Gunnar I’m a big fan of your videos and your contribution to the community.
You’ve shared plenty of knowledge and we are all very grateful for it.
I’m sure we all find it immoral and bad to bluntly copy a product
But I’m afraid your presentation is a bit one-sided and with the wrong conclusions...
gmb13 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:06 am
... Every rip off china foil that is bought is basically taking money out of the pockets of the people who made this sport possible...
What about the person that has a potential HF spending limit below the current “non-Chinese” offering.
These are monies that anyway do not go to “the pockets of the people who made this sport possible”
With the Chinese offering, at least this guy can get a first taste of what is it about and potentially spend more in the future
Would you extend your argument to somebody buying used gear? Why not?
gmb13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:41 pm
…These will eventually work themselves loose and break…
And if they are so crappy that they break, here you have it!
One buys them, gets into the sport, he is addicted and then buys a “Non Chinese foil” to feed his new passion.
Again: It is bad to bluntly copy somebody work or to steal something.
But I find it ok to get inspired from something and try to improve it in one way or another.
The current premium designs are inspired from something that existed in the past and evolved.
We are all happy that HF is not patented and only one person/company is allowed make them.
(The morality of patents and whether they serve the public or the few is another discussion)
gmb13 wrote:
The entry of the big brands like North and Naish late in the game and producing Foiling Products with little to no innovation of their own, taking away market share from the brands and designers who actually innovate, is bad enough and demotivating to see.
Considering their lower cost, these products may be innovative in their manufacturing or material selection.
Yes, INFERIOR but also CHEAPER! Thus serving another crowd. Those not willing to spend as much but willing to take a risk.
Also their distribution (direct through merchant platform ) if not innovative is at least modern
I’ve chosen Zeeko and I’m happy with the quality and also the support (They sent me a free replacement for an imperfection)
For sure a 400$ Chinese foil would not have the same quality and I would get no support at all.
On the other hand, I wanted to try a foil kite but a) Nobody around here had one b) There was no rental/lesson around c) I don’t have the knowledge to evaluate a used one + there are not many around d) Even the used price was too expensive just for trying.
I bought a Pansh for ¼ of the price of FS or Ozone. I’m sure it is inferior, it was a risk, there is no support and I’ve spent a few hours on improvements (pigtails, 5th line shortening and chicken loop change) but I’m happy with it and there was no way. I would have spent upfront what FS or Ozone was asking for. On the contrary now that I know what kite foiling is about I may buy a FS as an upgrade one day.
You can't resist market changes with protectionism, the only way is to keep evolving and be ahead of the game.
(Professionally I'm in the same red queen race, Charge a premium while unique and invest it to get another product ahead of the market soon)