Who's your favorite tt retailer?

[FrenchFrog33]

Who is your favorite table tennis retailer?

• in North America
• Europe
• Asia
• Elsewhere

 

[Kuba Hajto]

I bear no loyalty to any retailer. I buy wherever is the cheapest. I mostly use the Inters.pl, just because the guy knows my face. I usually get a small discount.

 

[jk1980]

Tabletennis11.com because the guys produce good content in their blogs and on YouTube and they seem really relatable. I think I even got Sergej (Ceo) on the phone when I called their number.
They enable you to select the weight of your blades and are never too tired to reply when I inquire about the weight of their in stock blades that are of interest to me.

 

[JeffM]

In Hong Kong, I go to China Star.

For over the internet, I use Dandoy or table tennis 11. Used to buy from paddlepalace.

 

[JBH7]

DukeGaga,TableTennis11,AliExpress.In that order lol.

 

[ericd937]

TableTennis11, TableTennis11, and TableTennis11. In that order.

or My local shop in Saigon, Dung Bong Ban.

 

[FrenchFrog33]

In Hong Kong, I go to China Star.

For over the internet, I use Dandoy or table tennis 11. Used to buy from paddlepalace.

Same here!

 

[France]

Dandoy, Butterfly Belgium &Europe, and first time order to TT11 last Friday and will receive it Wednesday (so seems good too)

 

[JJ Ng]

In North America, I would use Table Tennis 11, Table Tennis 11 and Table Tennis 11.

I supplement it with some stuff from Megaspin that Table Tennis 11 does not carry (such as Sanwei; Table Tennis 11 is also not allowed to ship Butterfly product to North America. Here Butterfly's exclusive vendor is Bowmar Sports in North Carolina. It pisses me off because no one knows what Bowmar sports really does....)

Recently I discovered Aliexpress and will be using that more going foreward.

Side topics. Aliexpress supposedly has cheap Chinese rubbers and blades available. However, H3 neo is still in the mid $20's on Aliexpress, and you have to pay import tax on top of that and there is no bulk discount. I have looked and looked on Aliexpress. By contrast, on TT11, if you buy a huge shipment with 30% discount, H3 neo goes from $27 to $19 per sheet, actually cheaper than any H3 neo I can find on Aliexpress!!! So sometimes you just have to do some research.

Table Tennis 11 carries H3 neo exclusively with 39 degree hardness. They do not carry 37, 38, or 40 degree hardness. If you want those degrees of hardness, you should go on Aliexpress where they have a lot more choices. But I have ordered 18-20 sheets of H3 neo 39 degree hardness from TT11 over the years so I don't really care. I am used to 39 degree only and I am not interested in try other degree of hardness. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Furthermore, there are some interesting blades on Aliexpress such as Stuor blades that are Butterfly clones. Yeah I might buy one or two of them to try. But I like my Tibhar blades such as Tibhar Stratus Power Wood and Tibhar Fortino performance. With bulks discount, those are selling for $31 and $60 respectively on TT11. "Good" wood blades and carbon blades on Aliexpress (yes I have looked and looked) are selling for that price range anyway and do I really know those are "good" blades on Aliexpress? No.

In other words, I think sometimes in life, you want to save a few bucks. But when you know what you want, and the quality is reassured TT11 is a very very good store. I don't might saving $100 or even $200 per blade by not buying Butterfly products. But when it is like $10 a blade of saving, it is not worth it.

TT11 is also the reason that I have gone on a journey of EJ using Tibhar, Nittaku, DHS, Neottec and Yasaka products. I have stayed away from Butterfly because 1) Butterfly is expensive, 2) TT11 is not allowed to ship Buttefly product to North America and 3) Butterfly does not allow its vendors to give discounts (I cannot even buy Tenergy from my club coach even at 10% discount; in fact whenever I inquire about Tenergy, my club coach has to log onto butterflyonline.com which is Bowmar Sports to check the pricing and make sure he matches it exactly, no more and no less). The pure arrogance of it all...... and I know Gozo, I am pissing you off right now

Aliexpress seems to carry some rubbers that I would like to try such as Big Dipper, Loki, Yinhe and 729 Bloom Power. But that's pretty much it. Aliexpress definitely has a couple fake Tenergy's here and there (there used to be A LOT more of those fakes) but that's after a big crack down. Aliexpress' Stiga or Tibhar or other ESN is NOT competitive in pricing at all compared to TT11, again after TT11 applies the 30% bulk discount.

