At what point is a purchase worth it?

I suppose the marketing guy in me is curious about what drives purchase decisions in an industry where the latest always promises better performance, but doesn't necessarily always deliver.

It's all part of the game, right? The companies market their materials as being ground breaking and must have! The consumer must review and make their own evaluation. Most of it is BS :) What isn't BS I don't have the talent to deliver on. Ha!

Dave
 
Most of the time I think it's the promise or thought that new club / clubs / ball will somehow help you improve your game (it's still the Indian not the arrow!) and sometimes it's just new toys depending on your particular financial situation.
 
So let me ask you this - let's say it's irons. You have available funds and a set of irons you hit well. If you go into the store (and we're talking hitting off the shelf, not being fitted) and you don't hit the new irons any better, but they look better to your eye, do you buy them? Or how about if they didn't look or feel any better? That's kind of what I'm curious about, and there's definitely no right or wrong answer here, it's all personal preference.

I suppose the marketing guy in me is curious about what drives purchase decisions in an industry where the latest always promises better performance, but doesn't necessarily always deliver.

I always say that golf can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. There are so many ways I can punch a hole through my wallet in golf.

It's just that I went through a lot, not just financially, to find the clubs that are presently in my bag. There has to be a real good reason to replace them with something new, which also most probably means I'm going to be spending money.

I really don't see any reason to replace my clubs unless it's performance-driven.
 
For me, when it makes me happy. In the end, that's all that I care about.

This but also I have to see some gain or positive feel on the range or sim with it. This forum is killing my wallet. Bought two clubs last year I would have never bought if not for reviews on THP (BB815, mack daddy PM). In the end they worked out awesome. Now this year I'm already for.........
 
When I have the cash to buy it. #EffCreditCards

I have some great equipment right now and I'm always on the ponder, but when something comes along at a price I can't pass up, I'll usually make the jump.
 
When I have the cash to buy it. #EffCreditCards

I have some great equipment right now and I'm always on the ponder, but when something comes along at a price I can't pass up, I'll usually make the jump.


Cash is king.
 
i am probably in the minority on this site as i examine and try a lot of clubs but rarely purchase. never do i buy on first sampling. i need to let it simmer in my mind first. i ask is it a marked improvement, in one aspect or another (feel/looks/distance) than what i game? will my enjoyment level increase or my scores decrease when using this product? can i pull the cash out of my front pocket, not my wallet?! last year i coveted the new srixon irons. this year it is the wilson f5 irons. i have not pulled the trigger on either yet.....Yep, I can be tight. so what was worth it these past weeks. i bought AXE graphite shafts for my cb3 irons, because the demo shaft i had been playing with gave me excellent results in distance and dispersion along with feel and my desire to go graphite. a couple of years ago, i had tried adams xtd driver and pounded the snot out of the ball. on a mission to reduce the spin with my current driver, the x2hot, i just bought the xtd. together both purchases well under 300 hundred bucks and fit my criteria for worth it.
 
When the money you will win from skins exceeds the % chance the wife will divorce you multiplied by the money she will get for buying too many clubs.
 
I am guilty of buying things just because the intrigue me.
 
For me it is when the new equipment feels better and out performs my current stuff. With that said it has to clearly out perform. I am not dropping $400 for an extra 5-10 yards.
 
For me the utility is tied to enjoyment, if I enjoy it and become an evangelist for the product then it was a good purchase. With playability guarantee's out there the loss on a bad decision isn't really bad anymore so I don't focus as much on the dollars (though I struggle to see how the business model works long term for retailers).
 
First off for me a club has to look good to me. I like the look of what I've got and like a lot of things in life, something that's good looking tends to get more leeway than something that isn't, shallow as that may be. Any time I've bought a club whose looks were questionable to me, the first sign of struggle with it and I'd start looking for something else.

Next it has to do something better - fly longer and/or straighter, or feel (sound) and/or look better. Usually those have some tradeoffs between them. A club that can do 2 of those and not be any worse on the other categories will get my attention.

Finally, can't get around that price is a consideration, along with how long it's been since I bought that club. If I've had a club for 3 or more years, there's some definite shiny new thing/outdated tech stuff going through my head. But If I'm replacing a club I bought earlier that season, I'm going to be spending some time asking why I bought the first one to begin with and if I'm repeating the same mistake... did I (or am I) making a mistake or getting caught up in some hype?
 
in attempt to keep my equipment somewhat up to date, technology wise and value wise, I made a callaway preowned purchase last night. Last march, i purchased 2 x2hot hybrids and a fairway wood for $167 total. Last night i purchased a xr pro wood and 2 xr pro hybrids, that buy was like $265. cpo gave me $110 back for the x2hot stuff, netting the purchase at $155. so, getting 65% of my money back and 3 clubs for cheap was worth it. CPO is great!
 
