25 March, 2022
Why Do Custom Golf Umbrellas Vary So Much In Price?
Not all golf umbrellas are created equal. There are many factors that can affect the price of a golf umbrella. You could be looking at what appears to be two identical umbrellas online but one maybe 40% more expensive. Why is this? Hopefully below will explain the different parts of an umbrella and how they can affect the price.
1) Canopy Size: Check the canopy size of the umbrellas. The bigger the size, the more fabric is required to cover the canopy and this, in turn, increases the cost. It also means it needs a bigger frame to support it and this costs money.
2) Material Used For Canopy: There are many types of material used on umbrellas and the cost for the material can vary greatly. The most common materials are nylon, polyester and pongee material. Out of the three, pongee is far superior. It is stronger and more durable, plus it accepts all forms of printing extremely well. Whether you are screen printing or adding a digital transfer, the result you get from pongee material is the best. Due to this, pongee is also the more expensive material. The affordable golf umbrellas you see will usually have a nylon or polyester canopy. We highly recommend getting pongee.
3) Frames And Ribs: Now we are getting into an area that impacts the price of an umbrella the most. If you go back 20 to 30 years, almost all frames and ribs for umbrellas were made from steel. This sounds great, but actually, it wasn’t. Steel doesn’t bend and that is a problem because when you get high gusts of wind, the steel doesn’t bend with the wind. It ends up either breaking or it bends permanently and the umbrella is either broken or permanently damaged. Nowadays, to avoid this, better quality golf umbrellas use fibreglass. This is a great material for the frames and ribs of umbrellas as fibreglass bends but then bounces back to its original shape. This is ideal for umbrellas, especially when there are wind gusts. The fibreglass will bend with the gust and then return, whereas steel will bend and stay bent. The only slight issue with this is fibreglass is more expensive than steel. So, if you find one umbrella is more expensive than another and we are sure you’ll find this is one of the reasons.
4) Type Of Branding: The way you choose to brand and how many panels you brand on, can have a huge impact on the price of an umbrella. The cheapest is to do screen printing and do one colour on one panel of the umbrella. For every colour you add, there is an additional cost and for each additional panel there is more cost. If you print on 4 panels compared to 1 panel you can add a great deal to the cost. The other option is a full colour printed transfer. These have become popular in recent times as technology has improved greatly. They produce bright, vibrant colours and are great for visual impact, but they are the most expensive form of branding as each one has to be applied by hand.
Next time you start comparing a couple of umbrellas that look the same, check out the list above. The more expensive umbrella should have the features we have described. If they don’t have them and still have the cheaper materials, then steer clear of that company as they are ripping you off.
If you would like help in selecting an appropriate umbrella for your next promotion that gives you the best value for your money, we’d love to help. Just send us an email with what you would like and what budget you want to keep to and we can send suggestions back. Otherwise, browse our website where all prices are displayed for you – we don’t hide anything.
The Umbrellas Only Team