The Hidden Cost of Cheap Fingerboards: Why the Cheapest Deck Isn’t Always the Best Deal

September 12, 2026

Fingerboarding has never been easier to get into. That is one of the best things about the hobby.

Today, you can find fingerboard decks, trucks, wheels, bushings, bearings, grip tape and complete setups at almost every price point. You can spend a relatively small amount of money and have something delivered to your door within days.

But there is another side to this accessibility that is rarely discussed.

Buying the cheapest possible components can sometimes make fingerboarding less enjoyable — and, in some cases, can push people out of the hobby altogether.

A beginner may buy a very cheap complete setup, expecting it to perform like the setups they see online. Instead, the trucks don't turn properly, the wheels don't roll smoothly, the deck feels awkward, the grip doesn't work properly and tricks become frustrating.

The beginner may not realise that the problem is the equipment. They may simply conclude: "Fingerboarding isn't for me." And that is a problem for the entire community.

The Beginner Doesn't Know What "Good" Feels Like

One of the biggest problems with cheap equipment is that a new fingerboarder has no reference point.

Someone who has been fingerboarding for years can pick up a deck and immediately notice differences in:

Concave
Kick angles
Deck shape
Pop
Weight
Wood quality
Ply construction
Grip
Truck geometry
Wheel rotation
Bearing quality
Bushing response
Overall consistency

A beginner generally cannot.

If their first experience involves a deck that is badly shaped, excessively thick, poorly pressed or paired with components that don't work well together, they may assume that is simply what fingerboarding feels like. It isn't.

Just as a skateboard with poor trucks and terrible wheels can make learning skateboarding unnecessarily difficult, poor fingerboard equipment can make learning fingerboarding much harder than it needs to be.

Cheap Doesn't Automatically Mean Bad — But Extremely Cheap Should Raise Questions

It is important to make one thing clear: not every inexpensive fingerboard is bad.

There are mass-produced Chinese manufacturers producing surprisingly good products. Modern manufacturing techniques, CNC machining, automated pressing, better materials and large-scale production can produce components that perform extremely well for their price.

In fact, some inexpensive mass-produced decks can outperform handmade decks that cost considerably more. That might sound controversial, but it shouldn't be.

The word "handmade" is not a quality certification. A product doesn't automatically become better because somebody made it by hand. The real question is: how was it made?

Handmade Doesn't Automatically Mean High Quality

There is a romantic idea surrounding handmade products. Handmade suggests craftsmanship — someone carefully selecting materials, working on the product individually and paying attention to every detail. And that can absolutely be the case. Some of the finest fingerboards in the world are produced by small makers working in their own workshops.

But the opposite can also be true. Someone can buy a press, purchase some veneer, cut a few sheets of wood and start selling decks almost immediately. There are very few barriers preventing someone from doing exactly that.

That doesn't necessarily mean the person is producing a bad product. But it does mean that the buyer cannot assume expertise simply because the product is described as handmade.

Fingerboard Manufacturing Is More Complicated Than It Looks

From the outside, making a wooden fingerboard can appear relatively simple: cut some veneer, add glue, put it in a mold, apply pressure, wait, remove it, sand it, finish it.

But every one of those stages contains variables. The type of wood matters. The thickness of the veneer matters. The direction of the grain matters. The number of plies matters. The adhesive matters. The quantity of adhesive matters. How the adhesive is distributed matters. Pressing pressure matters. Temperature can matter. Pressing time matters. Drying and curing matter. The mold matters. The geometry of the mold matters. Finishing matters. Even the consistency between batches matters.

A deck can look fantastic and still have fundamental problems that only become obvious after it has been ridden for a while.

Glue Is One of the Things You Can't See

One of the most important parts of a wooden fingerboard is something the customer will never see once the deck has been finished: the glue between the plies.

The adhesive isn't simply there to hold the wood together temporarily. It is part of the structure of the deck. The wrong adhesive, incorrect application or inadequate curing can potentially affect:

Ply adhesion
Durability
Flex
Consistency
Resistance to humidity
Long-term structural integrity

A deck can therefore look perfect when it arrives and still be poorly constructed. This is one of the reasons that simply looking at photographs isn't always enough to determine whether a fingerboard is genuinely well made.

The Question Behind a $10 Handmade Deck

This is where price becomes interesting. Suppose somebody is advertising a supposedly handmade wooden fingerboard for less than $15. That doesn't automatically mean it is bad. But it is reasonable for a buyer to ask: how much time and development can realistically have gone into this product at that price?

