Rbk 5K Stick, serious drop in price.

[CTHockey 2]

Sorry if its been discussed, but i just realized how much cheaper the 5K stick will be this year. I dont wanna give away the wholesale cost but for a stick to go from selling for $125 or more now down to probably $80 give or take a few bucks is a little extreme. I know some places will probably keep the price the same as this year and make an insane profit, but i know we'll be selling it for a lot less. IF nothing has changed with the make of the stick except the colors, i really begin to question how much it actually costs these companies to make the stick.

[TheSnake22 0]

it's an interesting topic and it hasn't really been discussed except briefly in another topic about the 7k sickick. A friend of mine wanted to order 2 sickicks at cost and was pretty shocked at how cheap it was compared to last years model... There seem to be a few reasons for the price drops in Rbk sticks across the board. 1) Next years 9k-O is going to be much more expensive, possibly most expensive stick on the market due to it's new technology. 2) As you said, little to no changes in the make of the sticks. and 3) An attempt to undercut the competition. Charge less, sell more.

Disclaimer: these are my own conclusions and no one elses. i could easily be mistaken but they seem to all be relatively logical points... i think...

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Sorry if its been discussed, but i just realized how much cheaper the 5K stick will be this year. I dont wanna give away the wholesale cost but for a stick to go from selling for $125 or more now down to probably $80 give or take a few bucks is a little extreme. I know some places will probably keep the price the same as this year and make an insane profit, but i know we'll be selling it for a lot less. IF nothing has changed with the make of the stick except the colors, i really begin to question how much it actually costs these companies to make the stick.

It is not the same stick as last year. It is mainly fibreglass for 07, hence the price drop.

[TheSnake22 0]

JR do you know about the Sickick being considerably less than last years 7k?

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Original 7k was overpriced.

[TheSnake22 0]

Good enough reason i guess... Would you expect the O to be similarly overpriced or will it be able to compete with the other top-of-the-line sticks...

[DarkStar50 680]

Only RBK Platinum dealers with have the 9K OPS. With that exclusivity those dealers can command the price they want. RBK makes dealers jump through a lot of hoops to get certain high end Platinum dealer core products. If RBK/CCM products are strong in your area, then you will find a Platinum dealer with the high end product. If RBK/CCM product only sell fairly in your area, it will be tough to find a dealer taking the risk of their high end product that he might not be able to sell. The core products are in skates, OPS, helmets, and branded apparel. RBK has been running this program for a number of years. They seem to think it works.

[CTHockey 2]

If im not mistaken i believe the O will have a sale price of around $200-225 from what the rep was telling us. WE will be one of 8 dealers i believe in MA and CT that will be carrying the stick. Now thats exclusive! My only problem is going to be that with customers paying this much for a stick their going to expect it to last longer then normal sticks and ill have to deal with the customer with a stick broken after 35 days who is upset they cant get a new stick! Simple answer to that question is always, "Sorry mam all questions regarding warranty issues must be directly to the manufactorer, we have to say in the process except to direct you in the right direction of who to call."

[DarkStar50 680]

Why do you let the rep tell you how much to sell the 9K for? Part of the sale will be to educate the customer in the beginning, not at the end when he is screaming at you because his OPS broke after 30 days. When you hand over the receipt that is when you seal the deal and tell the customer to NOT lose the receipt due to the 30 day warranty. That is standard operating procedure in our shop. High end OPS are about performance, not durability. Its like owning a Porsche. You didn't buy a Porsche to drive slow. You bought it to drive fast. If you want to putt-putt around town, get a Yugo. If you want a cheap hockey stick, buy low-end woodies.

[CTHockey 2]

The rep has absolutely no influence what so ever as to how much we'll be selling the O for. The only thing the rep told me was the wholesale cost of the stick and based off that i predicted what we'll be selling it for. I always educate our buyers to the fact that their spending 170+ on a high end stick for the technology and performance built into the stick. The higher price means in no way that it will outlast any other stick or wood for that matter. A lighter stick means one thing only, LESS GRAPHITE, which to me equals a weaker stick.

