Price of Golf Balls Rising

[stealthhwk]

Corporate America (golf ball companies) want to see if we will all get together and pay more money for already pricey golf balls!!! Entry and mid level offerings seem to have inched up 2-3 dollars a dozen. Small increase I know, but this is how it starts. Many mid level 2 piece surlyn balls are now within a few dollars of cheapest urethane ones.

That is until the golf companies read my post and then those shall rise a few bucks a dozen too and someone gets a bigger yacht!

Support companies like Wilson and Lostgolfballs.com. Good companies turning a profit without robbing the rest of us blind, all while selling great performing products.

Thanks to all for letting me vent

end rant

[tinker]

Wilson balls are as good as anything out there and are priced right. It can’t cost much more to produce a pro v than any Wilson ball. They are just selling brand- name- itus.

 

[Patch]

It might just be me, but I have noticed this time of year, where different parts of country golfers start shutting down their games, prices seem go up. (seasonal colder weather)

Less stuff being bought, drives the prices up. With golf being one of the more expensive sports to be involved in, this stands to reason. Golf vendors have bills too. 

Worst case scenario, Wal-Mart still has Nitro Balls for $5 a dozen. They play alright for alot of golfers. 

 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, tinker said:

It can’t cost much more to produce a pro v than any Wilson ball.

Yes it can.

 Plus, buy Snell.

[Piz]

All the more reason to stalk them in the wild.

[Sandy Divot]

26 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yes it can.

 Plus, buy Snell.

I have been playing PROV1x, and tried Snell MBT-X, and really couldn't tell the difference. I buy two dozen at a time, and they cost about $30. The shipping is free.

[RussUK]

Indeed, whilst browsing sports direct the other day I almost choked on my earl grey when i saw that Callaway CXR power had increased from £9.99 to £10.99. Extortion I tell you.

I'm the mind to send them a very firmly worded email for them to ingore.

Seriously though, companies like Titleist can charge more for their balls (within reasonable limits) because they know people will still buy them. There are so many deals to be had if you are willing to do the leg work.

Also, I actually like the CXR power in Yellow as i can see it and it doesn't actually feel like a rock .

[David in FL]

Yacht makers gotta make a living too.

God, I love the free market!  

[djake]

I own a company, my company has to make a profit so I can buy more golf balls.  I find no fault with golf ball prices rising.  Without those profits jobs go bye bye.

This is the time of the year that our chief executives of our company (My Wife and I) sit down a review every aspect of our company and then decide on what product or products need price changes.  Some products will go up in price, some will stay the same and some may actually drop in price.  It is a very stress filled time when we do this.  There is an incredible amount of time and information we put into this.  Very stressful.

Why do I bore you with this, Corporate America is not this big bad evil thing and PROFIT is not a dirty word.

Plus - I shop non stop looking for the very best deals I can get for golf equipment, I would encourage you @stealthhwk to do the same.  Every golf ball goes on sale at parts of the year.  Name a ball and in 2019 I have seen it on sale at least twice.

As my Mother tells me non stop - shopping for deals is an adventure that should be enjoyed.

[gbogey]

Anything manufactured in China, as I'm sure some balls are, are being hit with tariffs that are going to be passed on to consumers.  If some products are U.S. produced and some China, my experience to date is that U.S. producers are choosing to raise prices, at least partially, rather than keep prices low and steal share.  I don't know the specifics around golf balls, but my guess is that this situation applies.

[iacas]

46 minutes ago, gbogey said:

Anything manufactured in China, as I'm sure some balls are, are being hit with tariffs that are going to be passed on to consumers.  If some products are U.S. produced and some China, my experience to date is that U.S. producers are choosing to raise prices, at least partially, rather than keep prices low and steal share.  I don't know the specifics around golf balls, but my guess is that this situation applies.

Titleist, Callaway, and TaylorMade balls are made in the US. Bridgestone may be too.

Snell are made overseas.

Snell are the cheapest of the bunch.

Least expensive, I should say. Cheap has a bad implication.

[Cantankerish]

I buy almost all my golf balls like this:

Stop in Wal-Mart, Aldi, Marshalls, or some other store just because I happen to be shopping for something else.  See if any balls are on the clearance shelf.  Check to see that it is in fact much less expensive than the typical retail price.  Then buy lots of them if the price is right.  If I can not find any deals for awhile, I go with Wilson or Nitro or something else super cheap. I honestly can not tell the difference at all.  I have researched what the differences are supposed to be, but I just can not tell at all. I feel that I am a rube for not having any appreciation for this sort of thing.

