It is inevitable– whenever a product or industry becomes popular enough to get regular sales on a huge retail platform like Amazon, the Chinese manufacturing and marketing machine will begin a rapid takeover.
MADE IN CHINA
It is no secret that most non-disc products in the disc golf market have been manufactured in China for years. Major, reliable disc golf brands in the USA regularly produce bags, backpacks, carts, baskets, retrievers, and other accessories through Chinese manufacturers.
Despite some American consumers’ hesitancy to “buy from China,” the reality is that most prioritize lower prices over domestic production. When faced with a choice between a $60 backpack and a $250 “Made in the USA” backpack, the majority opt for the cheaper option. The difference in quality is often minimal, while the cost difference is significant.
The introduction of the $40 backpack, with early releases like the Dynamic Discs Trooper or the Prodigy BP-3, changed the disc golf backpack market. For the first time, anyone could afford a functional, high-quality backpack without spending over a hundred dollars.
Since then, the market has been flooded with similar backpacks, all manufactured in China and imported for the disc golf market. American brands could collaborate with manufacturers for design tweaks or entirely new concepts, then import these products at prices that remained affordable while still allowing a profit.
Soon, $20 bags appeared, and higher-priced backpacks lowered their prices to stay competitive. Even premium models were largely made in China, differentiated mainly by materials, extra features, or marketing efforts.
One of the top-selling disc retriever sellers in the USA, Qwik Stik, has openly disclosed that their product, like most telescopic poles, is made in China. However, they have invested significant time, money, and effort to improve the product. Many flaws in such products only appear after broad market adoption, which is why Qwik Stik continuously refined their design. Similarly, the maker of the M-Retriever conducted market research and adapted their pole since its initial launch. Infinite Discs also introduced a telescopic pole with a double-claw hook, offering a unique variation.
All of these retrievers were manufactured in China. In some cases, the very companies producing for American brands later offer the same product to competitors. While some Chinese partners respect proprietary designs, others take the original designs and sell them to other disc golf brands or startups that want to avoid designing their own products.
Additionally, certain Chinese manufacturers actively monitor successful Amazon products. Once they spot a hit, they clone it and ship it directly to Amazon under different brand names. These cloned products are often sold at lower prices, bypassing the original American brands. While companies like Dynamic Discs or Prodigy created demand for affordable disc golf bags through collaboration with Chinese manufacturers, other manufacturers can capture market share by selling directly on Amazon, cutting out the original creators.
Taking Over Amazon
While many patriotic Americans argue that anything made in China is inferior to U.S. manufacturing, this is a sweeping statement that doesn’t hold true in all cases.
Yes, China produces inexpensive goods, and sometimes corners are cut to save costs. But it’s also home to the manufacturing of some of the most popular brands associated with high quality and American identity. Consider Nike shoes or Apple iPhones—both are manufactured in China under strict company supervision.
Almost all electronics in American households are made in China. From your television to your dishwasher, you are likely using Chinese-made products every day. Even iconic brands like General Electric sold their appliance division to foreign interests years ago, yet the brand names remain respected in American homes.
The success of major U.S. retailers, such as Walmart, owes a large part to inexpensive Chinese manufacturing. This makes it hard to make sweeping accusations about quality when it comes to Chinese products.
However, the retail takeover of small industries—like disc golf—is becoming more common, thanks to the ease of selling through massive platforms like Amazon.
Why Innovate When You Can Overwhelm?
Let’s take a look at some of the Chinese cloning and market saturation happening on Amazon in the disc golf market. These products come in different forms. Some are sold to American middlemen companies, which then brand them for the disc golf market.
There is also a growing wave of direct-to-Amazon products that never touch the hands of American businesses. The marketing of some of these direct-from-China products can seem laughable to experienced disc golfers. Yet, they are still convincing—and very cheap—for casual players or newcomers exploring disc golf for the first time on Amazon.
Some campaigns are more sophisticated, promoting creativity and appealing to avid disc golfers, while actually selling exact clones of preexisting products built on the original brands’ designs.
Now, let’s examine the top 50 best-selling Disc Golf Starter Sets on Amazon (screenshot date: 11/8/21). These are sets currently in stock; out-of-stock items don’t appear on Amazon’s best-sellers list, even if they are popular.
Some products listed as Starter Sets are not strictly Starter Sets. Those items will be crossed out in the analysis. The circled sets are made in China and shipped directly to Amazon. These often include several versions of the same discs, with minor variations like a bag, towel, or mini disc added to make them appear different.
At the moment, the “Crown Me” brand has the most variations in the top 50. Other brands have had as many as 12 spots in the top 50 with essentially the same discs, just presented differently in photos and listings.
The sets with green checkmarks are legitimate Chinese disc golf brands, such as Yikun and X-Com. These brands focus on disc development and their reputation in the disc golf market. They even get their discs approved by the PDGA.
In contrast, the sets pushed solely to Amazon aim to grab market share, with little to no regard for the disc golf market. Currently, 17 out of the top 50 best-selling spots are filled by Chinese sets intended to saturate Amazon. At times, more than half of the top-selling sets have been these Chinese products.
Notice also that certain sets openly try to appear to be from major brands. Look at the #10 “Wen Jian” set that uses the basket graphic from the popular Innova Aviar putter as its main disc stamp.
