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The Best Custom Rackets Under 50 USD

The Best Custom Rackets You Can Buy For Under $50 – For Attackers, All-Rounders, and Defenders

Table tennis equipment can be very expensive if you fall down the rabbit hole of trying to get the newest cutting-edge blades and rubbers.

However, the vast majority of players don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars for a fancy racket.. They’d play just as well (or even better) with a cheap but high-quality racket they know how to use.

When I was a student in high school, I didn’t have any money to purchase my table tennis equipment, and my parents didn’t think that having an expensive racket, like the ones my clubmates had, was important. 

In a broken Argentine economy, there was no way I could convince my parents to spend more than $20 per rubber change!

While I wasn’t happy with the situation, I understood that my budget was limited by what my parents were willing to spend, so I had to manage and do the best with what I had. 

Because of this, I learned a lot about equipment. The most important thing I learned was that an expensive racket won’t instantly make you play better and that an inexpensive one can be very, very capable.

With all this knowledge, in this article, I’ll share with you the best table tennis rackets you can purchase for under 50 dollars. I wrote this article after tons of research, thinking carefully about what I would personally buy if I had a limited budget these days.

And, if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also included extremely high-quality options under $30. Don’t believe me? Have a read!

Where to Buy a Budget Racket From

Before telling you what the best rackets are, let me tell you where to get them from! It’s no use knowing what the best budget rackets are if you can’t buy them.

Most of the rackets I’m sharing are made up of Chinese components. At a low price point, the reality is that we won’t be able to get German or Japanese-made equipment, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing!

If you think about it, the best Chinese players in the world play with Chinese-made equipment, and Chinese table tennis stars all used rackets like the ones we’re going to talk about in the early stages of their careers.

China is the strongest country in the world when it comes to table tennis, and it also has, by far, the largest player base in the world.

But, a big portion of China’s working class can’t afford top-of-the-line equipment. That’s why Chinese companies got extremely good at making excellent equipment for very reasonable prices.

Hence, we’re going to be purchasing our equipment directly from China, as we’ll get the best prices if we buy directly from the manufacturer or local stockists.

Two of the most popular Chinese websites are Eacheng.net and ttnpp, but I suggest you purchase from Eacheng as ttnpp has had a few bad reviews over the years. It’s still a reputable website, but they will likely not help you too much if you have a problem with your order.

Eacheng is the more reputable of the two, but they may take a while to ship your orders.

The other option you have is to purchase directly from Aliexpress, and that’s what I do as Eacheng charges extreme amounts for shipping to Argentina. 

I tried inputting a New York zip code and address in the Eacheng website checkout and it said they would charge $6 for shipping. 

Shipping costs will vary depending on where you’re from, so I suggest you see how much Eacheng charges to ship to your country and then decide if you’re going to use Eacheng or Aliexpress.

If you’re going to purchase from Aliexpress like I do, make sure to buy from sellers that have good reviews like this example:

Aliexpress seller

If they have 97% or more positive reviews, this means that they will solve any problems you have. You can purchase with confidence that you’ll be refunded or compensated adequately for any problems with your order.

You have to be ready to wait, though. If you purchase from these stores, be it Eacheng or stores from Aliexpress, your package can take anywhere from 15 days to 2 months to arrive, so be patient! I assure you the racket will be worth the wait.

Now, let’s talk about the rackets!

The Best Custom Rackets Under $50

We will first begin talking about custom rackets, as they’re the ones that’ll give you the best bang for your buck. 

We have compiled a list of the best custom rackets you can get and divided them into 3 categories: offensive, allround, and defensive rackets.

If you play or want to play an attacking game with spinny and powerful shots, then you should get an offensive racket. 

If you play or want to play a control-based game, varying offensive shots, such as loops or smashes, and defensive shots, such as pushes, chops, and blocks, you should get an all-round racket. You should also get an all-round racket if you don’t know what your style is.

If you play or want to play a defensive game based on chops, lobs, pushes, and blocks, like Ruwen Filus, Linda Bergstrom, Joo Se Hyuk, or Seo Hyo Won, you should get a defensive racket. 

Best Offensive Rackets Under $50

Most table tennis players can be categorized as offensive players, so we’ll start talking about offensive rackets. 

