Best bankrupt? Not bankrupt!

[Da Yoda]

Best Kites is still HQ'ed in San Francisco, California. They just did a demo day recently and several of their riders (ambassadors) are commonly seen around the Bay and Sherman Isle. I heard their inventory is limited, but local dealers have some stock left... and now it's discounted too! Ordering gear in the US or dealing with warranty issues shouldn't be a problem. VB705 is a good example of this experience.
https://www.facebook.com/BestKiteboardingUSA/

[iriejohn]

Today all products in Best shop is out stock.

Who did tell you this? Or how do you know?

From where did you order? Europe?

Did you pay by credit card? If so, make a complaint.

Go to the Best site http://www.bestkiteboarding.com/en/ and you will see that everything is "Currently out of stock. Please contact us for availability."

[danieli68]

Today all products in Best shop is out stock.

Who did tell you this? Or how do you know?

From where did you order? Europe?

Did you pay by credit card? If so, make a complaint.

Go to the Best site http://www.bestkiteboarding.com/en/ and you will see that everything is "Currently out of stock. Please contact us for availability."

exactly

[Matteo V]

I am amazed to see those thinking and wishing Best would come back from the events of the last 6 years. I still use their kites, but would not touch newer than 2014. And I would never buy from a company with Best lineage with what has happened.

1. Turning away from their marketing model that MADE kiteboarding what it is today (long before recent events).
2. Failure to recall defective and dangerous designs.
3. Failure to recall gear with production faults.
4. Bad customer service (they had some good customer service too, but for me it was about a 9:1 ratio favoring bad).

If Switch Kiteboarding did not exist, I too would be hoping for a remake of the old Best. But Switch has proven their kites, quality, and customer service. And Switch did not steal that niche in the market from Best - Best abandoned it at the behest of its new corporate masters that Shannon bailed because of.

It is over for Best. They have lost too many riders, burned too many bridges, and have too many skeletons in their closet.

And I wish truly, for kiteboarding, Best's employees who loved kiting, and the history of the sport...... I wish this would have gone a different way. Lets hope we never live to see another kiteboarding company go down like this.

[zob]

What was Best's latest business model? Spending all their income on marketing (acquiring all top Pro riders)?

[Da Yoda]

What was Best's latest business model? Spending all their income on marketing (acquiring all top Pro riders)?

Not any more. What's probably killing them is their overhead, i.e where they're HQ'ed.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bits/2 ... /?referer=

[sq225917]

What's killing Best is the fact that the current owner's primary business is in the throes of a seriously dirty takeover/power struggle and he has been forced to leverage any value he had in BEST. In doing so he's made some really shit decisions and has totally tied Seb's hands in the most outrageous way.

IMHO, shelling out big money on pro-riders and the PKRA was never the correct call for BEST, no matter how they wanted to reposition the brand. The value in BEST always came from the service offering and the support it received on the beach from riders. Adding big ticket riders but switching off parts availability was a poor call. That's the trouble with letting bean counters make decisions for you, they can see the cost of everything, but understand the value of nothing.

I do hope that Seb is able to take control over the brand and reposition it once again. Customer and service focussed, like it should be.

[Toby]

Was it Javier only who decided this?

[Matteo V]

he has been forced to leverage any value he had in BEST.

sq225917,

Thanks for your service to the kiteboarding community. I still quote you on a few things when I am asked certain questions. I hope some one starts paying you what you deserve.

As far as Best's current value, it could be zero. Best has had a declining market share, image, and internal issues since around 2012. That means that their potential sales for next year would be less than this year, and the following year less than next year. That puts the value of most companies in this situation solely in their current assets (land, buildings, patents, paid for stock on hand), as there is no potential for a return on investment. If the brand name is untarnished, some value can be assigned to it for sale. I would argue that is not the case given the current status of the company. If this guy is leveraging Best, he is leveraging some prime swamp land.

Please do not take this as bashing Best, but from an investors point of view, I am confident that I my assessment is accurate.

And again, this is why other kite companies are watching what is happening and making sure to avoid the mistakes of Best's marketing choices.

[Toby]

I highly doubt we will see any brand going from cheap to expensive.
And I doubt there will be any new brand stepping into the market as a premium brand with higher prices.

Only chance for a new company are direct sales and lower prices.

And I can image that it is possible to see a current premium brand getting into direct sales due to less and less sales.

Future knows!