# Let’s laugh at people who think Orcas are extra valuable



## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

I remember the gouging was a thing the first year of release but wtf, these things aren’t rare or valuable in any way. My guess is these were the people that unnecessarily bought at inflated secondary market prices and have badly misjudged the impact of time. I mean everyone has an all mt orca these days


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## MrDavey2Shoes (Mar 5, 2018)

Bro they are worth their weight in ramen!


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## Yotaismygame (10 mo ago)

I’ve seen quite a few listed for 350-400 in good shape. It’s a snowboard…. Cracks me up


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

The older ones are more desirable since they were made in more limited quantities and the construction led to a more playful board. 

I got one in a trade and thought it was fine. I was happy to sell it to the first person that offered a silly amount for it. I listed it in the morning and it sold like two hours later while I was riding it. 

No complaints from me. 

I've never understood the point of complaining about the prices of stuff like this. If you're really curious about it buy it used, try it, then sell it for just about what you paid. It's a fun board but there are a bunch of fun ones to ride. 

If you think this is wild, I sold my spam for more than the starting bid of that first one. Kinda shocked me but I wasn't mad about it 😂😂😂


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## mjayvee (Nov 18, 2015)

Maybe my Capita Asymulator will go up in value next season since the model is discontinued. 😆


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## Craig64 (Jul 16, 2015)

Those Orcas might be selling in Rubles not $US???


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

orcas are nfts


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Craig64 said:


> Those Orcas might be selling in Rubles not $US???


The Orcadollar is over.


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## GregT943 (Apr 1, 2019)

Backcountry has Orcas in stock in all sizes and on sale for 20% off right now. Why would someone spend more on a used version when you can buy a brand new one for less?


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

GregT943 said:


> Backcountry has Orcas in stock in all sizes and on sale for 20% off right now. Why would someone spend more on a used version when you can buy a brand new one for less?


Some people are looking for a specific graphic on the board, I guess.


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## Jkb818 (Sep 28, 2019)

I’d like to have the original blue one but not bad enough to pay 1,425 [emoji1787]


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

Jkb818 said:


> I’d like to have the original blue one but not bad enough to pay 1,425 [emoji1787]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That has been the best graphic so far, in my opinion.


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

Looks the best in deep pow ofc.


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## GregT943 (Apr 1, 2019)

Jkb818 said:


> I’d like to have the original blue one but not bad enough to pay 1,425 [emoji1787]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I really like the look of the first gen Orcas too, but I wouldn't pay more than the cost of a new board for it


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

I liked the spotted cow one that I had for a week or two. 

Again, the construction changed and I think the older ones were more playful so people want them if they preferred that. I'm more than happy the boards are doing so well since it means that t rice is getting paidddd and he can use that to do cool shit to support the community like natural selection, fund movies, and do other cool shit.


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## Yotaismygame (10 mo ago)

GregT943 said:


> I really like the look of the first gen Orcas too, but I wouldn't pay more than the cost of a new board for it


Exactly. Used gear is so damn cheap


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## Craig64 (Jul 16, 2015)

The Orca appears to parallel aging fine Wine...., the more it matures....., its value $$$$$$ is appreciated???


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## Jkb818 (Sep 28, 2019)

I put my retirement funds into orcas...have crates of them in storage.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

Jkb818 said:


> I put my retirement funds into orcas...have crates of them in storage.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I hope PETA doesn't get wind of this...


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

Wow, I got mine at an REI parking lot sale for $250. Who is Kim Krans???

Solid board, doesn't deserve the hype or the hate. I peferr my Fish or Swallow tail carver but I have great fun on my Orca.


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## BobbyGrand (Jan 3, 2014)

Just saw someone on FB marketplace near me with a golden orca for sale.....$1,000 (was initially posted for $1,200) LOL you can easily pick one up new for $750.


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## Yotaismygame (10 mo ago)

BobbyGrand said:


> Just saw someone on FB marketplace near me with a golden orca for sale.....$1,000 (was initially posted for $1,200) LOL you can easily pick one up new for $750.


