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That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
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Author:  iskandar taib [ 09 Aug 2014, 01:40 ]
Post subject:  That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
I think I found it.. ;)

They've got a page on Alibaba.com (which is the Big Brother of AliExpress and is meant for manufacturers and wholesalers).

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/productgrou ... blade.html

Over a hundred blade designs listed. C-pen, J-pen, shakehands.. A few display a brand name I've never heard of (probably a placeholder), some of the later ones are actually marked "OEM". The pictures show some very nicely made bats indeed, prices range from a low of $2.70 a blade:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/199 ... lenut.html

Image

(Looks like a defensive blade, doesn't it?)

to $16.20 for a one ply Hinoki:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/198 ... inoki.html

Image

They seem to use a lot of "candlenut" (which I suspect is Paulownia).

The real bargains seem to be the zebrawood/ebony/rosewood blades, like this one:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/198 ... NCT_V.html

Image

$10.60, when the equivalent from Yinhe or HRT would set you back at least fifty to sixty. There's also a bunch of carbon, carbon-arylate, etc. blades for a lot less than what you'd pay elsewhere.

Since Alibaba is meant for wholesalers, you usually have to buy industrial sized quantities. Eacheng's Alibaba store will sell you something they usually sell for $20 for $7 - the catch is you have to buy a minimum of 100 (!). What's surprising here is the blades are available at the minimum quantity of.... ONE! Shipping isn't too bad, either - $12.69 for one blade to the US by FedEx. 20 blades? The price drops to $1.44 a blade!! Also FedEx. There's a shopping cart, so you can probably order several blades of different kinds and save on shipping.

I suppose these are meant to be OEM samples - what these guys want is large orders, and if you DO order large quantities you can probably get them to silk screen the logo of your choice on the blade and put your private emblem under the lens. Or even make blades to your own design (though there'd probably be a hefty minimum quantity). And shipping for 200 blades will probably be less than a buck a blade. And they'll probably let you mix and match.

I guess my table tennis life just got more complicated. Maybe I'll put a hundred bucks aside in a month or so and order eight to a dozen blades from these guys.

Iskandar
Author:  haggisv [ 09 Aug 2014, 09:34 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
The blades look nice, and it seems like good value, although you'd have to wonder about the quality control, when this is left completely up to them.
Author:  abdulmuhsee [ 09 Aug 2014, 10:08 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
iskandar taib wrote:
Image

They seem to use a lot of "candlenut" (which I suspect is Paulownia).


At 105 grams for the pictured blade, I don't think it can be Paulownia. I have 3 one-ply Paulownia blades and the heaviest is 73 grams.
Author:  iskandar taib [ 10 Aug 2014, 05:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
No, if I recall correctly, that's a one ply Hinoki. The "candlenut" is the core in other blades.

The Alibaba shopping cart is hopeless (very much unlike the AliExpress one). You can't, for instance, delete items. And the shipping! Buy 20 of one kind of blade, you pay a little more than a buck a blade shipping, but buy one each of 20 different blades - the shipping is $250. I guess one could always contact the buyer directly to arrange something.

Quality-wise - I suspect this company actually makes the blades for a LOT of other companies, particularly the smaller ones (Probably not Yinhe, they have posted photos of their own factory.) and have been around for over a decade, so I doubt the quality is low. Besides, they're offering these blades on Alibaba not for retail, but so that potential large buyers can evaluate their quality. Probably easier to do it this way than the old way (lots of letters and photos back and forth, before money changes hands and samples get sent).

Iskandar
Author:  haggisv [ 10 Aug 2014, 16:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Ahh yes, I wasn't questioning the quality, but the quality control, ie variations between batches.

I know quite a few smaller manufacturers that outsource their blade manufacturing, so this may well be a common one that they use.
Author:  Zhaoyang [ 11 Aug 2014, 00:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Sorry you won't see all of this if you don't have the fonts installed:
㨾品 yàngpǐn n. 1. sample (product); specimen 2. prototype
Author:  iskandar taib [ 18 Sep 2014, 14:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Ah.. I get it. That's what's printed on all of the blades!

Iskandar
Author:  agenthex [ 18 Sep 2014, 15:24 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Usually with alibaba it's best to contact the supplier since it wasn't originally meant to be a b2c site like amazon/ebay.

