3balls,real or dodgy?

[Snakey]

Hi,I recently won a set of x20 Tours (4-PW 2 up 8 iron 3 up) on 3balls  as advertised in great condition which I am happy with but I have noticed they have a lot of these sets with different 8 irons and reading on blogs and elsewhere, the 8 has the serial number.Does this mean the 8 is genuine and the rest fake .Communication with 3 balls dried up when these questions were asked .Has anybody else had a problem with this.Thanks guys.

[meenman]

They are a reputable company - using the search engine on this site will help to answer your question.....

http://thesandtrap.com/search.php?search=3balls

[GaijinGolfer]

Theyre legit. Ive bought clubs from them many times and am yet to get a fake or have anything be worse than the condition that they described it.

[newtogolf]

3Balls is very legit and has great customer service.  If you have any issue call them and they will make it right.

[BEAN]

I just bought a set of Callaway Diablo Irons and an Odyssey Whit Hot putter from 3balls.  The Irons were in open box condition and the putter was listed as very good. I was very satisfied the irons were in great condition as well as the putter.  I had a similar post to yours asking about 3balls and I also got nothing but positive reviews.

[Snakey]

Thanks to everyone for their replys ,as to contact their response was to say send them to Callaway for verification, costing me more postage and my response was the onus was on them not me to verify their authenticity.If you are selling something as Callaway the customer should be assured they are Callaway and after saying this to them the communication dried up.They did not address the issue of the odd 8 iron either.Since this happened I have looked on their Ebay sales and there are a number of the same thing ,odd 8 irons with a set similar to what I got.

[gwlee7]

In my experience, they suck when you try to bid for their stuff on ebay.  They have a bad reputation for "shill bidding" and I have never been able to win an auction even when using a "sniping" program.  However, they are awesome when you buy directly from them and pay their asking price listed on their site.

[meenman]

Originally Posted by gwlee7

In my experience, they suck when you try to bid for their stuff on ebay.  They have a bad reputation for "shill bidding" and I have never been able to win an auction even when using a "sniping" program.  However, they are awesome when you buy directly from them and pay their asking price listed on their site.

I've never experienced the *shill* bidding. I have bid on new hybrids and gotten them for $25 on ebay from 3balls.

[gwlee7]

You are one of the few then.

There is a 10 page thread about them on another site I frequent.  Maybe the $25 price was what they were blowing them out the door on their site in the first place.  Once again, I like the company, just don't like the way they conduct themselves on the "bay".

[Snakey]

I noticed when I was bidding on one set and watching about 5 others  there was always one guy who was always topping the bids on every set,like who bids on 6 sets of clubs at once.I contacted Ebay asking was this a shill or was this bidder a sport shop ,the answer crickets in the silence ,nada,zilch.Way to go Ebay to look after your users.

[gwlee7]

I noticed when I was bidding on one set and watching about 5 others  there was always one guy who was always topping the bids on every set,like who bids on 6 sets of clubs at once.I contacted Ebay asking was this a shill or was this bidder a sport shop ,the answer crickets in the silence ,nada,zilch.Way to go Ebay to look after your users.

This is the exact type of thing I am talking about.

[meenman]

Originally Posted by Snakey

I noticed when I was bidding on one set and watching about 5 others  there was always one guy who was always topping the bids on every set,like who bids on 6 sets of clubs at once.I contacted Ebay asking was this a shill or was this bidder a sport shop ,the answer crickets in the silence ,nada,zilch.Way to go Ebay to look after your users.

*If* they or any other seller is doing it, they do risk paying a commission to ebay anyway if they *win.*

Myself, I only use ebay to see if I can occasionally score a deal or for cheap electronic accessories - I have a price that I will pay (including shipping) and that is it - it goes higher and someone else can have it. Too many people still get caught up in the whole auction thing and pay more than stuff is worth.

If you get bored, check out some of those penny auction sites - it will amaze you how many people pay $1200 for $500 worth of stuff.

[ApocG10]

3balls is great, and the reason its hard to win an auction from them is because a very high volume of golfers (many using sniping programs) use 3balls because of their excellent service.

There is nothing odd about aucdtions skyrocketing the last hour. Its perfectly normal, and they are a very good company to deal with.

[NuclearMike]

Although lots of you say that they're legit and great to buy from I'm not comfortable with 3BallsGolf, either their site or on eBay, because of their "Representative Sample" made-up pictures that they put on their used clubs for sale. If I'm buying from you I want real pictures, not an "approximation" of what the club will look like.  Start taking real pictures and I'll consider buying from you.

[newtogolf]

They move a lot of equipment so IMO it's not feasible to take pictures of every club they bring in and list.

What I can say is that whatever condition they claim the club is in, it's at least one level higher.  I bought a set of 710 AP1's that were listed as "Very Good", when I received the set, all clubs were brand new with plastic on the grip and club head except for the 6i and AW.  The 6i and AW had been hit but it was obvious the hits were indoors and the clubs were in like new condition.

Originally Posted by NuclearMike

Although lots of you say that they're legit and great to buy from I'm not comfortable with 3BallsGolf, either their site or on eBay, because of their "Representative Sample" made-up pictures that they put on their used clubs for sale. If I'm buying from you I want real pictures, not an "approximation" of what the club will look like.  Start taking real pictures and I'll consider buying from you.

[NuclearMike]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

They move a lot of equipment so IMO it's not feasible to take pictures of every club they bring in and list.

What I can say is that whatever condition they claim the club is in, it's at least one level higher.  I bought a set of 710 AP1's that were listed as "Very Good", when I received the set, all clubs were brand new with plastic on the grip and club head except for the 6i and AW.  The 6i and AW had been hit but it was obvious the hits were indoors and the clubs were in like new condition.

It's nice to hear that from someone who has bought from them.  I had heard some stories about products with "Stock Photos" and their trying to age the clubs on their site or on eBay just seemed suspect to me.  Still, if you go to the trouble of listing a product how much more time is necessary to take and post a couple of pictures?  Thanks.

[BEAN]

My putter had an exact picture I know this because it had a scuff on it.  My irons were in open-box condition and had no marks at all.  Wrapped in plastic.

[Timothy Voyles]

I've bought several items from them in the past two years. A few Ping clubs and a Nike driver, all of which had serial numbers that checked out from the manufacturer. I've not had an issue to deal with their CS dept. yet.