US Shops that will ship Burton OS

[panhead_pete 27]

Anyone know of any of the big shops in the US that will ship Burton products overseas?

[Fonty 1]

Maybe but I have never found any. To get around this problem use a Package Forwarder. Costs about US$10 to set up an account. In my experience you can usually get free ground costs if you are not in a hurry for your goods (about 1 week) and then the package forwarder will send via DHL or Fedex to you. Even with the freight costs goods usually end up costing a lot less than here in OZ.

[ippy 66]

not going to happen. Burton are really strict about enforcing their export agreement. Only places you can realistically get burton are ebay "stores". And even thats getting clamped down on. Heres a spot from angrysnowboarder about it:

 

BURLINGTON, VT (February 11, 2011) Burton Snowboards recently terminated dealer agreements with several US shops suspected of re-selling products through unauthorized channels. This move reflects Burton’s ongoing efforts to protect and support its global network of specialty retailers by aggressively combating gray marketing.

“I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again – I have absolutely no tolerance for gray marketing,” said Jake Burton, Founder and CEO of Burton Snowboards. “I don’t get why a snowboard shop in one part of the world has a right to shit on a local shop in another part of the world for short-term gains. I often think of it in the context of a Japanese dealer shipping product back to Walmart in the US. We want to build a global network of specialty retailers that cares about the sport, the brand, the product and each other. So we’re not afraid to end relationships with dealers that gray market anywhere in the world.”

Cutting off suspected dealers is just a part of Burton’s latest efforts to hammer home the message that gray marketing will not be tolerated. A few months ago in mid-season, Burton took unprecedented action by cancelling millions of dollars in US orders that were most likely intended for the gray market in Japan. In addition to tightly monitoring orders and inventory, Burton is closely tracking product that ends up in the gray market and tracing it back to the source.

For the sake of all its retail partners around the world, Burton’s goal is to ultimately eliminate gray market activity. The company will continue to do whatever it takes to protect the long-term health of its global specialty dealer network.

[gareth_oau 2]

Ive been using hopshopgo.com as a freight forwarder, brilliant service.

 

HSG will also:

 

- buy stuff on your behalf if the seller wont accept your CC

- repack into a smaller box if there are freight savings to be had

- hold stuff for a month and receive multiple consignments from different sources, then pack them all into one box for you

 

also find their freight rates are very competitive and for example cheaper than backcountry.com offers

[andylaurel 3]

While I totally understand Burton's stance toward gray marketing, it sucks that I can't buy a snowboard big enough for me in this country. If anyone knows where I can get a Ride Slackcountry 164 in Hokkaido, let me know.

[mitchpee 10]

not going to happen. Burton are really strict about enforcing their export agreement. Only places you can realistically get burton are ebay "stores". And even thats getting clamped down on. Heres a spot from angrysnowboarder about it:

 

BURLINGTON, VT (February 11, 2011) Burton Snowboards recently terminated dealer agreements with several US shops suspected of re-selling products through unauthorized channels. This move reflects Burton’s ongoing efforts to protect and support its global network of specialty retailers by aggressively combating gray marketing.

“I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again – I have absolutely no tolerance for gray marketing,” said Jake Burton, Founder and CEO of Burton Snowboards. “I don’t get why a snowboard shop in one part of the world has a right to shit on a local shop in another part of the world for short-term gains. I often think of it in the context of a Japanese dealer shipping product back to Walmart in the US. We want to build a global network of specialty retailers that cares about the sport, the brand, the product and each other. So we’re not afraid to end relationships with dealers that gray market anywhere in the world.”

Cutting off suspected dealers is just a part of Burton’s latest efforts to hammer home the message that gray marketing will not be tolerated. A few months ago in mid-season, Burton took unprecedented action by cancelling millions of dollars in US orders that were most likely intended for the gray market in Japan. In addition to tightly monitoring orders and inventory, Burton is closely tracking product that ends up in the gray market and tracing it back to the source.

For the sake of all its retail partners around the world, Burton’s goal is to ultimately eliminate gray market activity. The company will continue to do whatever it takes to protect the long-term health of its global specialty dealer network.

 

 

As someone in the industry...

 

What this realistically states is "we want to be able to sell goods at overpriced margins in foreign countries so we can gain higher profits off the name we built"

[muikabochi 208]

Rossignol seem to be similarly very strict with their skis.

[igloo 3]

I suppose if you dudes owned businesses and had the chance to sell goods at high profits, you would not do it?

[muikabochi 208]

Don't look at me, I would never own a business selling products, so I would never be confronted with such dilemmas!!

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I suppose if you dudes owned businesses and had the chance to sell goods at high profits, you would not do it?

 

no, I'd actually give em away for free and try and spark a revolution of the snowboarding proletariat.......but thats just me

[ju87 0]

based on my experience buying ice hockey gear which has similar export restrictions... a lot of ebay retailers don't give a toss. just putting that out there...

[pie-eater 207]

Ah but do they last long up there?

