I mostly buy used balls online and occasionally some new stuff. Just bought the wife a Diva Pearl through the pro shop and price was competitive to what I would've paid online plus having him drill it. A week later I  asked for a price on another ball and it was way out of line, so I purchased online and will take it in to be drilled. I take all my stuff and the wife's to the same driller. Is this frowned on by pro shops? Do they make enough drilling equipment that they don't mind it or is it more of hassle for them drilling stuff not being purchased through them? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm still new to bowling and am just curious how this sort of thing works. Thanks.

Pro shops should drill your ball for a fair price and not complain. What is "fair" depends on what the local market will bear.  It's part of today's economy/environment.  A good pro shop operator, however, will make you want to place your future business with him.  You should want your pro shop guy to be profitable so he can provide the service for you for years to come.

Drilling balls is the easy half.  Fitting hands properly is something that should be valued, and takes practice and years of experience.

On another note, if you ever have a warranty issue you should expect that you'll be handling it yourself.  Pro shops are usually happy to help with that when they sold you the ball in the first place.  It's a two way street.

The Internet has caused a false sense of perceived value of what a bowling ball should cost...as the OP stated 'way out of line'...I understand quite well the consumer is right but who are you to say a person owning their own business and placing a value on their product is out of line
I had a shop 15 yrs ago and in 4 yrs did a million dollars and basically had to go out of business due to the beginning of false value of equipment...the price of bowling balls has prolly increased approx 20% since then yet the retail price in most areas has went down. Does this make sense to anyone?
A new driver comes on the market prolly every 4 months or so and command approx $400-500 per driver yet someone prices a bowling ball at a competitive value and they are way out if line?
Most posters here think a blank drill should be minimal due to the ease of putting holes in a ball...you should be considerate and paying for a persons experience ad time. If you feel you are intelligent to pick what you think, by reading on line, the proper equipment then invest in a drill press, bits, a vacuum, bevel sanders & knives, inserts, glue and ELECTRICITY and do it yourself.

Nah, it's years and years worth of dealing with the same problems for the same reasons due to the same lack of knowledge or information, it gets frustrating. 

Is somebody's coffee a little bitter this morning?

I really don't mind, except for of course the challenges Matt laid out.  A lot of people expect you to just take whatever they give you and make it work.  Pro shops also pay more for the equipment than the online retailers do, but a lot of people act like online is the going price, and the shops are trying to make extra money.  Shops are really the going or fair rate, with the online guys being extra cheap.  Everybody wants a deal and I don't blame them, but most shops charge a fair price, just because it's more than the bottom dollar doesn't mean it's unfair. 

I had a guy bring in a ball with a 1 inch pin once, and the layout he wanted based on his pap put the fingers below the cg.  Obviously there was nothing I could do without either getting crazy with a weighthole or completely changing the layout to something he didn't want. 

I'd actually rather do outside drills, it's more profitable, and there's zero liability.  There's also a much lower probability of the customer getting what they want though, and a lot of times the blame for that gets put on the shop.  Like Matt said about the Sync, there's nothing he can do in that situation. 

I agree with most of what you said but, how do pro shops pay MORE for the equipment?  Just for an example Buddies Pro Shop (who is probably one of the if not the biggest online shop) sells let's say a Hyper Cell for $159.95, if your shop is paying more than that for that ball you are getting hosed by your distributor big time.  My shop pays $127.50 for that ball and i'm not a high volume shop so I don't get premium pricing.

On the topic matter I for one would rather drill online balls all day long.  I price my stuff to make the same amount of money either way and i don't have to deal with warranty issues and such.  I agree with pin distances and what the customer wants to do with the ball, but I also warn in advance before putting a hole in it. 

Thank you all for helping me to understand this better. I am very happy with the work he does for me and the wife and the time he takes to help us so I would have no problem paying an extra $20-$30 or so to order a ball through him vs online. This was the case for the Diva, not so with the other ball I got a price on. "Out of line" may have been the wrong way of saying I wasnt happy with the price, but that was how I felt. I go through alot of equiptment so I usually buy used. This way I can try differant stuff without loosing my butt on the other end if I dont like it. If I buy new its because my driller thinks it would be a good ball for me or the wife. I allways try to get a ball with good specs to make drilling easy as possible be it new or used. I feel like im a good customer, between me and my wife I have 5 balls with him now and 3 more at home im waiting to take in. Again im not trying to haggle on price as im really happy with what he charges for drilling, just that I wasnt sure if drilling all this used equiptment was more of a pain than its worth for some pro shops.

As a driller, I price all services at a level I can make a decent profit.  I don't care if I supply the ball, the customer brings in a new internet ball or brings in a used ball to plug and redrill.  And I'm more than happy to recommend balls, specs, and reliable internet shops for them.  I have an agreement for them to sign before I drill an internet ball that basically says I am only responsible for putting the holes where we agree on, and if I don't I'll plug and redrill the ball correctly, no replacement.  --  JohnP

That sounds like a good idea, having a written agreement like that.

I think everyone has said it well. In my pro shop, I charge $30 for a youth bowler, $40 for conventional drill and $50 for fingertip. Inserts and slugs are extra. On low end reactives and plastics I make larger profit. On midline I am about same as if they purchased through me and high end they save a little by buying online. Like previously said though, when bought online, I do not warranty, I do not have to order, enter invoices in my computer, or possibility of getting stuck with extra stock. One note though, if a local pro shop goes out of business because they are not supported by local bowlers, be prepared to travel if no other pro shops in area. Most bowlers do not realize how many bowling balls must be sold to pay employees, rent, insurance and other overhead and make a profit. I live in a city of approximately 1500 bowlers and am only pro shop in my city and next one is 45 miles away. I have to work full time next to owning pro shop because i can not live off what my pro shop makes annually. If you trust your local pro shop, support them. They will appreciate it.