Nevada Bob's pricing???????

[Wi-Golfer]

What is the deal with this shop lately? I bought my old Burner driver there last year & paid $140 for it which was a damn good price at the time. Now every used club they have is priced extremely high, in some cases higher than a new club.

Hit them as well as Golf Galaxy yesterday. Nevada wanted $179 for a used Burner 5w, I can get the same club brand new at GG for $159. There was another club, don't recall which one right now, that was $169 used at NB's & $99 brand new at GG. Same shafts, so it's not like you are paying for an ozik or anything.

Has anyone else noticed a similar trend?

[limpalong]

Just guessing... so, take it for what it's worth.

Nevada Bob's is a franchise organization. Most every Nevada Bob's is owned by a franchisee... an independent businessman. They buy inventory at a given price and need to sell that inventory at a margin wherby they keep their doors open.

Golf Galaxy is part of a large corporation. Dick's Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, GolfWorks, and a couple others are all owned by the same conglomerate and operated as corporate facilities. They buy in mass quantity... they have extreme buying power to leverage discounts from OEM's as new models are released... and, can even take a hit on closing items out due to the large volume of new product they will sell.

I'd venture to guess the big difference you see is, simply, individual franchisee vs. large corporate operation.

[SilverUberXeno]

However, trying to make 100$ on a used burner FW means they don't sell one, ever.

0% is not a very good margin.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by limpalong

Just guessing... so, take it for what it's worth.

Nevada Bob's is a franchise organization. Most every Nevada Bob's is owned by a franchisee... an independent businessman. They buy inventory at a given price and need to sell that inventory at a margin wherby they keep their doors open.

Golf Galaxy is part of a large corporation. Dick's Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, GolfWorks, and a couple others are all owned by the same conglomerate and operated as corporate facilities. They buy in mass quantity... they have extreme buying power to leverage discounts from OEM's as new models are released... and, can even take a hit on closing items out due to the large volume of new product they will sell.

I'd venture to guess the big difference you see is, simply, individual franchisee vs. large corporate operation.

I can see the thought process behind that, but this particular shop has raised the prices by $30-50 on every single decent used club in the last year. As Silver mentioned, they aren't selling any used clubs, at least I don't ever see anyone buying them. 0% profit can't be too good for the books.

They have a huge barrel of your typical yard sale type clubs, stuff you would give away or find at Goodwill stores for $2-3. NB's wants $49 for this junk & I do mean junk. Old laminated woods, ancient Callaway Big Berthas, even older Cleveland drivers, etc.

[subsonic]

Do you ever see the owner in the shop? Ask him.

We had a local shop that was keeping a lot of older junk around. I spoke with the owner. He really did not know why he had it around. Kind of reminded me of how we all keep old golf clubs around. Why?? Like you are ever going to take that Northwestern 5 wood out on the course again??

The owner does not have a lot of retail/sales experience. I spoke with him about how it cluttered up his shop etc... He ended up donating some of it, selling some of it, and placing the remainder in the garbage. Store looks much better now.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by subsonic

Do you ever see the owner in the shop? Ask him.

We had a local shop that was keeping a lot of older junk around. I spoke with the owner. He really did not know why he had it around. Kind of reminded me of how we all keep old golf clubs around. Why?? Like you are ever going to take that Northwestern 5 wood out on the course again??

The owner does not have a lot of retail/sales experience. I spoke with him about how it cluttered up his shop etc... He ended up donating some of it, selling some of it, and placing the remainder in the garbage. Store looks much better now.

This store also looks extremely cluttered, it's a new building less than 2 years old & is so packed full of crap you can't find anything. There has to be 15 huge barrels full of really crappy fairway woods, old irons, etc that aren't worth even holding onto.

[Bignose]

You can always make an offer for something you like. The worst the ownership/manager can say is no. OK, I guesss the really worst they can do is ban you from the store, but, if their prices are that high anyway -- why would you ever want to go back? Especially if you can point them to a website or another store's prices and say something like "I really would prefer to buy this from you, right here and right now and give you the business, but I can save a significant amount of money by going elsewhere, what can you do to convince me to buy this right here right now?"

[zaphod]

Wi-Golfer,

I've found the Madison Nevada Bob's very hit and miss on pricing. Sometimes great prices and some times, as you have found out, very expensive. Never as expensive as Dicks but certainly high enough I will not buy.

I just go and know my prices before I buy there. I've found the same situation at Best Buy. I bought a Brothers multi-function printer recently new for $69. ebay price or the same was $180. But they tried to sell me the USB cord or $40. Bought same on ebay for (2) $6. WTH were they thinking?

[West Coast Duffer]

The Nevada Bobs out here is always empty whenever I visit it and that's not often. its kind of tucked in a small shopping center. They never have any sales.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by zaphod

I've found the Madison Nevada Bob's very hit and miss on pricing. Sometimes great prices and some times, as you have found out, very expensive. Never as expensive as Dicks but certainly high enough I will not buy.

It would be pretty damn hard for a shop to be as high priced as Dicks. I buy balls there & that's it. Someone would have to be wealthy or perhaps ignorant to actually pay the inflated prices Dicks wants for their clubs.

I noticed the other day that even the Walter Hagen lineup of short sleeved shirts has gone up quite a bit. Last year they could be picked up for $19 or less on sale, regular price was normally around $25. Now they want $30-39 for the same shirts, screw that.

[RC52]

Out here is Oregon, all the Nevada Bob's went out of business 3-4 years ago. But, we just got a Dick's a year ago, as well as Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith. We are always last to get everything.

[JArmour]

I noticed this exact thing at Golf Smith near Philadelphia also. I got a Hibore Tour XL 9.5 with the VS Proto almost brand new for 130 when they were still relativly new. I went in the other day and saw a stock shaft one that was terrible for 165.

All of the irons and wedges cost more used than they did 4-5 months ago.

[BigJim13]

Originally Posted by RC52

Out here is Oregon, all the Nevada Bob's went out of business 3-4 years ago. But, we just got a Dick's a year ago, as well as Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith. We are always last to get everything.

I beg to differ, while we have Dick's we have not and probably will not get a Golf Galaxy, Golfsmith or Nevada Bob's here in Southern VT. Oh, the joy of living in a Tiny state.

Dick's here seems to be a little overpriced as well. The only golf stuff I have bought there are a few grips, some lead tape and balls when they are on sale.

[Armygolf]

Originally Posted by Bignose

You can always make an offer for something you like. The worst the ownership/manager can say is no. OK, I guesss the really worst they can do is ban you from the store, but, if their prices are that high anyway -- why would you ever want to go back? Especially if you can point them to a website or another store's prices and say something like "I really would prefer to buy this from you, right here and right now and give you the business, but I can save a significant amount of money by going elsewhere, what can you do to convince me to buy this right here right now?"

Some people can afford to be ignorant, but I'm not one of them. I think Bignose's approach is the way to go.

[subsonic]

I agree. It never hurts to ask if you want to buy something. I have found that my local golf store can meet or beat almost any price. I have taken the time and more importantly, spent the money, to build a relationshp.

Funny, the other day a business associate and I were talking about how Americans just pay for things. I have traveled extensively and in a lot of other cultures the bargaining process is alive and well!