During a demo day, a Callaway rep talked me into getting an Razr Fit Extreme. I toggled between going with the Aldila Green or the Matrix black tie 7M3 (which was stouter than anything else I've played). Hit a few and ended up dropping a lot of money on that club. After the first round with it, I knew it wasn't the right shaft or driver for me. Still I stuck it out a season or two. I should of stuck with the G15.

LOL...She could have talked you into a wicker broom on the end of old hickory shaft and told you it was what you needed, and you would have bought it. I think your purchase that day was made on excitement, and I don't mean excitement over the club. Seriously, it is too bad it was the wrong combo for you. The thing is, any other day you probably would have been able to think clearly and realize that. But I know from talking to you that day, you weren't thinking clearly :act-up:


To the original question, for me it seems to differ from irons to driver. Driver I almost always feel i need to get something significant out of it, whether it's more distance or more forgiveness. Irons i'm more prone to a an emotional or spur of the moment purchase due to the look of them or the feel during a demo. But honestly in almost every case, i don't end up gaining too much in distance. Although the current CF16's may prove to be an exception to that.
 
LOL...She could have talked you into a wicker broom on the end of old hickory shaft and told you it was what you needed, and you would have bought it. I think your purchase that day was made on excitement, and I don't mean excitement over the club. Seriously, it is too bad it was the wrong combo for you. The thing is, any other day you probably would have been able to think clearly and realize that. But I know from talking to you that day, you weren't thinking clearly :act-up:

I did, x-stiff, but it didn't increase my yardage any :banghead: :D I liked the XFE head and even paired it with the Oban 6 Devotion shaft but it still wasn't a right fit for me.
 
On a slightly related note... I miss my G15. a lot.
 
Cash is king.

One of my goals last year was to pay off all credit card debt which I finished Dec 29th right under the wire. I carry ZERO cc debt now and it feels soooo good.
 
Because of enjoyment and curiosity, I think most purchases are worth it. Now if you're contemplating some high end irons without being fit, then I might say there has to be a line. I am guilty of buying things keeping in mind that I may be selling rather quickly, so I try not to buy too high and take no, or minimal, loss. But trying everything is a lot of fun and seems to always be worth it!
 
If I want it and I can afford it without messing up our budgets or finances I buy it and enjoy it. Equipment is a large part of my love for the game and sometimes tinkering with a new club/putter can be just as fun as playing the game itself for me.
 
I've always been pretty frugal when it comes to major purchases for golf equipment. I usually splurge on the assessories (balls, clothes, shoes, etc). I have started the process for looking to get new irons now. Have I wanted new irons in the past, of course. The irons I play right now are about 20 years old. The 8 iron is starting to rust in the shaft, and the 7 iron is slightly bent in the shaft now. I know that technology has changed and there is equipment out there that can help improve my game (i.e. forgiveness, length, spin rates). Heck, just the other day I went to Golfsmith and hit the Apex CF 16 7 iron. Right now I hit my current 7 iron around 170 pretty consistently (even with the slightly bowed shaft), and I was hitting the Apex 7 iron around 185, while still maintaining a good spin and descent angle. For me, being able to stick a 7 iron away from 184 with the same consistency I could do it at 170 is a win in my book. That gave me the reassurance that the technology improvements of irons is worth the investment. And it was easy to justify to the wife that $1,100 irons are a good investment, since it's really only about $55 a year over that 20 year period.

Just a different thought process from a golfer who seems to hold onto his clubs a little longer than a few around here :).
 
I know I'm not good enough to notice a difference between brand new equipment vs my current line up. Usually I'll experiment a tad with drivers but I always go back to what works best for me. Last few years I've been more interested in exploring different shafts - used mostly due to cost.
 
I'm not planning on any more club changes this year.

Dave

Well that didn't last long... I decided to upgrade to the Fly Z driver going the custom route in white with the 55X4 White Tie through Cobra's site for $199.

The bag is done now! ... until next time?

Dave
 
I wanted to update this thread with an experience I had this past week. I've been toying with the idea of new(er) irons, my D100s are a few years old and I'm sure there's more newer tech out there that may be beneficial for me. I had hit some of the newer lines but not head to head with my D100, which I was able to finally do a few days ago at Golfsmith.

After trying a bunch of the new GI and SGI irons, the one line that gave me significant gains was the W/S D200 in graphite. Yes, I had a few more yards with a few other lines, and the C200s definitely gave me more height, but only a few yards more distance and dispersion was worse than my current gamers.

When CPO had sent out their 25% off irons email, I almost jumped on some XRs, but when I tried them head to head? Not really any better.

So now it's on me to decide if the graphite shafted D200s are worth the price (which admittedly isn't that bad especially on the secondary market) to upgrade, or if I should stick with my current irons and be sure to book a few more lessons.

This has definitely been an interesting and informative thread, and I really appreciate everyone who took the time to respond with their own thoughts.
 
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