Buying a kite + bar setup from a direct to consumer manufacturer in Europe

[alpaia]

Hello I live in France and here Takoon is very popular (in the south).
The quality of build, performance and price combination is very attractive, the furia and wook kites are very good allround perf.
The customer support is really efficient, once I had a small issue with the bar 2 months after the warranty expired,
they still sent me a free part within 48 hours I really appreciated the gesture.

[alpaia]

Storm and Gong are more specialized in light wind / foiling kites. Had a sorm & Gong single strut kites they were lovely in light wind.
But then again if you are buying online, a big factor is the "what if I need support / warranty / spares" for that my experience with Takoon was very good.
Also, their kites are tested against major brands in kiteboarder mag and usually come very well placed.

[a99]

There is also Swiss brand Switch kites. They have direct sales and really very good prices. Their Nitro, elements kites are very well known. Also there is RRD or TEN kites which are also in low prices.

[Flyboy]

Resale value is interesting because the difference in purchase price may make up for a lower second-hand sale.

Here's an example using the Duotone Evo 9m which I could buy new for €1,400 (kite only). Assume I could later sell it second-hand at a 25% discount (€1,050) that would mean a loss of €350. Compare to a Ventum Xplore 9m which costs €795 new, if I sold it at a larger 50% discount (€397.50) then I would lose €397.50. That's roughly a €50 difference in losses between the main brand and direct to consumer. Not a significant difference. But with the cheaper kite brand I could buy a two kite quiver and bar (€1,800) for the same cost as a single kite and bar setup from a mainstream brand.

That's a very unrealistic comparison in my experience. You will not be able to resell the "full price" brand at a 25% discount. More realistic would be a 40% - 50% discount after a year - bear in mind that last years kites new will probably be selling for 30% discount at that point. Most likely you will be able to sell the year old "discount" kite also at 40% - 50% off. so: €1,400 - 50% = €700 loss; €795 - 50% = €397.5 loss.

Of course, a better Idea is to continue to use the kites for 3 - 5 years.

[oregonkiter]

^^^

Used kites in my experience need to be AT LEAST 40% off of retail if sold in the same model year. Beyond that same model year sale, typically 50-60% discounted at one year old. At least that's the case where I live.

[BenS]

That's a very unrealistic comparison in my experience. You will not be able to resell the "full price" brand at a 25% discount. More realistic would be a 40% - 50% discount after a year - bear in mind that last years kites new will probably be selling for 30% discount at that point. Most likely you will be able to sell the year old "discount" kite also at 40% - 50% off. so: €1,400 - 50% = €700 loss; €795 - 50% = €397.5 loss.

I was trying to show that even with a very optimistic 25% discount on resale value there wasn’t a huge difference in loss vs a heavily discounted relatively unknown brand.

Thanks for all the comments. I will look at what’s on offer during Black Friday for any bargains before buying.

[BillyGoatGruff]

Hi Ben, I recommend you take look at RRD kites with the UK shops if you want a good deal currently, try powerkiteshop.com, Surface-to-air sports, Boardworx, Kingofwatersports, ebay etc. RRD are top quality but not popular in the UK, they seem to have some really good prices currently. The new addiction Y25 is selling for 30% off currently, new 2019 bars for £350.

[longwhitecloud]

is switch owned by someone swiss now?

[BenS]

I ended up buying an Eleveight RS V4 (2021) 9m kite and CS Vary Bar V2 during the Black Friday sales. Both the kite and bar were on offer with a 20% discount so ended up costing not too much more than the direct-to-consumer manufacturers. Kite was €929 and bar €379 = €1,308 total. Reviews of the RS are positive and it seems well suited to what I'm looking for. All my previous kites have been second hand so I'm quite excited to own a brand new one!

[rw30]

yes, switchkites mentioned here already by couple fellows sell kites incredibely cheap when the offers discounts (which they do often - there was another one for black friday, they do it each year, not sure if it's still there though).
In the same time, re-sale price seems to be a factor - I'm just trying to sell some of my switchkites from 2016/17 on couple FB groups, fairly cheap I 'd say, and nobody even bothers to ask me for the details

and yes, eleveight seem to be good choice if you want something with good quality / price ratio (I've just bought couple of them recently too ) . And I use them with switch bar.