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Author Topic: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped  (Read 4937 times)

trash heap

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Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« on: December 22, 2010, 04:52:37 AM »
With all the recent arguments about prices going up on Ebonite, but I am thinking back to 15 years ago. I recall high end ball prices at the pro shop around $200. I think I paid $190 for my Cuda/C back then.

Maybe my memory is bad, but it seems that bowling ball prices have stayed the same or actually dropped a little now compared to 15 years ago.
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iced earth

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #16 on: December 23, 2010, 04:21:10 AM »
Supply and Demand thats all....demand for the equipment is down...prices are down.
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Russell

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #17 on: December 23, 2010, 06:21:58 AM »
quote:
Supply and Demand thats all....demand for the equipment is down...prices are down.


wrong....the supply has changed....internet.
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no300tj

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2010, 06:47:57 AM »
Why should anyone who is the end user of any product, be able to buy it at wholesale prices? Selling anything over the internet at this type of pricing level just destroys the economic food chain. It was never a good idea to do this in any industry, not just bowling. Good luck getting the toothpaste back in the tube.
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Russell

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #19 on: December 23, 2010, 06:49:53 AM »
quote:
Why should anyone who is the end user of any product, be able to buy it at wholesale prices? Selling anything over the internet at this type of pricing level just destroys the economic food chain. It was never a good idea to do this in any industry, not just bowling. Good luck getting the toothpaste back in the tube.


I completely agree...

You can't find golf clubs on the internet for wholesale prices, because the manufacturers do what Ebonite has tried to do in setting minimum retail prices.  This allows golf shops to still make a living....bowling missed the curve and has screwed pro shop owners.
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jls

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #20 on: December 23, 2010, 08:07:29 AM »
quote:
1994 The first Hammer Ball I purchased was 185.75. My wife face turned beet red. I still have it or she does, some were.To this day it remains the most expensive ball I have ever purchased and I have forty or fifty on racks in my den.  25 to 30 undrilled. Bought them when they were REAL deals still to be had. I buy mostly discontinued high end balls. With new releases every month, shops are looking to unload them cheap.I will never use most of these balls but I enjoy having them.I give them to family and friends as presents,every now and then to a youth bowler who shows promise.The net has made ball collecting easy and affordable.I have not found one reason to pay 220ish for any ball to use to bowl with. This is my thoughts,I am sure other people have theirs.
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WOW,  they were selling for $120 here, fitted and drilled...

I don't blame your wife...
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TheGame300

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #21 on: December 23, 2010, 08:21:35 AM »
I always laugh at people when they complain about bowling ball prices.  Try being a hockey player.  You can buy a $200 stick that can break a month after you buy it.  At least a ball will last for years.
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Smash49

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #22 on: December 23, 2010, 10:31:46 AM »
From what I see in our area the price of bowling balls is fairly stable.  Maybe they are a little lower.  The thing that has changed is the drilling prices.  In some places they are down to around $35.  Slug and inserts extra of course.  High end shoes are lower and everything else about the same.  Services have changed and now it comes down the quality of the driller.

Smash49
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Pinbuster

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #23 on: December 23, 2010, 11:01:10 AM »
I remember the rubber ball days when they sold from $20 to $35.

I remember when Yellow Dots came out and were $50.

I remember when urethanes came out and the first Hammer I saw was $100.

I remember when Nu-line Excalibur came out and was $140.

I remember when Brunswick introduced Quantum balls and were $200.

I remember the Quantum Helix MRSP at $299.

I believe top of the line performance balls MSRP have been steady for about $10 years now at around the $220 mark.

In terms of inflation driven dollars the top end balls have probably actually dropped in price, plus the variety and performance of the mid price lines have never been better.
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Smash49

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #24 on: December 23, 2010, 11:33:18 AM »
I bought my first ball with my own money, it was a Green LT-48!  $25 drilled.  My black LT-48 was $50.  Now days you can't even believe we bought equipment at those prices.

Smash49
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Slick, tacky, wood or synthetic it does not matter your slide is correct with SLSM Designs Bowlers Slide Sock. The Finest Slide Sock on the Planet!!!
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milorafferty

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Re: Bowling Ball price actually have dropped
« Reply #25 on: December 23, 2010, 11:46:04 AM »
Not everthing always goes up on price. Look at computers or any other electonic items.

I bought a 486 DX4 in 1994 that ran at the "screaming" speed of 100 MHz. It was so fast that a lot of the applications that were written for the previous generations of the x86 chipsets would not run correctly. But by todays standard, I think my dishwasher has a faster processor than that 486 did.

Cost of that 486 DX4 in 1994? $4800 (monitor sold seperately).

My point being that as the efficiencies of manufacturing a product improve, the over all cost will go down. Not to mention, the ball companies are causing the prices to fall just by the shear number of balls being released.
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