Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Off-the-shelf companies => Gunn & Moore => Topic started by: Pitbull on October 17, 2013, 02:52:03 PM
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Wasn't sure whether this was the right place to put this but....
I have seen that Pro Direct have got some big discounts on the Icon and Epic ranges and was wondering what peoples dealings with them are in terms of the quality of the bats themselves? and if its worth taking the risk ordering online from them?
Cheers
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very reasonably priced! tempted by an icon 606, but I won't buy it...
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I'd love to know the markup on some of these high end bats!
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Im so tempted because they are so cheap but I don't really need a new bat and I don;t like buying bats without picking them up first
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I'd love to know the markup on some of these high end bats!
Retailers can get discounts from manufacturers based on the amounts that they order. PDC will order lots of stock in so can command a hefty discount, i don't know how much, but pretty big i would guess.
If you take things at face value though, trade prices before any discounts, the Icon LE they are selling is actually more expensive to buy at trade price, and that is before VAT is added.
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Retailers can get discounts from manufacturers based on the amounts that they order. PDC will order lots of stock in so can command a hefty discount, i don't know how much, but pretty big i would guess.
If you take things at face value though, trade prices before any discounts, the Icon LE they are selling is actually more expensive to buy at trade price, and that is before VAT is added.
Economy of scale?
I presume that's why SD and PDC can offer such silly discounts - SD especially?
Incidentally, do SD run the back end on the ecb and lords shops, as all the products/prices etc are the same.
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Economy of scale?
I presume that's why SD and PDC can offer such silly discounts - SD especially?
Incidentally, do SD run the back end on the ecb and lords shops, as all the products/prices etc are the same.
PDC yes, SD mainly buy clearance equipment much cheaper at the end of the products run, thus being able to sell it much cheaper. Or they are selling off Slazenger, a brand they own.
THe ECB yes, Lords i don't think so. Lords sell a number of products that SD do not.
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PDC yes, SD mainly buy clearance equipment much cheaper at the end of the products run, thus being able to sell it much cheaper.
Like Weatherspoon's with their beer - it always tastes like it's about to go off!!!!
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Or they are selling off Slazenger, a brand they own.
ahh thats the reason why SD and Slazenger website have same style (website attributes) and even their prices are exactly the same.
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I do often wonder what kind of bats shops like Pro-Direct end up with. Every time we go and visit our suppliers (even yesterday at Newbery), we leave behind some bats that, in my eyes at least, aren't the best quality - to put it mildly. These type of bats have to find a home somewhere, and if they're not hand-picking, I can only assume they end up in shops like this. I wouldn't take any of the aforementioned bats even if they were half the normal trade price!!
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I am seriously considering taking a punt on the GM for no other reason than Chad showed me his one and I became insanely jealous!
I do often wonder what kind of bats shops like Pro-Direct end up with. Every time we go and visit our suppliers (even yesterday at Newbery), we leave behind some bats that, in my eyes at least, aren't the best quality - to put it mildly. These type of bats have to find a home somewhere, and if they're not hand-picking, I can only assume they end up in shops like this. I wouldn't take any of the aforementioned bats even if they were half the normal trade price!!
I agree with Paul's point. They must get all the bats that handpicking companies such as yourself reject. Has anyone seen lormier sports on eBay? They have Ricochet 1000's, original le's etc that are some of the most average willow I've seen!
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I do often wonder what kind of bats shops like Pro-Direct end up with. Every time we go and visit our suppliers (even yesterday at Newbery), we leave behind some bats that, in my eyes at least, aren't the best quality - to put it mildly. These type of bats have to find a home somewhere, and if they're not hand-picking, I can only assume they end up in shops like this. I wouldn't take any of the aforementioned bats even if they were half the normal trade price!!
Could you expand on the reasons that you refuse these bats.
And also the reasons why you may think the manufacturer original grades them at the higher level?
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I ordered this from PDC...
http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=26605.msg416494#msg416494 (http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=26605.msg416494#msg416494)
I think if you're ordering top end, there's no problem; even if they have cast offs, they surely have to be of a certain standard.
