I guess its all how you look at it. jls, you said that your prices will remain the same. Thats great. Now if only all the other pro shops do the same, then there is really no difference. What I do not understand is, if a customer brought in a internet ball to be drilled in your shop, would you not make the same profit as if the customer purchased the ball directly from you . I mean, you will charge for you drilling service, isn't that the profit you make ? Now, if you jack up the price of the ball and then add your drilling service, then you would lose money off the internet ball. I rather lose a few dollars on a ball, then spend thousands of dollars in inventory knowing that when the next batch of new balls come in, I will be having a fire sale trying to sell the old stock.
Guess it depends on how busy your shop is, meaning, you can turn over your inventory very quickly. I know many shops in my area that have little or no inventory. Actually, some of them prefer to drill internet balls. They have no money invested in stock and if the ball has a defect, the customer has to deal with the online shop. Kind of a win win for everyone. I really think it all depends on the area you are living in. Some shops can charge a lot more money for the equipment than other shops. jsl and you other guys, how would you feel if your shop was down the road from Buddies Pro Shop. Remember, he also has a b/m pro shop in a bowling center.
I really do not know where this is all going to end up. But I do agree with some of the other posters. The ball manufacturers are in business to sell product. If their marketing model, THIS YEAR, says they should try to sell more product thru a b/m shop, then they will do whatever is necessary to entice b/m shops to sell their product. If their marketing model, NEXT YEAR, changes because last years model did not generate enough profit, then its a whole new game. Guess we will have to wait and see.