Consider everything involved in producing a quality deck: the wood, adhesive, mold, pressing equipment, sanding, finishing, packaging, labour, failed production, development, testing, customer service, transaction fees, shipping materials — and, most importantly, the time required to actually make the product.

If a deck is genuinely being made individually by hand and sold for an extremely low price, the economics become difficult. Something has to give somewhere. Perhaps the maker is operating at virtually no profit. Perhaps the materials are inexpensive. Perhaps very little time is being spent on each deck. Or perhaps the maker simply hasn't accounted for their own time.

None of these possibilities automatically means the product is bad. But price should encourage customers to ask questions rather than automatically assuming that cheaper means better value.

You Are Also Paying for Experience

When buying from an established maker, part of what you are paying for is not just the physical deck — you are paying for the years of experimentation that came before it.

A good maker may have produced hundreds or thousands of prototypes. They may have tested different woods, ply configurations, adhesives, molds, kick angles, concaves, shapes and finishing techniques. They may have thrown away countless decks that weren't good enough to sell.

The customer generally doesn't see any of that. They only see the finished product. But that development has a cost. And ultimately, the customer is buying the result of that experience.

Development Costs Money

This is particularly important when comparing a small handmade company with a mass-production manufacturer. A large factory may produce thousands of decks using established tooling. The cost of development is spread across a huge number of products. A small maker may have to absorb the cost of developing a new mold across a few dozen or a few hundred decks. That makes each deck more expensive.

This isn't necessarily a disadvantage. In many cases, it is exactly what allows small companies to experiment with unusual shapes and develop products specifically for their customers. But it explains why two products that appear superficially similar can have very different prices.

Chinese Manufacturing Isn't Synonymous With Poor Quality

There is another misconception worth addressing. For years, "Made in China" has sometimes been used as shorthand for cheap or poor quality. That is increasingly difficult to defend.

China has enormous manufacturing capabilities and produces everything from extremely inexpensive consumer goods to highly sophisticated precision components. Fingerboarding is no different. A professionally designed, properly manufactured mass-produced fingerboard can be extremely good.

The advantage of mass production is consistency — once a manufacturer has established a reliable process, every deck can potentially be produced to very similar specifications. That consistency can be difficult for a one-person workshop to replicate. This is why it is entirely possible for a $10–$15 factory-produced deck to be better than a $20 handmade deck. The manufacturing method itself does not determine quality. The process does.

Handmade vs Mass Produced Is the Wrong Argument

The better question isn't: "Was this made by hand?" The better questions are:

Was this designed properly?
Was it manufactured consistently?
Are quality materials being used?
Has it been tested?
Does the company understand the manufacturing process?
Does the finished product perform?

That is what matters. A handmade deck made by an experienced craftsman can be exceptional. A mass-produced deck made using good engineering and quality control can also be exceptional. And a poorly made handmade deck can be terrible.

The Problem With a Race to the Bottom

There is also a wider problem when the market becomes obsessed with being the cheapest. If customers continually choose the lowest possible price, manufacturers and makers are pressured to reduce costs. That can mean cheaper materials, less development, less testing, less finishing, less quality control, less time spent on each product.

Eventually, the product may become so inexpensive that there is almost no room left to make it properly. This creates a race to the bottom. And the customer doesn't necessarily win — they may save $10 on the initial purchase, only to replace the product several times because it doesn't perform or doesn't last.

The False Economy of Cheap Components

The same principle applies to complete setups. Imagine someone spends $10 on a deck, $8 on trucks and $5 on wheels. On paper, they have built an incredibly cheap setup. But if the wheels don't roll properly, the trucks don't turn correctly and the deck isn't shaped well, that $23 may have been wasted.

They might then buy another setup. And another. Eventually they have spent considerably more than they would have spent buying a good setup in the first place. This is the false economy of cheap equipment. Sometimes the cheapest option is actually the most expensive option in the long run.

Components Need to Work Together

A fingerboard isn't simply a collection of individual products. The components interact. Deck shape influences how the board feels. Truck geometry affects turning and wheel clearance. Bushings influence responsiveness. Wheels influence speed, grip and control. Bearings influence how freely the wheels rotate. Grip affects control.

A poor combination can make even good individual components feel bad. This is why experienced fingerboarders often spend time developing complete setups rather than simply buying the cheapest component in every category.

Equipment Should Help You Learn — Not Fight You

Learning new tricks is already difficult. You're developing coordination between your fingers, timing, pressure and movement. The last thing you need is equipment fighting against you.