I saw that too. People these days


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 - Snowboard


Buy the Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 online or shop all Snowboard from Steepandcheap.com.




www.steepandcheap.com





450 brand new. If this doesn't show that the hype is slowing down then I don't know what does!


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

this just in! orcas are crashing! sellsellsell before orca tuesday!


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## GregT943 (Apr 1, 2019)

ridethecliche said:


> Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 - Snowboard
> 
> 
> Buy the Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 online or shop all Snowboard from Steepandcheap.com.
> ...


Supply and Demand. Mervin has been increasing production numbers each year because they kept selling out of Orcas each season. Looks like they have increased production to the point where they are no longer selling out. I wonder if they will pull back a little on production for next year.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

GregT943 said:


> Supply and Demand. Mervin has been increasing production numbers each year because they kept selling out of Orcas each season. Looks like they have increased production to the point where they are no longer selling out. I wonder if they will pull back a little on production for next year.


Ummm no.... They sold out of basically every single size Orca of all 4 versions including almost every split.

Now that doesn't mean certain retailers didnt buy more stock than they needed, but Mervin sold through. And they'll produce based on presale early booking numbers from retailers.




ridethecliche said:


> Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 - Snowboard
> 
> 
> Buy the Lib Technologies Orca Snowboard - 2022 online or shop all Snowboard from Steepandcheap.com.
> ...



In limited sizes, by the largest corporation in the retail industry. And it's a powder board during one of the worst powder seasons across the entire west. I wouldn't say them having a couple left on end of season discount is the mark of anything.


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

lab49232 said:


> Ummm no.... They sold out of basically every single size Orca of all 4 versions including almost every split.
> 
> Now that doesn't mean certain retailers didnt buy way more stock than they needed, but Mervin sold through. And they'll produce based on presale early booking numbers from retailers.


Do you have any data to support this because I've heard from multiple sources that production has gone up each year to the point that the aftermarket value has stabilized. This doesn't include the first few years with the older style construction though since those are more desirable at this point.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

ridethecliche said:


> Do you have any data to support this because I've heard from multiple sources that production has gone up each year to the point that the aftermarket value has stabilized. This doesn't include the first few years with the older style construction though since those are more desirable at this point.


That Lib sold their stock of Orcas they manufactured? Umm ya, you can't buy them direct from Lib Tech because they sold their inventory..... Pretty simple hahaha


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

lab49232 said:


> That Lib sold their stock of Orcas they manufactured? Umm ya, you can't buy them direct from Lib Tech because they sold their inventory..... Pretty simple hahaha


That doesn't say anything for the total volume produced and sold. The more important metric is how much of the total produced number actually sold to a customer not to a shop. If shops have a lot of left over stock its going to change how much they order in the next 2 seasons since orders for now are probably in already.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

ridethecliche said:


> That doesn't say anything for the total volume produced and sold. The more important metric is how much of the total produced number actually sold to a customer not to a shop. If shops have a lot of left over stock its going to change how much they order in the next 2 seasons since orders for now are probably in already.


Perhaps you missed the "They'll produce based on preorders" As I stated, Mervin didn't produce too many boards. They cashed in on every penny they spent manufacturing. Now if Backcountry overorders that doesn't mean Mervin over produced. 

But people here also seem to be really misinformed on sell through. 100% sell through in peak season isn't actually ideal. You actually want some leftover tock for the offseason. Complete sell through means you left money on the table and now late season/off season customers are also searching through competitors sites.

As a whole for the season Mervin sold nearly all their stock, the industry sold through most stock, go look at any retailers off season stock it's limited sizes left across the entire market. And all that for a powder board during what was historically one of the worst powder seasons on record. 

If you have somebody giving you different information than that then get a new source.Most of that's completely public information but I've only been doing this for more than a decade.


