Attention Aussies

[Easy Tiger]

Hey fellas,

Have any of use purchased from James Kuo @ Calibre Australia before? (www.calibreaustralia.com)

Their website is horribly out of date, but they have more Yonex gear than I've seen in one place and their prices while not amazing are still reasonably competitive. Correspondence has been timely, too, and they sent me a flyer and pricelist this weekend.

[Easy Tiger]

Ah yes, you know when you're in Australia when 43 people look at something but nobody answers.

Anyway, I'm going to jump in the deep end and see how this Calibre place goes.

If anyone has bought any stuff overseas and has had a good experience, it might be a good idea to post about it here so we have one resource we can use.

FYI I've had a friend in Thailand purchase some stuff for me from mybadlookbad.com and it's very much a legitimate retail shop with lot of new and 2nd hand racquet stock. Their prices are reasonable and I should get my shipment in a couple of days so I'll let you know how it goes.

Coz let's face it, you just can't get anything here and the prices of the stuff you can are stupid.

AUD345 for a NS9000 anyone?

[Easy Tiger]

Okay.

Thumbs up to Calibre! SHB-91MX delivered overnight for AUD130. Real deal, no BS.

Very cool shoes, and very silver too so not for the shy. I got size US12 and they're true to size. Forefoot is a tad wide which is good because that's what I am!

So, big thumbs up to James at Calibre for what can only be described as sevice that's too good. He's clearly keen for customers so I'd say if you were after any Yonex gear - especially in light of the tanking AUD - he's probably your best bet.

[jhirata]

Calibre's website seems rather user un-friendly. The prices aren't quoted directly to their customers. 130AUD for a pair of SHB91MX is just around the average price tag in Oceania. Most people would prefer to simply order goods from Asia, such as from wingeebadminton, shuttle-house, etc. The prices can be cheaper, even with the shipping fees payed.

[Easy Tiger]

I got the SHB91MX for 120. Wingee has then for AUD112, so by the time you pay shipping, paypal fees or whatever, the price is very comparible. Plus, I can send them back overnight if they don't fit.

I'm in no way affiliated with Calibre, I was just pleasantly surprised for a change at the service and prices so I want to pass that info on.

If anyone wants their currend pdf pricelist, drop me a PM and I'll email it.

And again, if anyone has had any good experiences with places, let us all know. I'm just getting back into Badders and am quite frankly shocked at the lack of gear here in Australia. The sport seems to have gone nowhere in 20 years.

[andresampras]

that calibre australia guy should really at least upload his latest flyer with prices onto the website.

Anyhoo i'm in sydney, and i want to know if there's anywhere in australia that sells SOTX equipment, specifically racquets.

i'm interested in them but have yet to find a store that sells em....

cheers

[Easy Tiger]

that calibre australia guy should really at least upload his latest flyer with prices onto the website.

Anyhoo i'm in sydney, and i want to know if there's anywhere in australia that sells SOTX equipment, specifically racquets.

i'm interested in them but have yet to find a store that sells em....

cheers

Hey, welcome fellow newbie.

Yeah, his website and flyer are rubbish. If you email him he'll send you the latest ones.

I was looking at the Woven 8 and Woven 9 as an option for my first racket (Well, first racket in *gulp* 20 or so years). ibuysorts.com was where I was looking, they run USD99-USD109 a pop. However, I never fully understood this but looks like you can get x3 Woven 8's for USD250 or so as part of a package deal. Sounds like a good op for a group buy as I'd be keen to try one out. They're not available in Oz as far as I can tell.

What prices have you seen the W8 and 9 for?

[bh185008]

Hi Easy Tiger,

I am in Sydney and interested to purchase the Pro Thermal Bag (9824EX) and Yonex SHB91M. Do you have estimated costs for these 2 items?

Is Calibre based in Sydney?

Thanks :)

[Easy Tiger]

91M are 120, 9824 bag is 85. Yeah, in Syderneee.

[bh185008]

Which part of Sydney? Can i come to pick up the goods?
Thanks

[Russki Bear]

This isn't exactly an excellent advertisment for that business.....

[Easy Tiger]

Buggered if I know. I'm in Melbourne and they just couriered the goodies to me. Email James via his website and he'll hook you up.

[Oldhand]

Merged threads on the same topic.
Deleted irrelevant and rude posts.
Removed references to deleted posts.

And, yes, a bit of politeness helps sharpen the focus on facts :)

[Heong]

I have bought some yonex racquets from Calibre. Good seller, prices are resonable and quality is good but I don't think there is warranty. It is based in Sydney and I think their yonex racquets distributed from Taiwan.

[Oldhand]

Easy_Tiger, your latest post too has been deleted :)
You might find it useful to post something of relevance to many, if not all.