[whbd18 0]

I would imagine my LHS in CT selling it since they carry the full line of RBK Stuff, besides skates. But If they have it it is going to be alot of money. In October the Original 7K was $200 marked down from $225 USD. I estimate the 9K being around $235+ from there,maybe more since all the equipment prices have gone up here due to a High City Tax Increase.

[CTHockey 2]

$200 for the old 7K????????????? I think the highest i was selling them at was $150 and now we have them at 15% off so there going for about $125. Granted we only have about 7 left and the new 7K's are out but to sell that stick for $200 is crazy. Must be close to NY or out in the booneys somewhere.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Wow, way to NOT make money!

It sounds like to me that you're slitting your throat to stay in business. You need to bump your margins up more. That stick sells in most places for $209 and the 9k O is supposed to sell for $249.

And I know what my cost is, and trust me, I get a better discount than a 1-store operation.

[TheSnake22 0]

Yes i am also aware of the Rbk purchase requirements to be allowed to purchase and stock their new top end product. My local pro shop will not be stocking either the 7k Sickick or the 9k O-tech because of it. As for the old 7k i haven't seen it at retail for anywhere near 150... Usually thats about the price range for the 6k 2 piece combo... most stores carried it for between 170-200...

250 for the O? I guess it better perform as advertised. Even 230 seems like a lot compared to other proven sticks on the market...

[G.M. 0]

The warranty is against MANUFACTURERS DEFECT, not broken sticks. All sticks break (they are actually designed to for safety). IMHO, the menufacturers have FAILED us (store owners and managers) with regards to educating the public about their warranty policies. Once your customers start to understand what the warranty covers, then your life will be much easier.

If im not mistaken i believe the O will have a sale price of around $200-225 from what the rep was telling us. WE will be one of 8 dealers i believe in MA and CT that will be carrying the stick. Now thats exclusive! My only problem is going to be that with customers paying this much for a stick their going to expect it to last longer then normal sticks and ill have to deal with the customer with a stick broken after 35 days who is upset they cant get a new stick! Simple answer to that question is always, "Sorry mam all questions regarding warranty issues must be directly to the manufactorer, we have to say in the process except to direct you in the right direction of who to call."

[CTHockey 2]

JR, sorry i stated the wrong price before. We were selling the Blue 7K for $165. Trust me, our prices are lower then a lot of the big stores in the region. Ive seen prices from the larger chain stores and we still beat them by a few bucks. Its the way our store has been for years and obviously the owners are turning over a decent profit or they would've changed things a while ago. We could charge what the big stores charge but what advantage would we have over them?? We offer great customer service and extremely competitive prices.

As far as the warranty againt "manufactors defect". Thats a story in itself. Lets say Bob buys a OPS and takes a slap shot 15 days after he bought it and the shaft snaps. Did that shaft snap because of a manufactoring defect, or because of the amount of weight Bob put into it. There is no way for the manufactorer to tell how it was really broken unless you did something to change the look of the stick, (ie, Torch, sand paper, etc).

[TheSnake22 0]

well the way to tell would be for Bob to be honest about how it happened. if he used the stick once a week and it broke the third time he used it, it could easily be a defect. But if he plays 7 or 8 times a week like some people definitely do, then its less likely to be a defect isn't it? Like G.M. said in his post before (very good post btw) sticks are supposed to break, they're not supposed to last forever. if people didnt abuse return policies, then companies wouldnt have to charge as much to pay for the free stick they send out to peolpe who are pretty much committing fraud... hell if i owned Easton i'd investigate a few returns at random just to scare the crap out of some people who are probably trying to get over on them...

Not like any consumer would ever be that honest, but it wont matter soon because returns will go way down after everyone puts barcodes on their sticks and you cant just pop into the pro shop and have them print you up a new receipt...

[G.M. 0]

Having worked with graphite for many years before getting into this business, trust me, someone with experience with the material can see whether it was a manufacturer defect or otherwise. It is very noticable to an engineer.

