Ok, so I am no sort of writer, so I would firstly hope you will excuse any errors with my grammar and spelling in this blog post!
Since setting up The Cricket Boutique I have been asked on numerous occasions "Why should I choose a bat from a maker I know little or nothing about" well my simple answer to this is........ Why not and what do you actually know about other brands?
Before The Cricket Boutique came about we spent months researching 'Handmade Bat Makers' via the internet and by calling around the 'Makers' that we found. From our research we found that all is not quite what it seems!
From calling and emailing bat makers there became a bit of a reoccurring theme with how the conversations would go (I have shortened this a bit for you):
TCB - Hi, I see you sell Handmade cricket bats under the name (Insert Name Here).
Company - Yes we sell bats that have been handmade in the UK.
TCB - Fantastic, would you be interested in selling your bats through a website that only supplies bats that are made by yourself in the UK using English Willow?
Company - (Long pause)...... Erm, we don't actually make our own bats.
Now you can see where we started to get a bit confused! How can a company be advertising cricket bats as Made In The UK and Handmade etc when they don't actually make their own bats? Well here is the answer....
Technically they are not lying or using false advertising however some may be seen (in the eyes of some) as bending the truth slightly to make you believe that you are buying a handmade bat that they have lovingly crafted with their own fair hands when this is not actually the case. Quite a few of these companies will have their bats made by another Bat Maker in the UK and will receive them fully made up, all they will then do is apply their own brand of stickers and take a few nice publicity shots of the bats lying down in a pile of wood shavings so it appears that they have crafted them themselves.
The process or rebranding happens in many industries all over the world, you will no doubt have BIG NAME electrical goods in your houses that have actually been made by a different company and then badges/stickers have been applied to show the brand name of the Big Company.
There is nothing wrong with the process of adding your own branding to your Bats however it does raise the questions of, What do you know about about the maker of your cricket bat? Who actually made your bat? Where was your bat made?
If knowing who made your cricket bat or where it was made is not of concern to you then that is fine however, as they say, knowledge is power and it does come with its benefits.
All the Handmade Cricket Bats that are supplied through The Cricket Boutique have been made by the Individual bat maker. Our hours of research means we have done all the hard work for you and we can Guarantee that the bat you buy will be 100% handmade in the UK by the specific bat maker.
So, when you next need a bat and are debating over brand names/stickers just ask yourself, How much do you REALLY know about this brand? Once you have done that pop over to The Cricket Boutique and be sure that what you are buying is exactly what you think you are getting.
Thanks for reading.
The Cricket Boutique
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