Overpriced? Not Agathis?

General discussions about gobans, etc., go here. If you're selling go equipment, it should go in the Trading Post.
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

Need some help here.
But first the short back story.

I live in a country which do not sell Gobans.
So the shipping for a bigger board would cost more then the board.
On vacation I visited a Go shop which sold Gobans.
Because of very limited time I just bought the board.

I was told that it was 5,5cm Agathis and bought it.
Because the price was 110 euro, knowing that GGG and other vendors sold single piece Agathis for ~105 euro I assumed it was single piece board. (even 6cm instead of 5,5cm)
Had also read that multi-piece was a lot cheaper then single piece, so it did not cross my mind that it could be anything else.

Later when I got home I realized that it was not a single piece, moreover a three piece board.
After some googling looking for prices on multi-piece Agathis, which I did not find, I also realized that all Agathis is painted on top. Which mine is not. Also read that Agathis is painted because it is to red, tho, mine does not seem red.

Therefore I'm wondering the following.
1. What is the price difference on multi vs. single piece Agathis boards?
2. Why is my board not painted on top, if every Agathis board is painted?
3. Might this be another type of wood?
4. Was it simply expensive/overpriced?

- Ares89
User avatar
ez4u
Oza
Posts: 2414
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:15 pm
Rank: Jp 6 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: ez4u
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Has thanked: 2351 times
Been thanked: 1332 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by ez4u »

Regarding only one of your points, AFAIK agathis boards sold in Japan are not painted.
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21
User avatar
tchan001
Gosei
Posts: 1582
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:44 pm
GD Posts: 1292
Location: Hong Kong
Has thanked: 54 times
Been thanked: 534 times
Contact:

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by tchan001 »

Sounds like the board was sold in Europe rather than Japan.
http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

If this is Japanese Agathis or not I do not know.
My knowledge on wood is quite poor as well.
Tho, to me it seems three piece Agathis(japanese or not) seems quite expensive at 110 euro.
User avatar
Bonobo
Oza
Posts: 2224
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 6:39 pm
Rank: OGS 13k
GD Posts: 0
OGS: trohde
Universal go server handle: trohde
Location: Lüneburg Heath, North Germany
Has thanked: 8262 times
Been thanked: 924 times
Contact:

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Bonobo »

Might be much easier to judge your puchase if you posted some photos, I think. (Pls use hide tags in case they are large.)

Yes, I’m just curious to see it since I personally know very little of goban/wood quality :-P
One question I’d like to ask, though: do you like your Goban? Do you think it is beautiful?


Greetings, Tom
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

Bonobo wrote:Might be much easier to judge your puchase if you posted some photos, I think. (Pls use hide tags in case they are large.)

Yes, I’m just curious to see it since I personally know very little of goban/wood quality :-P
One question I’d like to ask, though: do you like your Goban? Do you think it is beautiful?


Greetings, Tom

I will post some pictures.

Over to your question. Which I do think is a trick question, as there are only beatiful gobans.
It's less a question of me liking my board, which I do. Moreover a question of what I actually got for my money.
User avatar
ez4u
Oza
Posts: 2414
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:15 pm
Rank: Jp 6 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: ez4u
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Has thanked: 2351 times
Been thanked: 1332 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by ez4u »

Ares89 wrote:...
Over to your question. Which I do think is a trick question, as there are only beatiful gobans...

:tmbup:
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21
virre
Dies with sente
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:22 am
GD Posts: 0
KGS: virre
DGS: virre
OGS: virre
Location: Solna, Sweden
Has thanked: 42 times
Been thanked: 19 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by virre »

Ares89 wrote:I live in a country which do not sell Gobans.
So the shipping for a bigger board would cost more then the board.