Trust me when I tell you, these companies are hiring engineers, not guys that just happen to like hockey to make their sticks. They actually grasp the entire process and aren't counter jockey experts like many in this business are.

As far as the warranty againt "manufactors defect". Thats a story in itself. Lets say Bob buys a OPS and takes a slap shot 15 days after he bought it and the shaft snaps. Did that shaft snap because of a manufactoring defect, or because of the amount of weight Bob put into it. There is no way for the manufactorer to tell how it was really broken unless you did something to change the look of the stick, (ie, Torch, sand paper, etc).

I love Easton's new policy going forward for the SE where you have the sticker that gets affixed to the original receipt. For every positive though, a negative exists...

1) until they empty their warehouse on CNT, ST, etc, the problem (fraud) will continue.

2) if someone were to buy two sticks, a CNT and an SE, the CNT breaks within 10 days and you send the receipt off with the SE's "sticker" on it. A few days later the SE breaks. Now what? Receipt with the sticker is gone to Easton... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Not like any consumer would ever be that honest, but it wont matter soon because returns will go way down after everyone puts barcodes on their sticks and you cant just pop into the pro shop and have them print you up a new receipt...

[Swiss17 0]

If they can def. tell if it was a manufacturers defect or not I wouldnt have gotten back half the stick ive broke.

[CTHockey 2]

A large majority of consumers think these sticks are built to last a long time. So when they break during the 30 day period they automatically think its a manufactoring defect. If they do so have these experts then i strongly believe 75% of these returns would never in fact get returned. Consumers believe that if the stick breaks for any reason manufactorers defect or not, that they are entitled to a new stick. Until the companies put their foot down and not warranty every stick that gets sent back to them then OPS will continue to be a problem. Hopefully in the years to come manufactorers will do away with warranties all together and just lower the prices.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

2) if someone were to buy two sticks, a CNT and an SE, the CNT breaks within 10 days and you send the receipt off with the SE's "sticker" on it. A few days later the SE breaks. Now what? Receipt with the sticker is gone to Easton... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

That is why I print off two receipts, and cross out one of the sticks. So in this case, I would cross out the CNT, and put the sticker on the SE's receipt.

[G.M. 0]

And that is my point that the manufacturers have failed BOTH the retailer and consumer.

A large majority of consumers think these sticks are built to last a long time. So when they break during the 30 day period they automatically think its a manufactoring defect. If they do so have these experts then i strongly believe 75% of these returns would never in fact get returned. Consumers believe that if the stick breaks for any reason manufactorers defect or not, that they are entitled to a new stick. Until the companies put their foot down and not warranty every stick that gets sent back to them then OPS will continue to be a problem. Hopefully in the years to come manufactorers will do away with warranties all together and just lower the prices.

[Doctor Hook 0]

I used a 5k replacement blade and it had terrible durability issues. Cracked within a month.

[DarkStar50 680]

And that is my point that the manufacturers have failed BOTH the retailer and consumer.

A large majority of consumers think these sticks are built to last a long time. So when they break during the 30 day period they automatically think its a manufactoring defect. If they do so have these experts then i strongly believe 75% of these returns would never in fact get returned. Consumers believe that if the stick breaks for any reason manufactorers defect or not, that they are entitled to a new stick. Until the companies put their foot down and not warranty every stick that gets sent back to them then OPS will continue to be a problem. Hopefully in the years to come manufactorers will do away with warranties all together and just lower the prices.

What exactly is your solution for BOTH the retailer and the consumer? Please state the exact problem, as you see it, and your solution. I am just curious so I can completely understand your point of view. Thank you.

[JGraz15 55]

Original 7k was overpriced.

Just the other day, my friend and I were comparing the new 7K Sickick to the green 6K and noticed they feel nearly identical (weight and balance). The old blue 7K was definitely a lighter stick than the new 7K Sickick.

Funny enough, the green 6K and new 7K Sickick costs shops about the same.