction. There are many types of Directional, Long, Short, Wave Specific, Surfboard, Three footstraps, Two Footstraps, UnStrapped. Basically there is a lot to play with and experiment with, SO if you like the idea of riding directions, can be bothered to put the time in and learn to Jibe, then I would say that you could have years of fun ahead trying to find out which type you like best. As for me, I occasionally ride my mates directional, mainly on lightwind days when I can't get much out of my twintip. It is fun for a while - esp doing 360's or backloops with a 7 footer, but I can't Jibe, and MUCH prefer riding my twintip. That is my personal preference. If I lived by the sea and had much more time to practice, wsp in waves, then I would probably pull my finger out and learn to ride a directional properly. Some of the new twintips also offer excellent low wind capability now.

This is about the only decent explaination in this thread!!!!!!!!!!! and is correct. Why don't you send an email to Bob the Great TFC man himself???

hiya can you tell me the length of the guerilla bag Cheers Paul

Cheers for the bump, Yep, it is a nice board. It seems that ebay is the way to go though, so before I put it one there anyone interested