Are you still sure, because your presentation said Norway and Swedish Gobutiken.se sends to Norway now and I doubt the transport is that much. Although I understand this as a new development and you already have bought the goban so perhaps not that helpfull
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

Here are some pictures.
Maybe I'm just going crazy here with the painting.
Maybe it is painted, just not as much as the other Agathis boards I have seen, like: http://shop.gogameguru.com/agathis-go-board-24/.
Not sure why that is tho, if that is the case.
And it seems a little red, so tons of miss communication(did not show before I took it under heavy lighting).
Image

Image


I can see that the wood on the GGG board look very much like my wood, so I guessing it is Agathis with a less painted top.
My guess is that it's just overpriced. Multi-piece or not I will enjoy using it.
Tho would be a shame if I could have gotten a single piece cheaper.
Last edited by Ares89 on Thu Jul 24, 2014 4:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

virre wrote:
Ares89 wrote:I live in a country which do not sell Gobans.
So the shipping for a bigger board would cost more then the board.


Are you still sure, because your presentation said Norway and Swedish Gobutiken.se sends to Norway now and I doubt the transport is that much. Although I understand this as a new development and you already have bought the goban so perhaps not that helpfull

I'm currently in the prossess of buying stones from the Swe go shop.
Just that last time I checked they did not have any Agathis board of this thickness, and their Shin-kaya was almost twice the price of GGG. Tho this was the time when the dollar was weak and NOK strong. However I did not have to pay shipping when I was on vacation, while ordering on the web I had to play both shipping and customs(tull).
User avatar
Bonobo
Oza
Posts: 2224
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 6:39 pm
Rank: OGS 13k
GD Posts: 0
OGS: trohde
Universal go server handle: trohde
Location: Lüneburg Heath, North Germany
Has thanked: 8262 times
Been thanked: 924 times
Contact:

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Bonobo »

All I can say is … “Oh, oh, oh, what a beautiful board!” <goban envy>

If I’d get such a board for 110 € I guess I’d happily take it.

For comparison: http://www.hebsacker-verlag.de/go-brett ... p-878.html, that’s a 2-3 piece board, and the GGG link you share says US$ 139, down from $ 149.


Greetings, Tom

p.s.: Yes, I guess my question was somewhat tricky ;-) For me at least it sometimes is better to stay happy with things that are nice, even if later I find out I could’ve got them a little bit cheaper somewhere else, instead of burdening myself with bitterness over things that now cannot be changed.
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali
Manchu
Dies in gote
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Location: RVA
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Manchu »

That board looks great. Makes me want an agathis board to go with my Shin Kwang phoenix stones!
The Master said, To stuff oneself with food all day without worrying about anything, is difficult indeed! But what about weiqi players then? It is better to be one of them than to do nothing!
xed_over
Oza
Posts: 2264
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:51 am
Has thanked: 1179 times
Been thanked: 553 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by xed_over »

Ares89 wrote:
Bonobo wrote:One question I’d like to ask, though: do you like your Goban? Do you think it is beautiful?

I will post some pictures.

Over to your question. Which I do think is a trick question, as there are only beatiful gobans.
It's less a question of me liking my board, which I do. Moreover a question of what I actually got for my money.

I was going to ask the same trick question yesterday. :)
If you like it and will use it often, don't worry so much about how much you paid. You can always find boards that cost more, or less than what you paid. I think you paid a reasonable price.

Its a very beautiful and high quality board. I don't think you should be disappointed at all. It should last for generations to come.
Ares89
Dies in gote
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 3:04 pm
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by Ares89 »

Thanks for the replays.

I'm happy with my purchase, and because of what's on the back of it, it has sentimental value :)
Just taught it was strange for a second.

Thanks for the link Bonobo, does put things into perspective.

Now I just have to find out if I want Size 39 or Size 36 stones to go with it.

xed_over: I agree, it was more a mystery for me then being disappointed.
Ordering a board online would simply be to expensive.
xed_over
Oza
Posts: 2264
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:51 am
Has thanked: 1179 times
Been thanked: 553 times

Re: Overpriced? Not Agathis?

Post by xed_over »

Ares89 wrote: and because of what's on the back of it, it has sentimental value :)

what's on the back?
Post Reply