Is there a market?

[azlakes]

Greetings;

Been thinking if this would fit a niche(I know, get a life). But with all the deck, stringer and transom repairs currently and on the horizon. Would a kit sell and would people buy it? Meaning ?? or ? ? ply already matted and finished. Stringers in 6?, 8? lengths glassed and ready. Transoms of several shapes and sizes pressed and good to mount. Sections of deck in various lengths and sizes for patching or entire re-do could be bought off the shelf and you cut to fit. And the magic question how much? A kit of 2- 4 x 8 panels glassed, 4- 8? stringers and a transom. $500, $1000?. Guess if it was in demand someone would be selling them prefab now(or do they). Just a thought for those of you who have shown some awesome skills in rebuilding, none of which I possess. What do you all think? Would it get you replacing things sooner or not?

Cheers

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Is there a market?

The biggest problem with this idea is the enourmous variation in hulls. Although something like this might be somewhat viable for some of the more popular hulls, it would be quite impossible to have a kit or several different kits that would fit all or even most hulls.

That being said, there's another problem I can think of... the shipping costs to get those kits to the customers, would be astronomical compared to the cost of the consumer buying the products locally.

Now, if you could overcome all that, then yeah, it would get me replacing stuff faster.

 

[azlakes]

Re: Is there a market?

... werd. shipping a kit would be unfeasable. i was thinking more like an outlet such as Lowes, Home Depot , local lumber yards, selling and stocking the prefabs. then choose what fits your project. like i said just a thought

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Is there a market?

... werd. shipping a kit would be unfeasable. i was thinking more like an outlet such as Lowes, Home Depot , local lumber yards, selling and stocking the prefabs. then choose what fits your project. like i said just a thought

It could work, if you stick with the most popular manufacturers and models of boats, and don't try to cover all models or manufacturers.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Is there a market?

I would think that with all the different variations of shapes and sizes it would be impossible to do. Many DIYers wouldn't even attempt to do such a project. Then there would be liability, if they didn't follow the procedure correctly. It would stink for someone to go through all that work and then have a catasrophy when they took their family out.

I really can't see how pre-glassed stingers would work due to the fact that they have to be glassed into the hull. There are composite stringers out there already to aid in the rebuild of the boat.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Is there a market?

all that was said above, also i don't think you could get the stores to stock it. it creates a real space problem, retailers want fast moving stock, i don't see a big enough profit margin for a retailer to use their valuable space for a slow moving product. then you also have the shipping problem.

prime example, is walmart, they use to have a decent assortment of boating supplies, water ski's, tubes, it has all disappeared, display space is too valuable.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Is there a market?

all that was said above, also i don't think you could get the stores to stock it. it creates a real space problem, retailers want fast moving stock, i don't see a big enough profit margin for a retailer to use their valuable space for a slow moving product. then you also have the shipping problem.

prime example, is walmart, they use to have a decent assortment of boating supplies, water ski's, tubes, it has all disappeared, display space is too valuable.

Good point, but maybe instead of selling them retail, he could sell them to busy shops as a way to save them time... still by this point, his market share is already nearly zilch.

 

[jay.robinson15]

Re: Is there a market?

all that was said above, also i don't think you could get the stores to stock it. it creates a real space problem, retailers want fast moving stock, i don't see a big enough profit margin for a retailer to use their valuable space for a slow moving product. then you also have the shipping problem.

prime example, is walmart, they use to have a decent assortment of boating supplies, water ski's, tubes, it has all disappeared, display space is too valuable.

Yeah and that's a shame, because I used to get my supplies from Walmart. They had good prices and I could usually find everything I need.