Is it better to buy or make?

[livestrongnow]

Is it better to buy or to make? What's the price difference between buy and make? Quality differences?

[Steve King (Admin)]

Price and quality go hand in hand. If you want top quality, you generally will pay a higher price, unless you are a skilled craftsman and can make quality by doing it yourself. With that said, here is the breakdown:

• The highest quality sets on the market are definitely soley sold by Ladder Golf. They make some beautiful wooden games with top quality riveted bolas. These range from the $60's for a single ladder to over $100 for a set. You pay for what you get. This brand is for those who demand top quality and/or want to show off what they've got to their friends and family. These emit pure class!
  
  
• The next in line will be all of the pre-made PVC versions, which would be classed as medium-quality (but not the highest quality). Retailers are reputable small companies like
  AJJ-Cornhole (click here), etc,. These PVC sets range from the high $40's to the high $60's for a set. These are perfect for the non-handyman and for the buyer who doesn't put top quality on their list.
  
  
• Finally, there's the low-quality "do-it-yourself" PVC sets. Anyone who doesn't mind being handy can use the FREE game plans on this site and build a set from around $15-$30 (closer to $30 if you use paints and nicer golf balls for the bolas). Now, if you want to spend 3 hours on a set painting it to your specifications, then factor your personal touch of quality into the time and your cost would be near, if not equal to that of the medium-quality sets above. So, you too could achieve a medium-quality set by doing it yourself, but the monetary costs in all reality would be the same if you bought one. What you do achieve though is the pride in knowing that you built it yourself and made it look just like "you" wanted it to look.
  

[cervezamatte]

Hey Steve,

Regarding the quality levels, we've found that the store-bought plastic sets are the lowest quality of all. Whether they are a molded plastic or extruded plastic (which mimics the home made PVC type), these games are so cheaply made that we actually laughed out loud when we saw them. They are very thin and light, the bolas are clunky plastic that resembles a dog toy stretched over a ball bearing, and the carry bag (if at all) tore the first time we put the game away.

Obviously we are proud of the Ladder Golf brand units, but if a person can't afford them, or needs a game in a pinch, I would recommend the home made PVC style. They're still cheap, but you won't have paid $30 for totally disappointing junk.


Matt