Hey everyone! I define myself as an upper-intermediate casual badminton player (has played on-and-off for about 9 years now, starting from before high school) living in the US. and have a once-every-one-or-two-week group of beginner buddies that I play together with. I planned on buying a lot of Apacs rackets to sell to them at-cost to my buddies (and to keep some too), but am noticing that Apacs' selections are dwindling, especially at the lower-price model levels. Gone are the days where I can find Edgesaber 7, W-120 training, Stern 100, or Tantrum 200's from a website- I don't particularly wish to buy those exact models, but I definitely knew that I was exploring a much wider selection of models some 6 years ago. I ended up buying some Nano 900/9900's and Edgesaber 10's, but definitely felt like I would've wanted to buy more variety if the selection was there. I want to find the next brand of badminton rackets, for durability, inexpensive prices, and good word-of-mouth within the badmintoncentral community if I can. Can people suggest to me where I should look for another brand that fulfills these needs, and still has a good (if not growing) selection of low-cost rackets for me to look at? Also bonus points if someone can link golden-colored rackets from any brand! I've played with Blade BLX (2011 model) once in my early days, and the golden-colored racket just brings me memories that I wish to keep with me in the future.
Thanks! Searching Kawasaki led me down a rabbit hole that also got me looking at Forza, Carlton, Ashaway, Adidas, and Wilson. (Jotting them down here for my own reference in the future too.) Kawasaki looks interesting though- apparently they were vying with Yonex on market share at one point too. I'll check them else especially if I get a chance to get to Asia, for better prices.
I'm sure that rabbit hole can go even deeper. Adidas does have some really good budget friendly rackets. There's also the P09.1, but since the A09.1 is a really, really good allround racket, it might be the more versatile choice. With some more flex than the P09.1, it probably is the better choice for beginners anyway. I'm assuming that the USD price is close to the € price - and here, I have seen it below 40€ on sale, in one case closer to 30€, iirc. And from what I know, I wouldn't be surprised if you paid around 35US$ when buying several at once.
Carlton and Forza have good budget racquets, Oliver too. I'd skip Ashaway and Wilson's budget stuff, but their more high end stuff is really good (Ashaway Phantom X Speed is one of my favorite racquets of all time). I've seen Kawasaki stuff for really cheap on Aliexpress.
You can also try Yonex budget rackets too. Joy badminton has quite a bit of rackets on clearance. You may be able to call and ask for more discount if you buy in bulk. The original prices usually indicate how good the rackets are. https://joybadminton.com/collections/racket-clearance?sort_by=price-ascending
If you have a decathalon I would definitely recommend them for beginner rackets. It's good quality and very inexpensive so not a lose if someone buys one and then quickly abandons playing.
I'd have to second this. The RRP in that picture is misleading, they can be had for £30-40, which is an absolute bargain and I'd happily say the A09.1 (or W09.1) is the best starter racquet for the money. Every so often a buy a few so I have them ready for new players/stringing demos, and they are usually bought after one session.
Thank you for the suggestions! I'll be looking into Adidas and the mentions above for my future purchases. All the best!