Golfers being ripped off?

pokerjoke

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There’s no doubt in my mind golfers are being ripped off.
Prices for certain have risen sharply over the last 5 years maybe more,but I have noticed it more lately as I buy and sell golf stuff.
Shoes imo have always been pricey for what basically it a trainer.
In this month magazine there is a mini mag calledThe Edge,in it a follow trolley for £1649
A stand bag for £279.95
A farming rangefinder for £579.99
A Galvin Green jacket for £449
All these seem expensive for what they are or what they do.
Whilst I’m fully aware there are buyers who will pay these prices and yes it’s top of the range but imo there are many a bargain to be had on older model gear.

My question do you buy the new gear at full price or do you wait for it to come down?
Or do you buy the older stuff.

Just an example the Bushnell V3 rangefinder can now be found for about £100 and simply is a great bit of kit.
 

Slab

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Agree the prices seem to be going higher than Shatner!

Clubs I've usually waited for (or looked for) the ranges at the very end of their ‘new’ shelf life. So that means stuff that’s been replaced by one or even two new models
Most I’d pay for a new driver is about 150-175, Putter under a 100, Irons at 300 etc

Clothes and shoes just buy when wanted/needed but again looking for on sale gear and not top of the range, shoes under the ton. Don’t use trollies but they look hellish expensive
 

Neilds

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I agree that prices are getting silly now, but you are not being ripped off. You have to make the decision if you are willing to pay top dollar for an item, if not there are plenty of cheaper options. No one is being forced to pay those prices, imo that is the definition of being ripped off - when you have no choice but to pay the asking price.
 

Lord Tyrion

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Last years clothes lines, maybe the year before, same with shoes. 2nd hand clubs. My trolley, Gokart, and bag, Motocaddy cart bag, are the only two things I have for golf that were current model when bought. Luckily the options are there.
 

timd77

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Prices for new stuff are very high, and if I want something new I’ll wait for it to be on offer of some sort or go for previous season’s gear.

The price of second hand clubs have gone crazy and I’ve sold stuff on eBay for a profit…example, bought a ping crossover new from an online shop (clubhouse golf I think), it was a previous model so it was on offer for £80ish. Couldn’t get on with it so sold it as second hand a few months later on eBay and got £108 for it! Crazy.

There are still some good prices out there on Facebook and eBay if you’re quick (see my recent srixon irons purchase), but by and large if the seller’s switched on, even second hand clubs achieve a decent price.

No doubt normality will resume next year.
 

Robster59

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You could ask is golf equipment overpriced. And, IMHO, it most certainly is. Most of my equipment is bought in a sale, and the only ones I have paid full price for is my Callaway XR irons which I treated myself to a few years ago at £550 with higher spec graphite shafts. I would expect that price for the new equivalent irons to be at least 50% higher now. Oh and my GoKart but given that is now over 10 years old, I reckon I've got my moneys worth out of it.
The mental aspect seems to make a driver at £300 to be considered "good value". Really? I think golf equipment prices have shot up tremendously over the last few years.
As has been said, you don't have to pay that price as there are plenty of lower price products out there.
 

Orikoru

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Some prices are daft but you can easily find cheap options for good stuff. I buy a lot of my golf clothes from County Golf, generally pay £20-25 for a polo, or a pair of shorts, maybe £25-30 for a midlayer/jumper. Some waterproof jackets are silly money, but I found my Under Armour one on Ebay for 40 quid and it still had tags on so unworn and effectively new. My Skechers golf shoes were £100 - they were bought for me as a present but £100 is about the limit I would pay if buying them for myself anyway. My bag is £150 and I had 100 credit towards from the previous bag I returned under warranty - plus I have one hybrid bag for carrying and trolleying so I've not shelled out for two bags.

My irons, hybrids and one wedge were all second hand. My driver was bought partly with vouchers I obtained for a local golf shop as competition prizes at my old club. My woods and other wedges were bought new, but they were the superseded models being sold off at clearance prices pretty much, so I paid half of what they were when they were released. My putter was new but found it on a website where it wasn't quite the full new price, and my missus bought that for my birthday anyway. :p

So basically I think people who pay £100 for a polo or £400 for a waterproof jacket want their heads checking to be quite honest, when you absolutely don't need to. With clubs though there's a dilemma if you want them custom fitted, I think it's pretty difficult to get that and not be paying full whack for brand new clubs ultimately. So that's the decision, have custom fit clubs, or don't and pay half as much.
 

Oddsocks

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I think golf has boomed and the manufactures are taking advantage, there simply isn’t enough product and it’s being exploited. In my option golf was pricing itself out as a viable low cost hobby and while the new golfers will stomach it, the older guard won’t and arguably this is where the long term investment in new tech comes from.

The only product I’ve paid full price for in the last 5 years was a scotty, like others I buy previous models new at a reduced rate or buy used.
 

Bunkermagnet

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I suppose it depends if your a brand/eqipment whore or if youre someone who buys something and keeps it a long time.
I myself will happily pay for something, but I do keep things and look after them. For example, I'm still playing with i20 irons and a G15 driver.
 

Slab

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One area prices are down is the shirts/shorts in the pro shops
With little tourists for 18 months every pro-shop has had a sale on in the last 3 months to clear the stock out and make way for new ranges
Even with up to half price deals I wouldn't call them cheap but they are a lot cheaper than usual (came in handy since I needed to buy a whole new golf 'wardrobe')
 

jim8flog

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The only time I buy from my proshop these days is when there are enough sheckels in the kitty from prize winnings to at least make a decent contribution.

There was a time when it was a new set of irons every 2-3 years. New wedges every year but those days are a distant memory.
 
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I know Galvin Green are expensive but you're paying for top quality goretex which as a brand itself is expensive.

I wouldn't think twice of paying £400+ for a goretex jacket though. Anything else isn't worth buying if you want to stay dry.

Everything else is very much of a muchness.
 

SteveW86

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If you think some golfing items are too expensive, you should look at some of the offshore sailing kit. Goretex is very good and therefore very expensive.If you want to stay dry and warm in something breathable then unfortunately that costs money.
 

Jimaroid

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It's not just golf, the price of equipment for all my hobbies has been steadily increasing by more than inflation.

In some cases the equipment has gotten better so paying more doesn't feel a bad deal but on the whole, yeah, stuff seems to cost more now than it used to with no actual material or functional advantage
 

pokerjoke

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I know Galvin Green are expensive but you're paying for top quality goretex which as a brand itself is expensive.

I wouldn't think twice of paying £400+ for a goretex jacket though. Anything else isn't worth buying if you want to stay dry.

Everything else is very much of a muchness.

You need twice as much material as me :)
 
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