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like to work in the online surf business?

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  • 15-03-2014 3:46pm
    #1
    yeswecantooo
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭


    I am looking for someone to help develop and run an online watersports shop, selling surfboards, surf clothing and other watersports equipment. I and another backer have capital for stock and premises, and a dream. Anyone interested in a job or partnership? If interested, and you have online marketing qualifications / skills, p.m. and we can discuss it further.

    Mod: hope this is allowed...it may suit some jobseeking young surfer, who may otherwise have to emigrate. If this post breaches boards.ie posting guidelines, apologies and you may delete it.


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    #2
    Mickeroo
    Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,239 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Mickeroo


    They seem to allow it in the Entrepreneurial forum so I've no problem with this being here too. :)


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    #3
    glide
    Registered Users Posts: 153 ✭✭glide


    yeswecantooo wrote: »
    I am looking for someone to help develop and run an online watersports shop, selling surfboards, surf clothing and other watersports equipment. I and another backer have capital for stock and premises, and a dream. Anyone interested in a job or partnership? If interested, and you have online marketing qualifications / skills, p.m. and we can discuss it further.

    Mod: hope this is allowed...it may suit some jobseeking young surfer, who may otherwise have to emigrate. If this post breaches boards.ie posting guidelines, apologies and you may delete it.

    So is this online shop going to support any Irish surf businesses or is it going to take more business from Ireland?


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    #4
    rodento
    Registered Users Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭rodento


    Any new shops or business's are going to take trade away from existing business's so I don't see the point of the ur post?????


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    #5
    cpoh1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭cpoh1


    Considering the only real online shop available to Irish surfers is Magicseaweed and is british, surely an online Irish store is a great alternative and keeps money in the country?

    I think this is a good thing provided it can compete financially


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    #6
    OldGuysRule
    Registered Users Posts: 451 ✭✭OldGuysRule


    lahinch surf shop and troggs both have online stores, don't know about others but reckon the are more


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    #7
    glide
    Registered Users Posts: 153 ✭✭glide


    cpoh1 wrote: »
    Considering the only real online shop available to Irish surfers is Magicseaweed and is british, surely an online Irish store is a great alternative and keeps money in the country?

    I think this is a good thing provided it can compete financially


    Not really when all the products they sell are from outside the country!


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    #8
    rodento
    Registered Users Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭rodento


    glide wrote: »
    Not really when all the products they sell are from outside the country!

    Part from surfboards which you can buy from source and already have an online presence, what can you buy that's surfing related that's made in ireland :/

    Not making sense mate :D


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    #9
    glide
    Registered Users Posts: 153 ✭✭glide


    rodento wrote: »
    Part from surfboards which you can buy from source and already have an online presence, what can you buy that's surfing related that's made in ireland :/

    Not making sense mate :D

    Wetsuits
    Wax
    Boardbags

    Is that enough?


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    #10
    promethius
    Registered Users Posts: 1,103 ✭✭✭promethius


    yeswecantooo wrote: »
    I am looking for someone to help develop and run an online watersports shop, selling surfboards, surf clothing and other watersports equipment. I and another backer have capital for stock and premises, and a dream. Anyone interested in a job or partnership? If interested, and you have online marketing qualifications / skills, p.m. and we can discuss it further.

    Mod: hope this is allowed...it may suit some jobseeking young surfer, who may otherwise have to emigrate. If this post breaches boards.ie posting guidelines, apologies and you may delete it.


    good luck with the new venture. surfing is different to many other sports and links to the country and even the localities are important since it's a lifestyle as much as a sport. sponsoring some local riders/events could be a good way of establishing links as well as stocking some locally made gear if possible.


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    #11
    lizgal
    Registered Users Posts: 123 ✭✭lizgal


    please email tara 7 tara at g mail dot com she knows someone interested


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    #12
    rodento
    Registered Users Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭rodento


    My two cents worth

    The irish market is tiny in relation to the uk one so you'll be mainly competing with retailers like magic seaweed and the wetsuit outlet, it'll be hard to beat them in terms of price etc

    A couple of folk have tried setting up online shops in the past and in my mind they haven't been terribly successful, unless of course if they've been attached to a shop.

    Worth trying to find out what happened to the ones that failed, may be a lesson in it


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    #13
    fundi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 187 ✭✭fundi


    cpoh1 wrote: »
    Considering the only real online shop available to Irish surfers is Magicseaweed and is british, surely an online Irish store is a great alternative and keeps money in the country?

    I think this is a good thing provided it can compete financially

    Some of the Irish shops are already quite competitive with the UK ones like magicseaweed, when you convert the sterling in to euro. For example, I got my last wetsuit ( a 2013/14 model O'Neill mutant ) for €210 inc next day delivery from sunset.ie in Sligo, while its about €229 from magicseaweed. So that was cheaper in Ireland. Some other suits are the same or not much in it. The 2 Bundoran shops have competitive prices too.

    My two cents worth is that the Irish market is quite small and already well enough serviced, and I think the English and French markets etc would prefer support their own shops - and get quicker delivery - than buy from Ireland? Nice to buy local or at least from the same country.


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    #14
    ted1
    Registered Users Posts: 23,497 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    I find https://www.kingofwatersports.com/category.do to be one of the best and cheapest web shops for waterpsorts, can you compete with them.

    will you have a Bricks and Mortar store? if not then why do you need a premises, that's an expense you don't need, starting off a spare room or garage would do you.


    how much stock do you plan to carry, lots of gear is seasonal, get it wrong and the you'll making a loss very fast.

