ios fingerboarding stuff way too expensive ? seriously a bag with two zipped pouches and a brand logo for £35(flashbone bags), youve got to be kidding. Little bits of metal for £50 (brr trucks) also i can understand why homemade decks would be expensive but not like cnc china wheels for £10 probs make them for like 1p for a set of 4, just plastic and a little bit of metal. I dont understand :S if anyone could explain that could be great or are we all thinking the same thing ?

Think of Blackriver as a big drug cartel. They control the price of everything, and what is good and bad quality in the eyes of the people (which in most cases their product is lesser quality on the whole, but is said to be good) anyways that's my mini rant.

Go talk to a local engineering firm, and ask them how much it would be to produce trucks, from design to completion, then add professional packaging. 

To set up a truck company like blackriver trucks.  You are looking at over a years work in design and prototyping. The total cost to actually get a full production run of trucks, packaged and ready to ship from start to finish will EASILY run you $4000-6000.

So how do you make that back ? You have to charge for your product to reflect that cost.

Also, who said you had to buy all that stuff ? You can always buy some china trucks wheels and a cheap deck, or just stick to a TechDeck.

Is a shirt size small cheaper than a size large?


Nope.

Price isn't calculated by volume. If BRT's are just little bits of metal for you, i think you should just buy some metal and see if you can work out how to mount your wheels with that.
The price is based on development costs and supply/demand. If you feel ripped off, you should just stop buying stuff.

TBH i don't think fingerboarding is expensive. All you need is a setup. That setup can be a Tech Deck for the price of $5 or so.

You could also go for a pro setup. One of those doesn't have to cost more than about $100.
How many hobbies lets you go pro for $100?

Very true points being said. I too feel like you and sometimes say,"Why i am i paying $65 dollars for a little piece of metal?" But really, i cant use anything besides BRT's. Yes i think everything in the FB world could go down a few dollars, but not much. Like Mikkel said, what other sports let you go pro for $100. I my opinion, i think everything is priced at what it is because of craftsmanship. If you can make something perfectly that not most people could make, you can charge a pretty penny for it.(BRR)

How can you understand expensive decks but not trucks? You don't need serious machinery to make decks. Also it costs more to get small things machined.

i think trucks are wayyyy overpriced, and popular decks such as berlinwood etc.

Jack L wrote:

i think trucks are wayyyy overpriced, and popular decks such as berlinwood etc.

But blackriver and Ytrucks are THE BEST available.
So are Berlinwood, and other big ticket decks.

If you want the best, expect to pay for it. 

Thing is, they aren't overpriced. Because if they were 90% of the members on this forum wouldn't have purchased them.

It's a bit like a Ferrari and a Honda Civic. 
One is a precision price of sports engineering, the other is a basic value end car.
They don't cost the same, however, arguably they both do the same job.

Edit :

And sorry, but you said it yourself... "Popular decks" are overpriced..... 
When your business is too busy to cope with selling decks for super cheap, you up the price. 
Supply and demand.

I agree that a lot of decks are overpriced, but newcomers often see a higher price as higher quality, so they save for the most expensive stuff.

Trucks aren't that bad, a set will last you a long time unless you're a tool. Plus you can sell 'professional' trucks on for a fair amount on here no matter what the condition, as long as you state their condition and have a reasonable price for them that is, because people can order replacements and restore them a bit.

It's all down to opinion though.

Thanks for the feedback guys and mikes input and twests really made me understand it, I suppose it is the best in the market so you can expect to pay a bit for it and I understand Ryan about the smaller things being more expensive , so thanks guys I understand fully now

Joe Fullager wrote:

Go talk to a local engineering firm, and ask them how much it would be to produce trucks, from design to completion, then add professional packaging. 

To set up a truck company like blackriver trucks.  You are looking at over a years work in design and prototyping. The total cost to actually get a full production run of trucks, packaged and ready to ship from start to finish will EASILY run you $4000-6000.

So how do you make that back ? You have to charge for your product to reflect that cost.

Also, who said you had to buy all that stuff ? You can always buy some china trucks wheels and a cheap deck, or just stick to a TechDeck.

Tech Deck makes their trucks for like $0.001 cents.

Yeah but their stuff is manufactured in china.
I agree that some of the popular brands can be a bit overpriced. Berlinwoods are what, $45 now? It's obvious that the quality is there but I can get a quality deck somewhere else for a lower price. I can understand why trucks and wheels are expensive, because that amount of precision on such a small scale has to be difficult to get. I wouldn't want to spend more than $30 on wheels or a deck, but I'd be willing to pay the full amount for brt's or ytrucks.

Pureskate wrote:

Joe Fullager wrote:

Go talk to a local engineering firm, and ask them how much it would be to produce trucks, from design to completion, then add professional packaging. 

To set up a truck company like blackriver trucks.  You are looking at over a years work in design and prototyping. The total cost to actually get a full production run of trucks, packaged and ready to ship from start to finish will EASILY run you $4000-6000.

