> The only problem with hardware store melamine is the performance degrades quickly and they ghost badly

I've had mine for almost 3 years and it's holding up just fine using EXPO markers (also listed in the post). I haven't counted an exact number of times I've used it, but it's a lot. Hundreds of times for sure. I just make sure to clean it semi-regularly which takes about 20 seconds once a month. Maybe yours wore out quickly because you didn't clean it?

Protip for hardware store melamine boards: get a Mr Clean Bar, and use it to erase things regularly. Mr Clean is basically a melamine sponge (no, really), so it works exceptionally well on the hardware store melamine.

I've had the same experience with melamine. I'm currently liking my 3M stick-on whiteboard surface. I think it's mainly made for resurfacing old whiteboards, but I just stuck a sheet on my wall and it has been great: https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/dryerase/

But it looks like they've discontinued the larger sheets? That's a shame.

For what it's worth, not all melamine boards appear to be the same in this regard. I covered a wall of my office in 4x8 sheets from Home Depot. It held up great. So a few months later I covered another wall, but bought the melamine from Lowes this time. The stuff from Lowes was borderline useless after a few weeks.

Dunno how useful this is as I have no idea how to identify the actual brand/manufacturer of the "good" ones...