Has anyone ever considered how expensive yoyos are? If you think about it, your average collection is worth somewhere around 700 to 1000 dollars. Im not saying that it was a waste of money, but dang, that alot of money. Why can’t everyone be cheap like the Chinese companies cough Turning Pointcough? I understand that our materials and work rates are higher than Asia, but everytime I see an awesome CLYW, I’m reminded of how poor I am.
Yeah, I’ve spent ( and I counted) on yoyo stuff/yoyos $1,525.
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It takes me about 2 to 3 months to get decent yoyos.
This is a matter of mere opinion. What is considered “expensive” nowadays? $100? $1,000,000? Imagine people who collect sports cars? How much do you think their collection is worth? In this hobby you don’t have to have a huge collection to have fun. You only need like one or two throws to really enjoy it. So it is as expensive as you want it to be. Also, the people who are
Selling these yoyos have to make some revenue to continue to do what they do. You have to spend money to make money right? So yes I feel that some yoyos are overpriced, but others have a very budget friendly price to them. So to each his own I guess.
You can buy a sub-$50 metal that will do everything you’ll ever need for as long as you’re in the hobby. That’s a pretty cheap hobby. Yoyoing has probably one of the lowest costs of entry of all hobbies.
I see your point here. You saying, basically, that yoyos are inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. You are correct.
But, for yoyos, they are really expensive. They are only small metal objects.
You’re paying for research and prototype costs, materials, tooling, production costs, precise machining with tight tolerances, bearings, annodizing, assembly, packaging, retailer costs… the list goes on and on. There is a lot that goes into a yoyo.
Those Chinese companies aren’t making much money, and are depending on their low prices to sell in large quantities.
In order for the yoyo community to prosper, yoyo manufacturers need to make money. If there is no money to be made, we’re not going to see high end manufacturers like we have today, which means we’re going to a lot less variety and quality.
you took the words out of my mouth. haha
Buying yoyos for the purpose of yoyoing is one of the cheapest hobbies in existence. You need 1 yoyo, a tube of silicone and some string. For $100 you could literally yoyo for years with a phenomenal yoyo. Contrary to what people seem to believe, you really don’t need that latest CLYW release that comes out every couple months. I’m going to buy it, I’ll probably really enjoy it, but by no means do I need it and it’s unlikely that my yoyo experience would have suffered much, if at all, if I never purchased that yoyo. A blind desire to own the newest thing out of the false belief that it is magically superior to what you already own (certainly possible depending on what you own, but frequently not the case at all) and will let you reach yoyo nirvana is what can quickly escalate the price of the hobby.
Buying yoyos for the purpose of collecting still isn’t a terribly expensive hobby relative to other things people can and do collect.
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Still, as Zorro said, yoyos are small metal objects. People look at me like I’m insane when I tell them " Please don’t touch that. It cost me $100."
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Why can’t Corvettes be less expensive?
I mean, I buy a New truck when mine gets dirty, but I always wanted a New Corvette… But 70 grand?
Why can’t they be made in China, by people that get 42 cents an hour and no benefits and work 16 hours a day, seven days a week?
Matter o fact, if they just started making ‘Everything in China’ than just about All Americans would be out of work and 90 percent of the entire population would be as poor as us and we could all be sad together about things we can’t afford.
Matter o fact, I wanted to join a Local Golf Club, but I can’t even afford ‘a’ golf club.
Maybe I’ll just go to Walmart and buy a Chinese golf club set for 50 cents. And then I’ll swing by Dollar Tree and pick up a few of those High Performance $1 Yoyos. <>they are made in China, right. Hey, maybe they have a Showroom in Dollar Tree with the New Chinese made Corvette?
So what’s the point here? Simple; no matter how much money you have, some stuff you want is going to be out of your reach, financially. And no matter how poor you are, ther are still gonna be things that cost too much.
When I was a kid, I had to build my own skateboard, because I couldn’t afford a New one. I built my own bicycle from parts of bikes others had put out at the curb. I built my first Custom Harley Chopper, one part at a time, because I couldn’t afford to just go out and buy a New Motorcycle. I used to golf with ‘every other club’ because I couldn’t afford a whole left handed set. The primary reason I got pretty handy at Customizing stuff, was more out of necessity, than adventure. I simply could not afford just outright buying stuff I wanted.
I honestly understand how it can be a lame feeling to not be able to afford something like a Yoyo.
Waaaay back decades ago, when the Schwinn Stingray bicycle came out, every kid around seemed to have one but me. Delivering Newpapers was a Big thing back then. Most kids I knew all over town, had paper routes and either bought their bikes from earnings or got them from Newpaper Company incentives. My parents would’nt let me have a Paper route or mow lawns and such. So I used to walk down to the Bicycle Shop every Saturday and just stare at a Whole couple rows of Brand New Sting Ray bikes.
…That was a long long time ago, but I still remember that I’ll feeling of having a want that could not be satisfied, for simple lack of money. Even if the StingRays had been made in China, way back then, I still didn’t have the money.
There are plenty of good yoyos for 20 to 35 bucks. No Yoyo at any price comes with tricks included.
No matter what style you play, you only need a maximum of 2 yoyos, anyway.
Move within your means. And realize you are not alone. Right now, about 2.5 billion other people are wishing they had something they can’t afford.
Really.
By the way, what yoyos would you be interested in getting if you had the money?
Oops! Correction… My parents 'wouldn’t let me have a paper route or mow lawns, etc. <> so I was kinda short on money, often.
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Hmm…
Excellent post.
Every want currently listed in my bst, straight from the manufacturer. ;D
Also, an Overdrive.
Yep we are people who always want new things just because they are “better”. Not because we really need them, but to fit in for example.
I have found that if you buy like the bundle you can get on like black Friday or some of the deals near Christmas time you can save money that you probably would have spent on that yoyo even if it wasn’t on sale.
I have Radian Gen 2 and Orbitron because of Cyber Monday 
( They are for trade right now! Offer up!)
To be honest I don’t think companies need to sell them at the price they do they just know what they can get out of them and make the biggest profit they can. Look at the shutter? Cheap and they still make a profit and it went thru all of the previous steps noted so yeah.
A yo-yo is a small metal object, but so is a paper clip, or the pendants in my jewelry box. I can guarantee you that all are metal, all are small, but the value of them comparatively is entirely different. The process used to make them, package them, and the process used to sell them is different as well. Instead of focusing on the size of the object, and the fact that it’s made of metal, we should instead be focused on the manufacturing process, the hours invested in the project from start to finish (labor), the cost of machining, materials, anodizing, packaging, and the markup to make the product accessible to you. These yo-yo companies are businesses, and each business is different. They each release a different number of products each year, they have different debts, and expenses. They pay whatever staff they have, and they pay their taxes. It all costs money. The bottom line becomes, buy what you can afford, and don’t forget that there is a great $10 Yoyojam Classic out there.
In this hobby, even expensive yo-yos do not cost a lot of money to me. Yo-Yos take up very little space too, so it allows collectors to easily store many of them, without them ever getting in the way. When I was buying guitars, I had to stop at a certain point due to the space they need. So, I would agree that you might look at your collection and think that collectively, “that’s a lot of money.” I perceive it as an investment in the hobby, and supporting businesses that are manufacturing the things I enjoy. It’s all for a good cause anyway.
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It’s funny you bring up the classic, because I actually prefer that over my shaqlerstar, onestar, and the rally I had at one point. But much cheaper.