Hi everyone,

I'm a French badminton player and currently in the process of launching a small import-export business for shuttlecocks in Europe. At my club, we’ve been using RSL DTL 82s, which cost around $20–21 USD. To be honest, I find them a bit overpriced for what they offer — unless I steam them before playing, I usually break one in about 15 points on average, which is far from ideal.

That’s what led me to start exploring alternative options from Chinese manufacturers, and I’ve been testing quite a few recently. I wanted to share my experience so far, and I’d love to hear from others who might have tested these brands — or have other suggestions to share.

What I’ve tested so far:​

• Pro Petrel Hybrid (via DMantis): DMantis wouldn’t send samples and asked for a large first order, which I couldn’t commit to. So I tried their sub-brand Pro Petrel Hybrid instead. These shuttles fly very fast — too fast for my liking — but they’re incredibly durable and hard to break.
• Kunli: I’ve tested several models and overall the price/quality ratio is very promising:
  
  • KL Silver (~$23 USD): Nice feel and good control. Still testing, but early results are mixed — one shuttle lasted 3 full doubles matches (6 sets), another one broke after 15 points in singles.
  • Kunli Bronze (~$16–17 USD), KL-03 (~$14–15 USD), and KL-05 (~$13–14 USD):
    
    • Bronze clearly outperforms the DTL 82s in durability and flight (++).
    • KL-03 is also better than DTL 82 (+).
    • KL-05 seems to match the DTL 82 performance-wise (~).
  • KL-08 (black feathers, <$11 USD): Too slow in speed 77, but might be a great budget option if tested in speed 78.

A few notes:​

• The prices I mention are purchase prices — not resale prices. For example, I could resell KL-05s around $19 USD (for a ~10% margin), which I think is fair for a shuttle equivalent to the DTL 82 — but I may be wrong, and I’m very open to discussion.
• I’m also planning to test ShuangLang soon — if anyone has experience with them, I’d really appreciate your feedback.
• I'm also interested in testing Ling Mei 10 / 60 / 80, which I can get at $14.2 / $21 / $23.8 USD respectively. If anyone here has tried them, please let me know how they perform.
• I’ve also been looking into Chao Pai, but so far I haven’t been able to find the factory contact — if someone has a lead on that, it’d be very helpful.

What I’m looking for:​

• If you know of any good shuttlecock brands (especially Chinese ones) and have factory contacts or recommendations, I’d love to connect.
• I’m happy to share the catalogs I’ve collected from Alibaba if anyone’s interested.
• Would anyone here be willing to test lesser-known shuttlecock brands? I personally commit to testing all the models I import before making them available to others.

Thanks in advance — I’m looking forward to exchanging feedback and learning from your experiences!

Best regards,
Fixoma

Which one from ling mei? I guess easily that the 10 is not as good as the 80/90.
In any case, as-20s are sold for ~38-40 usd on French sites. I can buy them wholesale for between 15 and 25 US dollars (purchase price, retail price would be $25-34 usd if I were to resell them).

I think the 60? Not quite sure I'd have to check tomorrow

I couldn't find a way to order wholesale directly from the factory for these 2 brands, which is a shame because I'm interested in chao pai! If anyone has any contacts I would be very grateful.

Did you order the Kunli ones directly on Alibaba?

Yes, I ordered directly from Alibaba. Kunli's customer service is very friendly. So far I am very satisfied with the quality of the Kunli shuttlecocks as I said in my first message.

So I checked and we play with Ling Mei Golden. Not sure which grade that is

I found this review here https://www.probadminton.store/product/23111472

Do you or your club buy this kind of shuttle? If yes, at what price? Because if it's like AS-20, I think it's possible to have this type of shuttle for much cheaper. If it continues like this I will really open my businessWhen I see the price my club pays for shuttles that I find really poor quality....
I will be happy to be able to share badminton at the best price to as many people as possible.
And I really don't understand why there is no reseller in France and in Europe of this type of brand.

Im not sure what the price is, but we have so many of them that there should be minimum a 20% discount... its okayish quality, good for multi but you know I wouldnt wanna play a tournament game with them, too inconsistent sometimes

Thank you very much, it's very interesting! Personally, I'm looking for lower quality shuttlecocks for amateur club players (maximum Regional level). If you also try the Shuangluang I'm interested in your opinion, I'll add my opinion when I have received and tested. Because in my club, it's unlikely that anyone would spend more than €20 on a tube of shuttlecock (~1850 Russian rupees). That's why I buy from lesser-known Chinese brands. I'm also going to try and do some rigorous testing, for the moment it's just my feeling and I'm measuring how many sets I play with each shuttlecock.

Thank you for your feedback, I ordered some coming soon (SL 1/4/5/7). I am looking for birdies for any level so if they are good for amateur training and have a good value for money, that suits me I'll tell you what I thought of these shuttlecocks when I try hem!

I wrote in my first post what I thought of the Kunli Silver Bronze KL-03/05/08 ! I am currently very satisfied with this brand!

Out of interest, how does it work with paying import tax and customs duties when ordering through Alibaba directly?