As I understand it or was told, butterfly resellers were told to keep to a standard price without discounted or they would lose their dealership. But the resellers seem to suggest even at the high prices (compared to Japan) , their margins are super thin compared to other brands and they prefer to sell other brands and just carry butterfly just because they have to carry one of the main brands.
margins on Butterfly rubbers is terrible.
you want to do business, don't sell table tennis equipment, period.
So I do not know. But looking at how we can’t buy butterfly from almost all on like stores, and Japan on line stores like TT-Japan or nishohi are selling it almost the same exact price as in Singapore or
What most are paying in other countries, it seems
Like it is Some Form of price control from butterfly. It is strange as they could have make more sale by lowering the price or allowing market forces to price their products.
distribution rights exists for all the brands. This applies to any industry, so it isn't unique.
illegal distribution from non official channels for that country, is called grey imports.
for items that carry warranty, for example, the local distribution network may not support warranty on grey imported goods.
for table tennis, Butterfly is just strict to enforce it, and will fire distributors for breaching its distribution agreement.
so, Butterfly is like "the brand", where it is locked per region/country. Thus allowing the local distributor to have full control of the brand within the region
The control is actually very important. consumers don't see the bigger picture most of the time.
IE, if you keep buying butterfly rubbers from Japan and not your home country. Then what you are doing is, making Japan bigger, and your home country smaller.
When the time comes for butterfly to put money into your country, the money from your part is going to japan.
it is normal for most consumers to not be bothered for something that isn't going into them directly, but end of the day, how much a brands gives that country in support is all relative to its sales.
Consumers all want the best deal, and with the digital age, that is possible.
So what is happening is.... many countries table tennis stores (which is only one of many industries), are closing down, the suppliers are no longer pumping as much support/marketing fund, into the countries, and .... go ask your supplier to help you sponsor your next tournament (but then they will say, we only support tournaments in Japan), and the bigger picture is, there is still no winner.
Butterfly's model - I don't like, so I stop selling it after 2 years.
but it is the biggest brand, in terms of market share, within the world of table tennis.