Knowing that they do take cast off, I would prefer to buy lower/mid range bats elsewhere, i.e. forum sponsors...
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Could you expand on the reasons that you refuse these bats.
And also the reasons why you may think the manufacturer original grades them at the higher level?
There seems to be quite a lot of inconsistency in mallet response. For example, we saw some stunning looking junior bats yesterday, but Chris and I agreed that they didn't respond very well off the mallet at all, so despite their good looks, we didn't take any. They were very hard and very unresponsive. Even in the higher grades you get bats like this: there was a Tour a bit like this as well.
And then, looks-wise, there are quite a few that have stains on them, or big blemishes right in the middle of the bat. Fewer of these in the top grade, but still we believe these ones should be avoided.
I guess, in every batch of 500 bats, there will be 50 or so that fit this description, even from the better bat makers. If bats are made in large numbers, the consistency of quality cannot really be retained right across the board. That's my view anyway...
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To say they have the cast offs is a little far fetched. They probably get the first batch from all the big players, and even get cricket gear that no other shops can get.
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There seems to be quite a lot of inconsistency in mallet response. For example, we saw some stunning looking junior bats yesterday, but Chris and I agreed that they didn't respond very well off the mallet at all, so despite their good looks, we didn't take any. They were very hard and very unresponsive. Even in the higher grades you get bats like this: there was a Tour a bit like this as well.
And then, looks-wise, there are quite a few that have stains on them, or big blemishes right in the middle of the bat. Fewer of these in the top grade, but still we believe these ones should be avoided.
I guess, in every batch of 500 bats, there will be 50 or so that fit this description, even from the better bat makers. If bats are made in large numbers, the consistency of quality cannot really be retained right across the board. That's my view anyway...
Is there not a chance said bats could open up with knocking in and a good few nets?
As for blemishes, I bought a bat from barrington, puma 6000, was instantly going back,as it has a few flaws. But then I had a play with the mallet, and it was responding awesomely(probably on par with my b3) so kept it.
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If bats are made in large numbers, the consistency of quality cannot really be retained right across the board. That's my view anyway...
TK's quality control can't possibly be as good as it once was. How could it be?
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To say they have the cast offs is a little far fetched. They probably get the first batch from all the big players, and even get cricket gear that no other shops can get.
Some of them do get exclusives yes.
However, the biggest retailers do not hand pick their bats. There is only a select group of us who do. Suppliers/manufacturers know we won't take an iffy looking/performing bat, so it has to go somewhere. Do some of the big retailers get deliveries before we get access to stock? Inevitably, but the person in the picking rooms at kook or grays or wherever will definitely be slipping some of the bats they know we won't want in there.
I've seen enough iffy looking top end stuff at big retailers to know this is what is happening.
On the other side of things. GM's quality control is head and shoulders above in my opinion, this is especially important considering they do not allow handpicking by retailers. I've never seen a GM Original LE where i would go 'ooooh, i'm not sure about that' whereas i can honestly say i have seen a few top end sticks from the other brands that were not much to write home about.
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Is there not a chance said bats could open up with knocking in and a good few nets?
As for blemishes, I bought a bat from barrington, puma 6000, was instantly going back,as it has a few flaws. But then I had a play with the mallet, and it was responding awesomely(probably on par with my b3) so kept it.
Of course, bats can and often will open up nicely - even the hardest. And the most unattractive bats can often be some of the best performing bats around. But you can never be sure of this, and these are also the type of bats that many customers don't want to buy, and hence they stay on the shelf for a while, and then they get heavily discounted by the likes of Pro-Direct. So, picking bats like this, when we could have others, is not something we wish to do. But at least these bats find homes eventually!
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To say they have the cast offs is a little far fetched. They probably get the first batch from all the big players, and even get cricket gear that no other shops can get.
You're right - cast off's is harsh. What I meant was what Jake has commented on - that they don't hand pick and are arguably not as particular about what they select...