Do pro shop owners/operators get mad when people bring in balls to get drilled?

[Ball99999]

As in people who bring in balls they bought elsewhere, online etc?

The local place has a ball I want but at quite a large price difference from what it is online. I'd rather buy it online and have the local place drill it.

[Josch]

I don't believe they do. With how much they charge for drilling it evens out with the profit they would have received from selling you the ball and drilling it for free.

[Ball99999]

I think I'd rather buy it in person but it's a rather large price difference, wondering if they usually negotiate? I'd be buying two balls and just want to neg one

[Hampe]

I know that our local guy definitely prefers people to buy balls through him, but I wouldn't say he gets "mad" if you don't. It's the same here where the price difference is enough that it's much cheaper for me to buy online than to go through him, but I usually try and support him other ways....for example I buy all my cleaning stuff and accessories through him.

[got_a_300]

I'd be buying two balls and just want to neg one
Yes I'm very sure if you are planning on buying two balls the Pro shop
will be more than happy to negotiate on at least one of them if not both
balls and give you a good discount.

When someone brings in a ball that they purchased on-line it does not make
our Pro shop the least bit mad as the drilling charge is up to $60.00 for any
specialized drilling and between $30.00 - $40.00 for a regular drilling.

If the ball is purchased in shop then the league bowlers get 15 - 20% off of
the retail price plus the free drilling.

[striker12]

think of this say you bowling ball in the proshop is $180 jsut making a ex.

so its $180 and the ball online is like $140 if anything the ball at the proshop is cheaper and u cna get it faster then the one online.

reason why its cheapers cause proshop add in the price for drilling and it can range from $40-55 who knowns every pro shop is different my proshop is $50

[billf]

I have always purchased my balls in multiples. Have done so at different pro shops and they have always given me a discount for doing so. You have to figure that they pay shipping even though so companies on-line ship for free. However, the more they buy at once the more that cost is spread over the merchandise. Same when I buy, they spread the cost thereby saving me money in the end. Last time I bought four balls and was given $200 off. But I have also purchased ten other balls from this shop and have brought in countless other bowlers to purchase balls and have all their ball work done there.

[DanielMareina]

As a pro shop operator, I am a little saddened when bowlers from my center bring in balls from the internet, but not people that bowl elsewhere. I would hope that my bowlers would have given me a chance to make them a deal. A few years ago, they changed the rules on pricing so interenet companies can't sell the balls for less than we buy them for. This means that if you tell the pro shop operator that you are going to buy the ball online and have him drill it because of the price difference, they might just match the price and add the $50 bucks they were going to charge you to drill it anyways. Some might not, but it seems like an easy way to earn your future business in my mind. I am a small center, and a low volume pro shop compared to a lot of them, but I can still match almost any price you can find online (excluding private sales like ebay or craigslist). Worst case you go back to buying it online and bringing it in to them like you were going to anyway.

[striker12]

yeah daniel when the pro shop where i lived closed i had to go a hr away to get a new ball but i did not care that much and when i went he gave me some cards of his and i handed them out at the bowling allies to the front counter and people and i was the first one to go to him, and since then he has had alot of people from my area go to him and like what he dose.

he dose not drill them fast he takes his time at drilling them to make them leagille for turnnys but i dont care i get the ball and it works perfectly and sometimes when i go up and get some new stuff he normaly gives me some free stuff cause of getting him so many people.

like when i go and get finger protection tape i normaly go and get 2 and sometimes a friend asks me if i can go get him a rosin pack thing (for making your hand slif smoothly out of the ball) he will normaly give me like 2 of them for free and 1or 2 free finger protection tapes.

i did once joked around with him he was giving me these things for free to me and i sead to him u cna keep these thigns and i walked over and grabbed a ball and sead for exchange for this just for a joke and i normaly grab the most agreesive ball mainly the defiant.

[The German Shepherd]

You know, I just spoke to my pro about this. Mine has no problem with drilling balls that were purchased somewhere else. He makes his money off the drilling charges. If you purchase a ball from his shop, he drills it for free. His remark was that he h]made the same amount of money either way...

Jay

[billf]

As a pro shop operator, I am a little saddened when bowlers from my center bring in balls from the internet, but not people that bowl elsewhere. I would hope that my bowlers would have given me a chance to make them a deal. A few years ago, they changed the rules on pricing so interenet companies can't sell the balls for less than we buy them for. This means that if you tell the pro shop operator that you are going to buy the ball online and have him drill it because of the price difference, they might just match the price and add the $50 bucks they were going to charge you to drill it anyways. Some might not, but it seems like an easy way to earn your future business in my mind. I am a small center, and a low volume pro shop compared to a lot of them, but I can still match almost any price you can find online (excluding private sales like ebay or craigslist). Worst case you go back to buying it online and bringing it in to them like you were going to anyway.


Glad to hear they changed those rules about sales. I understand volume plays a role but I get ticked off when I go to WalMart and see then selling Motorcraft parts for less than our cost. We can't compete when Ford sells the parts to them for A LOT less than they sell them to us for. Yet we have an exclusivity contract with them being a franchise and Wally World can buy and sell whatever they want.

[billf]

You know, I just spoke to my pro about this. Mine has no problem with drilling balls that were purchased somewhere else. He makes his money off the drilling charges. If you purchase a ball from his shop, he drills it for free. His remark was that he h]made the same amount of money either way...

Jay

Sounds like if he is making zero off the ball sale that maybe he doesn't have an agreement with a manufacturer?

[J Anderson]

Glad to hear they changed those rules about sales. I understand volume plays a role but I get ticked off when I go to WalMart and see then selling Motorcraft parts for less than our cost. We can't compete when Ford sells the parts to them for A LOT less than they sell them to us for. Yet we have an exclusivity contract with them being a franchise and Wally World can buy and sell whatever they want.

Just one more reason why I don't shop there.