Ian Fraser at Club Champion new pricing structure for fitting

[TheSphynx]

That $4000 in clubs will probably cover just irons the way those club champion cucks charge. A friend got FLEEEECED for 6-P and 3 wedges for $3200😂😂

Edited April 8 by TheSphynx

[rjp322]

1 hour ago, LPSISCO said:

 

This methodology applied to every restaurant order too:)

 

If you take something off a sandwich, like cheese for example, the price doesn’t change. But add cheese to a sandwich, and it’s extra 🤷🏻‍♂️

Culver’s will actually discount accordingly if you remove cheese from something that has cheese normally. Blew my mind. Ok carry on now

[Tzoid]

4 hours ago, cardia10 said:

But at MCGregror, you walked away with a set of hand ground clubs from a guy who has 17 majors on equipment that he personally made. Not just upsold some shafts and grips.

Mr. Don White  👍

[Mike412]

On 4/6/2024 at 9:28 PM, Westcoastlefty said:

Here is the thing guys - it is supply and demand.  He is one of the best in the world at what he does, and he is priced accordingly.  If you don't want to pay, don't.  But to critique it, is just lazy.  I am sure if you were a business owner, you pursue to be the best in the world.

 

On 4/6/2024 at 11:04 PM, DaveTrom said:

It's funny to me that people criticize the pricing.... do you know how much overhead goes into having a place like TXG... the building/shop, fitting equipment, different shafts and clubs to try?  The manufactures don't give fitters all the equipment for free. Golf hard goods are somewhere between 20 and 30% margins...  Some golfers come in for a fitting and get all the spec suggestions then shop around for the  best price possible which is fine but in my opinion not fair to the fitter. TXG and other fitters aren't making money on the fittings they make money when you purchase equipment from them. 

 

The retail golf business is not an easy one, I appreciate all the content TXG provides us on youtube.  Ian seems like a pretty good guy, props to TXG from continuing to produce quality content for us!!!

This is all true but to me the issue is changing the pricing on folks that already have a fitting booked. It’s fine to up your prices for future bookings but to jack up the price on people that have already locked in an appointment based on the previous pricing structure is just bad form.

[The Couv]

I’ve had several different fitting sessions, some better than others.  Including one years ago with Ian when he worked for Modern Golf.  Nothing stands out from that session any more than others.  

[bmrowe]

23 hours ago, dubbelbogey said:

I may have misread or misinterpreted an earlier post about this hourly rate, but my comment still stands, it's outrageous compared to what some other skilled professions earn.

I had an hvac guy out last week $275/hr. Roof inspector, $300/hr. Plumber, $250/hr. 

$250/hr is only $500k/yr if he billed 40hrs/wk, which I'm sure he doesn't. On top of not billing 40hrs/wk, I imagine he is getting maybe half the hourly rate from CC. Seems pretty fair to me. How much do you think he should be making?

[Shilgy]

4 hours ago, Anser3 said:

 

 

Yeah, the upcharging takes place pretty much everywhere and is extremely off-putting.  Most manufacturers do this as well.  For example, you buy a $500 driver where the stock shaft is a Hzrdus Smoke Black RDX.  The stock grip is a Tour Velvet 360.   You decide to choose an NDMC grip.  Instead of the $5 difference in price, they charge you $10 upcharge for the NDMC grip.  You also decide to get a Ventus Velocore shaft.  Say the OEM upcharges you $300 for that shaft.  You are now at $810 for the driver.  When the club arrives, you will receive the head with the Ventus attached and the NDMC grip put on.  The OEM charged you full retail for the shaft and grip.  They will not include the Hzrdus shaft and Tour Velvet grip, which are part of the standard club purchase. They are essentially saying the Hzrdus shaft and Tour Velvet grip have a $0 value. You are almost always better off to order the club with the no-upcharge components and buy the desired shaft and grip elsewhere. 

Except a couple things.

 

From what I’ve seen the standard up charge for the VeloCore Ventus line is $250…for a shaft sold for $350 everywhere.  So in theory you got $100 for that stock shaft “trade in”.

 

On the grip….have the stock grip left in box/not installed and put your favorite on yourself.

[mjbfyb]

5 hours ago, rjp322 said:

Culver’s will actually discount accordingly if you remove cheese from something that has cheese normally. Blew my mind. Ok carry on now

Chick-Fil-A does this too. There’s a 30¢ discount when I order a deluxe sandwich without tomato. 

