so who makes his bats? can you buy a custom bat with that manufacturer for a lower price?
why are there exactly the same softs available at lower prices?
i understand there are running costs and he has a premise to run/pay for (i.e. not a bedroom/home run company). but fair pricing - is that fair for his costs or fair on the same products from UK sources?
FOR THE RECORD - this is just enquring questions - to help form a more informed judgement - as from what i have seen on here/ Neon's website and seing Neon stuff in the flesh (people from Trowbridge CC using it) and Neon's ebay selling (stickers P&P 4.95) i am not convinced.....
Ok here goes...
1. The bats are imported and handmade (
@LEACHY48 ) in India, I don't deny or hide this away. Up until late 2018 I sourced bats on a made to order basis from Hunts County however unfortunately they weren't able to keep up with demand as the company grew. I should note that it actually costs me quite significantly more per bat/by grade to import from India than it did to source from Hunts... I won't go into the specifics of the reasoning for this on a public forum though for various reasons (it is a business after all!).
2. All of my softs and luggage have had countless hours of design work and years of tweaks/improvements put into them. If you're able to find softs of the same spec at a cheaper price then I would genuinely be interested to see them (I have just noticed the eBay link for the BAS pads, without even reading the description there's a number of stark differences which admittedly likely isn't noticeable to joe public but to the 'trained' eye it's quite obvious (PU instep, cheaper embossing, lower quality straps/ amongst others - not to mention the RRP for these is exactly the same as my pads...). The only comparable softs to my knowledge are being sold at higher RRPs than my website, so if I was to actually price these in line with the market then they should be higher if anything!
Are the softs I sell cheap? No, and I understand they're likely out of the price range of what a lot of people are willing to spend, however I firmly believe that you truly get what you pay for. They're built to last, not like the majority of guff being sold on the market nowadays where you'll be lucky to get a 2nd season's usage out of them.
3. I play for Trowbridge CC hence the link (Actually now skipper the 2s, Wilts Div 2 - safe to say 2020 hasn't been the start to my captaincy reign that I expected haha!). If you aren't already aware I've also recently taken over the lead sponsorship for the whole Wiltshire County Cricket League too, this is currently running up until the end of the 2023 season so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Neon!
On a side note regarding the eBay account, annoyingly I was locked out of the account "NeonCricket" back in January and the email address/personal details were changed to someone in China... eBay have been less than helpful getting this back so I have had to make a new account 'NeonCricketUK'. The labels still listed on 'NeonCricket' are old 2019 stock, and the postage charge is using my usual small parcel courier hence the cost (luckily I still get the notifications via PayPal when something sells so can fulfil the orders, albeit without accessing eBay itself!).
4. Lastly I should like to add that I have an extremely loyal customer base that I am very much grateful for, year after year I'm gaining new customers who in turn have returned every year so far. The growth of the brand in the past 2 seasons has far surpassed all projections I had forecasted which is ultimately a testament to my supplier and the quality of products I am lucky enough to be able to provide to my customers. I fully understand the brand isn't at the cheap end of the market, but I've always strived to offer the best product possible so if that means being at the higher end then that's absolutely fine by me. I supply a large number of players within the Minor County circuit and have some of the leading players in WEPL using the gear which hopefully helps to prove the level of quality the kit provides.
Any other queries please do give me a shout!
Cheers,
Adam