Price of tennis balls
- Thread starter SlowTiger
- Start date
JEDI MASTER
Professional
they are higher...
previously the costco Penn balls were $39.99..
now up to $43.99 or higher...
balls at Tennis shops are up slightly as well...
previously the costco Penn balls were $39.99..
now up to $43.99 or higher...
balls at Tennis shops are up slightly as well...
innoVAShaun
Legend
Get any store to price match Target's $2.19 Penn Championship Extra Duty (High Altitude) 3-pack can.
Pre-pandemic- $72-76/case for PRO PENNs
So $3 or a little more per can
Now- $84/case for PENN TOUR
So $3.50 per can
This is at my local shop, but consistent with online prices and I don't have to pay shipping.
I stopped using the Pro Penns when the price jumped, just not worth it anymore.
Penn Tours have been a great substitute, good bounce and longevity
I probably get four sets out of a can, toward the end there is some noticeable decline in bounce.
These are regular duty on clay, FYI
Have used on hard court and performance is similar
So $3 or a little more per can
Now- $84/case for PENN TOUR
So $3.50 per can
This is at my local shop, but consistent with online prices and I don't have to pay shipping.
I stopped using the Pro Penns when the price jumped, just not worth it anymore.
Penn Tours have been a great substitute, good bounce and longevity
I probably get four sets out of a can, toward the end there is some noticeable decline in bounce.
These are regular duty on clay, FYI
Have used on hard court and performance is similar
ryushen21
Legend
The Penn Tour has been a great ball in my experience. I was buying them for my program and at wholesale prices, they are an even better value. I haven't been able to get them since July of last year. The one time my supplier thought they could get them for me they had gone up to $75/case.
I had to get the ProPenn Marathon balls for my last order. Hopefully, this situation will get sorted out soon.
graycrait
Legend
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I suspect prices of nearly all tennis supplies are going to continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Nearly everything made for tennis from rackets, balls, clothes to court paint, nets, etc. require direct petroleum products to both produce and move those items. Even natural gut requires petrol because you need to have power for production, including raising and feeding cows, and movement even though petrol isn't an integral part of natty gut.
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The other aspect is precedent, once a company has raised the price have any of them ever been known to then lower it back.........Diesel, Gas Refining Capacity Too Low to Meet Demand | Transport Topics
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I suspect prices of nearly all tennis supplies are going to continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Nearly everything made for tennis from rackets, balls, clothes to court paint, nets, etc. require direct petroleum products to both produce and move those items. Even natural gut requires petrol because you need to have power for production, including raising and feeding cows, and movement even though petrol isn't an integral part of natty gut.
.How Is Plastic Made? A Simple Step-By-Step Explanation
Synthetic plastics are derived from crude oil, natural gas or coal. Whilst biobased plastics come from renewable products such as carboydrates, fats &...www.bpf.co.uk
...cricket....
NOPE
StringGuruMRT
Semi-Pro
Speaking as someone who runs a pro shop, the cost of balls were increased by about $1 per can on us last year, and this year one of the companies told us they would not have balls for us for at least the first half of 2022...
silentkman
Hall of Fame
Wilson US open Balls are $100 now and $110 on the Wilson website.
tennisandtennis
Semi-Pro
I never otherwise shop at Walmart, but they almost always have balls in my metropolitan area. $2.20-2.50 a can, usually in multipacks. I'm stocked up for 2x a week play with fresh balls for the next year. Obviously you want to patronize your local pro shop (or you'll be stringing your own racquets and buying them sight unseen before long) but it's a solution to a pretty pressing problem. Playing with dead balls is for 2.0s and broke teenagers, not enthusiasts.
I also highly encourage getting a 3 gallon corny keg and repressurizing your used balls. They are about 90% of a new ball, and you can keep rejuvenating them until the felt is bad or the ball won't hold pressure.
Cost me about $20 to make one and it takes 2-3 weeks to bring totally dead balls back. I don't play league matches with the repressurized balls, but they beat the hell out of non-pressurized balls as far as comfort and feel. I learned my lesson the hard way, hitting 200-300 groundstrokes and 80-100 serves in a session with practice balls from a ball machine. My wrist did not like me very much.
I also highly encourage getting a 3 gallon corny keg and repressurizing your used balls. They are about 90% of a new ball, and you can keep rejuvenating them until the felt is bad or the ball won't hold pressure.
Cost me about $20 to make one and it takes 2-3 weeks to bring totally dead balls back. I don't play league matches with the repressurized balls, but they beat the hell out of non-pressurized balls as far as comfort and feel. I learned my lesson the hard way, hitting 200-300 groundstrokes and 80-100 serves in a session with practice balls from a ball machine. My wrist did not like me very much.
ryushen21
Legend
For most players, the cheap balls are going to wear out after a few sessions. Even if you repressurize them, the surface wear is going to diminish the playability.
tennisandtennis
Semi-Pro
I play a very heavy ball with full bed of polyester, often on awful blacktop courts. You're right that the felt does wear, especially with rough poly and cheese-grater courts, but I can get at least 4 sessions out of each can. And when the felt is wrecked, they're done -- recycled.