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## GregT943 (Apr 1, 2019)

Lib tech still has some stock, not much, but they have 3 sizes. Tactics has 4 sizes. Evo has 3 sizes. The House has 4 sizes. Christy Sports has all sizes in stock. Sun and Ski has 4 sizes in stock. Backcountry has 4 sizes in stock. There are 3 sitting on the shelf at my local shop. It's hard to find a retailer that doesn't have Orcas available and on sale, and this is not just the really small or really large sizes that generally are left at the end of the season, the most popular sizes are still in stock pretty much everywhere. I fully understand that Mervin produces based on preorders and they technically sold the overwhelming majority of their stock, but there is a ton of that stock still sitting on retailer shelves. In years past that has not been the case. In years past retailers have completely sold out, which is why there was a crazy resale market for them. Now whether there was a slow down in sales, or if retailers over ordered is something I don't know, I don't have that info. So since I don't have sales numbers or production numbers, I'm just going to stick with my over simplified original statement that demand did not match the supply, and you really can't argue that because pretty much everyone has Orcas in stock.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

GregT943 said:


> Lib tech still has some stock, not much, but they have 3 sizes. Tactics has 4 sizes. Evo has 3 sizes. The House has 4 sizes. Christy Sports has all sizes in stock. Sun and Ski has 4 sizes in stock. Backcountry has 4 sizes in stock. There are 3 sitting on the shelf at my local shop. It's hard to find a retailer that doesn't have Orcas available and on sale, and this is not just the really small or really large sizes that generally are left at the end of the season, the most popular sizes are still in stock pretty much everywhere. I fully understand that Mervin produces based on preorders and they technically sold the overwhelming majority of their stock, but there is a ton of that stock still sitting on retailer shelves. In years past that has not been the case. In years past retailers have completely sold out, which is why there was a crazy resale market for them. Now whether there was a slow down in sales, or if retailers over ordered is something I don't know, I don't have that info. So since I don't have sales numbers or production numbers, I'm just going to stick with my over simplified original statement that demand did not match the supply, and you really can't argue that because pretty much everyone has Orcas in stock.


Correct, in years past the Orca was severely under produced, we all know that. And again this apparently is surprising for you to hear, but they're actually probably a little underproduced this season as well. They are indeed getting better at not severely underproducing. (And keep in mind I 100% stand on the ground of over-hyped over sold because most people have no need for one, let alone as their one board quiver)

This year despite being completely barron of snow Mervin themselves are completely sold out of 5 of the 8 regular sized orcas, 100% of their Golden, 100% of their APEX and 3 out of 4 sizes of their split. 

And it's April. In the snow retail industry thats what we call an extremely good season and almost perfect production run. In reality in the industry if you've hit 85-90% sell through before April you underbought and need to increase production/purchasing/etc for the next season. Leftover inventory is not overproduction....


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

Lab... Come on man. How much are you going to move the goalposts...? 

They're either making way more and demand/value for resale on used market is dropping or its not. 

What does your decade plus in the industry tell you? Because like others have pointed out, there's way more stock out there than there has been in the history of this board. 

Mervin is killing it with this but all signs point to the resale market stabilizing. 

That brand new orca was 450. I sold a few years old used one for 375 pre shipping within a few hours of listing it in Jan...They're turning into just another board on the resale market....as they should.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

ridethecliche said:


> Lab... Come on man. How much are you going to move the goalposts...?
> 
> They're either making way more and demand/value for resale on used market is dropping or its not.
> 
> ...


I think you seem to be completely missing everything said. No goalpost moving, yes the resale market is stabilizing. Who said it wasn't?

The comment was "Mervin looks to have overproduced and him wondering if they should look at slowing production for future seasons"

No and no. That's it, that's all.


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

OKAY FINE DUDE! 
😁


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

Considering how much it costs to fill up a tank with gas or a shopping cart with groceries, $450 for a brand new Orca, doesnt sound like such a bad deal.


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## Yotaismygame (10 mo ago)

thecadgod said:


> Considering how much it costs to fill up a tank with gas or a shopping cart with groceries, $450 for a brand new Orca, doesnt sound like such a bad deal.


Hopefully that doesnt mean next year we see an increase in pricing for all snowboards.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Yotaismygame said:


> Hopefully that doesnt mean next year we see an increase in pricing for all snowboards.


