Heres the low down on the internet world of selling bowling balls.
What the more popular companies do, like BuddiesProShop.com, is they have a warehouse which the load up with cases and cases of performance bowling balls of usually 14-16 lbs. They are not picky about what the specs of these balls are, whether the pin to cg distance is 0" or whether it is 5" because they buy in bulk and get cheaper prices. SO they take their cheap price and sell it back to us at 10-15 dollars profit plus shipping, sometimes free shipping. Even though they have a warehouse full of bowling balls with many different specs, does not mean they actually will honor your request of certain specs of Top Weight or Pin distance. You could order a 4" pin with 4 oz of top weight and get a 0-1" pin with 1-2 oz of top, or visa-versa.
With that being said, you never know what you are actually going to get. Sometimes you can get exactly what you asked for, somethings it wont even be close to what you asked for. And these online pro shops might let you return the ball and replace it with a new one if the customer complained but they would make the customer pay the shipping fees.
Though the price you pay at the online shop looks very good initially, you also have to understand that regular walk in pro shops have to keep up their business as well, and will need to charge more to punch out one of these balls purchased online. So in the end, you could spend $135 at buddies for a Black Widow Bite, pay the shipping fee of, i dont know, 10-15 dollars maybe, and you are at $145 total. Then you have to go to the pro shop, which will charge you somewhere between 40-50 dollars to drill out a performance bowling ball, and you are looking somewhere around 185-195, and then you have to add inserts (thumb and finger) which will run anywhere around $20 total give or take a few. Your running total is somewhere around 205-215 plus tax as an overall price, and you do not know what type of bowling ball you are going to get.
If you went into a walk in pro shop in a bowling center and ordered a ball, the pro shop owner, or whoever brings in the orders, would be able to request a bowling ball with ideal specs for the person who has ordered the bowling ball. They will usually reject any bowling ball with a low pin distance and top weight as well as the unusually high pin distances and top weights. By going into a standing pro shop you are guaranteeing yourself a top quality ball with specs ideal to drill into.
Lets also bring up the price of the bowling ball in the standing pro shop. My shop sells the Black Widow Bite for 199.95 + tax drilled out the door. Thats anywhere from a 15 to 20 dollar increase from the purchase of the online bowling ball, and you have the added perk of knowing that your bowling ball will be top quality.
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