Club Medal
Retailers and sports clubs suffer from increasing trophy prices
The cost of trophies seems to be rising almost non stop. I have been involved in both selling trophies, and running sports clubs for nearly ywelve years now. I can see the cost rise from both sides of the table, and I can tell you that it seems awards of all kinds are only going to get more expensive. This will have a big effect on clubs, like mine, who are already feeling the pinch, thanks to the current financial climate. Trophy retailers, again like me, will also struggle, as they try to stay within customer budgets, yet also supply the best quality goods.
About a decade ago most of the trophy manufacturing disappeared over to the far east. China and India becaome the main manufacturing powerhouses for trophies and medals. At this point the costs of the trophies for the retailers was lower than ever before. Trophies became cheap and affordable for all clubs and organisations. The problem now is that costs have gone up dramatically, with regards to the material costs of these products. Metals and plastics are now far more expensive. The cost of buying these awards now for a retailer has almost doubled. The trouble is that budgets from sports clubs has not gone up as fast as the cost of the trophies they wish to buy. This means that in a lot of cases service and engraving quality is lost just to make a deal worthwhile for a trophy retailer. In my opinion that is a bad state of affairs. Sports clubs have been used to getting a certain standard of product for their money, as well as a certain level of service. It is very difficult to explain to a club that they will be getting smaller awards, or that the engraving costs can no longer be included in the price of a trophy. I see clubs more and more often looking for alternative suppliers, baecause they believe they are getting a worse deal than the year before from their current trophy retailer. At some point soon, even those who supply cheap clearance stock to the sports world, will struggle to meet the budgetry requirments of the clubs that they supply.
How do we all move forwards? I have been supplying trophies for long enough to know that people will always need them, and there will be a big market as long as there are sporting activities. I survive by selling a service as well as the trophies themselves. I think that other retailers will need to follow suit with this, in order to survive. Selling on price alone is going to be near impossible in a few years time, in my opinion. Clubs will also have to wake up and smell the roses. Realistically they are not going to get a good service, and products that fall within a budget that is years out of date for the products they want. It may be that the “token” awards handed out to all those who take part, are withdrawn, or replaced with medals. Maybe there don’t have to be as many award categories to buy trophies for. More money could then be spent on the major trophies and awards. No one is saying clubs should not seek out a bargain. But I think that expecting a miracle will only leave you dissapointed in some way on the awards evening. Perhaps the service will not be up to scratch, or maybe the products are not as good as you imagined, due to you being mislead. If you have realistic ideas of what you are going to get, and any honest trophy retailer will help you find the best awards for your money. You will still get good service and value for money and you are also less likely to be conned or duped by someone promising the earth for a small fee. You do end up getting what you pay for in this life.
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