Our top picks for offensive rackets are:

This racket is the best offensive racket for under $50 with very little compromise on performance..

The Yinhe MC-2 is an excellent looper’s blade with plenty of speed and control, and great feeling. A clubmate of mine has it and I really enjoyed it when I tested it out. 

We paired it with a slightly harder and more powerful rubber on the forehand side and a softer, more controllable rubber on the backhand side.

The Yinhe Mercury 2 will feature a lot in this article, as we reviewed it some time back, we completely loved it, and it’s only $6!

If I had to choose, this is probably the racket I’d use personally as an Aggressor playing style. It features an incredible blade: the Yinhe V-14 Pro.

The V-14 Pro is a Viscaria/Timo Boll ALC/Fan Zhendong ALC clone. It is 95% the same blade as these 3, for ¼ the price.

My coach plays with this blade and when I tried it, the feeling was extremely similar to my (very expensive) Fan Zhendong ALC.

Getting a racket with this blade can prove to be a very wise decision for intermediate players who are improving, as you can keep it forever and upgrade the rubbers as your technique improves.

You can buy different ‘hardness’ ratings for the Mercury 2 rubber, so you might consider a softer rubber for your backhand and a medium rubber for your forehand.

The fact that you can get such a high-quality racket for less than $25 is beyond my comprehension. 

The Yinhe N10s is an excellent 5-ply controllable offensive blade. It has a basic but well-proved design, featuring great spin generation, flexibility, control, and feeling.

Paired with two Mercury 2s (medium hardness), you’ll get a very spinny, controllable, and fun-to-use racket at an unbeatable price. This is very likely the best performance per dollar racket in this article.

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Best All-Round Rackets

All-round rackets are the perfect choice if you vary defense and attack. 

We won’t include a “best blade” alternative in this section, as the best blade and best overall would be the same racket.

This is by far and away the best racket you can get if you’re an all-rounder. It features an extremely reputable made-in-Sweden blade (!) and the Mercury 2 rubbers we all know and love. 

I’ve recommended the Yasaka Sweden Extra because the rubbers are better when paired with a blade that can create a bit of speed. However, if you’re a more defensive player or want to go all-in on control like a ‘Brick Wall‘ playing style then you can also opt for the Yasaka Sweden Classic.

The difference is not that big though, so you’ll get an excellent all-round racket no matter which one you go for. If you’re an all-rounder, it’s impossible to go wrong with this racket!

This is an extremely good allround racket for less than $25. As a matter of fact, I own a N11s myself!

I used this exact blade when I was a beginner, and I really liked it. When I transitioned to my Stratus Power Wood, I passed it on to my father, an all-rounder himself, and he loves it as well.

The Yinhe N11s is a slightly slower and more controllable offering than the N10s. I really like it because of its flexibility: it is truly a spin machine!

Get the Mercury 2 rubbers in slightly different hardness ratings, and put a softer rubber on your backhand for a bit more control.

Best Defensive Rackets

Something to keep in mind when analyzing this option is that we’ll include long pimples on the backhand side of this racket. 

Long pimples are special rubbers that help with defensive shots such as chops and chop blocks, but they aren’t as easy to use as regular smooth rubbers.

If you don’t know what we’re talking about, make sure to do your research and analyze whether you want to enter the world of long pimples and learn the techniques required to use them. We have previously written an article on how to use long pimples if you want to learn more about the subject.

The best defenders in the world use long pimples, so, if you want to chop far away from the table, this setup will be for you.

Otherwise, change the backhand rubber for a Yinhe Mercury 2 if you want a defensive racket with an inverted (smooth) rubber.

We only have one option for this category as there aren’t many cheap high-quality defensive blades.

This is an extremely good defensive setup, featuring a very capable defensive blade that’s perfect for chopping and blocking, a very controllable forehand rubber, and some of the best long pips in the market.

The Yinhe Defensive 980 can be a bit tricky to buy online, but there are plenty of these blades around at local table tennis stores. I’d recommend reaching out to some of your local Yinhe suppliers to see if they have any of these around.

As for the long pimples, choose 0.5mm of sponge if you don’t know what thickness to go for and you want good control, choose no sponge if you want the most disruptive effect when blocking close to the table, and choose 1mm of sponge if you want maximum spin when chopping.

