Why do RAW wedges cost more???

[Diego Sakai]

Cleveland is charging $149.99 for a standard chrome Ripcore wedge while the RAW version costs $169.99.

Vokey only offers their RAW wedges through their WedgeWorks program.  Which costs $199 vs a $159 for the tour chrome finish.

Callaway do charge the same for their MD5 wedges at $159.99

 

Why are companies charging more for the RAW?

 

I remember back in the 90s, I was able to get a Cleveland 588 RTG for the same price as the other finishes.  I don't know anything about golf club manufacturing finances, but you would assume the RAW versions would actually cost less to manufacture with less material and labor costs.

 

Is the price simply a reflection of demand from suckers like me who "might" be willing to pay a premium for the RAW version?  If that's the case, I no longer want to be a sucker and just go for the standard finishes since there hasn't been any "hard" evidence of improved spin or feel benefits with RAW.

 

Love to hear the justification from people with industry knowledge.   Thanks!

[RickyBobby_PR]

It’s pretty much based on the market and how much stock a company wants to keep of a product that isn’t going to account for a large portion of sales.

Basically a limited offering for the small segment of the golfing public thats into that type of product. Also they are going to show the rust much sooner sitting on a shelf in a store with any kind of moisture, which makes it harder for them to sell it to the weekend golfer or non equipment junkie.

I don’t remember where I saw it but Tom Oslavsky from Cobra did an interview and said that the raw wedge will spin more over the life of the wedge than a non raw version. On the downside iirc Bob Vokey said that they tend to wear out quicker which is a reason pros who use them swap out more frequently 

[Headhammer]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

 

I don’t remember where I saw it but Tom Oslavsky from Cobra did an interview and said that the raw wedge will spin more over the life of the wedge than a non raw version. 

Didn't MGS prove this to be false or am I misremembering this?

[RickyBobby_PR]

18 minutes ago, Headhammer said:

Didn't MGS prove this to be false or am I misremembering this?

Don’t know. Not something I’ve really paid attention too and outside of the looks raw wedges haven’t been something on my ponder list. I do have some MG2 wedges that have the raw face but I never put them on a monitor to compare.

[cnosil]

25 minutes ago, Headhammer said:

Didn't MGS prove this to be false or am I misremembering this?

Rust itself does not increase the spin. However, it is thought that the lack of plating on the groove edges may produce more spin.