Why are rubbers so expensive?

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Korean American dude outright bought Joola not so long ago. Buy an existing TT brand, I guess that is one way to enter the business.

And I think Gambler is a American company too, and they make their blades and rubbers in China.

Gambler is ZeroPong's (Tom) brand. Cole sells them too. Tom does not have much of a huge market share at all, but it didn't stop him from making the brand and making it work enough to stay in business with it for over a decade. USATT big tourney vendor booth policy change put a big hurt on him though. I used Gambler rubbers the first couple years I started playing TT.

Paddle Palace, the largest USA online TT store, has its own house brand - Hunter for over a decade, but like Tom, they are not exactly dominating the market, but they do enough to keep that brand operating.

I am glad you brought this up Thomas. Those 2 USA outfits got some free publicity, a good and noble thing.
 
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says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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The main reason rubbers cost so much is, the materials in a rubber, if you melt it down, would cost about $0.50.

Oh, wait, maybe that is not why. :) PS: I am not sure I am fully accurate. Maybe the actual cost of the materials is about $1.00. :)
Union labor must be it along with marketing. Damn unions take over an industry and all costs go up. :D

EDIT: Where is Jimmy Hoffa when you need him? Or... simply WHERE is Jimmy Hoffa? :D
 
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Korean American dude outright bought Joola not so long ago. Buy an existing TT brand, I guess that is one way to enter the business.

Gambler is ZeroPong's (Tom) brand. Cole sells them too. Tom does not have much of a huge market share at all, but it didn't stop him from making the brand and making it work enough to stay in business with it for over a decade. USATT big tourney vendor booth policy change put a big hurt on him though. I used Gambler rubbers the first couple years I started playing TT.

Paddle Palace, the largest USA online TT store, has its own house brand - Hunter for over a decade, but like Tom, they are not exactly dominating the market, but they do enough to keep that brand operating.

I am glad you brought this up Thomas. Those 2 USA outfits got some free publicity, a good and noble thing.

Gambler products are super dope. Great quality blades, and very good rubbers. The only con is that rubbers are very short-lived.

 
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says Spin and more spin.
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Can someone please send me their old Butterfly rubbers so I can melt them down and figure out how to make them brand new again!? 😅

I'm sure if I put them in my VCR it'll work.... 😉
If anyone out there thinks it is actually R&D would have to answer why a rubber that has been on the market since 2008 (Tenergy) has only increased in price from about $50.00 to its current $80.00 which also can't be explained by inflation since that is a 60% increase.

 
Don't be silly...

it is not being silly. you just do not have the insider info on why it is that way.. but if you really think about it and if you have read this before, DHS does not sell their topsheets separately anymore. They sell rubbers for a different brand, I know they used to with Killerspin and some types of rubbers for a Euro brand but all of these are made in China not assembled as a euro sponge, chinese top. For the record, i did suggest this to different company brands a few years ago when the Sticky Euro rubbers are not a trend yet but they seem to think the idea is not feasible and good for profits. Maybe they (tt companies) are silly, since you think the idea is.

 
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Yes yogi your being silly by implying that I don't understand why You would want to use another's component rather then making Your own...
Regardless, any of that will not change my opinion.
"Most rubbers are too expensive"
 
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I find it for 30 Euros, not that cheap really, but still interesting. The package says "half sticky" whatever that means...
I'll put it on my list.

Have you used it?

Thanks
L-zr

Hi Lazer....Currently using it on FH on Stiga Azalea Off and Nittaku Septear Lead blades. Stunningly good rubber in 39 deg - was inspired to try it after yogi's excellent review here and havn't regretted it for one minute. Very grippy but not sticky - high spin, amazing control quite fast, but not super fast. Seems really durable too......Check out the review.....Cheers.

 
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Hi Lazer....Currently using it on FH on Stiga Azalea Off and Nittaku Septear Lead blades. Stunningly good rubber in 39 deg - was inspired to try it after yogi's excellent review here and havn't regretted it for one minute. Very grippy but not sticky - high spin, amazing control quite fast, but not super fast. Seems really durable too......Check out the review.....Cheers.

at 30 eur you will find donic bluestorm and butterfly rozena waiting at the door and they won't let you in.
the top price for chinese rubber today is around 25 eur.

 
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Hi Lazer....Currently using it on FH on Stiga Azalea Off and Nittaku Septear Lead blades. Stunningly good rubber in 39 deg - was inspired to try it after yogi's excellent review here and havn't regretted it for one minute. Very grippy but not sticky - high spin, amazing control quite fast, but not super fast. Seems really durable too......Check out the review.....Cheers.