Edited April 9 by mjbfyb

[freddi22cl]

On 4/7/2024 at 3:10 AM, JadenGolfWRX12 said:

waiting 7 months for a fitting?! just get it someplace else lol

i dont believe that, a marketing ploy. TXG/CC had a 50% discount on fitting fees for part of March/April. Business cant b that good .Been there twice over the last 30 days  both times at their Mississauga location. Ian was there both times , doing nothing . How is a guy with a supposedly 7 mth wait time for fittings siting on his a** for nearly 2 hrs ?....on 2 seperate occasions . Maybe he fits one day a week ? 🙂

Edited April 9 by freddi22cl

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

1 hour ago, freddi22cl said:

i dont believe that, a marketing ploy. TXG/CC had a 50% discount on fitting fees for part of March/April. Business cant b that good .Been there twice over the last 30 days  both times at their Mississauga location. Ian was there both times , doing nothing . How is a guy with a supposedly 7 mth wait time for fittings siting on his a** for nearly 2 hrs ?....on 2 seperate occasions . Maybe he fits one day a week ? 🙂

He travels and records videos a lot more than he fits people. Everything you said sounds correct, they did offer that discount and even talked about it in a video

[dcmidnight]

I unsubbed to their channel as soon as CC came on board - mostly due to my bad experience and really bad taste from CC experiences so I will never support them again. Personal choice.

 

BUT - that being said - I dont know that the pricing is that bad....IF thats CDN. ~$700 US for a 4 hour full bag fitting, that part I'd be OK with. Leaves around $2800 for a full bag of gear? Not the end of the world.

 

For me, would I ever pay that? Heck no. Mostly because I would never get fit for a whole bag at once, I'm always looking to plug one hole in the bag at the time and I'm happy paying a fitter for an hour at a time here and there. But four hours swinging a club?

 

My guess is that its so easy to fill out a form saying you are "interested" in getting fit by Ian that they had hundreds or thousands of viewers on "the list" who said they were interested....and they have to cut this down somehow.

 

 

[the bishop]

Ian is now a high priced asset for CC.  And while I don't know the details of his deal w/them I'd be surprised if it didn't include "fitting fees are 100% mine" or very close to that.

 

So whereas with their standard fittings it wasn't unusual for someone to pay for the fitting and buy their clubs elsewhere, CC can't really afford to have a high value asset doing fittings that result in good cashflow for him, but not the business as a whole.

 

Not saying I'd pay it - I wouldn't.  But I understand why they are doing it.

[Anser3]

16 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Except a couple things.

 

From what I’ve seen the standard up charge for the VeloCore Ventus line is $250…for a shaft sold for $350 everywhere.  So in theory you got $100 for that stock shaft “trade in”.

 

On the grip….have the stock grip left in box/not installed and put your favorite on yourself.

Many Fuji dealers have the Ventus shafts available (built with adapter of choice) for less than $270.  I agree regarding grips. I’ve done that before.  

[lordemsworth]

I'd be happy to pay $1500 for a full bag fitting from Ian.  I had a friend go through it last year, and he had a great time.  But what happens when the stuff you have is pretty well fit? 

 

We are all gear heads - and getting one of the best in the business to work on your bag is something special, I think.  Yet, my buddy was told him that they could decrease deflection in the irons with graphite shafts, but no material change in distance, and minor change (<3% in dispersion).

 

I think think he could come at this in different ways.  Ian was only doing full bag fits at 4 hours.  If he wants to charge $350 / $400 / $500 hour for the four hours, just do it.  If you only get a changes in your fairway woods, or fairway wood shafts, how would you ever get all the way $4000?

 

There must be a ratio of that would make optimal business sense.

Edited April 9 by lordemsworth

[Shilgy]

1 hour ago, Anser3 said:

Many Fuji dealers have the Ventus shafts available (built with adapter of choice) for less than $270.  I agree regarding grips. I’ve done that before.  

Can you pm one of those? I only see $350.

[MattM97]

Welp so much for me getting fit by Ian at those prices, tried to ask for him a few times but never got it but was just a wishful request. TXG/CC's prices have definitely gone up since the take over, just comparing to other top fitters it varies, I've been looking at Cool Clubs for example and their Complete Tour Fitting is $500USD/$680CAD where TXG/CC is $350USD/$480CAD, granted Cool Clubs is outdoors with ProV1's where TXG/CC is indoors. 

 

If it was me and I had the cash I'd jump on a plane, fly to Phoenix and do the Tour Fitting, play some golf, eat some good food and fly back home happy as hell. Honestly with what CC is doing to TXG here I don't know how much longer I'll fit with them for various reasons. 

[Golfinfloridaafter40]

1 hour ago, Anser3 said:

Many Fuji dealers have the Ventus shafts available (built with adapter of choice) for less than $270.  I agree regarding grips. I’ve done that before.  

Please share

[Anser3]

4 hours ago, Golfinfloridaafter40 said:

Please share

A couple folks in this post have asked the same.  I have no idea about Fujikura's pricing policies.  If they are restrictive, I'm not about to throw accounts under the bus.  If you are legitimately asking, Do a WTB search for a Fujikura Ventus and you will get some replies. 

[clinkinfo]

Are those in US dollars or Canadian? 

[Nickb333]

I’ve been trying to formulate a comment here without offending too many folks. 
 

The supply and demand factor has been correctly mentioned be a few.
 

My take has more to do with a concept that some business folk grasp, yet some never understand. You don’t need everyone to be your customer! A successful business needs enough of the right customers. That’s all. 
 

Trying to compete on price is a fool’s errand IMO. People try, but dang that’s a hard way to survive. 

[Anser3]

5 hours ago, Nickb333 said:

I’ve been trying to formulate a comment here without offending too many folks. 
 