[Slippery Jim 65]

Typical Jake Burton posturing, once a douce...

[kokodoko 67]

boycott Burton

[Kansaiash 6]

I guess it depends what you want. I recently got some Burton wear from CCS in the US. They dont have a great range but they do have some stuff and relatively cheap too.

[hellyer 216]

I suppose if you dudes owned businesses and had the chance to sell goods at high profits, you would not do it?

 

no, I'd actually give em away for free and try and spark a revolution of the snowboarding proletariat.......but thats just me

 

ha ha You might change your name to Che TubbyBeaverinho

[mitchpee 10]

I suppose if you dudes owned businesses and had the chance to sell goods at high profits, you would not do it?

 

No, having been to Jake's house and seen how much he has I would never desire to own as many/much stuff/things as that guy does.

 

I would much rather deliver a quality product and further a sport that I believe represents a very positive embracement of life.

[NoFakie 45]

I suppose if you dudes owned businesses and had the chance to sell goods at high profits, you would not do it?

 

Here, it's more a case of sell at a high price to person A, at much lower price to person B, and in a way that ensures person A cannot buy at the same price as person B. As morality plays go, that's a lot more complex.

 

Person A here is young Japanese people. Japanese people like cool things and so they like Burton. Shit, Shaun, Terje, etc. are fantastic riders, so its understandable people want the same. Japanese kids aren't all swimming in money, so I don't see why they should pay whatever it is more than American kids. With 75 to the dollar, I wouldn't be surprised if its close to double. Japanese kids are really image-conscious, so that they want Burton etc. as soon as they get started. Since Burton is a market leader, their high prices help other people charge high prices too, raising the cost of people getting into snowsports. As someone who enjoys them, I think this is a real shame.

[surfarthur 22]

You have a good point Mr Wiggles, especially in a country like Japan, where skier/snowboarder numbers at most resorts seem to go down every year, Burton (and other manufacturers) should be doing what they can to provide equipment at a reasonable cost to allow the sport to be as accessable as possible. With the yen currently very strong, why should prices be so high? I could understand it if it was like 10% more than in the US to account for the cost of freight, but it does seem much higher than that.

[Fonty 1]

As a parent of children who watch the likes of Shaun White wearing Burton gear, image is everything. Only by circumnavigating the system using a package forwarding service can I afford to give them this brand. A jacket that I buy online in the states end of season on sale for US$120 will cost AUD$400. Even on sale I could never get it for half that including my shipping.

 

[mitchpee 10]

As a parent of children who watch the likes of Shaun White wearing Burton gear, image is everything. Only by circumnavigating the system using a package forwarding service can I afford to give them this brand. A jacket that I buy online in the states end of season on sale for US$120 will cost AUD$400. Even on sale I could never get it for half that including my shipping.

 

If you look at the sport and how it was started (a factory in a van) it seems that Jake Carpenter Aka Burton has lost almost all touch with the sport. The very lifestyle it emphasizes is completely hypocritical now.

 

Oh well, glad I don't snowboard

[Fonty 1]

I totally agree with you MP, but kids are fickle and they wouldn't even know who Jake Carpenter is.........all they care about is wearing what Shaun White is wearing! What can I say??

[ippy 66]

I er, actually dont mind about it to be honest. I mean i know it shafts me at the end fo the day as an international consumer, but one of the points they argue is that its the 'cost of doing business' in gaikoku.

 

Basically someone once explained it thus: exchange rates pop up and down throughout the course of the products life. So they pin an exchange rate on said product a little above the market expectation and thats the first step.

Step 2 they throw in the rest of it - duty and shipping.

Step 3 the price is then adjusted to the general market for similar priced items.

Step 4 the retailer throws in their cut.

Step 5 MSRP.

 

Or something like that.

 

Im not really sure how on earth japan and australia ends up with their prices when you compare with the EU or the UK for example (both of whom have about a $200 increase on US prices which isnt too bad, since if you tried to import it yourself youd probably end up paying that with tariffs and shipping). But apparently thats "the cost of doing business". :? i dunno. Ive never tried building and selling snowboards, maybe it is...

 

Either way (and ignoring the aforementioned elephant in teh room), since you can massively undercut both of those markets they obviously have to clamp down on it otherwise the people who would stock burton and take up X% of space in store with burton (and burton affiliate) gear would end up with dead stock and not making any more orders. So theyre both protecting and at the same time knee-capping their retaliers. Its all a bit complex when youre dealing with a de facto price fixing scam

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I'm all for getting my stuff for cheaper....I'll continue to try and exploit loopholes and buy from the cheapest source (as long as it doesn't hinder the quality of course)

[Bradley 0]

Most people who are not in business simply can't appreciate 'the cost of doing business'.

Understandable, as sometimes even I can't believe it at times and I have to pay it.

Doesn't mean that there might be some companies 'taking advantage' of a situation, but it's often more complicated than people just looking at the price tag will realise.

 

People exploiting loopholes etc simply in the long run adds to the cost of doing business.