OK, great ~30 Euros (give or take a few) is my current upper limit. I'll definitely put it on my list.
I will look up yogis review as well.
Cheers
L-zr

 
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at 30 eur you will find donic bluestorm and butterfly rozena waiting at the door and they won't let you in.
the top price for chinese rubber today is around 25 eur.

Well, the sticky stuff is not for me, the rubber zentt suggested is only half sticky that could be worth trying...
 
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If anyone out there thinks it is actually R&D would have to answer why a rubber that has been on the market since 2008 (Tenergy) has only increased in price from about $50.00 to its current $80.00 which also can't be explained by inflation since that is a 60% increase.
T05 was relatively expensive when it first came out. T05 has had a long run. The R&D costs have not be amortized over 11 years or so. The difference in prices is simply due to asking what the market is willing to pay or price gouging.
Most rubbers don't stay as popular for as long.
 

what I'm saying is.... no chinese rubber is going to be superior to bluestorm or rozena....so at 30 eur a chinese rubber is no no.

I'd say most rubbers are superior to Rozena... 👿
And if it is a cheapo it will not be on the market for long. So just because it is Chinese doesn't necessarily mean it's any worse. If it's imported and sold by a known western company it is most likely OK. I would never buy anything from a Chinese web site though., then You run a big chance of getting fakes. The western stores I already know, but I don't have the energy to investigate if the oriental ones are OK or not.
 
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I'd say most rubbers are superior to Rozena... 👿
And if it is a cheapo it will not be on the market for long. So just because it is Chinese doesn't necessarily mean it's any worse. If it's imported and sold by a known western company it is most likely OK. I would never buy anything from a Chinese web site though., then You run a big chance of getting fakes. The western stores I already know, but I don't have the energy to investigate if the oriental ones are OK or not.

chinese are not stupid.
if they ever make a "tenergy" they will charge it 70.
if they charge it 30 you know the quality of the rubber already before even trying it.

as for rozena..... it's awesome.
I prefer rozena to any non-butterfly rubber.

 
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chinese are not stupid.
if they ever make a "tenergy" they will charge it 70.
if they charge it 30 you know the quality of the rubber already before even trying it.

as for rozena..... it's awesome.
I prefer rozena to any non-butterfly rubber.

It is good that everyone gets to decide what they like. A great rubber for one player may not be so good for another.
 
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If anyone out there thinks it is actually R&D would have to answer why a rubber that has been on the market since 2008 (Tenergy) has only increased in price from about $50.00 to its current $80.00 which also can't be explained by inflation since that is a 60% increase.

Currency Fluctuations !!!

That excuse is almost as re-usable as the systemic racism reason.

Even Greg Letts, in his epic BTY Price Increases vid, spent a few seconds on the currency fluctuation piece as a corporate strategy for ever-increasing prices...

 
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Hi,

I'll admit I haven't read-through all 7-6 pages worth of posts in this thread...

But, during a cursory glance through the posts, I often came across posts, about how cheap & inferior Chinese rubbers are.. Some posts even inferred that they're cheap cause they're inferior..

But guys, what about those Chinese branded Tensor rubbers (Namely DHS Goldarc, Palio Macro Era) that're made by ESN (Which is a German Co.) - How are these still a lot cheaper than most of the Euro-Jap rubbers ? Goldarc & Macro Era may not share all of the the same playing characteristics as the Tenergys, but they're, by no means, of inferior quality ..
 
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Everyone always seems to quote Butterfly as having the most expensive rubbers, but actually DHS do!! Their H3 National rubbers cost more than D05 etc.
Generally BTY rubbers are slightly more expensive, but ESN are also pretty costly. With the likes of R48 and Dynaryz matching T05.
At the other end of prices, yep it’s generally Chinese brands that are cheaper.

In another thread, discussing some new Victas rubbers, I quoted ‘Made in China, priced in Japan’ !! Recently there’s been talk that Victas want their top sheets and sponges made in China. Will these rubbers be cheaper?? No frickin way !!!

If a manufacturer was able to produce a new ‘game changing’ rubber, but only cost £1/€1/$1/¥1 to manufacture, would they sell it for £2/€2/$2/¥2, making a 100% profit?? Nah!! They would price it just above the current ‘so called best rubber’ because if the new rubber is ‘seen’ to be better then surely it should cost more ?? Or maybe slightly cheaper!!

At the end of the day, we buy the stuff at the price the manufacturers set, we have a choice, if no one bought D05 or H3 Nat then it would either be discontinued or the price cut.
Manufacturers push the envelope, we lick it and stick it !! And send them are hard earned bucks!!
 
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