What a racquet! (2)

How about buying a brand new tennis racquet of your favourite brand at less than one tenth of the retail price?

Hardly possible, isn't it? Except for China, where anything can happen.

Except, of course, that there is a possibility, albeit remote, that it is not an official (or, dare I say, legal) product of the brand name owner.

From the website taobao.com, which is considered China's equivalent of e-Bay, there is this company which sells some "Yonex" racquets at RMB89 (less than USD15). Not only is the name "Yonex" embossed on the racquet but also there is the word "Japan" in the butt cap.

As if that is not credible enough, there is even a warranty card attached to give you a little more peace of mind. And this is really something quite eye-opening. I have purchased many tennis racquets all my life but have yet to see one that comes with a warranty card, so these ones must be extra trust-worthy.

The collection comes with all sorts of colours and model numbers, many of which are not even displayed in Yonex's official website. They must be exclusively produced for China, seeing that the relationship between the two nations has recently become less frosty.

The only thing that is a bit puzzling is that whatever the model number of the racquet, say, RDiS 60 as shown below, the specifications inside the throat always showsthe model number "RQIS 1 Tour". And the specifications are always the same.

But to top it all, the master stroke has to be this announcement made by the company:

"[Our company] recently discovered some inferior Yonex racquets, the quality of which is even more rubbish than ours. They break after a couple of hits. The descriptions of the products have been shamelessly copied from us. They even sell the racquets for RMB128 per piece. How brutal! Let's combat the brutal selling prices of dodgy sellers. Be careful!"

What righteousness! What honesty!