PSStix vs BBS: The Complete Guide for Skateboard Brands and OEM Buyers
The PSStix vs BBS debate is one of the longest-running conversations in skateboarding. The Slap Magazine forum thread on this topic alone has accumulated over 34,000 reads since 2017. For most of those readers, the question is about feel: which deck pops better, which lasts longer, which concave suits their riding. That is a legitimate and interesting question, and we cover it honestly below.
But a growing portion of people searching for PSStix vs BBS are not skaters choosing a board. They are brand founders and OEM buyers trying to understand which factory to work with. For that audience, the comparison is entirely different, and the answer is more complicated than either forum thread or manufacturer website makes clear.
PSStix vs BBS: Heritage and Reputation
Both factories have earned their reputations over decades. PSStix was founded in 1987 by Professor Paul Schmitt, who was also a co-founder of New Deal Skateboards and is widely credited with shaping the modern deck geometry that most of the industry still builds from. Over 35-plus years, the factory has produced more than 19 million decks for brands including WKND, Welcome, Fantasy and New Deal. The boards are consistently praised for their pop and durability.
BBS Manufacturing was founded in 1996 by Grant Burns in San Marcos, California. Originally started as Bare Back Skateboards, a longboard brand, the company transitioned to OEM manufacturing by the early 2000s after the brand name became unsearchable online. With over 1,000 employees, BBS now produces for Baker, Deathwish, Anti-Hero, Alien Workshop and Real Skateboards, a roster that represents the highest tier of core skateboarding. Their decks use hard rock sugar maple from Wisconsin mills and a glue specifically formulated for skate deck construction.
PSStix vs BBS: Quality Comparison
In purely subjective quality terms, the PSStix vs BBS debate among skaters tends to break along personal preference lines rather than objective hierarchy. BBS is more consistently cited as the top-tier choice for raw pop and build durability, with reviewers describing it as the benchmark others are measured against. PSStix is praised for shape consistency, a classic deck feel, and production quality that has remained high across four decades.
For OEM buyers, the quality comparison is less important than the access comparison. You cannot order from BBS regardless of your quality preference. For deck production via a US woodshop, PSStix is the relevant option.
PSStix vs BBS: The Real OEM Comparison for New Brands
BBS is not available to new brands. Their FAQ page states this directly and has done so for several years: “We are not currently taking on any new customers.” There is no application process, no qualification criteria, no path in for a new brand regardless of size, credibility or order volume. BBS’s capacity is committed to their existing long-term brand relationships.
PSStix is available to new brands, with a meaningful logistics caveat that every OEM buyer should understand clearly: PSStix does not ship to their customers. Their own website states this on multiple pages: “OEM Customers are responsible for quoting their own freight forwarder, picking up from San Diego, CA and managing shipping and delivery after that.” For a brand based in California, this is manageable. For a brand based in New York, London, Tokyo or Sydney, this is a significant recurring overhead on every production order.
The PSStix vs BBS comparison for OEM buyers ends here: BBS is closed. PSStix is open but requires logistics you manage yourself. Both make only decks. For growing brands who need more, the conversation moves to 2HEX.
What Neither PSStix nor BBS Can Build
Both PSStix and BBS are woodshops. World-class woodshops, but woodshops. Their expertise, equipment and factory infrastructure is built around one product: the skateboard deck. This means that for any brand building past decks into trucks, wheels, helmets or custom packaging, neither factory can follow.
This matters more now than it ever has. The brands gaining ground in skateboarding are not competing on graphics alone. They are building coherent product identities: matched colourways from the deck to the wheel to the helmet, custom packaging that turns a complete into a product moment, hardware under their own name. These are not luxury additions. They are the difference between a brand with a single SKU and a brand with a world worth carrying.
- PSStix: open, decks only, 19M+ decks produced, collect from San Diego, quality heritage
- BBS: closed to new customers, decks only, 1,000+ employees, Baker/Anti-Hero/Real
- Both: no trucks, wheels, helmets, packaging. No direct shipping.
- For brands that need only decks in the US and can handle San Diego pickup: PSStix is the right call
- For brands that need a full product line, direct shipping, or are outside the USA: the conversation is with 2HEX
Not sure which path is right? Fill in the form below. Tell us what you are building, where you sell, and what PSStix or BBS cannot give you. We will tell you honestly whether 2HEX is the right next step.
