Why Are Ping Pong Tables So Expensive? (7 Reasons)

As a ping pong player, you might have wondered that all the other equipment is relatively cheap or at least have cheap choices; however, the ping pong table is nearly expensive. Why?

In this article, I will teach you why ping pong tables are so expensive and all the reasons that can affect them. In addition, I’ll walk you through what you should look at when buying one, how much does a good one costs on average, and some additional information that will be helpful when you think about ping pong tables.

Before we move on to those things we need to understand why are ping pong tables so expensive?

Ping pong tables are expensive because of the production cost, storage, transport, marketing, time and resources spent designing, and the profit margin to the seller. All of this greatly affects the final price, which is usually expensive because getting the table in your reach has been expensive.

That’s the short way of putting it; nonetheless, it’s true as today. Now, if you want to understand further what really goes on behind the scenes, you need to stick with me a while longer. Let’s begin!

You might be interested: 13 Best Table Tennis Tables (Table For All Needs)

1. Material

Let’s start at the beginning. Before anything can be done, needed resources and materials need to be known so the table can be constructed.

Common materials used for indoor ping pong tables are wood, particleboard, plastic, fiberglass, and different metals. Most expensive ping pong tables have high-density fiberboard as the playing surface.

When it comes to outdoor ping pong tables, they are constructed from non-corrosive materials such as aluminum and stainless steel. Outdoor ping pong tables need to be weatherproof, from the table’s legs to the tabletop to the net.

2. Design

Even when the materials are ready to go, there is an important thing left to do. Design!

Whether the ping pong table is cheap and weak where not much design time has been invested with poor materials, or a sturdy, foldable table with various features is the result of the design.

Designing can be done really fast, or a lot of time and effort can be invested. This will drastically affect what kind of table the product will be, resulting in price variations by thousands of dollars.

3. Manufacturing

When the materials are ready, and the idea and design have been made, then it is time to manufacture the table itself.

Manufacturing the table includes a lot of labor, surveillance, running costs such as electricity, safety protocols, managing, maintenance, and everything between.

As you can guess, this will cost a lot of money, and manufacturing is only one piece of the total puzzle. Also, ping pong tables aren’t the easiest product to manufacture, which will, of course, reflect on the price.

4. Logistics

After the manufacturing process, the table needs to be stored somewhere. And when it comes to the production of ping pong tables, the volumes are large; therefore, there need to be big warehouses that need to be maintained, and they will drain a lot of energy as well.

When a customer places an order to a table, it needs to be shipped to the customer by a truck, ship, or even a plane. This will naturally be the part of the final price that you can see on the store or marketplace online.

5. Marketing

However, in order for you to even know about the ping pong table, the information needs to reach you in some way.

Marketing can be done in various ways. For example, when you type ”ping pong table” to Google, you will get a couple of ad rows that will cost money, and the amount depends on how much the company is pouring money into the advertisement.

Marketing can also be done in magazines, websites, social media, or direct marketing to table tennis clubs or even private persons. Marketing is a high cost of business, and part of the final price will definitely be from marketing.

6. Brand

As you already know, there are cheap brands, expensive brands, and really expensive brands.

An example of a relatively cheap brand is Joola. Even when you can get a Joola ping pong table with less than a thousand dollars, it doesn’t mean that they are of low quality. However, they aren’t high quality either.

Brands such as Killerspin and Butterfly offer more high-quality tables with better features and better materials. However, it’s good to remember that there are lower and higher quality products within a single brand; therefore, I’m certain that Joola has good ping pong tables like Killerspin or Butterfly. But in general, the brand will affect the price, and some brands offer more high-quality products than others.

Learn more: 11 Best Table Tennis Brands (The Kings Of Table Tennis)

7. Profit margin

Finally, if you haven’t already noticed this in life, in all things, the sellers of ping pong tables are businesses, and no business could run without making a profit, nor there would be a point to run one.

Think about it, do you go to work in the morning without the promise of pay? I highly doubt it, and that is the same for ping pong table merchants and brands.

All these 7 factors have a great effect on the final price tag of a ping pong table, and even if some tables can cost a lot of money, they will also serve your purposes for decades, so it will pay itself back if you have unlimited time supply to play a sport you love.

What should I look for when buying a ping pong table

When looking for a ping pong table, you should look closely at the surface material of the ping pong table, whether you need folding or single-player features, the cost, and the brand. A brand is important, and you want to get one that is well known and respected among the table tennis community.

Learn more: How To Choose a Table Tennis Table (In-Depth Guide)

How much does a good ping pong table cost

In short, you can get ping pong tables on both sides of $500-$4000, and the price range when you really start to notice the quality going up is after $1000. In fact, high-quality ping pong tables are priced +$1500.

Are ping pong tables worth it

Ping pong tables are worth it if you have enough time to play, you aren’t living on a strict budget, and you have the space to include one in your home, whether that is an indoor or outdoor table. Personally, if I had space, I would most definitely get a ping pong table of my own.

Recommended indoor table tennis table: JOOLA Tour 2500

Recommended outdoor table tennis table: Cornilleau 600X Outdoor

Conclusion

Keeping the 7 reasons why ping pong tables are so expensive, you start to see why they aren’t cheap in cost. All things have a cost to manufacture, and on top of that, the businesses that provide the products need to be compensated for their endeavors.

I hope that this article was of worth tho you can, you can now better understand the costs of not only ping pong tables but really all ping pong products and items that are out there.