01/06/2026
Tonight I’ve had multiple people / orgs asking when Paddywhack will bring in new stock or take backorders. Apparently ordering from overseas to New Zealand is hard with the shipping costs these days.
The thing is, that’s exactly why I haven’t bought in new stock in years. Around Covid times shipping from Europe got really expensive. Sensitivity to “imitation weapons” by shippers also ramped up, and FedEx who was by far the cheapest shipper, and the one my pricing was based on, refused to carry them any more. Australia will wholesale to me, but then I’m effectively paying shipping twice, and the range is more limited.
I’ve been busy with family life, so I haven’t done any research lately. But I bet the situation with oil prices and strait closures right now isn’t making shipping any more fun. Even if you only brought in stock that didn’t run up against the restrictions.
If I was to figure out the current shipping prices, there might be quite a sticker shock when I update the retail prices on my website to match. I think the same would be the case if another company started importing. People looking at the old prices on the Paddywhack website are probably being mislead about what prices I could offer now.
Perhaps the answer is that the scale has tipped, and the best solution given NZ’s remoteness and the volatility of shipping (especially on the foam sword side) is not local importers. Perhaps what we need now is local manufacturers?
Now that larp is bouncing back post-Covid, there’s potential for a lot of growth in the market. Maybe local workshops could meet that need? Especially in the foam sword space.
I started Paddywhack in part because I thought the community having access to nice affordable stuff would help it to grow. But maybe the changing times need a different solution than manufacture in India, shipping to Europe, then shipping to a retailer New Zealand. We can get all the materials and build here. Anyone up for trying?
