Well nine-out I'll respond here as a shop that sells these balls and had a pre-order program here.
Car manufacturers do the exact same thing. You either buy what's on the lot or put your order in for the new hot model that's coming in a few weeks. Why do people do this? So they get a guarantee that they will be able to get one.
Some people are obsessed with having the first of any given ball in their bowling center. Personally, I don't care but then I am the only one using a Buzzsaw at my lanes.
As for why we do it...simple. The more we know we can have orders for, the more capital we have to work with and the more we have to work with, the more we can buy. When I took orders for the Cherry Bombs I had enough extra profit that I bought Buzzsaw towels and gave them to my top Buzzsaw buyers. If I missed anyone with that, lemme know.
It's true some buy 4 get 1 frees exist but not on every ball. And when they do exist it is a 1 shot deal. Good on 1 order only.
Why push Buzzsaws? They are the best ball on the market and if we get more people using them, then as production needs increase, Lane 1 can get some pricebreaks and maybe the price will go down.
As for the drop shipping, it is very rare that I do this. I don;t think drillwizard does it that often either but we do know that placed like Carter's Pro Shop and BlockbusterBowling and I think even BuddiesProShop (I could be wrong but I think so) do this. If someone needs a ball ASAP I will have them drop ship for me to help get it there quicker but I like to go over every ball I get in and be sure there are no cracked pins, out of line pins, cgs or mass biases, no flat spots etc. I also measure all of my pins when they come in so I know EXACTLY what I am sending to my customers.
I have gotten burned more than once...the box says 2-3" and I get a 1-1/2" pin. Won't mention any brand name that is common for this but they pioneered the clear polyester balls... :-) Storm on the other hand runs long pins. Of the 3 cases of ReLoadeds I got in, no box read more than a 3-3.5" pin. I have 3 of them over 4". Ain't that great?
So call us what you must but we push the greatest balls on the planet because we believe in them and the more people we can get the balls to, the more believers there will be.
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Doug Sterner
Doug's Pro Shop
Owego, NY
http://dougsproshop@aol.com
www.dougsproshop.net
Think about it....pins are wood, lanes are wood...
the weapon of choice is obvious...
CUT 'EM UP BABY it's BUZZSAW TIME!!!