Hockey Sticks on Alibaba

[floatingice 0]

Has anyone tried ordering sticks directly from China?

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/composite-ice-hockey-stick-ice-hockey_1903344007.html

Minimum orders at some of these places is very low - in this case 1. If they're manufacturing the same hockey stick for CCM, Sherwood etc. why not sell direct and make more money.

Just curious if anyone has tried these.

[AIREAYE 248]

One red flag is that Bauer works with Bonny Sports as their manufacturer AFAIK, not Hinaway Tech.

[Chadd 916]

Minimum orders at some of these places is very low - in this case 1. If they're manufacturing the same hockey stick for CCM, Sherwood etc. why not sell direct and make more money.

Just curious if anyone has tried these.

Generally, if they are manufacturing a stick for a company, they are only supposed to make those sticks for that manufacturer. More often than not, they cut corners and substitute lower quality ingredients when making their own stuff. Just about every factory will claim that they make sticks for Bauer as well.

[colins 246]

Has anyone tried ordering sticks directly from China?

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/composite-ice-hockey-stick-ice-hockey_1903344007.html

Minimum orders at some of these places is very low - in this case 1. If they're manufacturing the same hockey stick for CCM, Sherwood etc. why not sell direct and make more money.

Just curious if anyone has tried these.

Aliexpress is the choice for single quantities. Alibaba is meant for business to business transactions, whereas aliexpress is the Ebay equivalent for direct to consumer transactions.

I've seen an APX2 and MX3 from one of the aliexpress vendors. The APX2 was indistinguishable from retail. It was 436 grams in a Senior 77Flex P88 curve. The MX3 was almost as good, however the blade was noticeably thicker through the mid section and toe than retail. The weight of the MX3 was 452 grams in a 77Flex P92.

It's hard to say if the sticks are accurate in terms of flex profile. The APX2 seemed stiffer than what I expected a 77 Flex to be. It felt more like a 90 or higher in my hands.

Colin

[Vet88 673]

I've purchased a few of these. Some are well made and others are poor. It's hard to tell until they land on your door step. Most of the Chinese stick manufacturers will claim they make known brands so they appear more authentic. Basically just about all of them will make you a stick with whatever graphics you want on it. I have found the quality control was generally poor and have had batches of them break easily because they changed the blade design or wall thickness or some other feature. And no warranty, try and get a replacement out of China..... However when they do get it right you are getting a stick that is pretty good value.

I don't know if Bauer use multiple manufacturers but the last batch of Nexus 8000's that I saw came from Surewin Worldwide Ltd, or at least that is where they came from before arriving at Bauer Hockey in Aurora DC. Having recently had discussions with a retailer about the number of clone sticks popping up in the market place and how well made some of them are (the attention to detail is pretty amazing), the only way you can tell for sure that you have an authentic Bauer stick in your hands is to do a barcode / material / patent number check with Bauer.

[sepansk4 12]

I would tend to be in the camp of these are essentially counterfeit products. As with any counterfeit products they are going to have some issues that aren't as easily distinguishable to the naked eye but rather through actual testing of the product.

Sure it may feel the same, weight or flex, and look the same, graphics or actual profile of the stick, but at the end of the day I am sure if you put the "factory direct" stick and a retail stick side by side the two are NOT going to act the same.

Somewhat related, the golf industry is going through a MAJOR issue with this exact scenario right now. Some manufacturers are going as far as replacing someone's "brand new driver" they bought factory direct with an ACTUAL retail club in hopes to locate these counterfeit companies.

TL;DR - Alibaba is mostly counterfeit goods. Support your LHS or MSH member.

[AIREAYE 248]

edit: nvm

[sepansk4 12]

edit: nvm

Just do a quick Google search for counterfeit product from Alibaba. I am sure you will get your answer. In case you don't want to...Here is the first result on Google.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/11/technology/alibaba-counterfeit-ipo/

[AIREAYE 248]

Like I said... Never mind.

[Chadd 916]

TL;DR - Alibaba is mostly counterfeit goods

That is the most important thing to take away from this topic

[sepansk4 12]

That is the most important thing to take away from this topic

I haven't been burned on it, partly because I don't buy off it, but I know a few people who actually run "factory direct" businesses. At the end of the day it is far too easy to find a factory in China to make you "an identical copy" of whatever item you want. Once people start seeing a growth in a particular industry that industry gets exploited with counterfeit goods. Look at shoes, clothing, designer goods and golf clubs as an example.

It's just a matter of time until you start seeing more and more "factory direct" hockey goods made.

[start_today 757]

I'm always lost as to why people think these factories would cheat a multimillion dollar company like Bauer, by undercutting them in stick sales, but are being completely honest with you, the consumer who is spending $100 and has zero recourse if unhappy.

I feel like a lot of guys would rather have a low mid-level stick with the top of the line graphics on, and convince themselves it actually plays like an MX3, rather than pay $100-$150 and know exactly what they are getting, but have the paintjob of an "average" stick.