Remember when discs used to be cheap?

[wolfhaley]

To answer my own question, I do. I don't buy nearly as many as I used to but it's ridiculous now.

40th anniversary Metal Flake Dark Star XD Shark-$18.99

Champ Atlas-$18.99

Why are they still molding this?

Champ Hawg-$20.99

WTF? Loll

Halo Mamba-$20.99

Defeats the point of buying a Mamba.

Then Trilogy has Bio Gold, Gold, VIP, VIP Ice, Frost, Eco, Gold Orbit, VIP Orbit. Opto, Opto-X, Opto-X Glimmer, Gold Orbit, Zero Medium Orbit, Opto Ice, Recycled, Zero Gravity (which is new), but is confusing AF when you factor in the Zero soft, medium and hard.

I just wanted to order another OLF. Search "olf" on a disc golf site. It's the last 3 letters of golf. Doesn't go great.

Rant over. Maybe I'm old and cheap but good god dammit.

 

[sillybizz]

I remember when DX plastics were $6! Now it's like $9-11 depending on where you buy it and champ/star type stuff is $15-20. Some of these special run things are $25! It's a bit ridiculous IMO.

 

[HyooMac]

The proliferation of "special" runs, tournament drops, signature series and new plastic blends is now driving the price point.

I do not (and never will) begrudge pros their higher priced signature discs. It's a great way to show support. But it seems that it used to be that those discs were a couple of bucks higher than everything else. Now, it seems like the "everything else" has crept up to that old, higher price level.

Manufacturers have fully jumped into the "newest, latest, bestest" way of marketing same as others (how many versions of mustards do we really need?).

With a little experience in this sport, you come to realize the variety of performance in runs from year to year ("my new OTB Open XXX doesn't fly like my older XXX"). You also learn that when special runs are gone, they're gone: you have to search the used bins for any chance of finding replacements.

Speaking for myself only, this has just made me more wary of buying discs. And when I do, I stick to stock runs. And even though they aren't "cheap" anymore, I save a few bucks compared to whatever they're pushing at the moment.

 

[Sewer bill]

Grow the sport. The markup is probably through the roof at this point with the big companies running lights out manufacturing.

Also I would argue factory second discs that don't meet qc standards should be priced slightly above material weight and operation costs which would knock about 90% off. Those are probably making just as much money as tour series discs.

 

[jupiterboy]

Weren't discs like $10 to $12 when I was buying them out of trunks in early eighties? I can't remember. Asking for a friend.

 

[Moose33]

It's gone up but the ability to get an actual discount on like x outs and stuff is basically gone.

I was trying to by some A2s and they were18.99 and the x outs were 16.99

 

[biscoe]

It's gone up but the ability to get an actual discount on like x outs and stuff is basically gone.

I was trying to by some A2s and they were18.99 and the x outs were 16.99

I have a bunch of Fractal A2's left over from a tournament a couple weeks ago if those interest you at all.

 

[dmoore1998]

Weren't discs like $10 to $12 when I was buying them out of trunks in early eighties? I can't remember. Asking for a friend.

I was getting DX for about $10 in the 80s. It's been nearly 40 years, the prices of DX plastic doesn't seem so unreasonable now in comparison (also factor in that at the time it was difficult to know what the heck the disc even did before you threw it).

Prices on a lot of the stuff is definitely going up (special runs, desirable plastics, etc). A lot of the price comparisons from "the good old days" though seem more than reasonable given inflation and how long ago the "good old days" actually were.

 

[Countchunkula]

There's still space for the traditional (thrifty) disc golfer. I'm getting F2 DX for $4.80 each when buying 10+.

 

[jupiterboy]

I spend more on tournaments and league than discs year over year.

 

[@CD-]

I just wanted to order another OLF. Search "olf" on a disc golf site. It's the last 3 letters of golf. Doesn't go great.

The mold is marketed/approved as Orion LF, just search Orion and you will get results for LF/LS.

