Chinese hulls, motors, and hardware

[sailr]

I tried bringing in the Tenshock monos last year and ended up eating them. My cost on them is VERY high. So naturally we decided not to carry them. Sorry.

^ +1 for that. Sorry to hear about the slow shipping.

Would anybody here be interested in one of the tenshock monos?

Or an etti mono?

They're both very similar; euro style hulls.

[sailr]

About the motors, yes, they are excellent but I won't carry them because the price would be as much as a NEU motor which is the accepted level of excellence in the U.S. Nobody is carrying NEU in Europe for some reason. If they did, I'm not sure the Tenshock motors would enjoy the same level of success they have now. (I have a personal friend in Europe who wins a lot of races who is thinking about being the European distributor for NEU. I have highly encouraged him. I think he would have a tremendous success with them.) Tenshock also doesn't produce any long can (XL) motors. Just the shorter ones. The reason is that in Europe, most of their classes are smaller boats than we run here and they don't need the extra power.

I have argued strongly with Tenshock about the pricing of their motors but they won't lower them because they sell a ton of them in Europe. So, sadly, I don't carry their high end motors. Wish it was different but it ain't! I have a very close relationship with Tenshock, not just a business relationship. I put them on the map when they were first struggling to get into the hobby industry. I have helped them refine their products and introduced new design concepts to them to make their products more acceptable on the North American market. We are very close 'friends' which is necessary to deal with the Chinese. Believe it or not, the personal relationship is more important to the Chinese than the business end. It is their culture. Anyone anticipating importing that doesn't go to China and personally meet the owners of the companies, go to dinner with them, meet their family, etc. is making a big mistake. You will not get consistent quality in your shipments, etc. They don't feel any allegiance to you whatsoever. They just want your first order and then after that anything is possible. But if you become their 'friend' they will treat you like family and never rip you off.

I'm writing this just to point out that importing is not as simple as most people think. It is tricky and risky and expensive. Steven and I take our chances to provide product for you guys. I just want you to know the real deal so that maybe you will show a little appreciation for our efforts. OK?

Hey Steven, this place has some really quality looking stuff. And supposedly their motors are excellent, seeing as how they won 1st in the 2009 Germany international comp.

http://www.tenshock.com/Enindex.asp

The y hydros look pretty cool, and the euro style monos are just gorgeous. I can't see a seam line on the boat which means they are almost assuredly wet joined in the mold.

Could you get some pricing for their stuff?

Here's a few videos of the hulls>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC7Wk2A9MJc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnWyewQNX-Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wd66ofx05I

[sailr]

The cost to ship anything back to China is outrageous. Sometimes more than the product is worth, so we normally end up eating the loss. Right Steven?

They are not a distributor. They are a retailer. Their stuff should be delivered perfect.

Ask me about 100 motor mounts that had wrong screws(not a big deal but took 4 hours out of my life repacking them) or water jackets designed by me and made overseas and shipped with the wrong o-ring grove thickness, or rudders that should have had pickups and somehow ended up without them. I have countless other stories that ended up as a loss on my end.

[sailr]

There are a FEW people that would like to have the small monos from Etti, Tenshock, etc. BUT these are not classes that are run in the U.S. so the demand isn't sufficient enough for Steve or I to stock the items. I wish it was otherwise but you'll have to take it up with NAMBA and IMPBA. As a perfect example, several people begged me to bring in some Tenshock Mini-Eco boats. I did and I even gave the guys on this board one hell of a good deal on them. I sold exactly one half of them and now I'm sitting on a few hundred dollars worth of Mini Eco's that I can't sell. If you want one, PM me!

Steven is pretty cautious about what he brings in and for good reason. I, being a sympathetic fool sometimes try to meet the demand. Unfortunately, the 'talk' seems to be bigger than the 'action' and I end up the loser. I'm not whining about it but I doubt seriously that I will fill special requests like that in the future. It's really too bad because I like playing with the new stuff as much as the next guy but my accountant is giving me hell for it!

Ouch. And my b. But that's why we love you Steevie!

Egneg, you probably chose the least expensive shipping option. I got my stuff in three days, but paid for it too.

Do you think it would be possible for you to get a few different models of the etti hulls?

[j.m.]

Sorry, didn't realize Tenshock's prices were so high.