For Sanwei products in the future, I might ditch megaspin and use Aliexpress once I find a good buyer with the right Target National and Target provincial products.

So those are my thoughts. I don't see the need to use any other channels or sources.

 

[JJ Ng]

In Hong Kong, I go to China Star.

For over the internet, I use Dandoy or table tennis 11. Used to buy from paddlepalace.

I also used to buy from Paddle Palace but yeah they are not competitive at all, anymore.

I just checked out Dandoy website. They also carry volume discount. I did pull out an older thread here from 2020 on TTD forum that said Dandoy does not respond in a timely manner. I know TT11 responds quickly via email (I never had to call TT11 due to an issue with an order).

Dandoy and TT11 are locked into the battle! The pricing and the volume discount are all very similar if not the same. I guess that is good for us consumers!

 

[FrenchFrog33]

I also used to buy from Paddle Palace but yeah they are not competitive at all, anymore.

I just checked out Dandoy website. They also carry volume discount. I did pull out an older thread here from 2020 on TTD forum that said Dandoy does not respond in a timely manner. I know TT11 responds quickly via email (I never had to call TT11 due to an issue with an order).

Dandoy and TT11 are locked into the battle! The pricing and the volume discount are all very similar if not the same. I guess that is good for us consumers!

Yes, I found that Dandoy takes a few days to a week to respond to my emails.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

TT11, ColesTT, Aliexpress, TT-Japan when ordering online. Paddlepalace when I want to hold a blade in my hands, it is just a 20-30min drive for me.

 

[JJ Ng]

For Dandoy, I did a "test" purchase but did not purchase anything. I ordered 11 sheets of G-1 (8 in red and 3 in black, max sponge). Here is what the order was going to be.

Cart Subtotal $444.95
Discount (30% starting from 300€ on eligible products) -$133.49

Order Total $311.46
You will be charged for $285.75

Why is $285.75 going to be charged and not $311.46? I am confused. Is that another like 10% discount or it is due to exchange rate issue?

 

[France]

Yes, I found that Dandoy takes a few days to a week to respond to my emails.

I

Yes, I found that Dandoy takes a few days to a week to respond to my emails.

I’ve the advantage to be in Belgium so I calll them if I need an information and they always answer directly. They’re very serious

Yes, I found that Dandoy takes a few days to a week to respond to my emails

 

[France]

For Dandoy, I did a "test" purchase but did not purchase anything. I ordered 11 sheets of G-1 (8 in red and 3 in black, max sponge). Here is what the order was going to be.

Cart Subtotal $444.95
Discount (30% starting from 300€ on eligible products) -$133.49

Order Total $311.46
You will be charged for $285.75

Why is $285.75 going to be charged and not $311.46? I am confused. Is that another like 10% discount or it is due to exchange rate issue?

Maybe without Vat as you’re outside EU ?

 

[OldUser]

First I check their reputation, then their policies for payment and shipping. If everything is ok, then I compare to get the cheapest thing possible. But Harty at dhs-729.eu does a really good job for anything DHS/Friendship 729 things for the EU, and he ships quickly ! Then it's TT11.fr, or even german or belgian stores sometimes, I also buy at tt-japan.net sometimes when I want something impossible to find elsewhere.

As a musician I've been trained to buy anywhere on the planet, US boutique pedals, Netherlands craftsmen for cabs, spanish luthiers, italian electronics for amps, US strings, and japanese instruments also.

 

[brokenball]

I use tabletennis11 for most things. I buy from the Paddle Palace the specialty things like tables, nets and balls. The Paddle Palace is only about 20 miles from me. I use to buy a lot from zeropong and colestt but I haven't bought anything since the CCP-virus except Rakza 7 from tabletennis11.
My experiences with all of them have been good.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Aliexpress for their selection and prices. But ive pretty much exhausted all the rubbers of interest to try on Aliexpress.

 

[JJ Ng]

Maybe without Vat as you’re outside EU ?

