Before we’ll get to the point of this article, we must state something: what Powerslide have done here is impressive.
Since the very first day of Russian invasion on Ukraine, Europe has united in effort help victims of this brutal, unprovoked war.
We are at point when there is no sign of any end to the conflict in near future and it looks like we will witness a long war of attrition. Over 170 days have passed since the day Putin gave an order to launch a full-scale invasion. People and communities who were eager to help at first, cooled off a bit now and have less energy and resources to engage in aid for Ukraine
Same thing happens in world of private and corporate business – the readiness to help has diminished. Like with everything in our lives, after initial shock and peak of interest, most of us gradually lose focus and become indifferent about horrors of war.
Taken in this context, Powerslide’s decision to raise money for aid to Ukrainians who suffer from invasion, by releasing a limited edition skate, is even more surprising. It came out of nowhere – on 10th of August we have received an email saying that there’s stock of Next 110 “NO WAR” edition skates in colours of Ukrainian flag. Only 500 pairs were made and they’ll be sold through selected shops in Europe.
Better than it seems at a first glance
A lot of companies tried to jump on the bandwagon of solidarity with people of Ukraine in these past months. Most often, they were taking the same approach – a part of income raised by selling their goods was donated to charity, non-profit organisations engaged in help to victims of war.
Quite often, these actions were honest and the companies have donated a quite a significant cut of, or even a whole income generated on sales of certain items and services. Sometimes, though, it was a cynical approach – a minimum effort thing, to gain publicity at lowest cost possible. Of course, both things were raising visibility of brands in question.
We are happy to inform that Powerslide is taking the more noble approach here and even goes beyond the course of action we’ve usually seen.
Best deal in history of inline skating?!
The German company and its’ suppliers take all production costs of these skates onto themselves. Powerslide is also covering import fees, taxes and even shipment costs of skateshops selected for being a part of this initiative!
100% of amount of money raised by sales of these skates will be donated to non-profit organizations engaged in efforts to help people of Ukraine.
This deserves to be rephrased – Powerslide do not simply donate their income to come out even when it comes to production costs. They are taking losses on each pair of these skates made!
Furthermore, shops do not make any money on them either. This, of course, includes us. The wholesale price is only slightly lower than sales retail price. This difference is for covering costs of taxes, import fees and shipping, as stated earlier. Powerslide covers that out of their pocket. It is calculated in a way to make sure that shops will be only a middleman, not taking any losses, but not making any money on sales of these either. There is no profit margin here for us.
Help Ukraine, get skates
Think about it. 100% of money you pay for the skates goes to charity. Whole 299 Euros. It is effectively the same thing as donating the money by yourself and getting a free pair of skates as a thank you gift.
If you wonder where exactly the money goes, Powerslide have chosen two organisations to split these funds between:
- Ukrainian Medical Association in Germany e.V. - Intended use: medical aid for soldiers and civilians
- National Bank of Ukraine: Humanity Funds - Intended use: food, shelter, clothing
As for the skates themselves, we have praised the Next models multiple times already, so there’s no point in writing an extensive overview here. These are modern classic of urban skating. The limited NO WAR edition is a match to Next Black Core 110 models when it comes to specs, parts are the same, only difference ale colours and graphics.
A rigid hardboot which has proven itself, heat-moldable MyFit Recall liner, Elite Casted AL 243 mm frames and good quality Spinner wheels in 3x110 configuration. Superb setup for newcomers and advanced freeskaters alike.
If you want to read a more in-depth piece about Next, we have one here – even though it is from 2021, it is still relevant in this case, as Next Black Core versions have not underwent any major changes since then.
It is an honour to help Powerslide selling these skates and we are glad to take part in this effort to help people of Ukraine. Such actions are welcome, especially now, when international movement to deliver aid is slowing down.
If you want to grab a pair, better be quick – there are not many of those available. Furthermore, you’ll own not only a great pair of skates, but also a piece of history!
Check out the promo edit of these skates below:
A thing of note: Powerslide has stopped all their business in Russia. Due to sanctions imposed by European Union, delivery of these skates is not possible to Russia either.
