Why do some companies stamp their b-grade products and some don’t?
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I think a reason could be so that people don’t sell them second hand as A grades.
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yyf does it cuz they engrave it themselves, smaller companies cant cuz they arent gonna send the yoyo back to the ship
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No clue why some don’t but I bet the ones that do mark their b-grades in some way do so to protect their brand. If you pick up a G2 without knowing that it’s a b-grade and notice vibe, you might think that’s acceptable for a G2. (G2 puts out amazing b-grades, just FYI.) It can also be to protect the consumer in BST trades/sales so they can identify a b-grade and correctly assess the yoyo’s value/condition.
Eh there are ways around that. G2 puts a small drill mark in the response pad seat; takes Jake like a second and gives you an almost foolproof way of identifying a b-grade (except for that one time when he marked a bunch of A-grades as B-grades lol; poor guy ended up selling all of them as b-grades to protect the integrity of the mark).
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Well, this ain’t an answer to the question… but something that can have unintentional consequences.
A friend of mine traded yoyos with a friend his. In turn, my friend traded that yoyo to me.
A most excellent looking and playing yoyo. Not a single ano flaw or hint of vibe that I could tell.
It was a certain colorway that one of the guys posted he was looking for.
After he seemed to be getting nowhere in his search; I decided I would jump in and complete his mission. So as much as I liked that yoyo, I decided he might like it even better.
Well, he got the yoyo and really seemed to like it a lot.
But that didn’t last long. He contacted me and told me I sold him a B grade. He said he felt he got ‘robbed’ because he could have got his own B grade for less money.
I did not have the slightest idea what he was talking about.
…So, he sends me an image of the yoyo taken apart and you could see this little half round grind mark in the bearing cavity.
I had no reason to take it apart… So I sure didn’t know.
I contacted the guy I originally got it from. He was totally shocked and contacted the guy he bought it from. That guy was also shocked. And he said that The guy he got the yoyo from, just kinda faded away…
He got a portion of his money back But kept the yoyo.
And then he turns around and sells the yoyo anyway.’
I did not know Jake marks his B grades like that?
But I sure know now.
Personally, I feel that all B grades should be ‘marked’ in an area where whatever mark can be seen without taking the yoyo apart; so it would/could minimize unwitting people to buy B grades at A grade prices.
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I wish they all marked them but I understand that adds even more cost to something that they are selling a a cut rate.
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I don’t think that’s the problem, CLYW teaches (and I think he was the first manufacturer to sell B-garde with the Peak Nugget Gold run) … for many years all A-grades had no laser engravings, B- grade instead were engraved with the writing “Fool’s Gold”
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Was that the same guy who couldn’t figure out how G2 boxes worked? lol
Cost is of little concern. If they are B grades, they should be conspicuously marked.
The cost of the engraving would just be added to the cost of the yo-yo.
… If a Maker sells a certain model yo-yo(A grade)for $120. And he has some B grades.
First… he has the B grades marked.
Then, he adds the price for the engraving and announces the B grade price. So he posts up an $88 price for B’s.
Let’s just guess the engraving costs $3 per yoyo. That cost is simply factored in to the final B grade asking price. Only the Maker would know.
Nobody knows what the B grades will be sold for, until the actual pri$e is announced.
So the extra cost to mark the yoyos is nothing but irrelevant.
The B grade sellers should do whatever is necessary to allow buyers to differentiate between A and B grades.
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in my opinion, the real problem is that b-grades were born for a real need … but over time, for some, they have become a marketing move (I have already said it in another discussion) by making secondly, the need to identify them.
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As a B grade player, I would just add that I love that I can buy B grade throws with cosmetic flaws or wobbles I am way too old and or drunk to give a crap about. That makes me happy. I have quite a few B grades.
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How about the $40 yoyo that has a B grade sale of 10 dollars? I’m guessing the manufacturer is selling it to the store for 5 or 6 dollars. Do you expect them to spend $3 for engraving? It would be cheaper for them to just recycle the metal.
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Obviously there has to be a price point ‘cutoff somewhere. $30, $40, $50?
My focus was more on $100 plus yoyos. When the B grades aren’t specifically identifiable as ‘B’ grades, then it becomes more difficult for potential buyers to recognize what they are purchasing?
One good example is G2 yoyos. Jake has no problem about identifying his B grades. And he puts his little grind Mark in the bearing seat. And I ‘think’ he does that so as to not give the yoyo additional defects(lol). (Example> this yoyo is a B grade for ano flaws… so I am engraving a large X in the cup so that you will know there is an ano flaw somewhere)(so the flaw ID then suddenly becomes more of a defect than the original defect).
So, there can be exceptions to the ‘Mark the B grades’ theory.
So, run with this thought> The more a person pays for a yoyo. Or is getting ready to pay for a yoyo. Everybody in the BST or retail categories, should know the grade of the yoyo at hand.
And the higher the price point of the yoyo. The more clear it should be that the yoyo is A grade or B grade.
And the cost of marking the B grades is just a necessary thing.
…If I pay $150 for a yoyo and it just plays or looks a little funny’. And I contact the Maker with my concerns. And the Maker asks me, ‘What colorway did you get’? And I tell him which color.
And he says, ‘Oh, sorry. All the yoyos in that colorway were B grades. But I didn’t mark them because it was going to cost me a few bucks each’.
That is not a ‘valid’ reason. Regardless of whether the yoyo is being sold retail or in the BST. The potential buyer, trader, should have a clear idea of what they are getting into.
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