are golf clubs really cheaper in the US? How is this possible?

[njchan]

I've been looking at the Titleist AP2 712's as an upgrade from my current set.

yet at golftown they're selling for $1100

how can these "wholesalers" in the US have them for $300-$400? I don't get it. are they counterfiet / fakes?

even from a reputible dealer?

I'm going to be in Florida in a Oct/Nov ... but was wondering what you guys thought.

[Be-Com]

I bought a Taylormade R11 driver for 158.00 dollars less in Phoenix, than at the local Golftown, maybe they just sell so much more stock than here in Canada

[dbleber]

Any wholesaller selling for that much of a discount is probably selling fakes. If you look at TGW and other reliable US golf sites you'll see that the price differential is closing making.

[John]

Yeah there's no way anyone is selling them for that much new and they are legit. The cheapest legit price you will find in the States is with discount dans, they are a small legit golf shop and you will be surprised by the savings.

[Keals]

A buddy of mine picked up a new set of Ping i20 irons down in Boston over the summer.....not sure the name of the store. Fitted and shipped to his door in Canada for $599. There are legit and registered with ping. Thats $300 less then what Golf Town sell them!

Its such a shame that retailers in Canada charge far greater for the same product that could be purchased for a less price in the US.

[Sunny D]

Huge discounts are possible and at least from my experience the further south you go the better the discounts. Now, to be clear, when I have bought I have bought at places like Dick's, the PGA Superstore, Edwin Watts, etc... and I have never had an issue registering my purchases. What I have bought in the past has been last year's models of clubs. Like when I bought my PING's at the PGA Tour Superstore, they had shipped them from all over the northern US to the store in Naples Florida. The shipping labels were still on the boxes and the boxes were stacked on skids in the showroom. Saved more than half on that deal. Same with my new Clevelands. Shipped from around the US to Dicks in Orlando. Huge sale on boxing day. Paid three fifths of the Canadian price. So deals can be had. When it comes to deals I can be fairly patient.

[HoganWoods]

That's a bit too good of a deal. As someone else mentioned, get a quote from discount dan's and that should give you an idea of the deals you can get for legit clubs.

[Jenks]

The thing I dont like about some online store ( Discount Dans ) is that you have to call in for pricing. Now I understand they weed out the more serious customers that way but I mean for someone like me who doesnt feel like talking to someone for awhile about what I want and would rather click to browse it sucks.

[Leftymoose]

I just bought some woods and a bag from Golf Discount.com and picked them up from Ogdensburg. I saved over $300 compared to what the same equipment costs at Golf Town. They have a good end of season sale going on right now.

[justsomeguy]

The thing I dont like about some online store ( Discount Dans ) is that you have to call in for pricing. Now I understand they weed out the more serious customers that way but I mean for someone like me who doesnt feel like talking to someone for awhile about what I want and would rather click to browse it sucks.

There is a form of price fixing that is legal called MAP - manufacturer's advertised price. Contracts between manufacturer's and retailers that specify the prices that retailers can sell a manufacturer's products at are illegal - but contracts that specify what prices retailers can advertise a manufacturer's products at are not. It usually amounts to the same thing - why have cheaper prices if you can't advertise about how cheap they are?

MAP is prevalent throughout the golf industry. Call-in pricing is a way around it.

[kemcheca]

Leftymouse, how was your experience with golfdiscount.com? I was interested in the Cleveland - CG16 Black Pearl Irons, they are selling is for $424 with 15% discount. Golftown is selling it for $699. They are willing to ship it to Ottawa from Seattle for $40. I was concerned if the clubs are fake?