When buying clubs, do you support your pro or buy elswhere.

[freddielong]

Golf equipment is generally a rip off with high profit margins so i tend to shop around and get a deal usually buying last seasons equipment.

Do you know what you are talking about ?

I think not, compared with the rest of the retail trade the mark ups on Golf Equipment are tiny, I have a clothes shop and generally use a mark up of 2.7 (Buy for 10 sell for 27)golf equipment especially the big boys (Callaway and Titleist) you get less than 1.8 mark up, but you still have to pay VAT your rent and employ staff not easy.

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

Not sure I agree with this....

I phoned my old club up (my present one doesn't have the clubs i'm after) and was told RRP £550 but as it was me £500
I then phoned the pro at another club who only stocks Taylor Made (I have bought gear from him before) and for the same sticks, but with 2 lots of tape under the grips £395....now the £395 pro's still making money with overheads, so how much does he buy them for?

Again one of my best freinds is a club pro and this is how it is if the clubs were retailing at 500 the pro would have paid approx 285 for them, and as for your example the pro who was going to sell them to you at 395 obviously had a set that he had ordererd in specially (extra tape on grips) for someone, who then changed their mind and had a choice sell them cheap or regrip them and try to sell them and still make a small profit

If you dont support your pro's they wont be there when you need them

 

[Twire]

Golf equipment is generally a rip off with high profit margins so i tend to shop around and get a deal usually buying last seasons equipment.

Do you know what you are talking about ?

I think not, compared with the rest of the retail trade the mark ups on Golf Equipment are tiny, I have a clothes shop and generally use a mark up of 2.7 (Buy for 10 sell for 27)golf equipment especially the big boys (Callaway and Titleist) you get less than 1.8 mark up, but you still have to pay VAT your rent and employ staff not easy.

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

Not sure I agree with this....

I phoned my old club up (my present one doesn't have the clubs i'm after) and was told RRP £550 but as it was me £500
I then phoned the pro at another club who only stocks Taylor Made (I have bought gear from him before) and for the same sticks, but with 2 lots of tape under the grips £395....now the £395 pro's still making money with overheads, so how much does he buy them for?

and as for your example the pro who was going to sell them to you at 395 obviously had a set that he had ordererd in specially (extra tape on grips) for someone, who then changed their mind and had a choice sell them cheap or regrip them and try to sell them and still make a small profit

Errr no...he hasn't got the clubs with extra tape, this is what I requested on the phone, as the set I have now has extra tape. This is what I was trying to say, he will ORDER me the clubs with the extra that I want, and still be cheeper than £100 cheeper than the other pro shop.

And I'm still supporting a local pro.......just not my one.

 

[Parmo]

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

Example for you.

Galvin green paclite trousers retail everywhere for £150+, at trade cost they are £100 to the buyer, also when the TM burner came out it was buy 20 at trade cost and get 5 extra free!! There is loads of cash in the golf market.

 

[freddielong]

People like you won't be happy until it is impossible to make a profit at anything anymore and it is just you and a big Tesco's, maybe the other pro has a deal with TM you did say its all he sold - But I have seen how much these things cost, I have seen the invoices and I am telling you this is how it is the mark ups in comparrison to the rest of the retail sector are small - My mate acctually gets his clubs (for him to play trade less 50%) cheaper than the clubs he gets to sell in the shop.

 

[EchtLoon]

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

Example for you.

Galvin green paclite trousers retail everywhere for £150+, at trade cost they are £100 to the buyer, also when the TM burner came out it was buy 20 at trade cost and get 5 extra free!! There is loads of cash in the golf market.

Aye heaps, becasue your club pro will sell those 25 drivers in seconds eh?

I'd guess you'll be lucky if any pro shop in the country could sell 25 of one make of driver in a season.

How many sets of irons do you think a pro sells in a year?

 

[Parmo]

Freddie but if you have an attitude like that no wonder the UK public are and have left businesses like yours and others in favour of bigger business.

My friend owns a driving range and he gets sets of Ben Sayers package clubs for £17.99 and rents them out all year at £5 a hire and that is about 30+ hires per set a year!! he also gets top brand like TM, Titleist, Ping, Nike, Cobra and the likes at least and I mean this at least 40% below the retail price + whatever freebies the sales rep offers.

