Why are mini drivers so expensive?

[mattsaks]

Even trying to buy a head seems like it's double the cost of a similar full size driver...

[Streuner]

Depending on, where you watch out.
But Mini drivers are a hype at the Moment, everybody wants one. But in Switzerland they drop to the half price 2nd Hand after a season. 

the total amount of Mini drivers vs. Classic length and sized drivers is small. I would guess 1:10 mini to 460cc or Even less. So less flood in the 2nd market. 

[Josh H]

Unsure on US Market but you should see the price of used 7 woods here in the UK - especially ones with a stiff shaft of any kind! A used G430 goes for not far off the cost of a brand new G440. 

 

It's a similar story to Mini drivers I guess, big hype and a more limited supply/the people who do buy new hold on to them as they're good bag additions for many

Edited June 1 by Josh H

[Streuner]

2 hours ago, Josh H said:

Unsure on US Market but you should see the price of used 7 woods here in the UK - especially ones with a stiff shaft of any kind! A used G430 goes for not far off the cost of a brand new G440. 

Yeah. 7 Wood and 70g+ Stiff shaft, impossible to find in a ordernary pro shop or 2nd hand online as well… you better custom build a new one and get what you want… 

Edited June 1 by Streuner

[gator022]

Try finding 9 woods used in stiff flexes too!

[Puttersaurus Rex]

They make them in smaller quantities compared to full size drivers.

[boggyman]

Just a money grab like everything else. 🤣

All equipment is extremely high new, especially newly released equipment! I remember when a driver was $300 and I thought that was high🤭

[MillRiverCaddy]

Supply and demand.

 

Side note: few people could hit driver off the deck when the typical driver was the size of the modern Mini. So what if the loft is 13.5, you’re really not going to be successful off the deck with it, so ultimately these are just high spin drivers.

[1puttTUT]

5 hours ago, MillRiverCaddy said:

Supply and demand.

 

Side note: few people could hit driver off the deck when the typical driver was the size of the modern Mini. So what if the loft is 13.5, you’re really not going to be successful off the deck with it, so ultimately these are just high spin drivers.

 

Most people are using them as 3 wood replacements, then strong lofting a 5 wood as their longest off the deck club

[Kingcat990]

ABecause people will pay for it. I'm sure you all remember when the 2014 Ping Rapture hit the market. 

[HateTheHighDraw]

It’s smart by the manufacturers - those looking at a mini as a driver replacement see it as a steal vs $599+ for current year driver. If you see it as a 3 wood alternative, it’s only slightly more expensive than the latest and greatest, with the promise of more distance 

[MillRiverCaddy]

40 minutes ago, 1puttTUT said:

 

Most people are using them as 3 wood replacements, then strong lofting a 5 wood as their longest off the deck club

Got it. Good call.

[Shilgy]

6 hours ago, boggyman said:

Just a money grab like everything else. 🤣

All equipment is extremely high new, especially newly released equipment! I remember when a driver was $300 and I thought that was high🤭

That would be about the early 90’s.  Big Bertha came out in ‘91 and retailed for $270.  And they went up quickly in the next ten years. By ‘98 the Ping TiSi Titanium was $465.

[AdExec]

Call me crazy, but 3 woods are now $350 and offer nothing new. Mini drivers are 450-500 and offer typically better shaft options and more adjustability. Ive bounced from BRNR mini to GT280 to now a R7 Quad and I can tell you the hype is real. Im never using a normal 3 wood again. Happy to pay the price, thanks to a military discount during Memorial Day on TM website. 25% off made it same price as stock 3 wood. 

[eddiebigeddie]

I was gonna say because they’re like a driver, just “mini” and new drivers are $550+

[mattsaks]

5 hours ago, AdExec said:

Call me crazy, but 3 woods are now $350 and offer nothing new. Mini drivers are 450-500 and offer typically better shaft options and more adjustability. Ive bounced from BRNR mini to GT280 to now a R7 Quad and I can tell you the hype is real. Im never using a normal 3 wood again. Happy to pay the price, thanks to a military discount during Memorial Day on TM website. 25% off made it same price as stock 3 wood. 

