I also sell on eBay was asked a pretty typical question by a customer which is surprisingly difficult to answer. Simply put, they wanted to know which table tennis bat and rubbers were "best". I thought I would share the question and my reply here.

Question:

Hi. im interested in buying a new Palio 3 star table tennis bat from you.

I have a few questions because I'm confused.

I was searching for the Palio Expert 2. Then i see that the Palio 2 star is the same bat.

Is this true?

which of these bats is newer and better, palio 2 star, 3 star, or palio expert 2.

is the ak47 rubbers newer and better than the cj8000 ?

Final question. are these products that you sell official original Palio bats?

Thank you and I await your reply so that i can order from you.

My reply:

My understanding is that the Palio 2 star bat that I sell is the same as the "Expert 2" apart from the badge.

None of those bats you mention are "better". It depends on your requirements and playing style. Different bats suit different players. For example, a more expensive "better" bat may not suit a beginner.

The same is true of the bat rubbers. It is not easy to say which are "better", it depends on your preferences and requirements. It is true to say the ak47 rubbers tend to be more expensive than the CJ8000s. But more expensive does not always mean better for a particular player. I would refer you to the tabletennisdb web site if you want to compare peoples opinions of bats and rubbers.

I do not know which of those products is newer, sorry. Note newer does not necessarily mean better! The Palio 2 star bats that I sell are the current model and were purchased recently.

Yes these are genuine original Palio products :-).

Sorry I cannot give a more straightforward answer but if you Google table tennis bat or TT rubber reviews you will understand that there is no single answer or opinion. My advice would be that if you are a beginner then you should get a cheaper beginners racket (such as the Palio one star Student model or the 2 star Expert model. The Yinhe models are also very good). In terms of the rubbers, as a beginner I would not worry about it too much, they will wear out and need changing after a time and as you progress as a player you can always experiment with different rubbers. I would, however, steer clear of the very cheap bats that you see on sale unless they are for young children who may trash a more expensive bat.

With hindsight, I wish I had added that more expensive bats do tend to be made from more expensive component pasrts, and so in that respect they are superior. But it does not make more expensive bats "better" for all players.

Do take a look at the excellent tabletennisdb web site:  http://www.tabletennisdb.com/