Cost: Plastic shuttles versus Feather shuttles.

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by badrad, Feb 14, 2002.

  1. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    I was just about to buy another batch of shuttles, both plastic and feathers. But noticed something interesting. Why should a plastic shuttle cost more than a feather shuttle. I'm buying some Mavis 350 for 15.00 CAD/6, and some Sosans for 16/12. So that means the plastic is almost 2x the price of feathers.

    Considering that the plastic should be cheaper to make, along with simpler process, less material etc, why should the plastic cost more. In all reasoning, the plastic should be a fraction of the price of a feather.

    Something that makes you say hmmmm.
     
  2. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    economic 101, stablized price point occur when supply matches demand.
     
  3. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    Since plastic shuttles lasts longer than feather, their profit margin thus has to be higher. Consider that you will probably use 2 or 3 feather shuttles per game (so we are looking at a tube in 4 or 5 games) whereas you will probably use about 1 plastic per 2 or 3 games which is a tube in 12 to 18 games), you can see why plastics would cost more.
     
  4. wake

    wake Guest

    Depending on how hard you smash plastic birds, you can be going through 1 per game. In that situation feather is almost cheaper!
     
  5. jon

    jon Guest

    i agree with all these post...
    but in all honesty...
    I believe that those plastics last longer than 2 or 3 games...
    maybe even 4... if you play with experienced guys...

    I noticed that i use to break alot of plastics when i first started playing... cuz i use to smash right at the rim...
    and this severed the head of the bird from the nylon...

    now... it get more direct contact, and this keeps the shuttles head intact :)
     
  6. Good for you! Bird killing by severing the head from the nylon is a real newby thing to do...
     
  7. Nick

    Nick Guest

    Wow...and I thought I was the only noob who broke feather and nylon shuttles...
     
  8. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    So if you're such an experienced player, why are you still using nylon shuttles?

    ;)
     
  9. Who said I was using nylon?
     
  10. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    I think Mag's question was directed at Jon not you, Shuttlemaster.

    Most of the junior kids at the high school level play with plastics. Feather is just too expensive.

    Also, a number of the recreational community centres also uses plastics (due to cost).
     
  11. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Gotcha.
     
  12. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Actually, it wasn't. ;)
     
  13. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Actually we are faced with that dilemma as well. I gave Guildford center a proposal for junior training program and they accepted, so we can start training kids from the Surrey area, Sunday mornings. I would ideally like to train the kids with feather, getting them used to it, but the cost would be prohibitive. Even with old feather shuttles, there is just a limited life to them, before they are not usable at all. Where as a case of plastic shuttles would last probably the duration of all the classes, a case of feather would be lucky to last a session.

    I made an estimate of the cost each time my wife and I practice with our daughter. We only train with feather shuttles, and the average cost is 1 new tube of shuttles each time. For feeder drills, we have dozens of old tubes of shuttles, but they eventually get to a point where they can't be used.
     
  14. I prefer nylons on my girlfriend... mmm.... I will play singles game with her now... we play 3x15 cuz it last longer... mmm...
     
  15. Matt

    Matt Regular Member

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    badrad,

    Oh from BC eh? cool. Well from what I know when I go to Tad's Sporting Goods in Vancouver, the guy I know there, told me that the Mavis 350s are already no longer comming in Canada. From what I know is that the 300 mavis are better than the 350, in the way they perform. I currently get the 300 mysef at Tads with a discount. I would say the plastic is worth it than the feathesr due the the durablity thou.
     

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