So how do you make that back ? You have to charge for your product to reflect that cost.

Also, who said you had to buy all that stuff ? You can always buy some china trucks wheels and a cheap deck, or just stick to a TechDeck.

Tech Deck makes their trucks for like $0.001 cents.

Your point is?

I am very sure that Tech Deck spends at least $4000-6000 when they set up a new product production.


Also, BRTs and Tech Deck trucks are two completely different products.

Yep. TechDeck has the buying power to buy a product run of around 3 million trucks easily.
The more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Plus they use the cheapest possible material and spend very little  on design and development.

lol

Pureskate wrote:

Joe Fullager wrote:

Go talk to a local engineering firm, and ask them how much it would be to produce trucks, from design to completion, then add professional packaging. 

To set up a truck company like blackriver trucks.  You are looking at over a years work in design and prototyping. The total cost to actually get a full production run of trucks, packaged and ready to ship from start to finish will EASILY run you $4000-6000.

So how do you make that back ? You have to charge for your product to reflect that cost.

Also, who said you had to buy all that stuff ? You can always buy some china trucks wheels and a cheap deck, or just stick to a TechDeck.

Tech Deck makes their trucks for like $0.001 cents.

You have to ask yourself how much trucks TD has made and how much BRR has made? I'm sure TD has a lot bigger market than BRR.

Ryan wrote:

Pureskate wrote:

Joe Fullager wrote:

Go talk to a local engineering firm, and ask them how much it would be to produce trucks, from design to completion, then add professional packaging. 

To set up a truck company like blackriver trucks.  You are looking at over a years work in design and prototyping. The total cost to actually get a full production run of trucks, packaged and ready to ship from start to finish will EASILY run you $4000-6000.

So how do you make that back ? You have to charge for your product to reflect that cost.

Also, who said you had to buy all that stuff ? You can always buy some china trucks wheels and a cheap deck, or just stick to a TechDeck.

Tech Deck makes their trucks for like $0.001 cents.

You have to ask yourself how much trucks TD has made and how much BRR has made? I'm sure TD has a lot bigger market than BRR.

This and the fact that they aren't made how BRR trucks are made, and that Tech Deck is run by a major corporation.

I'll tell you what's not getting ripped off.

This dude^ @ OG Decks is having a deck sale, 50% off! that means you can get a deck! handmade, 32mm, of great quality right now for $7.50.

Ain't nobody gettin' ripped off there son!



I have no affiliation with Gunner Boser or OG decks, just pointing out a fucking badass deal when I see one.

Pureskate wrote:

Tech Deck makes their trucks for like $0.001 cents.

It shows.

This has been an interesting thread to read through,keep your opinions coming guys. 

Interesting thread...
I supply custom CNC machined aluminum molds to many of the smaller companies. I have seen the decks produced by those companies and the quality is very high. For the most part it exceeds the larger companies and the prices are lower. I made and sold decks for a couple of years and it is very difficult to really make any money considering the time involved.

On the other hand the cost of developing new products such as trucks and wheels and bringing them to market to sell at a reasonable profit is very high. I worked in product development in the jewely industry for many years so I am familiar with the process. I've seen items that, after a year of development, did not sell enough to pay for the cost of bringing them to the market.

I am in the postion of selling what many people consider an expensive product. They are not aware of what it costs to buy and maintain CNC machines. If you take into consideration the time spent learning how to use the equipment and software (3 different programs), the price may not seem so high.

I don't think anybody is getting ripped off. In fact, the decks from some of the smaller companies are a bargain. As for the expensive trucks and wheels...they may seem overpriced but
considering what the development costs are and the relatively small market they are fairly priced.

Companies need to make a reasonable profit to stay in business. If they don't provide a product or service that you want at a price you are willing to pay they will fade from the scene. It is your choice.

All I can say is your paying for quality products that will last longer then cheaper products such as Tech deck its all up to you on how you spend your money and what setup you run i think its a fair price for brt's considering they can last years and same with decks a good quality deck should be a reasonable price its like buying a used car opposed to a new car one will break down and you are sure of but the other will take much longer to go kaput on you.

Running a company has lots of expenses. It'll run you dry if your not careful. There's lots of little things that fall into the equation to produce a fingerboard.

I definitely agree with you! I mean, it is hard to make these things, but asking for pretty much a fortune for miniature skateboard models is pretty ludicrous. That's why I have never bought a pair of Blackriver Trucks.

jakefrottypottysnotty wrote:

I definitely agree with you! I mean, it is hard to make these things, but asking for pretty much a fortune for miniature skateboard models is pretty ludicrous. That's why I have never bought a pair of Blackriver Trucks.

I remember when I thought TDs were so much better than any other fingerboard brand until I opened up my eyes and actually got a decent complete. I have to tell you it was worth the high price.