I'd almost rather the public knew how much we don't make on stuff . . but every time I divulge numbers I get jumped on for it.  Only reason ANY pro shops exist anywhere is love of the game.

A home setup can be done for much cheaper if you have a little patience. My brother worked in a proshop for years and decided to go the home route just for us. Internet prices were such through places like Rizzos and ect that it was worth it. Not to mention ebay.

Off ebay we got a Ruddell x,y axis jig with a full set of used bits for $225 shipped. Later added a set of pitch gauges for cheap off of ebay along with a quarter scale.

Bought a bench top drill press from lowes for $200. added a used ball spinner for $150.(ball spinner came first) Used a dremel tool for our sander and we had everything needed.

A few years later while watching ebay got another deal for another jig, 2 sets of bits, hernery troemner scale, and a plug cutting router for $450 shipped. Kept only the scale and sold everything else for $575. We got paid to keep the scale. After 10 years or so the drill finally dies and we replaced it with a nice standup drill from lowes for $250. A full setup for drilling under $1000.

As far as proshop prices go it doesn't really matter if the public knows. They will still ask you to take less for it. I just bought me another Brunswick Ringer Platinum off ebay last week for $72 shipped. That is below my cost before shipping through a distributor.

1. Suhony24, I hope you never get a job as a manager as you do not understand business and overhead.
2. Gizmo is right on. People don't realize that tree is equipment cost, supplies, rent, insurance, employee salaries, ect. Don't forget about the $$$$ spent on any certification training.
3. I live in a small market. I am retired military, work full time, and operate my pro shop also. I cannot survive operating my pro shop only with the internet today so I am forced to work a full time job. I have 5 employees that work for me at two locations. Why do I do it? Because I enjoy it and I am damn good at it.
4. I charge $50 fingertip, $40 conventional, $30 youth to drill ball not purchase through me. Inserts are $10 a set, $8 with new ball drilling, thumb slug is $10, $8 with new ball purchase. All balls not purchased through me are not warranties by my shops.
5. I watch and know my customers. If not, I spend 1/2 hour getting needed information to get them into the proper ball will proper layout.
6. You buy a ball and have it drilled online, ball arrives and needs thumb worked out. Should we local pro shop operators charge you to fine tune or do we tell you to take it back to the place that drilled it?
7. Bowler x is looking at a new ball and asks you to come out and watch him bowl. Now there is no charge for the 15-30 minutes of my time and he shows up next week with the ball you recommended. A big thanks for taking my time that I could have put towards a paying customer.

Do you ever spend 30 minutes putting holes in the ball to make the customer feel better?  I've seen guys do this.  Not me. 

how about taking a clip board to take some notes on ball recomendation, suggestions and drilling patterns? go out and watch a customer roll his ball so u know the speed, style, revs etc. i have never understood why a pro shop operator never did this. at least in my experience(5 diff pro shops bought from).
a friend of mine recently had his dad get back into bowling and hadnt bowled in 20 years. they went ot the pro shop and of course no watching hime bowl or asking deep level questions, just pointed him to mid- high level ball.(190 dollar ball) now he is stuck with a ball thats way too strong for his style.

i tend to be one of those people who knows what they want from a ball, and what ball they want.  i do ask from time to time about different balls that may be comming out becasue watching them isn't the same as throwing them, so i want a bit of info from my pro shop guy.

i liken my relationship with my pro shop guy John, to that of a bartender.  He listens, he agrees/disagrees, we talk about other stuff, he gives advice, and he's there every tuesday and wednesday.  and when i need to change what i'm drinking, he has good advice based on years of knowing me, and being more current than i can be with the products.

of course just my 2cents

If, I had a dime for every hour I have spent with countless golfers in my club fitting and build biz I'd be well ya know......rich!    There are a huge number of golfers that want to mine you for information.  Pro shop operators are no different.  You have to know how far to go and qualify clients.  It takes time to become biz savvy.

Yeah, but you also realize that he's investing several hours a week into you and only getting a ball sale once every several months.  Boils his profit down to a few bucks an hour, hardly enough to get by on.  If I charged my boss for all the hours I've worked this year so far, I'd put him out of business, wouldn't be able to afford me. 

Quote from: coco3085 on December 16, 2013, 07:59:53 PM

i tend to be one of those people who knows what they want from a ball, and what ball they want.  i do ask from time to time about different balls that may be comming out becasue watching them isn't the same as throwing them, so i want a bit of info from my pro shop guy.

i liken my relationship with my pro shop guy John, to that of a bartender.  He listens, he agrees/disagrees, we talk about other stuff, he gives advice, and he's there every tuesday and wednesday.  and when i need to change what i'm drinking, he has good advice based on years of knowing me, and being more current than i can be with the products.

of course just my 2cents

Golfers try and fit themselves and buy on-line or off eBay.  Bowlers can not fit themselves.

What it appears golf has done better is keeping the value up of things like a true fitting.  I have never been on Trackman or something similar for free, or even included in a club purchase.  For free you can get somebody to watch ball flight and make recommendations, but that is about it.  Bowlers expect somebody to watch them bowl, get vital specs and lay out and drill a ball for the same price as drilling a ball conventional for a new bowler.  Scott33 would know better about golf, that is just my impression as an insider in bowling and a golf consumer.

What it appears golf has done better is keeping the value up of things like a true fitting.  I have never been on Trackman or something similar for free, or even included in a club purchase.  For free you can get somebody to watch ball flight and make recommendations, but that is about it.  Bowlers expect somebody to watch them bowl, get vital specs and lay out and drill a ball for the same price as drilling a ball conventional for a new bowler.  Scott33 would know better about golf, that is just my impression as an insider in bowling and a golf consumer.

Alot of that though comes from the background of the two different games. Golf has always been more of white collar type game, and almost from its inception people paid for all this advanced work, mainly because originally the pro shop owner was the guy actually building your clubs. People pay more because they have always paid more. One of the reasons the sport ballooned is because the average joe could go out and get a " stock" set of clubs for a reasonable price, if you want the good stuff you pay more for it, and the really good stuff is more than that.

Bowling on the other hand has blue collar roots. You bought the ball and someone drilled it, it didn't take any huge amount of expertise, it was about as close to 3 holes in a ball as you can get. Today though the physics behind the game has changed with all of these cores, coverstocks and wild layouts. The problem is though that people were used to the 3 holes in a ball, not rocket science. They still expect the Pro Shop to get the holes in the ball correctly, its just that unlike golf, that's always been included with bowling.

Also the other huge difference between golf and bowling, there are no off the shelf stock sets in bowling. If you want to get into golf you go down to the local Wal Mart and can get a cheap set for 200 bucks. With bowling, the stock sets are free, the center supplies them. There is that beginner set with most plastic balls, but most people at that point can't justify just using the free stuff. Then you basically have no middle road, its either all or nothing ( like stock sets of Calloways, Taylor made or Armour's * wink wink*) and straight to the high end stuff. Its the reason you can't really compare golf and bowling pro shops imo, the markets are completely different with completely different expectations from its customers.

In 1972 my dad paid $35 for his ball and to have it drilled ( An old Ace Hard rubber) and the way he talks about it that was a freaking fortune lol. My mother and grandfather also worked at the plant that poured them so they got the ball cheap. I'm not sure what the inflation calculation is, but I'm betting the sport hasn't kept up with inflation ( I'm guessing due in large part to competition).