Genuine and helpful comments????

[switchkites]

25% off for team riders,25% off of what,retail?
IMO>>team riders should get kites at cost.or cheaper...period.
many kiters already pay 25% off or more than retail.

Hi Kief, The reason that consumers of other brands often get large discounts is because of the even larger mark ups. In the case of Switch, the prices are already significantly lower. Switch set out to provide the absolute best price/performance in the market and has a policy of not having the average Joe punter subsidize anyone else's kites. When you purchase a Switch kite, you are paying for the cost of materials, manufacture and a very modest fixed margin. This is applied across the board - even staff pay for gear.

[Bulldog]

I thought the whole reason to start a company was to get a bunch of punters to subsidize your kiting addiction :P

In the end, sports like kiting are really just a pyramid scheme (but a really fun one).

[ramsey]

Switchkites,

Since you showed up here. I want to ask a question.

Best, when it came out basically had the same business model. Provide kites at a discount by cutting out the middle man. I remember 3 kites for the price of 2 deals and such. 5yrs later their prices are on par with all the other major manufacturers. Before I got a team rider deal through cabrinha (disclosure). I rode best. The lack of quality and presence on the beach definitely turned me off.

How are you any different? Genuine answer please......

[kief]

We may have to wait 5 years to find out.......

>>>I wish SWITHKITES and the whole kite community health and success!!!!!
And you're lucky to have robert and john as team riders.

I believe we are at a point where cost is stagnating growth,turning people away
and stigmatizing the sport as elite pursuit for the well-to-do's.
It would be refreshing to see kite companies stressing the durability and longevity of
their kites...like "you will have this kite for years!"
Instead of constantly pimping the next years gear"totally redesigned,game changer...
things will never be the same,and on and on....
I would like to see more open books,this is what a kite/bar costs to design,make,ship...
here is our profit margin.

The slingshot rally,a beautiful kite,that i see patrick ripping in the banner ad as
i write this,the 2012 10M currently retails for $1,789 us,fair price?
so you're looking at roughly $5000+ for a 3 kite quiver.ouch!
And we all have to live & ride with the fact that with one mistake,kite goes down in
the surf-drop it working on a handle-pass,ect. and our $2K kite is destroyed.
I still think a team rider should kites @ co$t.
F-punting,take the ball and run with it!

[ramsey]

oh btw, i'm not trying to pick on switch. Just trying to spur some conversation. I agree with kief and wish all the best to switch and the industry, but when you see kiteboarding mag go down I can't help but think its because the sport is prohibitive to enter.

Check this page out:

http://kiteboardingmag.com/files/2011/0 ... kit511.pdf

SOURCE: 2008 KITEBOARDING MAGAZINE ONLINE SURVEY
First in Distribution: 30,000
First in Total Readership: 60,000
Median Age 37
Median HHI $128,500
Male 88.3%
Female 9.1%
College Educated 87.5%
Plan to Take a Kiteboarding
Vacation in the Next 12 Months 66.8%
Length of Time Kiteboarding
(in Years)
Median 1.8
Mean 2.7
Have Taken Kiteboarding Lessons 77.4%
Average Spent on Equipment Annually $1,170
__________________________________________

Compare that with Transworld skate
Median Age 16
% 12-17 39%
% 18–24 33%
% 25–34 18%
% Male 91%
% with HHI above $50k 42%
% Spend 1+ Hours
With the Magazine 83%
% Visited a Company’s
Website After Seeing
Ad in Magazine 80%

http://transworldmediakit.com/pdfs/Skat ... 12-Gen.pdf

[switchkites]

Switchkites,

Since you showed up here. I want to ask a question.

Best, when it came out basically had the same business model. Provide kites at a discount by cutting out the middle man. I remember 3 kites for the price of 2 deals and such. 5yrs later their prices are on par with all the other major manufacturers. Before I got a team rider deal through cabrinha (disclosure). I rode best. The lack of quality and presence on the beach definitely turned me off.

How are you any different? Genuine answer please......

Hi Ramsey,

Any company when it is starting out looks to gain market share. Initially at least, price is the major factor that we have control of that can make the biggest impact. In this respect I suppose that Switch is no different from Best in the early days. Best certainly got noticed with its low prices. For what ever reason, Best made the decision at some point to also sell indirectly through re-sellers. These resellers were not going to work for Best for free so their margin had to be added on to the price. Best could hardly under cut their own resellers with their direct sales and therefore those prices had to rise too. Best essentially opted to join the rest of the industry and utilise the same distribution model as everyone else. I would say that this decision was made in order to once again increase market share. As we well know, marketing direct and not having a 'man on the ground' to show off the kite and put it directly in the customers hand, is a hard sell. Switch has attempted to mitigate this by recruiting 'team riders' and offer them benefits in return for acting as mini demo centres. This gets our kites out there in the hands of potential customers and so far this is working well. Our entire business model is based on cost + a reasonable margin. This is applied across the board to all our products. There is no reason that Switch will not do well if we continue to sell and we have no plans to change. Switch was born out of a passion for the sport and a desire to have quality gear at a reasonable price. We figured that this is what we all want...

Disclaimer: I have no inside knowledge of Best and any comment relating to Best is pure speculation on my part.

[ramsey]

switch thank for the reply. I think its good for the sport to get a younger demographic. a good way to do it is with cheaper prices. Time will tell though.

as for my original post. just giving rob a hard time....Both him and John are good riders that are helpful and fun to ride with. Rob you here???? Surprised, no smart ass reply yet. I'm getting worried :)

[Aloha]

In my opinion as we cut through the wonder-kite marketing... flight characteristics of a kite boiled down are 80-90% shape and maybe 10% engineering. A C-Kite looks, acts and feels like a C-Kite; A Delta a delta; a high-aspect bow etc.

I like how Switch takes that simple idea and puts it in a no frills low-cost design--pick your shape and "just pay for the kite". As long as the durability is there--it will reset the bar for the quality low-cost utilitarian kitesurfing experience

The stronger the "Switch business model" gets, the more the expensive brands that are dealer distributed will be required to add equivalent value to match their premium cost to stay viable. They can do this by being beautifully designed (the flying work of art factor)--much like Ducati has done in the motorbike world and/or partnering with dealers who are your friends and allies and will be there for you when you have a breakdown ("we got your back") and reward loyalty year after year.

It should however have the pump & dump dealers and the "totally redesigned,game changer... things will never be the same, and on and on year after year" over hype-marketed kite designers running for their money.

Disruptive business models change industries for better and for always. Keep up the good work

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

[Rob]

Hahaha oh shoot I been missing all the fun, I just got a text saying to check the forum lol. I love BAK.!.!
I guess everything was said, I know and see everyone pretty much on here and everyOne is super chill. The last thing I wanna do is go on a rant saying switch is the best don't buy anything else. Everyone has there opinion on something. No bar, board , nor kite is perfect. They have been super cool to me with sending gear for myself as well as for everyone else to demo. Like aloha said if you see me at any spot, feel free to take my kite,just let me know or I'll send Ramsey to take care of you. But I got a lot of kites and some more coming and so does John. So if you wanna try something feel free to ask. They got wetsuits, foil kites, boards and many new goods coming as well as a new delta "c" shape coming this month that I know a lot of people would love.
Sorry Ramsey I been lacking on smart ass comments, I been trying to chase the surf. And better my kill death ratio on cod. ! Lol one day I'll join your clan.

[kief]

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
>>>WELL SAID ALOHA AND ROB!!!<<<<<<
=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

9% FEMALE???HA,HA...MAYBE THAT'S OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM!!! :mrgreen: