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

[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.