I'll do my best to keep my mouth shut about the idiots I've seen post in Doug's topic about his Reloadeds.  I don't mean to blow any pro shop secrets, but from the supplier we have, Doug's price of 125 SHIPPED is cheaper than we can get them!  If my boss did something like that, he'd be losing over 20 bucks a ball once he received the ball and added the shipping price to what he paid.  

Do you ignorant whiners even know what it takes to run a pro shop?  There are so many little expenses that you have no clue about.  Most of the smaller things are what you get for free.  You come in on a league night, and your thumbhole is too tight, or too sharp.  Bevel knives, bevel sanders, the round graters, you know, all the stuff that pro shops pay for and make little adjustments to your thumb hole for FREE with.  Say a grip is a little loose, there's some glue.  I mean, heck, then you add other things like a vaccuum cleaner, towels, paper towels, and Windex, things like that come out of profits.  And that's all small stuff.  If a center doesn't own the pro shop, the pro shop pays rent, unless there is some special deal going on.  All the tools to run a pro shop have to be paid for, that's why the extra costs.  People then complain about "Well, after they pay for the drilling machine, everything from there is pure profit."  Yeah, after you break even for the MONTHS it takes to pay one of those things off, unless you had some rich relative die.  

Who wants to run a business just to break even?  What would be the point of running your own business just so your profits are enough to cover the expenses?  All your time and effort would be wasted.  Buddies can afford to sell for that cheap because they either have money to back it, enough customer support to make it worth their time, or a really good deal with a supplier, or maybe they're even a supplier period.  A pro shop isn't a business you have to make money, it's a business you have if you like abuse and stupid customers.  You're all so smart, why don't you go get a bank loan and open your own shops?  Unless you have a good economy in your city where people are willing to pay higher prices for equipment because they realize the logistics of owning a business (I see nothing wrong with drillwizard charging 229 for the Reloaded, if people pay that price, more power too him.  Probably allows him a lot more freedom in other areas), you're gonna run yourself into the ground after you burn yourself out on it because the gain just isn't worth the pain.
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Forget Kung Fu, I know Ron Bahr!!!

The only difference between youth and adult leagues are that the big boys are allowed to whine.  They're more entertaining anyway.

My god you people are really whining about offering a service to people.  If you don't like working with people you need to find a new job or a new business to operate.  I have bought a ball on-line and I have bought a ball from the pro-shop on the military base where I happen to work.  I did get the ball for wholesale because I know the bowling manager, but for god sakes people we are a country driven by the market.  Would you pay more for a service if you could get it cheaper somewhere else?  I don't think you would.  People want the best deal that they can get.  I live in Vegas so I have plenty of houses that I can go to to shop, but check out the prices.  With the advent of the internet a business must adjust to what the market demands, and make no bones about it the market is demading lower prices.  I support my local house by bowling in a league and by coming in for lunch.  If I need any work done then I DO expect to pay for it.