I agree. I hit a ten year old fairway as good as a new one!

 

Turns out I hit a mini better than any 3 wood I have ever had though - lower, straighter and longer... and that's a 5 year old mini too.

 

 

 

[Ben B]

Off the shelf, they are priced accordingly...a little more than a fairway wood, not as much as a full sized driver. 

 

But I imagine you speak of the second hand market. Like you, I typically buy heads when possible and throw in my shaft of choice. I recently just bought a mint Qi10 driver head for under $250 but it is rare to find a mini head from any of the last few models from TM under $300. It basically comes down to supply and demand. Far more drivers and 3 woods are sold so there are far more of them on the second hand market when compared to mini drivers. However, that may change with other OEMs jumping on the bandwagon and more and more minis coming to the second hand market. But I'd imagine the mini craze will have to stick around a good while before we see the needle move. 

[launcher]

I can understand many golf trends that don't appeal to me, but can't for the life of me understand why anyone would put a mini-driver in the bag. 

If you can't hit a 3 wood off the deck, you'll have no luck with a mini, and if you struggle with a driver off the tee, I can't see that a mini would be easier? 

I truly feel that this is a manufacturers money grab right up there with $500 putters. 

 

 

[driveandputtmachine]

A friend and I were talking about this the other day, even the 300 mini fetches 300 bills in good used shape online.  However the PGA Tour SS in Kennesaw on Sunday I saw a blackout 300 mini for $199.  I already have a 300 mini and a R7 so I didn't even look at the shaft, but you can find them.

 

Why?

 

Because someone has or will pay that for it, same reason why some golf courses have gone up so much, as long as they make enough money to cover their bills, cover depreciation and amortization and put some money in the owners pockets they will continue to raise prices.  Where the prices stop is when the money hitting the owner starts to drop.  Plus less wear and tear on the course if fewer people are playing it and less money on maintenance.  The owners have this down to a science now with golf's new influx.  

 

I costs more to go to Reynolds plantation outside Atlanta for 5 days and 5 rounds with their just nice normal courses as it does to go to Kiawah and play the ocean course one of your five rounds.

[argee1977]

They price them against what they think they can get, i tend to see mini drivers as being slightly friendlier 3 woods off the tee, 90% of golfers don't have the speed or skill to get them off the deck, and with most issues with the driver that we have, mini drivers don't tend to solve that much.

 

I had the TM mini burner a couple of years ago, it worked well off the tee, but i don't tend to hit driver that badly, and my home course has a lot of ditches and doglegs, so the extra 10 yards over a 3 wood just made it a little pointless in the end, i don't think the shafts are that special either, all i see are pretty standard ones, think most mini drivers i see have more of a fairway shaft than driver shaft in them, i.e. standard 65g or 75g options, similar to fairways and no real aftermarket offerings.

[me05501]

There's a reason they call them "Mini Drivers" and not "Maxi Three Woods."

 

#profit

[NRJyzr]

4 hours ago, launcher said:

I can understand many golf trends that don't appeal to me, but can't for the life of me understand why anyone would put a mini-driver in the bag. 

If you can't hit a 3 wood off the deck, you'll have no luck with a mini, and if you struggle with a driver off the tee, I can't see that a mini would be easier? 

I truly feel that this is a manufacturers money grab right up there with $500 putters. 

 

 

 

I've posted this previously in response to a similar post in another thread.  

 

Some people do better with smaller clubheads.  Irons, wedges, fairway woods, drivers, makes no difference.  Even Ping, the kings of super forgiveness (and oversize) in golf clubs, realized this in bringing out the Blueprint, Blueprint S, and Blueprint T.  And stated as such.

