WHY DO OTHER OEM'S LET CALLAWAY "OWN" THE PREOWNED MARKET?

[Grand Stranded]

It's something I just don't understand.... Taylormade tried to compete for awhile, but gave up, their partnership now with Global golf is as bad as Ping's with 2nd Swing. I belong to a club and also play in a huge (100+ players) travel league one day each week. Just about everyone I know has bought something through Callaway Preowned and not one person has ever said they don't love the site.

Their service, pricing and trade policies make it a must look when shopping equipment. Even current model clubs turn up on the site about 6 months or so after release in Outlet or Like New condition. I don't mean this as a plug for Callaway, but they are killing it in the preowned market, and I don't understand why the other OEM's allow them to have it to themselves. I can't tell you how many times I've thought of trying another companies product, then say to myself why not go look at CPO see what they have.

If nothing else, it keeps Callaway product in a lot of other people's bag. It's just crazy to me that other companies don't see this, and at least make a commitment to try and compete. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Grand Stranded

[Dr Strangelove]

I'm not sure it's a good thing.  Personally, I hesitate buying Callaway clubs new or used because I switch clubs often.  Callaway clubs do not hold their value well.  When you are selling them you are competing with Callawaypreowned.  Who would you rather buy from?  Joe Schmoe or CPO?

[Grand Stranded]

Just now, Dr Strangelove said:

I'm not sure it's a good thing.  Personally, I hesitate buying Callaway clubs new or used because I switch clubs often.  Callaway clubs do not hold their value well.  When you are selling them you are competing with Callawaypreowned.  Who would you rather buy from?  Joe Schmoe or CPO?

That's an interesting take, and one that is both correct and different than mine I think. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

1. I haven't gotten along with a Callaway driver since the 2015(?) Great big Bertha. Once they went to composite heads, I never hit one well. I play PING drivers, and when I bought the 400 Max and 410 Plus, I couldn't help but notice the best trade in price anywhere was on CPO. I had to fight myself not to buy a Epic or Rogue... I knew they wouldn't work as well for me, but the price was so tempting. LOL.

2. I'm not one to buy used clubs. I'll buy a current, or older model brand new, or buy only outlet or like new clubs from CPO. I've sent quite a few like new clubs back to them because of some slight cosmetic imperfection 99% of us wouldn't even notice.

3. As for the resale part of your quote, Honestly I'd rather buy from CPO. They warranty their product and offer a 90 day playability guarantee.  I think this is where CPO shines, especially for someone who doesn't buy used from another golfer. Their trade in prices are always better than retail stores offer, and they periodically have 50% trade in bonuses twice a year, which they apply to new clubs also.

4. To me it's just a smart way to do business both for them, and people like me. I've never had a transaction with CPO where I felt I didn't get a good deal, and any time I've had an issue, their customer service has been terrific.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

19 minutes ago, Grand Stranded said:

That's an interesting take, and one that is both correct and different than mine I think. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

1. I haven't gotten along with a Callaway driver since the 2015(?) Great big Bertha. Once they went to composite heads, I never hit one well. I play PING drivers, and when I bought the 400 Max and 410 Plus, I couldn't help but notice the best trade in price anywhere was on CPO. I had to fight myself not to buy a Epic or Rogue... I knew they wouldn't work as well for me, but the price was so tempting. LOL.

2. I'm not one to buy used clubs. I'll buy a current, or older model brand new, or buy only outlet or like new clubs from CPO. I've sent quite a few like new clubs back to them because of some slight cosmetic imperfection 99% of us wouldn't even notice.

3. As for the resale part of your quote, Honestly I'd rather buy from CPO. They warranty their product and offer a 90 day playability guarantee.  I think this is where CPO shines, especially for someone who doesn't buy used from another golfer. Their trade in prices are always better than retail stores offer, and they periodically have 50% trade in bonuses twice a year, which they apply to new clubs also.

4. To me it's just a smart way to do business both for them, and people like me. I've never had a transaction with CPO where I felt I didn't get a good deal, and any time I've had an issue, their customer service has been terrific.

 

There's definitely merit to your approach.  Buying from CPO gets you great value.

[Jwhite86]

I've recently completed my second purchase from CPO, and have nothing but positive things to say.  Their descriptions are usually spot on, and the 90 day guarantee is great.  Honestly, I don't think of buying used clubs from any other source.  I'll typically buy off of forums or facebook because the prices seem much more competitive.

[Dr Strangelove]

CPO is great. I don't have data to back it up, but it seems that Ping and Titleist hold their value better than Callaway.  IF that is true, does the CPO program play a role?  I'm curious on others opinion on this.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Purely an opinion but these companies are focused on new sales, that’s what generates revenue. Having to warehouse used clubs, pay someone to process orders and such just doesn’t have the ROI for these brands. 

 

[dbdors]

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Purely an opinion but these companies are focused on new sales, that’s what generates revenue. Having to warehouse used clubs, pay someone to process orders and such just doesn’t have the ROI for these brands. 

 

Then why does Callaway do it?  Why would a company have a business that has no ROI?

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, dbdors said:

Then why does Callaway do it?  Why would a company have a business that has no ROI?

I didnt say there was no roi, but rather the roi for those brands isn’t worth the investment. 
 

In reality or could be a number of reasons. From inventory control, or resale value, to whatever.

When it comes to revenue Titleist was the #1 for awhile and barely lost it to Callaway after 2019. I don’t think these brands are too concerned with the preowned market so to say why do they let Callaway “own” that market could be as simple as they don’t care to be in it.

[dlow206]

2 hours ago, dbdors said:

Then why does Callaway do it?  Why would a company have a business that has no ROI?

For the other OEMs, it probably doesn't make sense for them from a cashflow perspective. The used club business ties up a lot of cash in inventory, warehouses, etc. Out of the potential investments they could make, they have evaluated that the used club business is not the right investment to make.

[2puttbogey]

39 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

For the other OEMs, it probably doesn't make sense for them from a cashflow perspective. The used club business ties up a lot of cash in inventory, warehouses, etc. Out of the potential investments they could make, they have evaluated that the used club business is not the right investment to make.

This seems like the best answer. Callaway seems to have made the investment early on so they have the systems in place already. Probably why the others are partnering up with a second party is having the systems with less investment.

[Titleist87]

Overhead cost such as manpower, warehouse space, and other financial hits make it marginal for the others to make a profit worth the effort.

[Guest Delete]

I just checked both Titleist and Taylormade websites for Trade-in options and couldn't find it. Callaway does. 

New club buyers buy new clubs. Callaway is making it easier to buy new clubs from them. Plus, they are making two sales because they get to sell the used product as well. 

Globalgolf 2ndswing and budgetgolf focus on the discount and used market. Globalgolf even sells new. And they all sell balls and accessories. 

Diversification is how the modern company maximizes profits and differentiates themselves in this super competitive market. 

Callaway has created a marketplace for their secondary used market where they can actually keep the prices up or slash them. Either way, they still sell new clubs when they get trades. 

I think they are being smart. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 hours ago, TimoTe said:

I just checked both Titleist and Taylormade websites for Trade-in options and couldn't find it. Callaway does. 

New club buyers buy new clubs. Callaway is making it easier to buy new clubs from them. Plus, they are making two sales because they get to sell the used product as well. 

Globalgolf 2ndswing and budgetgolf focus on the discount and used market. Globalgolf even sells new. And they all sell balls and accessories. 

Diversification is how the modern company maximizes profits and differentiates themselves in this super competitive market. 

Callaway has created a marketplace for their secondary used market where they can actually keep the prices up or slash them. Either way, they still sell new clubs when they get trades. 

I think they are being smart. 

Titleist doesn’t sell clubs Thur their website just like Ping so you can’t do a trade in. For Taylormade you can start a trade in at checkout 

 

[russtopherb]

Callaway got into the market and established a foothold. They did this with great pricing, excellent service and the dreaded evil word here -  marketing. Other OEMs most likely recognized this and saw far too many barriers to entry.

Personal feelings about Callaway unfortunately don't matter here - many golfers enjoy their clubs, and even more, they enjoy the great deals they get. Let's not also forget there are plenty of deals on non-Cally clubs that have been traded in. 

[Rickp]

I’ve purchased a few items from CPO and never had a problem.
Recently, due to home bound boredom i picked up a 5wd, Outlet condition for less than $100 delivered. Club was still in plastic and free delivery.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Ploobear]

I hesitate to buy from anyone other than CPO just because I've had nothing but good experiences with them. My only gripe is that their systems are mostly phone based. I understand they're basically a warehouse that sells stuff, but for all intents and purposes, they're a store and their UI is terrible for that. I bet if another OEM wanted to get into the used club market, it'd be easy enough to out-design CPO.