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Trade-in values?

• 103 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 7:23 PM

  Why can I buy an R9 Master driver for $8 and sell it back for $2? This makes no sense at all. The trade-in value for electronic equipment should be 100%. Why the severe reduction?

  So I can trade in my R9 Master Driver for a sleeve of balls? Sorry for the sarcasm but it seems very necessary.

• GolfDum 396 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 7:44 PM

  Adam:

  Not that I like it but it's quite simple......They sell the equipment to make money, not to break even.

  A pawn shop or any other business would do the very same thing.

  GD

• 103 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 7:52 PM

  If there's a reason for depreciation, it makes sense. This is electronic equipment. There's no depreciation.

  ...and most "big" stores give you store credit equivalent to your purchase price. Am I imagining this?

  Your statement is true however on the pawn shop. Is WGT a pawn shop or a legitimate business that concerns themselves with customer retention?

• Doublemochaman 2,009 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 8:19 PM

  Adam... with all due respect WGT is a "for profit" business.  They have employees, a management team, a physical brick & mortar space, expensive servers... they hire photographers and helicoptors to do fly-overs of golf courses so you and I can play them.  As a business model how would you envision them making a profit if they didn't sell equipment and have entry fees?

• migbighead 1 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 8:44 PM

  Adam very simple to stop getting burned DON,T PLAY and stop crying

• 103 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 8:59 PM

  Every business has employees. Every business has expense. Every business is for-profit even the non-profit org's have to pay their employee's.

  They make profit. When I pay $8 for my electronic club, WGT just made $8. If I trade it in on another club, WGT still made $8. That's profit not breaking even. I'm not asking for a refund. I'm asking for fairness and reasonable exchanges. This is a basic expectation for any consumer that intends to be loyal to a company.

  I'm just hoping the business logic changes as the game progresses.

   

• Doublemochaman 2,009 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 9:10 PM

  It's called sustainable profit.  If you buy an $8 driver and can trade it in as many times as you want, for the newest, most updated driver at that same price then the business model only makes $8 from you for life, on that club.

  WGT is attempting to make this like real life... if you buy an Audi A4 all-wheel drive, use if for a while, then trade it in on an A6 you'll pay more for the upgrade and you'll have lost some money on the A4 in depreciation.  Think of your clubs as depreciating as you use them.

  Customer service is WGT doing it with a smile.  And making it easy for you to do so.

• 103 Posts

  Sat, Dec 5 2009 10:32 PM

  Double,

  You're missing the point and making an apples to oranges comparison.

  First, an Audi A4 is a physical car that physically depreciates.

  Real life? The clubs are not real my friend. They are electronic. They don't tarnish. They won't break. You don't have to polish them.

  If I buy an $8 driver and I want to trade it in on a $16 driver, I should get a $2 trade-in value on an electronic club? This is your idea of real life?

  Also, your concept of sustainable profit is a little twisted. If I buy an $8 driver, a newer/better driver better cost more otherwise there's a huge problem with the pricing structure...and guess what that difference in price is called? Profit.

  If I go to Target, buy anything in the store. Take it out of the box. Return it...they will give me full store credit for another item. This is real life. This is good business. Are you saying WGT has a business strategy that will make more profits than major department stores? I'm all ears.

• Doublemochaman 2,009 Posts

  Sun, Dec 6 2009 8:48 AM

  But at Target (or even Nordstrom) if you use your product for a time they might not give you a refund at all!  At least at WGT they will buy back your old clubs, for a percentage of the new club price.

  Adam, let's look at this concept of "virtual".  The grass on the course is not real, but we pretend that it is.  The golf balls in this game are not real, but we pretend that they are, complete with wearing out over time and with the ability to become lost.  And the clubs in this game are not real, but we pretend that they are.  So pretend that they scuff, and the grooves wear out and the steel shaft gets a little bent when we pull it over our virtual knee while leaving a pitch shot short from the 2nd cut of rough. 

  If you're willing to accept the virtual "realness" of other things in the game you have to also accept the virtual "realness" of the clubs.

  Besides, it purportedly costs WGT $200,000 to implement a new course.  Who's going to pay for that?  I suppose they could supplant that with a ton of pop-ups and advertising on the screens... but I'll take a pass on that.

  I had a date Friday night and with dinner and a couple glasses of wine the bill came to $127 with tip.  That's one day in time, money spent, and the date was a dud.  At least when I spend my money at WGT I get to continue enjoying my expenditures.

  Maybe I need to begin going on "virtual" dates...

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Sun, Dec 6 2009 10:55 AM

  The 25% trade-in value is an insult that is without regard to simple customer relation concern. There is nothing attractive about it and will leave anyone who engages it, the feeling of being fleeced. And rightly so. If clubs were test driven prior to purchasing them it would be easier to swallow. But they aren't. There is already in place a sizable variety of club options to consider that is certain to grow. All anyone here wants are clubs that are in concert with their game and finger-eye coordination. The price to find that match seems quite dear in the current buy/trade condition. A 50% trade in value would seem to be fair.