I just saw a Facebook news that pre-order for the Fliteboard will start March 27th. I hear many people waited months and months for the electric surfboards they ordered.
Anybody an idea how long it will take until Fliteboard will ship?
This board looks awesome. I am also interested to know if I will have it in Belgium in May/June if I order in March?
I doubt you will be able to get it this summer, but hope that I am wrong …
So many nice foils announced, but nothing shipping 
Lift will be shipping very soon and its going to rock the house. If you want something delivered this summer, now is the time to order. Speaking from experience, any other promises on deliveries are hocus pocus. Get Ready!!!
Hello Lift team,
Your website at:
is currently saying “Current estimated time of delivery is 5-6 months from time of order.”. This would be very late summer and if there are further delays it might be even to late for this year?
The website however was not updated for a while (looks like stand 2017). Is the shipping time now less than 5 months?
Thanks
-J
Since this is the FLITEBOARD section I have moved the Liftfoils shipping date related question to the
-Admin
Hi all, It’s David Trewern the Founder of Fliteboard here. Thanks for your interest and support.
As @Ed_the_surf has mentioned yes we will be starting pre-orders on 27th March.
Our website will be updated then with our final production design, including design and engineering detail, specifications and pricing. I know it’s been a long wait for some of our loyal followers! But we have been very careful not to start pre-orders until we were absolutely ready. That being said, deliveries are still a while off. While our production design is completed and manufacturing of some components is about to begin, we plan to ship boards (in a limited release) first for Australia and NZ orders in time for Southern Hemisphere Summer (with limited deliveries to select international commercial operators). General European, US and orders to other parts of the world are planned in time for next Northern Hemisphere Summer (by June 2019).
We have a very substantial engineering and design team, and have worked really hard on this product to ensure that we deliver the most innovative and advanced eFoil experience available, from ordering via our online configurator through to our shipping and delivery. We look forward to sharing our design, engineering and some of our design and software features in 3 weeks time!
The best way to stay up to date is to register on our website at http://fliteboard.com
I’ll check this forum personally from time to time and try to answer questions as best I can.
Thanks, David
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Hi @Buddy thanks for your support and feedback on the development work we have published so far. You will be even more impressed with our final production design, features (and price) released in a few weeks time.
Unfortunately we wont be ready to ship by May/June.
Our team has a lot of experience taking complex products to market, and we are working hard not to make mistakes that others have made setting unrealistic expectations.
There is still a wait ahead, but time flies and it will be worth the wait!
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Got the latest newsletter from Fliteboard today and saw the claim
We take inspiration from companies such as Porsche and Apple - where form follows function, and every detail is refined in pursuit of perfection.
I have to admit looking at the pictures, it is really a beauty. In my opinion probably the best looking board so far.
If the Foil rides as good as it looks like … wow.
Now I am sad as we still have to wait quite a while as I am not from Australia 
A.
3 Likes
Fliteboard opened preorder today
Looks very promising and professional with 3 options available
Standard, PRO and Inflatable!
price is 14800 aud that is 9200 EUR
I did not understand if all of them have same price? Seems like inflatable should be cheaper?
Deliveries will commence in two stages:
- Starting November 2018: Australia, NZ and nearby countries, and pre-reserved Flite Schools around the world.
- Starting February 2019: Europe, Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
I’m wondering how are they going to ship to Europe?
Anyone has experience buying a board from abroad? I know if we buy inside Europe we just pay VAT + shipping as extra (basically 500-900 eur DHL + 2000-3000 eur VAT in such case).
However if it is shipped outside EU there will be additional big EU import tax.
I never bought boards from outside EU but when I ordered a 600 USD drone from China I had to pay almost 400 EUR import tax on top of it, basically a double price.
Let me know if someone has experience buying expensive stuff from overseas?
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Good question.
Before I share my experience I want to express my concern that it is highly likely that the dates will be delayed.
They did with any electric skateboard I ordered in the past (5 boards) and I see this trend of delays with the surfboards, foils, and SUPs here as well.
The reason seems to be a shortage of lithium ion batteries plus other manufacturing issues in the first runs.
I would set my own expectations at least for additional 3 months.
This would bring the Europeans to June 2019 or even later and you may miss summer 2019.
