bat prices

[Lenski]

Does this mean that the manufacturer is anticipating replacing the bat on a warranty claim at least once?

The bats are engineered with "designed obsolescence". They are engineered to fail after a certain amount of swings at a given force. The manufacturers' hope is that the bat will exceed the warranty but they know there will be replacements. The price point probably allows every bat to be replaced once and still maintains profitability.

 

[carvergear]

So, then, if this is the case, are the older bats built to last longer? What model year bats did this start with?

Of course, bats arent made to survive anymore. They are made to perform...period. But with that comes the fact that the life of the bat has been sacrificed to get the results everybody wants.

Just to show you, go and look at some SP NR bats manufaturers sell, you can see the price difference compared to warrantied bats. You can kinda blame SP guys for a lot of this price stuff. A long time ago guys started to intentionally break bats to get the return right before a year was up to get a free return for the next model or they would find/buy/get broken bats from friends or whatever, and do fake receipts to get free bats. This didnt help bat prices.

 

[SCDad]

So, then, if this is the case, are the older bats built to last longer? What model year bats did this start with?

In my opinion this started about 5 years ago. Again, in my opinion, this is when the hottest, and strongest bats were made. Many have been made illegal since then.

Now bat makers are trying to make each bat to the maximum of the regulations, shifting the weights around, and creating the largest sweet spot. They are much more "hot out of the box" than the older bats. Each parameter tends to lesson the bats service life.

Older bats were not designed as much to be hot out of the box. In my opinion the performance was maximized, but back then as the carbon fiber broke down slightly, the older bats became even hotter. this does not happen today. get a new "hot" bat out of the box. use it for a year, two if you are lucky, and get a new bat.

Sure marketing is a reason also. But there are engineering, and regulations which also contribute prominently.