[Easy Tiger]

Geez, I tell people of a place that has the best Yonex prices in all of Oz, I teach a guy how to spell, I teach you how to edit properly....how useful do I have to be?

:grin:

Is it necesarily bad if the racquets are sourced from Taiwan? The upper model Yonex are all Japan made by nature, aren't they?

[Heong]

Geez, I tell people of a place that has the best Yonex prices in all of Oz, I teach a guy how to spell, I teach you how to edit properly....how useful do I have to be?

:grin:

Is it necesarily bad if the racquets are sourced from Taiwan? The upper model Yonex are all Japan made by nature, aren't they?
Yes true all upper models are from Japan. But there isnt a big difference really.. so I guess its ok. But might not have warranty which is bad.

[Easy Tiger]

It's a calculated risk just like getting out of bed in the morning. Most warranties aren't worth the premium you pay for them at full RRP IMHO, especially if the chances of having a racquet implode aren't worth losing sleep over.

[jckuo]

Yes true all upper models are from Japan. But there isnt a big difference really.. so I guess its ok. But might not have warranty which is bad.

Previously, the Yonex racquets we were selling are TW coded. Now Calibre have both TW and AS coded racquets.

All genuine Yonex racquets have warranty against workmanship and material regardless of what country code they are. However, Yonex only provides 3-month limited warranty from the date of purchase and the warranty is void in case of those factors caused by the users. If disagreement regarding the responsibility of damage happens, Yonex has the final right of decision.

The Yonex racquets with TW code have written warranty policy (in Chinese). The racquets with AS code do not have written warranty. But the agent here tell us Yonex warranty as follows -
In Regards to Warranty on Yonex badminton racquets. If there is a fault in the racquet against workmanship and material we will repair or replace (most likely replace. We do like to inspect all racquets before deciding on this. This is company policy. If I fault does exist in the racquet this would normally be determined within 3 - 6 months.

[Easy Tiger]

So essentially the warranty no matter what isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

The coding thing is still a mystery to me. If all Japan made racquets of a given model are the same, then what's the point of the coding aside from the fact it tells Yonex and it's distributors where the racquet was originally imported into?

Do wholesalers in different countries actually have the ability to order say an MP99 that would be physically and/or structurally different to a JP coded one?

[taneepak]

So essentially the warranty no matter what isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

The coding thing is still a mystery to me. If all Japan made racquets of a given model are the same, then what's the point of the coding aside from the fact it tells Yonex and it's distributors where the racquet was originally imported into?

Do wholesalers in different countries actually have the ability to order say an MP99 that would be physically and/or structurally different to a JP coded one?

Warranties terms and conditions are set by the region's authorised distributor. Their worth can be from very good to none, with decreasing worth if you buy the product from another region other than in your own region.
The coding system is used to identify areas of sphere of influence and responsibility. If you buy an SP racquet and you are in Australia, you have bought a product that will not be serviced by the Australian distributor; only the SP distributor will service you. Not all distributors are equal. SP distributor pays US$40 for an Arc 10 whereas an Australian distributor pays US$110 for the same racquet. The reason is that the SP distributor is 1,000 times + larger than the Aussie distributor, and the SP distributor spends millions of dollars sponsoring super series tournaments whereas the Aussie distributor spends none.
Dealers in any country have no power to order any racquet or MP99 of any specifications that are different from those designed in Japan. They can only place their order through their region's distributor. This is the responsibilty of the region's distributor, and even these distributors, other than the SP distributor, merely change the region's code to reflect their region. The SP distributor can and do design and contract manufacture their own Yonex racquet designs.

[Easy Tiger]

Explains why badminton in Australia seems to have not grown in popularity in 20 years, and why everyone buys their racquets overseas.

SNAFU.

[phandrew]

Explains why badminton in Australia seems to have not grown in popularity in 20 years, and why everyone buys their racquets overseas.

SNAFU.

When the US dollar was high everyone bought everything overseas. Now that the US dollar has dropped it is cheaper to buy in Australia then overseas.

[taneepak]

When the US dollar was high everyone bought everything overseas. Now that the US dollar has dropped it is cheaper to buy in Australia then overseas.

This is only true for products manufactured in Australia and inputs for its manufacture have no imported contents.

[jlien]

Hmm, had a look at their pricing, it seems comparable with stadium sports here in Melbourne.

[Easy Tiger]

Oh yeah? Where's Stadium Sports?

[Easy Tiger]

Ah got it, Box Hill (and eBay).

[Easy Tiger]

Contacted Stadium Sports in Box Hill. Apparently they have the full range of Yonex, some APACS, Prince and Pro-Ace. Dunno what the prices are like, but if you want a quote you can email (http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/xinsports@hotmail.com) them and ask.