TT blade manufacturing is pretty simple, and overall it's a demand-constrained product. The premium enthusiast sector is mostly marketing like fashion. I mean, yinhe alone has something like 100 blades all of which are available via various merchants on taobao (aliexpress is same company but less vendors since it's intl, so is alibaba for that matter):

http://www.yinhe1986.cn/discuz/viewthre ... a=page%3D1
Author:  ZED [ 22 Sep 2014, 03:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
iskandar taib wrote:
I think I found it.. ;)

They've got a page on Alibaba.com (which is the Big Brother of AliExpress and is meant for manufacturers and wholesalers).

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/productgrou ... blade.html

Over a hundred blade designs listed. C-pen, J-pen, shakehands.. A few display a brand name I've never heard of (probably a placeholder), some of the later ones are actually marked "OEM". The pictures show some very nicely made bats indeed, prices range from a low of $2.70 a blade:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/199 ... lenut.html

Image

(Looks like a defensive blade, doesn't it?)

to $16.20 for a one ply Hinoki:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/198 ... inoki.html

Image

They seem to use a lot of "candlenut" (which I suspect is Paulownia).

The real bargains seem to be the zebrawood/ebony/rosewood blades, like this one:

http://hzwes.en.alibaba.com/product/198 ... NCT_V.html

Image

$10.60, when the equivalent from Yinhe or HRT would set you back at least fifty to sixty. There's also a bunch of carbon, carbon-arylate, etc. blades for a lot less than what you'd pay elsewhere.

Since Alibaba is meant for wholesalers, you usually have to buy industrial sized quantities. Eacheng's Alibaba store will sell you something they usually sell for $20 for $7 - the catch is you have to buy a minimum of 100 (!). What's surprising here is the blades are available at the minimum quantity of.... ONE! Shipping isn't too bad, either - $12.69 for one blade to the US by FedEx. 20 blades? The price drops to $1.44 a blade!! Also FedEx. There's a shopping cart, so you can probably order several blades of different kinds and save on shipping.

I suppose these are meant to be OEM samples - what these guys want is large orders, and if you DO order large quantities you can probably get them to silk screen the logo of your choice on the blade and put your private emblem under the lens. Or even make blades to your own design (though there'd probably be a hefty minimum quantity). And shipping for 200 blades will probably be less than a buck a blade. And they'll probably let you mix and match.

I guess my table tennis life just got more complicated. Maybe I'll put a hundred bucks aside in a month or so and order eight to a dozen blades from these guys.

Iskandar


How'd you find out it's about 10$? The site doesnt mention anything about 10$.
Author:  ZED [ 22 Sep 2014, 03:33 ]
Post subject:  That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Nevermind-found the aliexpress link.
http://m.aliexpress.com/item/1999661239.html

It is indeed a little over 13$ in bulk. It's 20$ for one though.
I'm getting it.

Review soon?
Author:  agenthex [ 22 Sep 2014, 05:46 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
These guys carry that OEM's blades plus some interesting "SATIGA" copies.

http://shop110787524.taobao.com/?spm=20 ... 6.4.J4J1ZW

SuperZLC for 140rmb, lol.

I actually own the fake DHS 656 they have listed (kind of got ripped off elsewhere, but pretty sure it's same one), and it's pretty decent quality. I'd imagine the rest are similar to the HRT's that've been kicking around: not as nice as the hardwood stigas but better than the cheap end of stiga's swedish lineup.
Author:  ZED [ 22 Sep 2014, 06:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
They also have fake TBALC handles...
Author:  iskandar taib [ 22 Sep 2014, 11:19 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
Hmm.. I wonder if this is the factory itself, or someone who's bought some blades and is selling them. 140RMB is what.. USD24? And I wonder about that OAK rubber. A little more than USD4. The "Satiga" blades are on the OEM's website on AliBaba - you have to poke around a little to find them.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if they don't make HRT's blades for them...

What's TBALC?

Iskandar
Author:  iskandar taib [ 22 Sep 2014, 11:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
ZED wrote:
Nevermind-found the aliexpress link.
http://m.aliexpress.com/item/1999661239.html

It is indeed a little over 13$ in bulk. It's 20$ for one though.
I'm getting it.

Review soon?


Ah.. here they are:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1210048

Is this one ply hinoki? (They say "Japanese Spruce"..). If so that's ultra-cheap.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 10936.html

Looks like they have a line of rubber, too. Including one "German Technology". Note shipping isn't "free" (but it isn't bad).

Iskandar
Author:  haggisv [ 22 Sep 2014, 16:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: That big gigantic OEM blade factory in China
iskandar taib wrote:
Is this one ply hinoki? (They say "Japanese Spruce"..). If so that's ultra-cheap.

It's probably pine... I've seen a few 1-ply pine blades come out of China, which often and conveniently gets translated to Hinoki :lol:
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