Got it! Without VAT, makes perfect sense. I lived in England for a year before. VAT is no joke! If without VAT, I get like additional 9% discount, then Dandoy might be something to seriously consider over TT11. Oh well, so many choices but that's because I buy in bulk each time. I don't leave any discount on the table unturned!

 

[JJ Ng]

First I check their reputation, then their policies for payment and shipping. If everything is ok, then I compare to get the cheapest thing possible. But Harty at dhs-729.eu does a really good job for anything DHS/Friendship 729 things for the EU, and he ships quickly ! Then it's TT11.fr, or even german or belgian stores sometimes, I also buy at tt-japan.net sometimes when I want something impossible to find elsewhere.

As a musician I've been trained to buy anywhere on the planet, US boutique pedals, Netherlands craftsmen for cabs, spanish luthiers, italian electronics for amps, US strings, and japanese instruments also.

This is like the best thread on this forum for a while! It is opening my mind to some interesting stores. Ok a few things to contribute.

1) Thank you for bringing up tt-japan.net. I should look into it.

2) France's feedback about lack of VAT on Dandoy. That is like 9% discount right off the bat at the end. TT11 never charged any tax (maybe Estonia does not collect VAT but I am in North America anyway). Aliexpress shipping to North America does collect like around 10% of import tax. I am confused by all of that but it is what it is.

It is like Amazon is supposed to collect sales tax in each of the state that the customer resides in (i.e. California v.s. North Carolina has different sales tax) but such tax collection by the sellers on Amazon has been inconsistent. They are cracking down on that lately though.

3) Paddle Palace. Yes I would probably choose them if I live 20 minutes away and can get my hands on speciality items there where I cannot get anywhere else. Paddle Palace is in Oregon.

4) Zeropong/Gambler. If you sign up for the dealer account (which is not much; you only have to order like $200 to be eligible for dealer account), then you get all items 50% off. So you could get their oh-toro Japanese sponge rubbers for $7.50 to $9. I already expressed my opinions before. Their rubbers are not that fast. They are not anywhere close to Tenergy because they keep on trying to compare their products to Butterfly. Just browse their selection and you will see what I mean.

But are these rubbers good Sriver or 729 or DHS or Mark V or Neottec alternatives? yes for that price, and how fast they ship to anywhere in North America, you cannot beat that. Not sure how they ship to EU. In fact, their rubbers are so slow I have decided to boost them and put them on my ultra fast Nittaku Acoustic Carbon and I am going to try it out this week. I have trouble taming Tenergy and Acoustic Carbon/Viscaria. Slow rubber, plus boosting, glued on an outer ultrafast carbon blade seems like a good combo to me.

Their carbon blades (Gambler Fire Dragon Hinoki, Gambler Fire Dragon Touch and Gambler Blackout Max Speed Carbon) are actually quite good! Great finish. The speed is nowhere like Butterfly ALC, ZLC, Vascaria. Let us not kid ourselves. But to me, the blade speed is perfect. I use an old ALC blade from Gambler (they have since discontinued it and I do not see if offered on their website anymore) to do multi-ball training with my kids. I like that blade. I am going to test out the three blades listed above in the coming weeks with H3 neo on the front and some Gambler rubbers on the back. These carbon blades are $40 each or basicaly $20 each with dealer discount. I really cannot say that for the quality, that price is amazing. And trying to get good carbon blades on Aliexpress, at $20 a piece, I just don't have the time to do that research because I already know how good the finish is on these $20 (dealer-discounted) carbon blades from Gambler.

So I am just trying to be objective here.

I think I have said that I am happy with the Neottec products (via TT11) and their pricings for beginners and intermediate players, especially if you are looking for made-in-Japan set up. I would say I am very happy about Gambler's products, especially their blades, for beginners and intermediate players as well.

Sorry, I have not bought or used Gambler's wood blades so no comments there.

5) Aliexpress looks interesting. But by browsing it, I already know I will only order really selected items there (like Yinhe or Sanwei or Loki) that are not carried anywhere else. At the moment, I do know what quality of stuff TT11 and Gambler provide. I don't know if I want to take a chance on quality items from Aliexpress (like $60 carbon blade). No need.