 

[Parmo]

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

Example for you.

Galvin green paclite trousers retail everywhere for £150+, at trade cost they are £100 to the buyer, also when the TM burner came out it was buy 20 at trade cost and get 5 extra free!! There is loads of cash in the golf market.

Aye heaps, becasue your club pro will sell those 25 drivers in seconds eh?

I'd guess you'll be lucky if any pro shop in the country could sell 25 of one make of driver in a season.

How many sets of irons do you think a pro sells in a year?

Depends, I am sure my Pro who runs two clubs shifts dozens.

 

[heronsghyll]

My local pro is a great guy who works really hard at the club and for that reason I always get any golf stuff from him (bag/shoes/wedges etc) If I was in the market for a full new set I would go to him, prices are pretty keen as, like most pros, he is part of a buying group.

I totally agree. I always give my pro a chance to quote for anything I buy, if he is within the range of the Internet I always give him the business.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CLUB PRO. Always at least give them a chance to compete, in these economic times they need it.

 

[Twire]

People like you won't be happy until it is impossible to make a profit at anything anymore and it is just you and a big Tesco's, maybe the other pro has a deal with TM you did say its all he sold - But I have seen how much these things cost, I have seen the invoices and I am telling you this is how it is the mark ups in comparrison to the rest of the retail sector are small - My mate acctually gets his clubs (for him to play trade less 50%) cheaper than the clubs he gets to sell in the shop.

I suppose there's different ways of running a business...You can either charge top price and get a few sales, or sell a bit cheeper, and get a lot more sales, a name for yourself, and turn your stock around quickly.

As regards the people won't be happy comment, at no time did I ask either pro shop to discount me.

 

[KeefG]

Depends, I am sure my Pro who runs two clubs shifts dozens.

Doesnt your pro run Temple Newsam too?

 

[freddielong]

Freddie but if you have an attitude like that no wonder the UK public are and have left businesses like yours and others in favour of bigger business.

My friend owns a driving range and he gets sets of Ben Sayers package clubs for £17.99 and rents them out all year at £5 a hire and that is about 30+ hires per set a year!! he also gets top brand like TM, Titleist, Ping, Nike, Cobra and the likes at least and I mean this at least 40% below the retail price + whatever freebies the sales rep offers.

My buisness is doing fine (mainly because me and my attitude arn't there very often at the moment) but this attitude of retail is easy and all retailers are crooks really annoys me.

But that is my point yes you get a good mark up on the cheep stuff (Ben Sayers, Masters golf etc) but the big brands give you a much smaller mark up (40% is small in retail in general) when you also think that golfers are much more aware of what they want nowdays (I want this head with that shaft etc).

It is really tough to run the majority of pro shops and they should be supported.

 

[Parmo]

Depends, I am sure my Pro who runs two clubs shifts dozens.

Doesnt your pro run Temple Newsam too?

Yeah Keef its Adie and he runs the two clubs and three courses. He is making a killing since he took over but the problem is that the Temple shop is fully stocked with decent kit whereas the Roundhay shop is usually stocked with the not latest kit or older kit like the BenRoss V5 driver for £90 (recently dropped the price to £40) or low end market stuff or as mentioned all the irons except a couple are Nike older models, we did have some Ping G10 drivers but they where standard ones with no fitting options.

I notice though on EBay lots of the stores are Pro shops making extra cash online and in doing so getting their buying costs down. I think JamGolf started as that for Proshops to sell their kit on, have a look and some of the stuff is at laughable prices but other stuff seems ok.

 

[Golfmmad]

One of the Plus's of buying online from a good retailer is you get to exchange the club upto two weeks after for free and you get new kit not kit that someone has bashed about testing weekin and out that some Pro's & AG offer, you know it looks new and will be new.

I'm sure there are lots of plus's for buying online.
I don't get your point about kit being bashed about and being tested. I have a choice, either brand new gear, or for a reduced price I could buy clubs that have been used or tested.
I'm sure any self-respecting Golf Pro would not try and sell any other way.

Golfmmad.

 

[medwayjon]

Golf equipment is generally a rip off with high profit margins so i tend to shop around and get a deal usually buying last seasons equipment.

