Why are surf clothing brands so expensive

[sharky]

i went into 2 seasons and free spirit (surf shops) like i usually do and it clicked these shops sell all the top brands of surf wear and they are well expensive but why. I know there good quality i have a wardrobe of the best names but i just find it weird and ridiculous about the prices being so high. any1 have any reasons why and has anyone thought this ?

[goodysurf]

omg. i totally agree. i got a bunch of xxxxx for x mas, i got a billabong wallet and it was 40.00!!!!!! OMF. a lot of this xxxxx i wear is wither billabong or roxy and its all so retardedly expensive.. im guessing because its brand name??
haha

[Laguna]

Totally agree, they are all over expensive! All the brands like Billabong and Quicksilver rip you off big time - Boarshorts start at like £40!!
Ive got a lot of billabong,quicksilver and o'neill t-shirts but I only get them when they are at a decent price, I dont aim to buy these big brand names - just buy what looks and fits good.

[telemonster]

Let me paint you a picture;

a rich kid arives at the beach. in his hand is the latest kelly slater style potato-chip thin surf board, and he is decked out in brand name surf gear that matches his board. He enters the water and eats sh*t for an hour. then comes back. every other word he says is dude.

on the other hand

a philopino, wearing sun-bleached rags, carves up the waves all day and then goes home to his shack. His board is about 20 years old and is shared by three others. he has never heard of billabong and can't pronounce dude.

Who is the real surfer?

the corporate giants have given a lot to surfing; technology, style, fame. but they have polluted it with materialism

[deathfrog]

it's the same as all the other big name brands, like abercrombie and hollister, they're just selling the name

[Brent]

What I find really funny is (writing from the perspective of a 40 year old surfer here) is how stupid & consumerist it all is. I'm no broke bum hippy nor do I wear rags...but why is it you youngsters pay 40 dollars/pounds whatever to buy a wallet with someone's logo all over it??? Do they pay you to advertise their product or something?...Then why do you do it???

There is nothing funnier that like I saw today. A bunch of young groms from out of town, duding along at our local...every single one of them was mister Volcom/Rip Curl/ Billabong from head to toe...I'm talking huge logo's, massive branding on every single piece of clothing from their baseball caps to their shoes. From my perspective they just looked stupid.

If you wanna be class wear your logos on the inside.

[farmersurfer]

The even stupider thing is that the clothes arnt even of superior quality! (sound like a granny) but they're all 100% acrylic or some crap which cost peanuts to make. I dont know if anyone happend to read an article in Surfers Path a while back with Yvonne Chounard, one of the founding guys of Patogenia. His company gives 1% of all profits to charity, their boards are many times stronger than most etc, he seemed to have some pretty interesting stuff to say on this subject. When i was a bit younger ( im still only 18) i used to buy tonnes of brand stuff, but kinda grew out of it all and realised its never gona make me surf better or be more popular, alot of people who i meet, who are coverd in brand stuff are the exact definition of SHALLOW.

[farmersurfer]

Eighteen*

[Laguna]

It is sick how these big brands screw you, its true - they are made for almost nothing - they use cheap material and stick their logo on it. The other day i saw a nice Rip Curl t-shirt , looked at the price and thought it cant be more than £15 , turns out it was £30 , i mean who would pay that?

In my local surf shop - they specialise in selling Billabong , its basically all they sell, apart from the wetsuits and some boards being ok for price the rest is all ridiculously overpriced rubbish.

[PapaW]

I'm only buying from companies that support b00gin. Everything else gets used till it falls apart :D

Shirt... smart... wtf are they ;)

[sharky]

thanks everyone i agree with everything that people has said, it's good that people feel the same

[farmersurfer]

I forgot to say, a mate of mine used to work a Fistral surf company down in saltash and after a few weeks there, one of the other members of staff took him aside and said that he doesn't wear enough brand clothing! so he said that its too expensive etc and it was left at that, Few weeks later he was fired because he wasn't "gelling" with the group! couldn't believe it! i mean it's a f**king surf shop! not a fashion show! i refuse to buy anything from them now

[Laguna]

Thats really sick, its pathetic if they think they are cool by having all the big brand names. He should have sued them

[Brent]

My whole perspective on surf-clothing changed a couple of years ago when I read a book written in 2000 by Canadian author Naomi Klein titled "No Logo". It's a book about how companies like Nike etc manupulate free trade agreements & poor third-world countries desperation for foreign investment by global brands. Surf brands like Volcom, Ripcurl, Billabong also do this. They set up shop (often large companies band together to manafacture under one roof) in poor countries often not even paying tax (they negotiate this when setting up "you give us a tax break for a year & we'll re-negotiate then") the poor country takes it in the arse just to get the jobs. What jobs. Money is so bad they might as well not even call it jobs. Teenagers working 14+ hours per day for what....you to have poor quality disposable clothing.


I know, every time you buy a surf-branded tee shirt...imagine a young adult in Asia somewhere working for crap money under harsh conditions for your pleasure.

Read the book. It's a good eye opener.

[CleanHeadHigh]

Brent, it's true that many companies like nike and stuff do use pretty much slave labor but thats not the way that volcom and many surf companies do, just thought i'd clear that up... and by no means do i wear name brand shiit, im just a white t shirt and jeans kind of person. I do think it's ridiculous that the prices are so high, just dont wear it and tell people not to waste their money on it.

[Brent]

What do you mean they don't do it?
Hmmm...if they didn't how could they possibly compete in the same competitive market?
Tell you what - next time you go into a surf shop check the racks...look at the following brands, Ripcurl, Volcom, Billabong (that'll do for starters) and look at the labels on the clothing. Specifically look at the countries of manfacture.
I rest my case.

[hawaiiSUCKSexceptsurf]

almost every big company has blood on its hands. it doesnt matter if its surf stuff. buy your shi t at savers or goodwill. since its second hand youre only giving the store money which is usually charity anyway. and if you have some time to look theres really cool shi t

labels are stupid anyway. why do you want to pay more to look like everyone else?

[xSurfAddictx]

totally agree with ever1.
its not wot u wear that makes u the surfa its how u surf. surfing has become a trend n ppl think they are surfas just by wearing a rip curl/billabong etc tshirt but thats not the case. still the cloths and fashion rock. i mean if kelly slater walked in wearin a plain t no 1 wud care!

[CleanHeadHigh]

Brent, you are very correct, and i was wrong, sorry for making everyone stupider with my last comment. Maybe its just me but i prefer my clothes made by migrant workers, and slave laborers, the smaller hands of the children allow them to weave my clothes tighter.

[Brent]

yawn.