MN Badminton Venues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Equipment:

The following links are what I have found to be most useful badminton online shopping websites. I have categorized them by largest and cheapest selection; however, I encourage everyone to look at each website fully, as my personal preference may not match yours entirely and by no means is a professional opinion.

For accessories like string and grips online I prefer My Badminton Store

Their prices in general are very low and offer bulk purchases for significant savings. For example a box of 50 string sets costs one dollar less per string set in contrast to only buying one at a time. In my opinion they don’t have a very good selection of shuttles, or at lest not the shuttles that I use.

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For shuttles online I prefer Badminton Direct

They have Victor Champion 1, Victor Gold, Flypower, and all 5 of the Yonex Aerosensa shuttles. Otherwise, Badminton Warehouse has a good selection of shuttles as well as Badminton Alley. In my experience Badminton Warehouse ships in 2-3 days.

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Otherwise, for racquets and shoes online I prefer Direct Badminton

They have huge selection of racquets and shoes for low prices and have frequent sales. One thing that makes this site unique is their racquet customization; upon choosing a racquet multiple drop down menus for string type, tension, grip, and in some cases free item selection (like a towel) become available. Certain racquets have free upgrades offered with them as well like more expensive string or next day shipping. The shipping is free for any order over $75.00. Keep in mind that this is a UK based website and the currency is in pounds, but this can be changed in the upper center of the menu. Otherwise, multiplying the price in pounds by 1.55 will result in its US dollar equivalent. Overall I think this website is also the cleanest most organized.

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Local alternatives!

I now purchase all of my racquets, shuttles, and grips through Minnesotan Zoe Chan; she orders them from a supplier overseas and can get them very cheap, at the very least cheaper than anywhere online, but it always depends on what she has in stock, or how many orders she places, etc. As long as you let her know you are interested in something she will put it on her next order and you will be able to get it from her when that comes.

The racquets she buys are sp (South Pacific) coded and with sp coded racqets, the pbsi (Indonesian Badminton Association) logo must be on the cone for the racquet to be authentic. Without the pbsi logo on sp coded racqets, the racquet is most likely fake. All the sp coded rackets Zoe buys have the pbsi logo, which is how she knows they are authentic. Furthermore, the shop she buys from is highly reputable and trusted within the community.

Country coding is only for distribution purposes. There is a lot of talk over whether a racquet of one code is more durable or better quality than a racquet of another code largely due to the price difference, but the  the price difference is caused by the price the shop can acquire the racquets for from the respective distributors in which exchange rate is also a factor. Japan being another high price market, it is “what can you ask for it” rather than “what did it cost to make”.

Email her if you’re interested in a great deal on a specific racquet and she can check with the supplier and find the price. Her email is jz.smash.it@gmail.com

Another resource that popped up just recently is Minnesota Badminton Store. They sell racquets, strings, shuttles, shoes, bags, and grips! Definitely check them out. They have limited selection but “guarantee the most reasonable total (string + shipping) price on the internet on genuine yonex equipment with free delivery in Minnesota.”

 

MVBC offers Victor racquets at a discounted rate, always cheaper than online, and the opportunity to get the feel for a racquet (unstrung) before purchasing. See “Venue Information” if interested and send them an email.