Do you know what you are talking about ?

I think not, compared with the rest of the retail trade the mark ups on Golf Equipment are tiny, I have a clothes shop and generally use a mark up of 2.7 (Buy for 10 sell for 27)golf equipment especially the big boys (Callaway and Titleist) you get less than 1.8 mark up, but you still have to pay VAT your rent and employ staff not easy.

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

I think MVP does know what he is talking about.

Friends of mine work in a golf-shop, one is the manager, and he has showed me the "trade" price of certain items and the mark-ups are indeed huge.

An example, the Cobra F-Speed Driver (latest one) trades at £72 when bought in quantity.

There is however a difference between mark-up and net profit, the average firm (From my areas of expertise) work on a net profit of approx 11% of turnover so to earn £110,000 in profit would require huge investment and a turnover of £1.1m

 

[freddielong]

Golf equipment is generally a rip off with high profit margins so i tend to shop around and get a deal usually buying last seasons equipment.

Do you know what you are talking about ?

I think not, compared with the rest of the retail trade the mark ups on Golf Equipment are tiny, I have a clothes shop and generally use a mark up of 2.7 (Buy for 10 sell for 27)golf equipment especially the big boys (Callaway and Titleist) you get less than 1.8 mark up, but you still have to pay VAT your rent and employ staff not easy.

So don't assume you know what your talking about, the reason Golf Equipment is cheaper on line is generally to do with not paying rent for an online shop.

I think MVP does know what he is talking about.

Friends of mine work in a golf-shop, one is the manager, and he has showed me the "trade" price of certain items and the mark-ups are indeed huge.

An example, the Cobra F-Speed Driver (latest one) trades at £72 when bought in quantity.

There is however a difference between mark-up and net profit, the average firm (From my areas of expertise) work on a net profit of approx 11% of turnover so to earn £110,000 in profit would require huge investment and a turnover of £1.1m

The keys point to that is "when bought in quantity" not all pro shops are able to bulk buy and open up the discounts that are availible, and if they do they are not going to sell everything at full mark up. Golf equipment ages very quickly at the moment and loses value equally quick.

 

[medwayjon]

I know what you mean by that.

One of our local pro's no longer has his own stock, he is supplied by a bigger chain and he makes a comission percentage on what he sells, he however marks-up well above his suppliers, who are local, so many of his members go elsewhere.

The best bet for the local pro's is a buying syndicate where they can get good quantity related discounts and therefore be able to sell at competitive prices.

 

[Parmo]

I'm sure there are lots of plus's for buying online.
I don't get your point about kit being bashed about and being tested. I have a choice, either brand new gear, or for a reduced price I could buy clubs that have been used or tested.
I'm sure any self-respecting Golf Pro would not try and sell any other way.

Golfmmad.

Pop down to AG and pick up a driver that has been smashed into the nets or range and then say you like the club and want it, they will try and sell you the used on as new and when you complain about the usage of other people they will offer a tenner off and if you start walking out the door they will order you a new one, I know it happened with my Yonex.

My pro doesnt have a range of demo drivers, he has a mixture of 6i's which is standard but not heard of him using a £200 just for demo then selling a new one, as mentioned before many pro shops don't have the ability to sell or buy in bulk.

 

[Golfmmad]

Yeah, take your point about AG Parmo. I wouldn't buy from there now but did when I first started.

Not all Golf Pro shops are good ones, and some that I've seen over the years, I don't know how they survive with lack of decent stock and poor service.

I'm fortunate in that, the Pro at my course took over Just after Xmas, (was assistant Pro before),is really switched on and all his stock is new from a blank canvas. I could spend a fortune in there . Another thing I like is , he advertises certain offers on the members site, quite handy if you need some waterproofs etc. and see them on offer.

Golfmmad.

 

[Parmo]

I agree, as mentioned my pro runs two shops and one (temple) has all the latest kit and ours something out of the 1990s. The staff are great and I am sure their lessons are just as good. I would deffo buy more kit and consumables from them if they brought in more update stock and invested in the shop itself.

 

[KeefG]

You're right about Temple's shop, it is well stocked with some decent gear and he has a launch monitor out the back now for custom fittings.

Its amazing how much gear he fits in the place as its only small too!