A lot of the skate shops are closing, and we need to protect them - if you are new to skateboarding or have been skating for many years, you have considered buying branded products and want what's best for your budget.
Buying products online or some other retail with no experience in skateboarding is detrimental. It will just cause harm to the skate industry because big companies and ordinary people that don't skate are just milking it as if it is just a business.
They don't and will never understand what it means to be a skater – all they know is it can be a business, and they want to earn money out of it, and that's it.
Core skateboard shops are better
Visiting a store with no experience or whatsoever in what you do as a skateboarder is a waste of time – it's hard to trust someone with your hard-earned money who knows nothing about what they are selling.
They scratch their heads when you ask simple questions about decks, trucks, and wheel sizes. However, if you buy skate items in an actual board shop, they will educate you and give recommendations that you don't need without up-selling.
Skater owned shop is the real deal
They know what they are selling, and skaters can bond and talk about skateboarding while you choose what brand you want.
You can talk to the shop owner or the skaters who work in the store about new skate videos, the ins and outs of the scene, what kind of skater you are in terms of style and teams you like, and just banter.
We guarantee 100% that they will give you the most informative service when choosing the components you need.
The Sad Truth about internet deals
It's challenging to say yes if discounts are available online, but you must ensure that it's owned and operated by an authentic shop.
Research and ask your friends before buying to ensure that the cash you work hard for is going to the right people – apparently, most of the products online are low-quality and only for the general public if the online store doesn't belong to our scene.
The right people you have to support are the legit skateboard shops that put all the effort into doing what they are passionate about rather than those who want to sell something just for the money.
The best of both worlds
Supporting your local skate shop also supports your heroes who battled in the war on their video parts.
They put all their blood, sweat, and tears into fulfilling our needs by watching them with their gnarly tricks, whether a handrail, bowl, ditch or even manual tricks.
You name it, and they are all very complex as they are trying to keep us entertained, and we should be very thankful for that.
If we buy their pro model products, we provide food on their table because pros selling their name on any skate items are paid by how many they sell. Don't support the ones that never contributed to the skateboarding world.
Invest in high-quality gear for what you do, and remember that ordinary people who are just in the business will leave once skateboarding is no longer a trend.
More prominent companies will eat the small ones, leaving us in the dust. The huge problem is, what if the core shops are gone?