You already started to see it this year. Snowboard (and all hard goods for that matter) manufacturing costs skyrocketed same as everything else but a lot of that has already been put in to the market. For brands and manufacturers it's actually been kind of shocking how little the push back or notice has been by consumers. A lot of that seems to be helped by the fact the Covid really helped a lot of middle and upper class people expendable income leaving consumers less price conscious but there are signs that could be starting to slow.


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

Yotaismygame said:


> Hopefully that doesnt mean next year we see an increase in pricing for all snowboards.


It's been forecast for a while. Everyone has said that there's going to be an across the board increase in gear prices.


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## Craig64 (Jul 16, 2015)

lab49232 said:


> You already started to see it this year. Snowboard (and all hard goods for that matter) manufacturing costs skyrocketed same as everything else but a lot of that has already been put in to the market. For brands and manufacturers it's actually been kind of shocking how little the push back or notice has been by consumers. A lot of that seems to be helped by the fact the Covid really helped a lot of middle and upper class people expendable income leaving consumers less price conscious but there are signs that could be starting to slow.


Yep prices of '23 boards/bindings/outerwear etc are up around 5-10% on last seasons gear here in Australia.


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

The inflation, really sucks. Noticed that there was a price hike in gear, here in Norway as well...


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## Luffe (Apr 5, 2021)

AC93 said:


> The inflation, really sucks. Noticed that there was a price hike in gear, here in Norway as well...


Stuff is likely going up by 10% for next season as well. The effect of all the government stimulus across the world is finally kicking in.


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## Craig64 (Jul 16, 2015)

Luffe said:


> Stuff is likely going up by 10% for next season as well. The effect of all the government stimulus across the world is finally kicking in.


It would be nice if our annual income increased 10% pa.


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## Luffe (Apr 5, 2021)

Craig64 said:


> It would be nice if our annual income increased 10% pa.


Yeah, no doubt. I guess there will be some hard salary negotiations going forward, at least in certain occupations.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Luffe said:


> Stuff is likely going up by 10% for next season as well. The effect of all the government stimulus across the world is finally kicking in.


You think Chinese manufacturing costs and raw materials went up because people like the US government gave out a couple stimulus checks to the public?

Me thinks you may not have a deep enough understanding of the raw materials/manufacturing/transportation industries. This isn't Burton going "Hey people have more money we can charge more for items" But that's a topic for another thread.


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## Luffe (Apr 5, 2021)

lab49232 said:


> You think Chinese manufacturing costs and raw materials went up because people like the US government gave out a couple stimulus checks to the public?
> 
> Me thinks you may not have a deep enough understanding of the raw materials/manufacturing/transportation industries. This isn't Burton going "Hey people have more money we can charge more for items" But that's a topic for another thread.


I didn't say that was the only reason. But yeah, not gonna litter this thread anymore.


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## QReuCk2 (11 mo ago)

lab49232 said:


> You think Chinese manufacturing costs and raw materials went up because people like the US government gave out a couple stimulus checks to the public?
> 
> Me thinks you may not have a deep enough understanding of the raw materials/manufacturing/transportation industries. This isn't Burton going "Hey people have more money we can charge more for items" But that's a topic for another thread.


I personally understood "government stimulus" as not only the stimulus checks, but also central banks pouring money into the financial system. I'm honestly surprised we don't have even more inflation than that considering this:








80% of all US dollars in existence were printed in the last 22 months (from $4 trillion in January 2020 to $20 trillion in October 2021) | Tech News | Startups News


Last year, we wrote a piece titled, “40% of US dollars in existence were printed in the last 12 months,” one of our most popular articles. On January 6, 2020, the US Federal Reserve had around $4 trillion dollars. However, …




techstartups.com





Disclaimer: I've read the same order of magnitude elsewhere, but am not in a position to vett this particular source.


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## Luffe (Apr 5, 2021)

QReuCk2 said:


> I personally understood "government stimulus" as not only the stimulus checks, but also central banks pouring money into the financial system. I'm honestly surprised we don't have even more inflation than that considering this:


Yeah. That is my understanding also, and what I was saying really. When I read my original comment again, I see that government stimulus is what I wrote also. But I see that a straw man about stimulus checks in the US was put up.


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