 

[Mitchell]

15 hours ago, Kingcat990 said:

ABecause people will pay for it. I'm sure you all remember when the 2014 Ping Rapture hit the market. 

Don’t trigger @MtlJeff 😂

[SAND WEDGIE]

4 hours ago, launcher said:

I can understand many golf trends that don't appeal to me, but can't for the life of me understand why anyone would put a mini-driver in the bag. 

If you can't hit a 3 wood off the deck, you'll have no luck with a mini, and if you struggle with a driver off the tee, I can't see that a mini would be easier? 

I truly feel that this is a manufacturers money grab right up there with $500 putters. 

 

 

To me, not being able to hit a 3W off the deck is the perfect reason to get a mini driver. If you’re not hitting a 3W off the deck that means it’s a tee only club, why not get a bigger more forgiving club head for that?  

I do agree with you that a mini as a driver replacement doesn’t make sense.  People would probably be better off building a short and heavy 460cc driver. 

[Frank Newport]

Why are mini drivers so cheap? They replace 2 clubs for the price of one. The average price for a driver is about $600 and the average price for a 3 wood is at least $350. That’s $950 of value for the low low price of $500. And if you use use it to chip greenside…🤯

 

OEMs are practically giving these things away!

[Frank Newport]

How far are most of you hitting your mini drivers relative to your driver? 90% (ie. driver=300yds mini=270yds)?

 

Are a lot of you playing courses setup to where a good drive is worse than a tee shot that travels 85-90% of a good drive?

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

Anyone that wants a cheap mini should consider buying an old TM or Titleist driver, throwing a new shaft in it and adding a bunch of hotmelt/lead tape to the head.  Could probably do for under $100.

 

I have an old experiment collecting dust - 10.5* Taylormade 320Ti with a PX Evenflow Black 85g shaft.  Works great.

 

Anyone that wants adjustability or versatility?  Well, that's gonna cost extra...

 

[JMB3]

6 hours ago, launcher said:

I can understand many golf trends that don't appeal to me, but can't for the life of me understand why anyone would put a mini-driver in the bag. 

If you can't hit a 3 wood off the deck, you'll have no luck with a mini, and if you struggle with a driver off the tee, I can't see that a mini would be easier? 

I truly feel that this is a manufacturers money grab right up there with $500 putters. 

 

 

You seem to be missing the most obvious reason for a Mini:  Golfers who can’t/don’t hit 3w off the deck and want a much more forgiving secondary tee option.

 

To OP, where are you seeing Minis priced at “double the cost of a similar full size driver”?  In the US, they are priced right between 3w and driver, which seems rather appropriate.  

[JMB3]

1 hour ago, SAND WEDGIE said:

To me, not being able to hit a 3W off the deck is the perfect reason to get a mini driver. If you’re not hitting a 3W off the deck that means it’s a tee only club, why not get a bigger more forgiving club head for that?  

I do agree with you that a mini as a driver replacement doesn’t make sense.  People would probably be better off building a short and heavy 460cc driver. 

Mine replaces 3w, but when my swing feels off, I will use it off the tee more often than driver.  It’s just so much easier to get through the ball with a shaft that is 2 inches shorter.  

[thematttk]

Several years back, I put together a few old things I had laying around... as a bit of a joke, really.  Had a Fuji Fit-On Pro95 in a 11* Callaway C4 head at just under 44"

It was part an experiment to figure out how to reshaft that C4, but also to see how it would perform.

Needed a significant tip weight to get it to a reasonable swingweight... but damn....  it's simple, consistent high-launching, mid-spinning  270-yard rockets.

I still break it out every once in a while when I'm on a nearby course with a lot of shorter doglegs requiring "delicate" tee shots... replacing the 3w, so basically using as a mini.

 

As the mini driver craze has heated up, I'm  still not sure how anything can fill that purpose better than what I have... nor why more folks don't look at a second-hand high loft driver for this purpose. Throw your favorite shaft in there and go. If we're only using it as a tee club, there are plenty of those out there.