If the deck doesn't pop consistently, the truck doesn't respond properly or the wheels don't roll smoothly, the learning process becomes frustrating. A good setup doesn't make someone instantly better. But it can remove unnecessary obstacles. That's an important distinction.

The Psychological Effect of Poor Equipment

There is also a psychological component to this. Imagine a beginner watching videos of people performing clean kickflips, tre flips, manuals and technical combinations. They buy their first fingerboard. They try the same tricks. Nothing works. The board feels strange. The wheels don't roll properly. The grip feels wrong. The deck doesn't seem to pop.

After a few days they give up. They don't necessarily think: "I bought a poor-quality fingerboard." They may think: "I'm just not good at this." Eventually, the fingerboard ends up in a drawer.

That's unfortunate because the person may actually have enjoyed the hobby if they had started with equipment that gave them a better experience.

Cheap Equipment Can Be Great for Experimenting

None of this means everyone needs to buy an expensive setup. Cheap equipment has an important place in the hobby. It makes fingerboarding accessible. It allows people to experiment. It gives children and beginners an inexpensive way to discover the hobby. And occasionally, inexpensive products are genuinely excellent.

The important point is simply to understand what you are buying. A $10 product shouldn't necessarily be expected to deliver the same development, materials, testing and finishing as a $40, $60 or $100 product.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Paying More for Quality

Fingerboarding is still a relatively small industry. Many companies are not producing products on the scale of major skateboard manufacturers. That means good products can be expensive.

A small company might have relatively low production numbers, expensive materials and considerable labour costs. When you buy one of those products, you're not simply paying for a piece of wood. You're paying for design, development, materials, manufacturing, experience, testing, consistency, quality control, labour, and the time required to make it properly. That is what the price represents.

Support Good Makers — But Judge Products on Their Merits

The answer isn't to blindly support every small handmade company. Nor is it to assume that a large manufacturer automatically produces inferior products. Both assumptions are wrong.

The fingerboard community should encourage companies to produce better products, regardless of where or how they are manufactured. If a small maker produces an incredible deck, support them. If a Chinese manufacturer produces an excellent affordable deck, support them too. Quality should be rewarded. Innovation should be rewarded. Consistency should be rewarded. Good customer service should be rewarded. And companies should ultimately be judged by what they put into the customer's hands.

What Should You Look For When Buying a Fingerboard?

Instead of looking only at the price tag, consider:

The company's reputation — Has the company been around for a while? Are customers consistently happy with the products?
Product consistency — Do different customers receive essentially the same quality?
Construction — Are the plies clean and properly bonded? Does the deck look structurally sound?
Shape and geometry — Is the mold properly designed? Are the kicks symmetrical? Is the concave consistent?
Materials — Does the manufacturer explain what materials are being used?
Testing — Has the product been ridden and tested before being released?
Development — Does the company appear to understand what it is trying to achieve with its designs?
Customer service — What happens if something goes wrong?
Value rather than price — Ask yourself: "Am I buying the cheapest product, or am I buying the best value?" Those are not the same thing.

The Bottom Line

Fingerboarding should be fun. Equipment should make that experience better, not worse.

There is nothing wrong with buying an inexpensive deck. In fact, affordable equipment is important because it gives more people the opportunity to discover the hobby. But there is a difference between affordable and cutting every possible corner. And there is a difference between handmade and well made.

The fact that someone has made a deck by hand does not automatically mean they understand adhesives, wood selection, pressing, curing, mold design, finishing or long-term durability. Likewise, the fact that something was manufactured in a factory does not automatically make it inferior. Quality comes from the process, not the label.

The best fingerboard companies — whether they are individual makers, small workshops or larger manufacturers — understand that producing a good product takes knowledge, experimentation, materials, equipment, time and quality control. That inevitably costs money.

So the next time you see an unbelievably cheap fingerboard deck, don't automatically assume you've found the best bargain in the hobby. Ask yourself what went into making it.

Because ultimately, you don't just pay for the deck. You pay for everything that happened before the deck reached your fingers. And sometimes spending a little more at the beginning can be the difference between discovering a hobby you love and giving up on one that never got a fair chance.

Ready to Build a Setup That Actually Works?

If this article has you thinking about upgrading your gear, here's where to start:

Fingerboard Decks — Handcrafted 32mm, 33mm, 34mm & 36mm decks built with the kind of attention to detail this article is all about.
Trucks — Geometry that actually responds the way you want it to.
Wheels — Smooth, consistent roll from the start.
Complete Setups — Everything dialled in and ready to skate, no guesswork required.

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