Mystery Pricing Hobie Kayak Sale Through September

Hobie's website currently shows a kayak (and Eclipse) sale through September with "up to 25% off". Hobie sales events are pretty rare but in the past they showed the models and sale prices on their website. For this one they instruct you to check with your dealer for participation and pricing.

I did scan dealer websites in the Atlanta area and they each show maybe a half dozen models at around 10% off. So if you were on the fence about a purchase maybe check with you dealer again and see if you can get a discount.

Peter

This is the second year in a row and it is killing me with my rental fleet. Hobie gives me a modest (actually very modest in recent years) discount on kayaks to use in a rental fleet with a few rules. The first rule is there is no warranty on these boats. The other one of note is that I am not allowed to advertise or sell current model year kayaks until after September 1. Now they are coordinating this "sale" with the same date. Which effectively kills the resale value for me on a 6 month old kayak. Now customers can buy a brand new one at the same price that I would typically get on a gently used rental.

I have raised this issue to the local dealer that I use and they assured me that they are also not happy about this "sale" either and have had long conversations with Hobie about it. I'm guessing the dealers are eating the discount as I can't imagine Hobie is cutting wholesale pricing.

Hopefully the new Hobie ownership takes note and changes their tactics. I am already a one person small business with razor thin margins. This might be what pushes me out of business. It's a shame because people come from all over the east coast to rent Mirage Drive kayaks from me so they can try them before shelling out $$$ to buy a new one. In particular I am one of only a handful of companies in the US that maintain Tandem Island rentals.

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Isn't this the way every product line is? It seems typical for manufactures to discount last years model at the end of the season. Their way of clearing out old inventory as the newest models are getting ready to release.

The sale is almost over anyway. Used will seem a cheaper way to go after it ends.