buying bowling balls

[shaf]

I noticed that the proshop i just bought a ball from has pretty high prices compared to what i've seen online. does anyone recommend buying a performance ball online, getting it shipped, and then drilled at a local pro shop? if anyone has done this how much does shipping usually work out to.. keeping in mind that I'm in canada.

[Sam]

With bowlingball.com shipping is usually free. And it all depends on how much your pro shop charges to drill a ball. With mine, the price is built into a ball, and locally its 60 bucks period, so, with some balls after the internet price and drilling, the pro shop is actually cheaper, but with others, you save money. It just varies from ball to ball.

[JerseyJim]

Buddies pro shop does a pretty decent job of drilling. If you send them a ball with a drilling that you like, they will match it to the new ball. And ship both back to you. The shipping is free. Drilling is $50 with inserts, and thumb slug. However you have to know what type of drilling you want. My local pro shops are a bit more expensive, but it helps that both ball drillers that I use have seen me bowl. They can usually make a recommendation based on their observations. You can't get that online.

[The Bowling Guru]

My pro shop tends to be on the pricey side, but I have a good reputation with them. It would actually pay for me to buy the ball in the shop, rather than to buy it online and then have it shipped and drilled, which costs $67. When I buy it in the shop, I usually get discounts or some free stuff, so I tend to take that road.

[11 in a row]

i,ve ordered balls from bowlingball.com and bowlingindex.com and shipping was free with bowlingball.com and from bowlingindex it wasn,t...... the price to drill it up from my local proshop they charge regular price for drilling and if you were to buy from the proshop they will work the drilling in with the ball with the purchase..so i would say if the guys in your local proshop knows you well and knows how you roll the ball maybe they can put something together for you that way instead of buying from the internet... i choose to support my local proshop and i will buy a ball at nationals too...i do both..
and other times scott will just give me a great deal on one with the drilling included...and like others support your local proshops..

[shaf]

I'm leaning towards buying my next ball online.. at my local pro shop they are charging around 250-260 CAD for the Cell whereas I'm seeing it on bowlingball.com for around 125-130. I think the main issue here in toronto is that there aren't alot of pro shops around. I could be wrong. I would definately get it drilled here as the guy who does the drilling at my local proshop is excellent and he charges around $30 cad if you bring an outside ball + cost for inserts which is like 4 bucks. Thanks for all the feedback guys...

[The Bowling Guru]

I actually bought my first cell online for $109 shipped, and then it cost me $67 to drill it at my shop. I just recently bought another one directly from my shop and paid amost $210 for it. Online is the way to go sometimes.

[joerevs300]

One thing to understand is a bowling ball is the #1 money maker for most pro shops. Online retailers can buy in bulk and therefore offer it at a lesser cost.

I agree with one of the posters, you cannot replace a qualified pro shop proprietor who knows what they are doing, who can watch you bowl, know your bowling style, and give you the right drilling. If you get one drilled online, there are a number of things that can go wrong (one in particular: your thumbhole fit) and you can't exactly ship it back to them to fix it.

Now, if you're in an area where you don't have a good option in terms of a pro shop then yes, going the online route is great. But personally, if you can find a fair pro shop and a great ball driller, I would stick with them.

[kakcpa]

I'd rather spend the extra dough and give my guy the business . My second dimension that I just bought was $200 including finger inserts and grips. I called him thursday as I had a tournament on sat. It was ready friday. My guy knows my game and he knows my game and its a great fit everytime. I have nothing against getting a ball online if that's what you believe in.

[JaxBowlingGuy]

The only issue with having a ball sent off to be drilled is that unless that person drilling the ball actually did the measuring then it could end up incorrect. Not all proshops/ ball drillers measure the same way. some measure from cut to cut (edge of each hole) while others measure from center of the hole (where the tip of the drillbit will go).. Some dont take into consideration that when using a lift grip that it adds about a 1/4 of an inch to the span depending on the grip size. All of these factors can cause a span to be too long or too short and end up hurting your game in the long run. Im not saying its a bad thing to have it shipped liek that to be drilled but just watch out. It would really suck to have that brand new ball plugged and redrilled due to incorrect span.. Not only will it cost more, but who really wants a plug in a new ball? lol