Trying to make a used golf ball website

[kevineckert]

Just looking for feedback here, not business.  If I'm posting this in the wrong location and cluttering up your forum I apologize.  I've been golf ball hunting all summer and I have enough golf balls cleaned up and inventoried that I've decided to make a website to sell them on.  It's brand new so I haven't had much luck attracting viewers from my oogles of competition.  I think my prices are lower than anyone else around, but I'd like any feedback I can get from you guys.  What are you looking for in a used golf ball website?  What sort of price points are attractive?  What would you change or add to my website?  Really any advice whatsoever is very much appreciated.

[Goonsidious]

All I can offer is Lost Golf Balls pretty much has the market. To beat them you will have to make it worthwhile for customers to jump ship. Honesty in ranking ball condition would be the biggest issue to me. Customers will voice their opinions all over the internet if they pay for top condition balls and get sold some scrapers. Bad public opinion can kill your business. Good luck.

[Clambake]

Are you trying to make a website, or a business?    A website is just one mechanism for marketing your business' products and providing a customer interface....it isn't a business.    Have you figured out all the logistics?   Understand shipping carriers and their options?   Worked out the business licenses?   Figured out how to deal with order fulfillment, returns, payment processing, etc?

Regarding your website, you asked for some comment so......      It looks very amateurish and comes across as just a one person operation (which it probably is).    The text is pretty conversational and not business-like, and the sentences are all sprinkled with "I" - this screams one-man-shop and many people would steer clear given there is competition out there that is very businesslike and professional.

[kevineckert]

Clambake-Thanks for the thoughts.  I'm just trying to feel out the waters with this website and if it was to take off at some point I'd like to turn it into a business down the road.  I pretty well have the logistics of shipping and payment processing figured out and fine tuned.  I'm a small enough operation that returns and other such customer issues can be dealt with on a personal basis for the time being.  I agree about the look of the website.  I know little about computers and the template from GoDaddy didn't provide much help; my hope is that I'll get enough orders to eventually hire a site designer to whip up something respectable.  I hoped my casual approach to the in-site text would convey a sense of honesty to my prospective buyers, but if it appears overly ameteur I'll have to certainly consider changing it up.  Thanks again for your thoughts and any and all insight is more than welcome.

[newtogolf]

I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit but I'd suggest you do some additional research on your competition and your target customers.  As others stated, there are a number of established and respected sites already out there, such as lostgolfballs.com which offers balls in quantities of 12, 50, and 100.  Their ball ratings are pretty accurate and they offer deals on specific models from all the major ball manufacturers.

Golfers tend to be brand loyal, the majority want to play the same ball, so while your offer for 100 premium golf balls for $58.99 is a good deal, it includes a wide range of balls from different manufacturers for golfers with different swing speeds.  A guy that plays the Callaway Tour I(s) likely won't want the Tour I(z), guys that play Penta's won't likely want to play a Titleist NXT, you get the idea.

I'm guessing you haven't found enough balls to match the offerings of a lostgolfballs.com, so rather than compete with them in an area where they have strength, go a different direction.  Consider offering custom sample packs, where golfers can select a dozen balls of their choosing from your inventory.  Golfers are always looking for cheaper alternatives to try out new balls.

Most important aspect for any new business is customer service.  Rate your golf balls conservatively, if a ball is between 3 stars and 4 stars make it 3.  Provide quick response to problems and inquiries and ensure their personal information is protected and secure.

Good luck.

[kevineckert]

Newtogolf-That's a lot of thoughtful and potentially constructive info.  Thank you so much.