The supply and demand factor has been correctly mentioned be a few.
 

My take has more to do with a concept that some business folk grasp, yet some never understand. You don’t need everyone to be your customer! A successful business needs enough of the right customers. That’s all. 
 

Trying to compete on price is a fool’s errand IMO. People try, but dang that’s a hard way to survive. 

 

 

You are correct...  if sales/profits start to dwindle, I'm sure he will make the adjustment to pricing.  as long as he i getting enough customers at that price, there is no need to adjust.  Customers/potential customers can vote  with their wallets. 

[straightshot7]

9 hours ago, Nickb333 said:

I’ve been trying to formulate a comment here without offending too many folks. 
 

The supply and demand factor has been correctly mentioned be a few.
 

My take has more to do with a concept that some business folk grasp, yet some never understand. You don’t need everyone to be your customer! A successful business needs enough of the right customers. That’s all. 
 

Trying to compete on price is a fool’s errand IMO. People try, but dang that’s a hard way to survive. 

That still doesn’t make the obligatory $4k club spend a good value, which is what some are saying.
 

Long term, a good business typically offers a good value. 
 

you can fool some spend happy customers for a while, but ultimately if It’s not a good value for the customer, you will run out of all customers.

 

And you will not have repeat buyers.

 

I agree you only need enough of the “right customers”. I believe this model will end up not producing any customers, long term. 
 

for example, a super car manufacturer knows it’s not trying to sell to everyone. 

 

but to those it sells its $500k car, those customers still view it as a good value.

 

Most of these customers will be Ian fanboys, then it will dry out. There’s no real value in the $4k club spend. 

Edited April 10 by straightshot7

[Nickb333]

I certainly didn’t mean to imply anything about value. “New golf clubs”and “good value” are very rarely compatible terms IMO. 

[xabia]

its not our job to determine what is valuable to some folks.

If people pay for a service that is considered "high-end" but is mediocre that is their business

If they are hacks and buy a new full bag every year - that is their business

 

The key to all of this is that some people will simply pay for the above, if not they wouldn;t make this change and companies wouldn't come out with whole new lines every year. 

 

nothing revolutionary ere from my end, just dont know why everyone gets so riled up all the time 

[tleader]

22 hours ago, MattM97 said:

Welp so much for me getting fit by Ian at those prices, tried to ask for him a few times but never got it but was just a wishful request. TXG/CC's prices have definitely gone up since the take over, just comparing to other top fitters it varies, I've been looking at Cool Clubs for example and their Complete Tour Fitting is $500USD/$680CAD where TXG/CC is $350USD/$480CAD, granted Cool Clubs is outdoors with ProV1's where TXG/CC is indoors. 

 

If it was me and I had the cash I'd jump on a plane, fly to Phoenix and do the Tour Fitting, play some golf, eat some good food and fly back home happy as hell. Honestly with what CC is doing to TXG here I don't know how much longer I'll fit with them for various reasons. 

Agreed.  I have no intention on returning. What they originally stood for is sadly no longer present. 

[dmecca2]

16 minutes ago, xabia said:

its not our job to determine what is valuable to some folks.

If people pay for a service that is considered "high-end" but is mediocre that is their business

If they are hacks and buy a new full bag every year - that is their business

 

The key to all of this is that some people will simply pay for the above, if not they wouldn;t make this change and companies wouldn't come out with whole new lines every year. 

 

nothing revolutionary ere from my end, just dont know why everyone gets so riled up all the time 

If something is overpriced just for the sake of being overpriced without providing extra value, people will call it out and hate on it. Whether you think it's right to do so or not. Also, club champion's specialty is preying on people who don't know how much equipment should cost, so there's typically a lot of animosity pointed in their direction

[MattM97]

5 minutes ago, tleader said:

Agreed.  I have no intention on returning. What they originally stood for is sadly no longer present. 

 

I have a 50% off fitting I'll use and then see where I'll go after that. Sucks there isn't a ton locally but I'd seriously consider traveling for fittings if the price is right. 

[tleader]

5 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

I have a 50% off fitting I'll use and then see where I'll go after that. Sucks there isn't a ton locally but I'd seriously consider traveling for fittings if the price is right. 

For sure 👍.  

[TyNiles]

7 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

I have a 50% off fitting I'll use and then see where I'll go after that. Sucks there isn't a ton locally but I'd seriously consider traveling for fittings if the price is right. 

If you are in Toronto, you should go see Matt at Golf Liberty. I’ve been going for monthly sessions since November and I drive from Buffalo. I went in looking to get fit for irons, we ending up working on my swing; and now I’m playing the best golf of my life. Cannot recommend him enough. 
 

[MattM97]

7 minutes ago, TyNiles said:

If you are in Toronto, you should go see Matt at Golf Liberty. I’ve been going for monthly sessions since November and I drive from Buffalo. I went in looking to get fit for irons, we ending up working on my swing; and now I’m playing the best golf of my life. Cannot recommend him enough. 
 

 

I might give Matt a try next but a few other fitting studios I want to try as well throughout the US but those are a bit more expensive to get to.