OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Yeah, no problem. No funky under the table business.

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I'm quite sure this tactic of Butterfly not allowing shops to export is against Australian law. Very surprised that kind of practice is legal anywhere to be honest.

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

You might be right there. I suspect they'll just claim that they're not stopping retailers from exporting, they just won't supply them any more. Being the sole distributor for a country or region for Butterfly is quite lucrative, so I doubt any of them would risk losing it.

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There are enough arguable areas in the Australian Trade Practices Act that exclusive distribution arrangements of this type won't get anyone in trouble, as long as contracts or excuses are worded carefully enough. e.g., if Restriction A in a contract appears to contravene part of the TPA, there's the question of whether the restriction "substantially lessens competition"; whether it reasonably protects the interests of the contracting parties without clearly being against the public interest; whether either contracting party can give a reason that *is* permitted under the TPA, and so on.

Suppliers can come up with any number of reasons, genuine or merely as a pretext, to cut resellers off, without contravening the TPA.

Ultimately it's usually a question of whether it's worth anyone risking their time or money to pursue a complaint that might not succeed. The greater the stakes, etc.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

These restrictions are usually done via contract - the importer (in this case, Butterfly Australia or whoever is the designated importer) has contracts with the retailers, one of the stipulations being that they will not distribute the products outside the designated sales zone (which I suppose would mean Australia). In return, Butterfly will make sure (through contracts with other parties) that no one will ship product to Australia, and that they themselves won't sell to end users. These sorts of contracts and policies exist in many industries. I've tried shaking loose products from manufacturers and distributors before (chemicals, fasteners, rubber tubing, model plane fuel) and ran into this - "we don't sell retail". They make a commitment to their retailers not to undercut them. Sometimes the contracts are in writing, sometimes the supplier has enough clout that the simple threat of being cut off is enough to keep retailers in line.

There's no need to pass actual legislation restricting sales to sales regions - the government doesn't need to get involved. It's not anti-competitive (anti-trust), either, because Butterfly is just one brand, there are many competitors.

Incidentally - has anyone tried ordering Tenergy from Tenryu? I wonder if they'd allow it, or if you can actually see Tenergy on their website:

http://www.tenryu.com.my/store/?m=cat&c ... =&bt=2&tt=

Iskandar

I had been using Tenergy 05 for years (since 2008 on my FH side), and I am reasonably well paid, but I see no reason to throw money away stupidly.

So I am using Evolution MX-P which is half the price if I buy it from TT11 or Dandoy (especially if I stock up on their occasional sale).

It took about a week or so to adjust. Designed for exactly the same style of play.

It's perfectly ok.

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Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

i am using it too...

but i am not certain about the affordability anymore...because it loses grip to the point i have to change it lot sooner that t05...

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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

I used to be able to see it, but can't any more. I'll be visiting KL in late March/early April next year, so I will pay them a visit.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

They're not so easily visit-able, being way out in the surburbs. But apparently they're a very short distance from one of the new train stations, so it'll be easier to visit them. I've never actually been to the shop, they've always just couriered the stuff to me. They could probably do that to your hotel.

Iskandar

I intend to order a T05 but at AUD85 and above, I think I'll seek alternatives.

MYR240 is about AUD80 with the exchange rate hovering at the $3 mark.
Maybe I'll get one from over there, but are they genuine and where are the stores.

Fake Tenergies are about USD15 a piece but they do not play like Tenergies.

I can't see how Butterfly's restrictive sales zones can be effective against internet global sales. Period.

And lastly if Butterfly does not care about their customers they will end up playing second fiddle to some upstart company, no matter how mighty they are now. Count how many global leaders, inconceivable at the time, have fallen in recent years.

Actually, when put it that way, it's not much of a savings. The two stores I know of are tenryu.com.my and presports.com - one is about a mile down the road from work, the other is maybe 20km from where I am, and traffic is generally pretty bad. I'm very sure the rubber is genuine.



This is funny on so many levels. Believe me, they don't even play like $5 Chinese rubbers. I'm glad I only paid $7, not $15!



Well, they wouldn't be able to maintain the high price unless they've been successful at this. And they do seem to be. There were companies in Japan willing to ship overseas, they're not willing now. None of the European mail order firms are willing to ship overseas, either. Which leaves ttnpp - I'm wondering how they're managing to do it. If they're getting their supply from a retailer at retail prices I wonder how they're making money.

Iskandar

In my view Butterfly does care about their customers. However, their customers are actually their dealers (in a direct sense).

What Buterfly does is not much different than what takes place in the dive industry. In my opinion companies should take steps to look after their network of dealers.

Regarding pricing, for reference, I just paid 6,300 ¥ ( approx. $60USD) in Japan for my Stiga Allround Evolution. I could have ordered it from Paddle Palace in the US for $41 USD, and would have received it in about ten days.
Iruiru.com has it online for 5,500¥. I could have ordered it from iruiru.com and received it in two days, but I figured I would support the local shop. They had it in stock, and I wanted it right then.

I don't think Stiga necessarily sets the pricing in Japan, perhaps the distributor does. It may just boil down to the cost of doing business (import fees, currency exchange, high cost of doing business in Japan, etc.) Also, some companies commands the power of having a strong brand name; much like the dive industry.

I don't think that Butterfly is doing anything other than looking after their dealers, which they should be doing.

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(OFF) Butterfly Korbel- FH Yasaka Rakza 7 (2.0)- BH Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft (2.0).
(OFF) Mizuno Fortius FT- FH 729/Friendship Geospin Tacky (2.15)-BH Yasaka Mark V (1.8 ).
(OFF-) Butterfly Hadraw VK-FH Butterfly Sriver (2.1)- BH Butterfly Sriver EL (1.9).
(ALL+) Stiga Allround Evolution- FH Yasaka Mark V (2.0)- BH Butterfly Tackifire Drive (1.9).

"You have to DO something to the ball." -Leatherback

Couldn't agree more....

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

To be honest, it's not much different from what happens in much of business. I know this from trying to shake loose various items from the industrial supply chain or from wholesalers (dyes, small nuts and bolts, braided steel wire, epoxies, plastic parts, latex tubing..). They often will not sell to you, or have huge minimum orders, or charge exorbitant prices to discourage you. And it's done to protect their dealers. The Thomas Catalog only gets you so far. AliExpress is a huge game-changer but it only works for some things.

Iskandar

To be honest, it's not much different from what happens in much of business. I know this from trying to shake loose various items from the industrial supply chain or from wholesalers (dyes, small nuts and bolts, braided steel wire, epoxies, plastic parts, latex tubing..). They often will not sell to you, or have huge minimum orders, or charge exorbitant prices to discourage you. And it's done to protect their dealers. The Thomas Catalog only gets you so far. AliExpress is a huge game-changer but it only works for some things.

Iskandar