I might buy Snell if the ball is actually less expensive than other brands of equal quality, even though I can not actually tell.  But all I can do to tell is look at the box for how many layers the ball has.  And the packaging is not always clear.  I saw the graphic that was posted on this site a few months back with the performance of various balls.  It was quite helpful.  It pointed to Titleist, and they are an absurd price. But that's all I got to go on.

[gbogey]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Titleist, Callaway, and TaylorMade balls are made in the US. Bridgestone may be too.

Snell are made overseas.

Snell are the cheapest of the bunch.

Least expensive, I should say. Cheap has a bad implication.

Yes all four of those have primarily domestic production.  But cheaper balls are made overseas, and if the cost and price of cheaper balls go up, then the big U.S. guys can either raise prices or gain market share due to better price comparisons.  Outside of golf balls, I can tell you lots of U.S. guys are raising prices as opposed to taking share (although in some cases they aren't raising prices as much to gain both share and profits). 

[Patch]

19 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

I buy almost all my golf balls like this:

Stop in Wal-Mart, Aldi, Marshalls, or some other store just because I happen to be shopping for something else.  See if any balls are on the clearance shelf.  Check to see that it is in fact much less expensive than the typical retail price.  Then buy lots of them if the price is right.  If I can not find any deals for awhile, I go with Wilson or Nitro or something else super cheap. I honestly can not tell the difference at all.  I have researched what the differences are supposed to be, but I just can not tell at all. I feel that I am a rube for not having any appreciation for this sort of thing.

I might buy Snell if the ball is actually less expensive than other brands of equal quality, even though I can not actually tell.  But all I can do to tell is look at the box for how many layers the ball has.  And the packaging is not always clear.  I saw the graphic that was posted on this site a few months back with the performance of various balls.  It was quite helpful.  It pointed to Titleist, and they are an absurd price. But that's all I got to go on.

Same here when out shopping.

I won't purchase much of anything over the internet. I was cloned once, which ended that type of purchasing  for me.

About a week before Christmas, and a week after New Years, Target Stores runs a clearance sale on golf (& other) stuff. You can buy premium balls for pennies on the dollar. 

Pro V-1s for $20 a dozen is sometimes available at Target as an example. I purchased several dozens of Bridgestone e7 balls for $8 a dozen.

My wife and I actually take the time to drive to all the Target Stores in the area for the clearance items during this time of year. 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Patch

[tinker]

17 hours ago, iacas said:

Yes it can.

 Plus, buy Snell.

After a little research the difference in manufacturing cost Is probably 25% tops. The retail difference is 100% or more.

[djake]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Titleist, Callaway, and TaylorMade balls are made in the US. Bridgestone may be too.

Snell are made overseas.

Snell are the cheapest of the bunch.

Least expensive, I should say. Cheap has a bad implication.

Bridgestone does make balls in the USA, not sure if all of thier production is here but they do make at least some of thier balls here.

Tiger and Bryson did a marketing promo at their USA facility. 

1 hour ago, tinker said:

After a little research the difference in manufacturing cost Is probably 25% tops. The retail difference is 100% or more.

There is more them manufacturing costs that go into pricing strategies, a lot more.  I wish it were that easy.

Where did you get your information from?  I would be curious to explore it.

[tinker]

Just google cost of making golf balls, there’s plenty of articles. There is probably a lot more in pricing strategy but I’ll bet none out has much to do with raw material cost. I’ll also wager most has to do with brand perception and selling prestige for tremendous profits. Brand- name- itus by consumers is my pet peeve and it is rampant in the golf industry.

[ChetlovesMer]

I play Volvik Vivid golf balls almost exclusively. Not sure why I've gravitated toward that ball, but it really works for me. (It's made in Korea btw.) Ideally I play the Sherbet Orange Color, but I'll play some of the other colors in a pinch. The regular Orange and the lime green for example aren't bad. One thing I like is how well I can see it. Anyhow, it's nearly always regularly priced at $32.99/dozen. But I always pay between 22 and 25 bucks a dozen because I either use coupons or wait for sales. 

Additionally, my family knows that the Orange Sherbet Volvik Vivid is my favorite so I can normally count on a dozen or two for Christmas and my birthday. 

Between what I get for Christmas and my birthday, I only end up buying 2 to 4 dozen a year. I don't feel 22-25 bucks a dozen is excessive.