No I think those are the correct costs. Have you seen the size of the foils. It’s not shipping weight it’s shipping volume. It’s not like they can ship it via temu airmail for 20 bucks. They have to use a trackable courier service which is basically just DHL or FedEx or ups. If you make garbage foils that come apart like axis then yes your shipping cost is going to be a fraction because the box is smaller
I know what you’re saying, but for comparison, I just ordered an aftermarket mast from America and the postage was $40 AUD, using UPS.
The unifoil website is down this morning.
Not a good look when that is your sales channel.
Site still down.
I think the DTC model will be great both for consumers and the company. I am sure they will not pass all the margin to the customer and will come some for themselves. It only makes sense. They will have more work to do and more infrastructure to manage. They won’t be able to depend on retailers to promote them anymore, so they will need to increase marketing. Who will it not be good for? Retailers, many of whom do this for the love and not the money. They will inevitably have less and less positive things to say about UniFoil. Consumers should see through this and realize they have an interest in selling brands they stock.
I hope Uni develops a demo program. Which would essentially be a full refund window (minus shipping)
Isn’t it more like - the retailers (the ones that love foiling) have developed quite a bit of knowledge of the gear they sell and use. Once they switch and start selling (and using) other brands, their knowledge about that particular brand would be lost eventually. What exactly should the consumers see through here?
Im still psyched Unifoil went DTC as I bought a Torque 80 high modulus mast for $980. Thats unheard of if you google all other brands, its not even close. If US didn’t have tariffs added to the price it wouldve been closer to $900.
I say give them benefit of the doubt on getting shipping costs worked out, even with their shipping from the site I was seeing $200 less than original prices when I checked it out. Who cares if the site was down for a few hours that could’ve been an AWS issue. This move is helping us all out directly or indirectly as more brands consider more reasonable prices in competition.
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Well that’s very optimistic of you.
You don’t think some retailers will feel betrayed by being cut out of the sale? Also they are incentivized to sell brands they stock. I’m sure you’re right about some of them with high integrity. But others will turn on the brand and promote others simply for the fact they are in the business of selling gear. Still other will feel betrayed and speak negatively about the brand. I’ve seen this happen, done it myself and this is how it goes.
Exactly, it’s the customers’ task not to support the shops that do not have integrity. And why should a customer even ask for advice or listen to the negative comments (if any) about the gear that the shop is not carrying?
Just loaded a tail into my cart. $75 shipping on a $160, 4oz stab to the USA? Hahahahaha. Do better, UNI
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Did that include tariffs?
Is there anyone from Unifoil on here who can make a comment? @Erik @mikepedigo
I think we’re all massive fans of Uni - I still remember my astonished delight when Erik was offered a colab with Unifoil on his podcast - and we would love the them to understand our issue here and let us know what’s going on. There’s a real chance of people walking away from the brand, which I don’t want to see.
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Just thought I’d add my comments on Uni DTC shipping. I ordered 3x Pinion wind wings, 1 X Foil carry bag and 8 x track nuts, total price including shipping and import tax £700 GBP . Delivered within 7 days to the UK from their China hub. I have been a Uni fan since day 1, I’ve never had any reason to switch brands and now with these prices and quick service will keep me glued to Uni for ever. Their gear is top quality and other brands out there will surely have to take notice of this change in direction by Uni.
I believe since going DTC demand has gone through the roof and no doubt there has been some early teething problems, I’m sure given time they will iron there out.
It’s the weirdest thing… my central Florida address is blocked from ordering in their system, but all my local friends can. I can’t order anything from them 
You and the whole of Africa. If i didn’t have a direct line to the designer, I’d be screwed. Wish they’d make the restrictions more obvious on the site.
I’ve ordered twice from them now, as stupidly didn’t include an evo 175 in my first order and the afterburners were sold out. Postage has been £150 both times, which I think is very fair from China to the UK.
I’m just absolutely delighted. I could not have picked a brand I’d rather have go DTC than Unifoil. The construction quality is superb and for me riding them is like putting on a pair of well broken in trail shoes - comfort, fit and trust in how they ride. Added to that having guys heavily involved in the company appearing regularly on the podcast means that I feel there is a real connection from the brand to the average Joe rider - which I don’t get as much from other brands. Great company, great foils and really hope it works out for them.
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I experienced this problem and I was told by unifoil it was because I had out of stock items in my cart (specifically an afterburner tail). Frustratingly, the webstore doesn’t list the item as out of stock.
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That makes a lot of sense. I tried to cart a wing and a tail to see what shipping would be and it said the tail was not deliverable to my address but the wing was.
For those that preordered Aggression foils, were they cancelled with the new DTC format or was the price reduced???