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I'd like to add my $.02 worth for all it's worth.. Back up in Michigan during the winter I'd go every Sunday to the local driving dome, VanDynke & 13 mile Rd. There I would meet up with about 5 to 6 other clubmakers where we would buy a very large, 500 + balls, and we would proceed to take turns hitting balls and each others "NEW" latest and greatest club(s). The pro, if you wanted to call him that, would always send us any one that inquired about a fitting and or a new club w/ the understanding that he would get a piece of the pie if we made a sale. Since between the 6 or 7 of us there would be at the least 10 to 20 different drivers + assorted other clubs present at all times we would base the seller ass the person who had the club(s) that the buyer liked.
Now as to during the summer up at the private club I belonged to, Black River CC in Port Huron MI., we had a Pro that only wanted to sit on his ass and tell everybody how good a clubmaker he was, I personally never saw one club in being a member for 15 years, that he had made or reshafted and hardly any one set of regrips. So us 3 to 4 clubmakers / fitter felt like it was open season on his area. That is until we sold the golf course to a private individual and he put a stop to that practice, or should I say tried to put a stop too it, real fast.
RK
Manufacturer's of World Class Golf Club Repair Equipment
-------Original Message-------
Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 1:49:47 PM
Subject: ShopTalk: Fair reselling
Arnie and I have had a back and forth discussion about whether its fair and correct to sell one's wares at a driving range.
First off, thanks for clarifying that this is a discussion.
I see from the many posts today that it has become "lively". And it is most welcomed. The game is "gentlemanly" and I think the business should also be. I think we all know what is ethical and moral without the input from Dr. Laura. :-)
We are in an industry which like many "bends the rules". We could go on forever about "clones, knockoffs, copies, forgeries" etc. Most of the time we fail to recognize this practice when it's done under the name of brand. Seen any wedges that don't look like Clevelands lately? Putters that don't resemble Ping? Soon no one knows who had the original design! The difference is that business ethics are much more structured. In the search for personal gain, some lose sight of the structure. I don't care if you sell your wares from a storefront, a van, a driving range, a website, your basement, a flea market, or even a curbside location. I do believe that you know when you infringe on another business. That includes the business of government in the form of sales tax, zoning, and income tax, licenses, permits, certificates, insurance, etc. I don't care if you produce "stick & glue" or the most high tech product. In fact, I don't care because "buyer's greed" means there i! s a place in the market for most anything. The adage is "nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the buying public".
If you do your work at a range, I think you should have the owner's permission. I think you should offer some compensation to that owner (services or fees). If you solicit business in my store or use my facility without permission you are more than unwelcome! Why not hang out at (for example) a Golfsmith store and when a customer is told that his regrip job will take 3 days, slip him a business card with a note on the back that you will do the job in 20 minutes in your "tour van" which is parked outside? Let him buy the grips from Golfsmith so that you are not "stealing" their business. Side up to the golfer looking at the newest $700 "Fumikara Beta Krypton 600cc Driver on a Asiania Speedo shaft with the newest Winna Grip" and whisper that you can duplicate it for him for $125? You probably can but did you forget that you are both standing in a store that you don't own! Oh, I know, you are just trying to save this guy some money! How nice of you. Stop by my store! and ask where I buy the heads I use, ask for their website address, how much I pay for them, what kind of epoxy I use, how much I tip the shafts. Sure I'll give you that information. Yup, in a language you probably don't understand as I escort you to the door with a wedge in my hand! It happens and never ceases to amaze me that people like that think "business" is a dirty word!
"I never had sex with that woman"
Arnie
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