---

I see a lot of these shops/brands having sales/deep discounts of the prior year LE runs as a kind of closeout pricing when the next season's version gets released. Always see bundle/mystery box 'deals' in the winter months. Some FOMO potential if buyers attempt to hold out for these discounts on the good flying runs or colors.

I think store pricing is affected by higher MSRP + physical store rent (real estate) costs increasing which get passed to dealer discs. LE & tour series/fundraisers generally have a markup but the base prices depend on that dealer pricing (mostly no dealer pricing for fundraiser discs). With escalating costs to host/sponsor elite series events and sponsor top touring pros, manufacturers will continue escalating at close to inflation rates for LE discs if demand justifies the higher costs. Latest release for the Sockibomb General is priced above $30!

I'm with you in struggling to keep up with all the different plastic types, every brand seems to have their variations on naming & add-on modifiers. Helps to only really purchase a select few manufacturer's discs and learn those plastic types as needed.

Grow the sport. The markup is probably through the roof at this point with the big companies running lights out manufacturing.

Also I would argue factory second discs that don't meet qc standards should be priced slightly above material weight and operation costs which would knock about 90% off. Those are probably making just as much money as tour series discs.

I'd say maybe 30-40% of stock pricing would break even on F2s so they put them out for 50-67% and offer the bulk discounts + free shipping at certain amounts to get down to 40-54%. Direct from manufacturer F2s cut out the dealer middle man which is part of the pricing for stock discs.

 

[biscoe]

I was getting DX for about $10 in the 80s.

Wow... you were getting hosed back then. I don't think I ever saw a disc cost double digits until they started selling dyed KC pro discs in the late 90's.

 

[Billipo]

Here is the entire Discraft line-up 1995 w/ wholesale pricing. Check out that "New" Magnet. Sweet!

 

[coupe]

I remember when DX plastics were $6! Now it's like $9-11 depending on where you buy it and champ/star type stuff is $15-20. Some of these special run things are $25! It's a bit ridiculous IMO.

Adjusted for inflation, the cost of discs is more-or-less a wash compared to the early 2000s. To put things into some perspective, the 2001 CE Roc, which was the OG of special runs, sold for $25 ($44 in today's dollars), and such was the demand that Innova (ZoneDriven) was still selling them at that price in Feb 2002 when I bought mine (heck, Billy Crump was selling ZoneDrive ghost stamped CE for $25 in Feb '02), and in 2001 CE plastic (Firebird, Teebird, Eagle, Valk, Leopard, Aviar) was selling for $15 at PIAS in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Adjusted for inflation, that's $26.47. Also, PIAS was selling Champ Orcs for $15 when they came out in 2004, which is pushing $25 ($24.80) in today's dollars, so $20 for stock stamped Champ/Star plastic is actually a bargain in comparison.

 

[sillybizz]

 

[Monkeypaws]

Innova F2 is like the good old days today, especially if you buy in bulk.

 

[teakaym]

Weren't discs like $10 to $12 when I was buying them out of trunks in early eighties? I can't remember. Asking for a friend.

Yes, I agree w/ jupiterboy...discs have been teens for longer than a decade...I haven't seen a surprising increase except for the custom specials.

 

[frisboi]

It's gone up but the ability to get an actual discount on like x outs and stuff is basically gone.

I was trying to by some A2s and they were18.99 and the x outs were 16.99

I know people hate on Lone Star, but their x-outs are $10. They don't restock them as often as I'd like, but when they're there, they're $10. I also really like the scrabble style x-out stamp they use.

 

[frisboi]

I'm used-bin obsessed. I was always big into thrift shopping and used discs scratch that itch so nicely. Nothing like snagging a Hokum Crave for $8. Like I said in a previous reply I am also a big fan of the $10 x-outs from Lone Star.

 

[Hampstead]

I have enough backups that I haven't bought a new disc in years. Also found a few uninked discs that I've traded for something I could use. So that's nice. No idea what plastic costs these days.