    I ran a successful online shop selling kites and boards during college, but closed it as i was to busy doing other stuff. what i did find was that the real money starts to come in when you start doing lessons. most students will buy the gear of the shop they learn with.

    most experienced guys will have shops that they are loyal too and and will be getting discounts etc.

    its a tough market. good luck


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    #15
    fundi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 187 ✭✭fundi


    ted1 wrote: »
    I find https://www.kingofwatersports.com/category.do to be one of the best and cheapest web shops for waterpsorts
    They were not competitive for my O'Neill wetsuit, I found it actually cheaper in Ireland. Another wetsuit I looked at they were slightly cheaper though. Not much in it. I did not want to use them anyway as its a long way to post stuff back if its the wrong size or there is a warranty problem.
    ted1 wrote: »
    I ran a successful online shop selling kites and boards during college, but closed it as i was to busy doing other stuff.
    If it was successful why did you not keep it on and appoint a manager, or sell the business? Were you successful in selling abroad, or did you find overseas customers would not buy off you, for whatever reason?


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    #16
    ted1
    Registered Users Posts: 23,497 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    fundi wrote: »
    They were not competitive for my O'Neill wetsuit, I found it actually cheaper in Ireland. Another wetsuit I looked at they were slightly cheaper though. Not much in it. I did not want to use them anyway as its a long way to post stuff back if its the wrong size or there is a warranty problem.


    If it was successful why did you not keep it on and appoint a manager, or sell the business? Were you successful in selling abroad, or did you find overseas customers would not buy off you, for whatever reason?

    A managers wage would have absorbed the profit. For the few hours I put in I got a nice return.

    I go to be a distributor of a few brands and supplied some shops in the UK and Ireland. as well as selling to the Public.

    Some good friends of mine were opening schools and i had just got a good engineering job. As my side job was competing against their livelihood I introduced them to our suppliers, closed the shop and let them get on with it.


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    #17
    xxyyzz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,196 ✭✭✭xxyyzz


    cpoh1 wrote: »
    Considering the only real online shop available to Irish surfers is Magicseaweed and is british, surely an online Irish store is a great alternative and keeps money in the country?

    I think this is a good thing provided it can compete financially

    Bigsurf.ie?

    Based in Cork I believe


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    #18
    cpoh1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭cpoh1


    xxyyzz wrote: »
    Bigsurf.ie?

    Based in Cork I believe

    Interesting, never heard of it! From reading this thread there may be a few options already for Irish retailers. I have personally only ever used Andy from Troggs or magicseaweed. Anything like way or a new leash I pick up anytime I hit Lahinch or Castle.

    Here's the problem, local surf shops thrived on the clothes/fashion aspect of business during the boom years. Once the money tightended and teens fashion moved elsewhere all you were left with was the actual surfing consumables. There's not much money to be made from boards, wetsuits and wax. I personally knew one surf shop owner in cork well and he was on a loss for a really long time before shutting up shop and that was with a cheap lease.

    Will running it on the net be cheaper? Enough to earn a full time living? Unlikely for me.


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    #19
    Dharnam
    Registered Users Posts: 34 ✭Dharnam


    Hi. I surf and would be very interested. If you can Pm me or email me at <snip> it would be great. Ciaran, :)

    Mod:Keep personal details to PM please.


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    #20
    yeswecantooo
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭yeswecantooo


    cpoh1 wrote: »
    From reading this thread there may be a few options already for Irish retailers.

    You are right. As others and you have said, there are online options already based in Ireland like sunset.ie troggs.com bigsurf etc
    cpoh1 wrote: »
    Here's the problem, local surf shops thrived on the clothes/fashion aspect of business during the boom years. Once the money tightended and teens fashion moved elsewhere all you were left with was the actual surfing consumables. There's not much money to be made from boards, wetsuits and wax. I personally knew one surf shop owner in cork well and he was on a loss for a really long time before shutting up shop and that was with a cheap lease.
    I agree its a competitive market but there are still shops going in Ireland and abroad. The English or French person does not work for nothing and has to pay overheads too, and is not always cheaper. Some shops over there have closed too.

    cpoh1 wrote: »
    Will running it on the net be cheaper? Enough to earn a full time living?

    Who knows yet. Its difficult to estimate the proportion of surf goods bought on the net in Ireland versus bought in store. I think many people prefer to buy in a shop where they can touch and feel the material, try it on if necessary etc.

    Then I have to try to work out how of the goods bought online, how much is from Irish suppliers and how much from overseas suppliers? Will the UK or French person buy from Ireland if it was slightly cheaper, and put up with the extra day or twos carriage? One difficulty I am coming up against in my feasibility study is the cost of sending bulky items from here to UK / abroad. The Irish market is small and already catered for, I would hope to develop more in to overseas markets if I proceed. Am currently finalising projections for the first 2 years etc. It probably may not go ahead / will not risk my capital, but thanks for your comments anyway.

    As its not easy to establish what happens in the online surf business, if anyone has any comments about where they prefer to shop, any good or bad experiences with online surf retailers, and how the Irish online shops compare to the overseas ones/which ones are best and why, please p.m. any comments. Probably best to leave any comments by p.m., and let this thread die. Thank you.


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