I was just on the phone with a Badminton store dealer in Southern California and the guy said all their rackets are US models as they are from japan and have a one year warranty. I mentioned what about other models like TH etc...he said that TH models are cheap models made in Taiwan...even though I pointed it out to him that it clearly states on a TH racket that its Made In Japan....he insisted that they are made in Taiwan... So my question is...does it mean if I buy a Yonex TH model in the United States it wont have a warranty with Yonex? Also what are they qualifications of a racket in order to be under the warranty in US? (like if I buy it from a friend and the racket is brand new unstrung with handle shrinkwrap still on etc...) Ken boy...then this also poses the question again-why are Yonex TH rackets cheaper than others(like SP, etc)...other than differences in racket bags and paint job etc...
No, that dealer doesn't know a jack about the codes. TH, TW, JP, US, UK....etc are just the destination codes. For all high end Yonex racquets, they are all made in Japan. For lower end ones, they are made in Taiwan or China (Yonex have factories in both Taiwan and China now). No, You will not have US warranty unless your racket is US coded. For more information, you can read the FAQ or Do a search on your own.
No, the TH versions are IMO the same as any other version. I have both AT800DE from TH and US and they feel, look, and hit the exact same.
Paint job may differ from country to country. I have Cab21TH, Cab21SP and cab21KR and they are all slightly different in colors.
as bluejeff says, your dealer is wrong. he is either ignorant or he is lying. either way, it can be easily explained. if he tells you that TH rackets and US rackets are made the same, he will not be able to justify the higher price and would probably lose your business as a result. as for your question why rackets in the US are so much more expensive than in Asia. here is what i learn from a shop owner in HK. he says he aims for around HK$100 of profit for every high end racket he sells, and that's *including* stringing. HK$100 is around US$12.5. in the US, it is not uncommon for a dealer to make $30-60 profit on the racket alone. let alone the extra $10-15 from the strining labor. you can tell that they do make a lot of profit by looking for the older model closeout and see how much they lower the price. of course, we cannot deny the fact that there is higher cost in labor / rent / etc , as well as better warranty in the US. it is up to you as the consumer to decide whether the extra price is justified.
Besides the factors that kwun listed, another important one might be different import tax rate between different nations.
Yup I agree! Thanks guys...I really agree with you all...thats one way I find out for myself if I really wanna deal with a certain person or a store... ahhah I mean I was half way telling him about how theres even a made in japan on a geniune racket and he cut me off saying its made in Taiwan...lol.... oh well... its funny how things in US are all so expensive...like you said the profit margine is like so much higher...I could get some stuff back in asia for like 1/3 of the price!!!
glad you are a smart consumer. i mean, if he claims non-US rackets are inferior, perhaps there is a chance that he has a case, at least there is no solid proof/disproof (check the other thread about it). but if he claims all TH Yonex's are made in Taiwan, then it is so blatantly clear that he is lying.
US retail price is really high........if I tell you the dealer's invoice price, I am sure you will flip out like crazy (No, I can not reveal the dealer's price to public, but if you want to know, you can pm me and I will try my best to describe it to you)
I agree with your points but I do not agree with rent. Rent in Hong Kong is one of the most expensive in the world. HK dealers/retailers tend to push out Yonex racquets at volume and make low margin.