After experiencing two years of soaring prices, recent announcements of price reductions by several badminton brands in mainland China have caught the attention of consumers. Some sighed and commented, “We spent a lot on stockpiling goods, but ended up losing money…”
Recently, many badminton enthusiasts in mainland China suddenly discovered that badminton prices have dropped. From mainstream professional brands to popular training shuttles, they have almost put an end to the price increase cycle altogether.
On February 24, VICTOR (威克多) took the lead in announcing price reductions, implementing new prices for all categories of badminton products including natural feather shuttles and nylon shuttles.
Following this announcement, the badminton market quickly responded, with the Stangel and Ziknu brands also announcing price adjustments. Ziknu stated that based on market feather price adjustments, the company decided to reduce prices for all series of badminton shuttles by 6 yuan per tube.
On February 28, the leading enterprise in the badminton industry, Yashilong, officially released a notice of price reduction: all product prices will be lowered from March 1.
Well-established brands such as Chaopai and Weiken, who have been deeply rooted in the market for many years, have successively followed suit by issuing price adjustment notices, covering full categories of training shuttles, competition shuttles, entry-level duck feather shuttles, and professional-grade goose feather shuttles. The price reductions range from 5 yuan to 30 yuan per tube, with terminal market prices generally falling by 10% to 20%.
YONEX has not yet officially announced a price reduction, but terminal prices have begun to loosen with inventory digestion.
On March 2, a post from Weibo member “凱森Cason” with 3.639 million followers indicated that the past two years of price hikes had plunged the badminton industry into a predicament of “high-priced stagnation and consumer contraction.”
The topic of “reduced badminton prices causing losses for those who stockpiled at high prices” quickly trended.
“風的強大166”: Real estate prices are dropping, we are facing an economic bottleneck, and entertainment items keep rising in prices, causing most people to refrain from consuming.
“能發光的XX”: In the past two years, badminton prices really scared people off.
In China, the enthusiasm for playing badminton among some people continues to surge, not only driving up the demand for consumables like badminton shuttles but also making badminton courts and some high-end rackets very popular.
In the past two years, the badminton industry has experienced the most intense price increase cycle in history, influenced by multiple factors such as a shortage of upstream feather raw materials, rising breeding costs, and tense supply chains. It had become common for mainstream brands to raise prices three times a year, with the price of high-end feather shuttles breaking through 300 yuan per tube. Even training shuttles, priced at less than one hundred yuan, surged to over 150 yuan.
The continuous attention on the topic of “badminton price hikes” saw some models experiencing price increases exceeding that of gold during that time.
In April last year, some badminton enthusiasts noted that it was rare to find shuttles priced below 100 yuan per set.
Taking YONEX as an example, its mainstream high-end AS-05 feather shuttle had a retail price that rose from 210 yuan per set in April 2024 to 225 yuan per set, and further skyrocketed after July, reaching 275 yuan per set.
By calculation, the price of this model of shuttlecock had increased by 100% over two years, surpassing the rise in gold prices during the same period. On social media, many netizens admitted to stocking up early.
The main reason for the badminton price increases was mainly related to a shortage of raw materials. The fluctuating prices of goose and duck feathers, the core raw materials of badminton shuttles, directly impact the overall cost of the shuttlecock.
In recent years, influenced by various factors, the production of ducks and geese in mainland China has declined. According to the “Sheep City Evening News,” domestic duck and goose production peaked in 2019 and declined after 2020.
Correspondingly, the supply of feathers decreased, and the imbalance of supply and demand led to a rise in feather prices, thereby contributing to the increase in badminton prices.