I really like the Fliteboard (at least on paper / online) and I would be prepared to pay the price, but I am not sure if I want to prepay 3,000 EUR to wait for 1 or 2 years to enjoy the investment.
Now my experience with shipping:
I ordered the Onewheel+ from the US for shipment to Europe:
This is what happened:
Timeline:
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Ordered and paid 1,499 USD on March 8th 2017
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Estimated delivery date originally end of April 2017
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Sent out from San Jose on June 2nd (we want to highlight that other electric skateboard vendors also have delays)
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Arrived at German customs at June 9th and got stuck due to weak documentation
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We contacted Future Motion to resolve it, but no reaction for days.
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After checking the Fedex tracking link for 3 days without any movement we reached out directly to the customs and sent further documentation
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2 more days of no movement. Several phone calls and emails with customs and Fedex. We finally had to approve to pay custom fees and tax.
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On June 12th the Onewheel+ finally arrived
I guess without interacting actively we would have waited at least another few days as Future Motion itself was unresponsive. In the worst case the shipment would have gone back to California
Cost:
Next to the delays there were additional expenses.
On top of the purchasing price of 1,499 USD which we payed directly to Future Motion via credit card on the day of order we had following expenses:
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shipping cost of 350 USD (directly to Future Motion on the day of order)
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custom fees of 2,7 % from purchase price plus shipping cost 52,64 EUR (to Fedex)
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VAT of 284.81 EUR (19% of purchasing price plus shipping cost ) (to Fedex)
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Fedex handling fees of 12,50 EUR (to Fedex)
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VAT for Fedex handling fees 2,38 EUR (to Fedex)
Overall cost about 2,100 USD
Source: https://e-boarder.com/en/electric-skateboard-for-sale/
I would expect a similar experience and additional cost for any electric surfboard from oversees. Better would be to use a European distributor.
Also because of local support.
Andreas
Thank you Andreas. The dates are for sure disappointing but that is what we have to experience with all jet board manufactures, this is just a reality of life.
My main concern is servicing when it comes to repairs when dealing with companies located overseas. 30 kg board is not something that we can easily ship back and forth for repairs to Australia. Will there be servicing center located in Europe and USA?
Also did you consider just going there and taking it with you in luggage as personal item instead of expensive shipping and taxes etc?
Jetsurfingnation, you made a big mistake. In china, our same board for $ 720.00
Do not make the same mistake with e-foil. Wait for sales in Europe.
It was not me but Andreas but thank you. I don’t think though chinese ripoff is the same quality as original Onewheel he bought. Aliexpress can be good for cheaper items, i bought a drone from it and Blue Drive aquamarina. But again same hassles with tax and importing
Well, it is one thing if it looks the same.
The Onewheel (and its clones from China) are a self-balancing boards. If the electronics suck for just half a second your are in BIG trouble. It is also known as the “Nosedive”:
I would never buy a Chinese alternative to risk my health. At least not for a Onewheel like device.
I tested several other cheap Chinese electric skateboards and “you get what you pay for” with no local (or remote) support. Some of them just lost the removable battery while you are riding (e.g. first versions of Onan Drives)
So bringing this back to electric surfboards or E-Foils:
Once this technology is legacy I think the (copying) Chinese (not all) may come out with good cheaper alternatives.
In the early stages I am sceptical (at least about the ones who copy other boards), but would not claim that there might be exceptions. I personally however would not put my bet on them until I have a local distributor.
And again, I want to highlight I don’t want to make it a “Chinese problem”, I am just referring to the Chinese factories that copy ideas for a cheaper price.
Just my 2 cents
A.
And again, I want to highlight I don’t want to make it a “Chinese problem”, I am just referring to the Chinese factories that copy ideas for a cheaper price.
In the case of Onewheel, the Americans ordered production to China.
Like Iphone, it is made in China.
Throw out the iPhone because it’s made in China.
They are all produced in China but the quality control for those that will be sold in USA and passed all the US certifications and those that are sold straight from China are completely different. China can make a beautiful iphone that will last for ages but can also make a plastic brick that looks the same and will break in 1 week.
The point is if it looks the same does not mean same quality. Especially with jetsurf rippoffs