That is intended to grab attention with a familiar visual cue. Look at others on the list to find the same stamp designs with the exact same discs, just laid out differently for the photo, or paired with different accessories in the attempt to saturate the market with sets that are not meaningfully different from one another. Even the legitimate X-Com set has been offered through different sellers with different listing names, which can cause some confusion about whether or not they are actually different (and they’re not).
Here is a look at the rest of the Top 100 to show how dense the saturation has become. Where are the sets from Discraft? Innova? MVP? Or other established brands? In many cases, they don’t make the top selling lists because they are significantly more expensive than the cheap, Made in China sets that are taking over through shear volume. But you will see them closer to the latter half of the top 100, falling behind the cheap Chinese sets.
While you will see some Discraft sets pop up on this latter half of the Top 100, check out the set in the #62 spot which uses the brand name “ESP” which is a known Discraft plastic name and presents this set in a box to appear more like a recognized brand. Again, they try to use recognized imagery in some cases to grab attention. Now lets take a look at some imagery marketing failures.
Awkward Images Vs Sophisticated Marketing
When clicking on some of these Chinese sets, you can find marketing images that show an obvious lack of knowledge about the game of disc golf. While these images might fool an uninformed mother shopping for her kid who is interested in disc golf, they definitely make experienced disc golfers cringe.
So, as a disc golfer, when was the last time you were in the swimming pool with a couple of bikini-clad women tossing your disc golf driver in the air? Admit it… if that actually happened, there was probably too much drinking involved.
Or when was the last time you took the kids to the beach and danced as you tossed your disc golf disc above your head, as if playing a game of catch?
Or how about slapping an image of a disc and your bag randomly onto an existing photo of a person who looks like they’re throwing a disc, even if the orientation of the disc or the position of the player doesn’t match what should be happening?
These are all examples of minimal effort when researching a sport and sending merchandise to Amazon.
Now, let us take a look at a more sophisticated listing, probably created by a company or person in the USA, but used to convincingly sell exact Chinese knock-offs of popular, pre-existing disc golf products. These clone products were most likely found on Alibaba.com as offered by the Chinese manufacturers. That allows a “new company” to jump into the market with recognized products at minimal effort and minimal cost. Here is a little bit about this particular brand, as seen on Amazon:
Notice the nice photo of a guy with his dog– nothing more American than that. Then notice the very convincing storyline introducing a name, a hometown, and a blurb about how their products are unique because they “don’t design products for the sole purpose of selling them.” Instead they, “design high quality products that will make our disc golf experience even better.” And then the expression of gratitude and how much fun they have testing their designs, etc.
But now let’s look at the products. Let’s look at the designs that they had fun creating and testing (supposedly). First of all the Infinite Discs Stealth bag, designed in Logan, Utah by Infinite Discs and manufactured in China.
And now the Rogue Iron bag. How many thing are different on this design? How much thought was put into it. Notice that every single stitch, zipper, grommet, except the logo is identical. It is the same bag, made by the same Chinese manufacturer, and released as a new product with minimal effort, thanks to Chinese manufacturer practices:
Now lets take a look at the Inzone Qwik Stik XL with their new head design, followed by the hook design from the Infinite Discs Rescue Retriever:
And now the Rogue Iron retriever with the heads from both retrievers, and the use of an image of a disc made by another, recognized brand:
Is it right to question the dedication of the new brand to the sport of disc golf? No. It could very well be someone who loves the sport and wants to make a living selling products in the disc golf market.
However, the slick marketing that promotes a serious interest in designing quality products can feel a bit disingenuous. Many of these products are simply purchased and rebranded from Alibaba, originating from manufacturers who initially designed them for another company.
This pattern is becoming much more common in disc golf than ever before. On the positive side, it could be a sign that disc golf is growing and gaining more public recognition. If the sport weren’t popular, there would be no incentive to clone or resell the same designs through multiple brands.
On the other hand, is the market large enough that cloning won’t hurt the original creators and innovators? That question remains unanswered. Every cloned product sold is a sale that didn’t go to the brand that financially invested in the original design.
Ultimately, this is part of the cost of the growing demand for more affordable manufacturing and less expensive products.
What Can We Do?
Is there a way to help original brands as opposed to clone brands or invasive listings that saturate the Amazon marketplace? Yes.
The Amazon metrics are heavily influenced by customer reviews. Many Chinese investments into products that ship directly to Amazon come with a request—often monetary—for positive reviews. Simple five-star reviews like, “I loved this disc golf set—it was perfect for my son,” may seem genuine. However, most of these reviews are part of marketing campaigns. They are easy to write, say little about the product, and quickly establish the required track record. Amazon’s review system can be easily fooled by such practices, as many people are willing to give free products in exchange for a quick five-star rating, regardless of actual use.
As consumers, we can choose to write honest reviews, support original innovation, and pay slightly more to reward companies and individuals dedicated to growing the sport. This article does not intend to villainize all Chinese manufacturers. Rather, it highlights invasive practices emerging in the disc golf market. Chinese manufacturers who respect creative rights and act with integrity should be supported. Those who use deceptive tactics to capture market share should be ignored until their interest fades. If consumers stop buying cloned products, these practices will naturally decline.