Best Premade Rackets Under $50

Premade rackets are those that come pre-assembled from the factory. They’re almost always of a lower quality than custom rackets, but some are good. 

I’m happy to recommend three of these rackets that represent great value.

Best Overall
Killerspin JET400
  • Weight : 173g
  • Manufacturers Speed: Medium
  • Manufacturers Spin: High
  • Manufacturers Control: Medium-High
  • Sponge: 1.8mm
  • Blade: 5-ply Wood
  • ITTF Approved: Yes

Summary: This is the most well-rounded racket we’ve ever tried, perfect for beginners to start taking table tennis more seriously. It feels great to hold and its quality is high, being from the reputable Killerspin brand.

We actually cheated with this one, as it’s priced at $55 instead of $50, but David liked it so much when he reviewed the Killerspin Jet400 that I decided to include it regardless.

Make sure to read the full review if you’re interested, as this racket really surprised us with its playing characteristics. David concluded that this racket has lots of spin for a premade racket, great feeling and superb control.

It can be classified as an all-round racket, so, if you’re an all-rounder and you don’t want to go through the hassle of building your own racket, the JET400 is a solid option.

Best Value
DHS 4002
  • Weight : 195g
  • Manufacturers Speed: High
  • Manufacturers Spin: High
  • Manufacturers Control: Very High
  • Sponge: 2.15mm
  • Blade: 7-Ply Wood
  • ITTF Approved: Yes

Summary: Despite the fact a racket with hard Chinese rubbers isn’t what I’d usually recommend to players I coach, it’s hard to ignore the insane value this racket provides. Just be conscious that you’ll need to work on good technique to get the most out of it.

Priced at just $33, the DHS 4002 is a very capable racket. It features a 7-ply blade with very tacky and extremely spinny Chinese rubbers. I reviewed it and I quite liked it.

In terms of raw performance per dollar, this is one of the best premade rackets you can get, but its weight was very high, and its backhand rubber was quite hard for my liking.

If you don’t mind these issues or are willing to change its backhand rubber for a softer and lighter one, the DHS 4002 is an excellent offensive-premade racket.

Cole’s Buster Combo 

Last but not least, I had to mention Cole’s Premade Buster Combo that’s a great option for people living in the USA. This is not really a premade racket, but it is a custom racket that you can get preassembled from a store, more precisely, Cole’s Table Tennis.

Users online very frequently recommend the Premade Buster Combo, as it’s essentially a custom racket for the price of a premade racket.

So, you get the price of a premade racket, the performance of a custom racket, and you don’t have to assemble it! 

Final Thoughts

Everyone needs to know that it’s definitely possible to get a very high-quality racket at virtually every price point, no matter if you’re an offensive, defensive, or all-round player. 

We recommend you choose one of the custom rackets we shared with you, but the premade rackets we mentioned are very good as well. You can choose them if you want a racket that’s ready to play out of the package.

We wrote this article for one of our newsletter subscribers who asked us what the best racket under $50 was. At Racket Insight, we try to go above and beyond what we’re asked and help passionate table tennis players like us in any way we can.

If this article helped you choose your first serious table tennis racket, make sure to let us know in the comments section!

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The Controller
Alvaro Munno - Table Tennis Player & Author

Alvaro’s a qualified ITTF Level 1 Coach who's been playing Table Tennis since he was 15 and is now ranked within the top 50 in his native Argentina. He loves to compete in provincial tournaments and is always looking for ways to improve. Alvaro made his favorite memories with a racket in hand, and he joined the RacketInsight team to share his passion with other players!

Blade: Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC | Forehand: Butterfly Dignics 09c | Backhand: Butterfly Tenergy 19
Playstyle: The Controller

2 thoughts on “The Best Custom Rackets You Can Buy For Under $50 – For Attackers, All-Rounders, and Defenders”

  1. Your article is very helpful.
    I’m planning to combine Jupiter3 asia and Mercury2 rubbers on an Yinhe mc-2 blade.

    Could you recommend the best hardness levels for both jupiter3 and mercury2?

    J3: 40, 39, 38, 37
    M2: M, S

    I took lessons at the club for a year.

    thank you

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