SlowTiger
Professional
I saw the keg thing that you were talking about and a premade one is too expensive. How did you get everything for $20? I can't even get a corn get for that much.
tennisandtennis
Semi-Pro
Free on Craigslist from a guy who ruined the keg for beer by brewing soda in it, $25 should get you a used one.
How many balls fit in a 3 gallon keg?
tennisandtennis
Semi-Pro
This is really interesting. I may build a couple of 5 gallon ones for my sons high school team. They keep old match balls for practice and this seems like it might really help them last longer.
tennisandtennis
Semi-Pro
dak95_00
Hall of Fame
My friend swears he sells his used tennis balls on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace at $0.50/ball and he sells them at 20 for $10 and they sell right away. I figure that's a great way to bring the cost of new tennis balls down greatly. My problem is I just donate them to dog shelters and I have various shelters fighting for them; figuratively speaking.
SlowTiger
Professional
Lol. I wonder whose buying 20 dead balls?
dak95_00
Hall of Fame
I’ve asked that question as well. The answer is recreational (very low level) tennis players, teachers, and dog people.
Walk into any Play It Again Sports and ask. They do the same. There are always those people at the courts near me that come out once or twice per year to “play” tennis. They hit the ball and gggle and run around for 30 minutes to an hour. I’m sometimes jealous of their pure joy and lack of care.
louis netman
Hall of Fame
Wallyworld online had a limit of 12 Cans of Wilson yesterday. Got on there today and the limit was 10. Tried to get back for more and the price went from 2.47 to over 7.00 a can. Also, the prices are all over the place for multi-can packs...some sort of gouging algorithm? Can of Wilson balls on Amazon for 7.99? I've never seen such insanity!
I asked a question on this Amazon page: "How do they charge 7.99 for a can of balls?" One answer said," I bought a can for my kids and they're still playing with them a year later..." WTF?
I invested in a couple of corny kegs, but the transfer of balls in and especially out is SUCH A PITA!!!
ichaseballs
Professional
upgraded, stopped using the championship level balls. $4-5 per can
FiddlerDog
Hall of Fame
Pet owners.
Elders with walkers
Also, 90% of tennis being played on public courts in America are by people using Walmart rackets and used tennis balls.
mmk
Hall of Fame
Sounds like regular retail in Australia, probably higher there actually.
Hurting Elbow
Rookie
It hasn't gotten better. I just bought a case of Dunlops at a high price. Target, Walmart, Dunhams were all out (although you can get all the pistols, revolvers, ammo and assault rifles you want). I plan on buying a case biweekly, I anticipate the shortage getting worse.
So my questions is will getting cases shipped in the cold weather hurt the balls permanently? My favorite Penn Marathon are unavailable until January.
So my questions is will getting cases shipped in the cold weather hurt the balls permanently? My favorite Penn Marathon are unavailable until January.
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
Actually, I wonder if some of the older players recall but I recall during the 1970s tennis balls were pretty dang expensive. They were for sure more than $2.00/can and by can I mean metal can.
Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
Walkers
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
In fact, I think that is why we had these gizmos back then.... Which I am not sure worked. I still have one:
louis netman
Hall of Fame
Does anyone know when the standard 24-can case of balls transformed into the 20-pack? It appears to be a Penn-only thing...
USMC-615
Hall of Fame
I remember those days in the late 70's...buying cans of balls used to eat into my hard-earned, push mowing yards' funds as a kid. And yard cutting didn't command a whole lotta money back in those days.
USMC-615
Hall of Fame
Just give it time and everyone will follow suit...more profit for less goods is the corporate 'merica way!
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
See that is what I recall too. We weren't opening a new can of balls each time we played that is for sure.
tennis4me
Hall of Fame
Don't know, but I think it's a Costco Penn thing.
ichaseballs
Professional
now I spend a bit more and buy the penn tour or marathon.
matmoran
New User
Coming back to this thread 2023… US Opens are now $120 per case. Babolat Golds are $117 and normal Wilson championships are at $100. Does anybody know where to get cheaper balls? ( I’ve looked Tennis Plaza and Tennis Warehouse ) or if the price of the balls is gonna come back down?
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Paying about $105 for a case of ProPenn XD now - used to be about $75-80 before the pandemic. The prices went up because of limited supply combined with increased demand, but you can rest assured that when supply goes up, the prices will still stay up. It seems like once prices go up for sports equipment, they never come back down.
SlowTiger
Professional
@Ronaldo how do the Trentons play? They're expensive but i may start going that route if they can play at 80% of new balls. I play a lot of recreational tennis so we will reuse balls if they only have 1 or 2 sessions on them and still bounce. Sometimes a new can of Penn championship will be so hard that they play like rocks which defeats the purpose
Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
Even the Tretorn Micro-X balls are firm/hard on impact. Bounce higher the longer used.
VacationTennis
Semi-Pro
Local club ProPenn now $4.75/can
