Refurbished Skis

J

jk9242

New member
Hey all, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on refurbed skis. I’m not talking about putting split skis back together, but fixing sidewall cracks, delaminations and core shots. A lot of my peers will experience the aforementioned issue and decide it’s time for a new pair which seems incredibly wasteful.

I see this as a potential side hustle fixing and flipping these mistreated skis. I can also see it making the sport more available for those who aren’t fortunate enough to buy a new pair of $500+ sticks every season, for those who want to move into the park, but not break the bank with getting the necessary equipment.

What would you value refurbed pairs that have been fixed with skill (in terms of % of the original MSRP)? Would you consider buying a pair? Why or why not?
 
I don't think that would be a profitable side hustle. Blown tf out skis that have been 'repaired' are still pretty worthless. Especially if there has been delam. Please don't try to fix and flip those.
 
14267683:Biffbarf said:
I don't think that would be a profitable side hustle. Blown tf out skis that have been 'repaired' are still pretty worthless. Especially if there has been delam. Please don't try to fix and flip those.
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Have you seen the prices of some stuff on gear trade, buy/sell here and snow.share sometimes
 
14267689:WoFlowz said:
Have you seen the prices of some stuff on gear trade, buy/sell here and snow.share sometimes
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Honestly, I don't really even look at used shit because the prices can suck. It's usually schmucks selling stuff they paid retail for to other schmucks who would otherwise pay retail.

I'm not trynna flex like I have industry connections, I don't, but if you're patient and shop around you can find great deals on new gear
 
Thank you, I appreciate the advice

14267683:Biffbarf said:
I don't think that would be a profitable side hustle. Blown tf out skis that have been 'repaired' are still pretty worthless. Especially if there has been delam. Please don't try to fix and flip those.
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You will need to back it up with some type of your own warranty or “money back guarantee”. That’s how refurbishing works with a lot of industries. People buy them because they know they’re getting a product that has been vetted and the refurbisher will stand by their work.

So if you can do that, maybe it will work.

I think there is a market for 2nd hand but price point will be a big thing. My advice would be to buy skis that need work for peanuts and then sell them for an affordable price. Should be able to find a nice margin in there.
 
That’s a great concept, and I do stand firmly by the work I do.

The real $ is in finding undervalued skis that have reasonable damage to them, and like you said buying them for next to nothing. Finding them is hard but not impossible. Pretty good market rn in kids who aren’t buying the skis originally themselves, and selling them for enough to pay for a month of their nicotine
 
topic:jk9242 said:
...sidewall cracks, delaminations and core shots. A lot of my peers will experience the aforementioned issue and decide it’s time for a new pair which seems incredibly wasteful.
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Couldn't agree more especially when we're talking park skiing where the skis are gonna get beat up anyways and where base damage up to a point has no noticeable impact on your skiing.

I repair my own skis whenever possible, usually I can get 2-3 extra seasons out of a pair of skis most would consider a write-off, and I'm just a dude inhaling $10 epoxy tubes in my garage.

If you could warranty your workmanship for at least a season I would totally jump on a pair at 25-50% MSRP depending on severity of the damage and quality of the repair.

Are you worried about liability? Patching core shots is one thing but trying to repair a delam and then having it blow up on someone might land you in hot water.
 
Yeah, squeezing more seasons out of my icelantics than i should doing exactly that.

It is a concern of mine, not so much with delamination of the tips and tails. I’ve put two personal sets backs together with that issue, snipping the edge and sealing it shut. Edge on the tips and tails arguably shouldn’t even be there as they aren’t being used for turning or sliding. My one concern is cracked sidewalls. Even with sturdy epoxy, i worry about it deteriorating over the season.

The best course of action I see is simple full

disclosure and written understanding from the buyer, stating they are aware of the condition the skis are in. My target audience isn’t exactly experts but beginners to intermediates because they probably aren’t willing to make a significant investment into something that may not enjoy
 
You could honestly make money just by fixing skis for people. Safe to say I can probably do better epoxy jobs/ edge repairs, delam fix etc. than my shop can, no disrespect to those guys. So kids will just give me their shit on Sunday nights to fix them mount them wax them fix edge cracks etc and it’s a nice way to make a little extra cash.
 
I feel like the best option if you want to progress in rail ability is to have a good pair of skis and a rails only pair of skis. If you look around long enough you can usually find some new twins for 200-250$ which is pretty reasonable.

then for your jump/all mtn skis you can get like a revolt 95 or head caddies for 300-350.

so all together thats 500-600$ for being able to have a fresh, no-rail-cracks set of skis for jumps and powder, and u can still hit rails if you switch to your rail skis.

i guess some ppl would say to buy on3ps for 800$ and the edges will hol up, but im skeptical of this indestructibility claim bc they 1. detune the underfoot edges to fuck all, and 2. the on3p factory are bastards about replacing customers skis when they get an edge rip out or delam.

if on3p wants to say they dont replace customers broken skis because they never claimed their skis were indestructible, then they shouldnt be charging 700$-800$ on their skis. Charging that much for skis kind of makes the statement that your skis are either durable as fuck or they perform better than any other ski available. Most ppl dont seem to claim that on3ps perform like magic so the needle falls to them being indestructible.

so on3p, if your skis are not indestructible to the point you will happily replace customers totaled skis, then stop charging 700-800$ for your shit.
 
14268393:weastcoast said:
You could honestly make money just by fixing skis for people. Safe to say I can probably do better epoxy jobs/ edge repairs, delam fix etc. than my shop can, no disrespect to those guys. So kids will just give me their shit on Sunday nights to fix them mount them wax them fix edge cracks etc and it’s a nice way to make a little extra cash.
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How are you going about edge cracks? Simple epoxy?
 
14268533:jk9242 said:
How are you going about edge cracks? Simple epoxy?
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So for starters I thoroughly inspect my skis after every day I ski for damage, simply because edge cracks can get bad real fast, especially when you leave your skis on the ski rack overnight and it dips below freezing. All my buddies that do that get their skis wrecked in no time, the water in there will freeze even more and expand shit.

Once I notice an edge crack I file the hell out of it, so nothing is sticking out. I put epoxy in any gaps that I see. Use West Systems G Flex, works the best, you can get it cheap on Amazon.

Every day I ski I’ll add a tiny bit of additional epoxy to any gaps I see. If the gaps get so big that the edge starts to warp out, cut it out to the section where the bend stops. Once you get edge warping, you can’t do anything about it. Cut it out with a little hacksaw, file down the corners, and put epoxy in the gap you get between base and sidewall. Repeat that process, stay adamant about any tiny gaps that you get in your underfoot section, and your skis will literally last forever. You can make your skis last one season, or four. Your choice.
 
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