Scratch Golf stops direct sales!(merged)

[Babycakes]

The whole thing with Scratch was this:
You could get grinds and stamping options NOT generally available in stores!
They are erasing a big part of thier appeal.
Quality being the other big part.
(That hopefully will not change.)

[jabrch]

Good luck to em. I'll be curious to see how this works out. I love my scratch 8620s. I won't go back to Vokeys - that's for sure. These 8620s with the D/D grind should last a while - and give Scratch a chance to work out their business model.

[ktkn]

I'm guessing for every customer they lose here, they will gain another 10 (or more)... The visibility of them in big box stores will promote their brand. They should still sell directly unless they plan to expand their network very quickly, however, if they do sell directly, it would be almost positive it will be at a HIGHER price than their dealers.

[SpinMill75]

I think this a total bone-headed move on the part of Scratch Golf. They pretty much built their rep on the pocketbooks of hardcore golfers ( like the GolfWrx community).....in part to customer service, direct sales and email, custom fitting, stamping, bends, grinds and all the other goodies well all love. Now, they want to be like every other "big box" company?

You think Golfsmith is going to provide that same amount of service to the die-hard golfer???



All the best to them..... I've heard of the 7 year itch...but jeez.

[stage1350]

90% of the golfing public isn't going to bother with a custom grind. And one-off stamping through the website is a small batch nightmare. The fact that they were giving it away for free and everyone would cry about something means a smart business operation is going to streamline.

Answer: give the retailers that headache. Now the company can focus on producing clubs instead of handholding someone that wants their initials dancing around an angry pirate stamp at exact 35° intervals.

Retail sales will SAVE the company, not tank it. Despite what WRXers think, we are a club company's worst nightmare. Custom stamps, paintfill, custom ferrules, non-standard shafts, colored grips, etc. That's a pain in the a$$ for a company trying to hit a profit margin.

Makes you appreciate a good clubfitter, doesn't it? Now you know why they have to charge extra for all that custom stuff.

[GatorNate11]

My response to the people saying that they will sell more to your average hacker is this. We, the ho's on this board, buy 30 drivers, 25 FW's, 15 sets of irons, 20 wedges, and 50 putters a year. Yet they'll sell more by not having anything to do with us..

[Lefty_Lion]

Dear Scratch

Being one of your "loyal retailer" (golftown) / customer, I can tell you that you can forget about it. Heck, I even emailed you saying that you needed somekind of rep here in Canada as you are literally unknown and have about 0.5 club set/store and 30 wedges on display...

You were getting eaten alive, not because you offered the amazing opportunity to make Average Joe feel like he stepped in a Tour Van, but since we just don't have a wide enough range of your products in store.

There goes nothing unfortunately

[Pudgelewis]

[quote name='stage1350' timestamp='1305433111' post='3234854']
90% of the golfing public isn't going to bother with a custom grind. And one-off stamping through the website is a small batch nightmare. The fact that they were giving it away for free and everyone would cry about something means a smart business operation is going to streamline.

Answer: give the retailers that headache. Now the company can focus on producing clubs instead of handholding someone that wants their initials dancing around an angry pirate stamp at exact 35° intervals.

Retail sales will SAVE the company, not tank it. Despite what WRXers think, we are a club company's worst nightmare. Custom stamps, paintfill, custom ferrules, non-standard shafts, colored grips, etc. That's a pain in the a$$ for a company trying to hit a profit margin.

Makes you appreciate a good clubfitter, doesn't it? Now you know why they have to charge extra for all that custom stuff.
[/quote]

Those are good points. I agree that this would seem to help get their ordering problems resolved to some degree. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Babycakes]

Stage... baby... listen...
You really think that most golfers can FEEL thier quality?
It [u]WAS[/u] the stamping etc that brought many of thier customer to them!
That personalization is unlikely to survive this change.
People really liked that custom stuff.
Remember, there are alot of great products out there.
And there is NO WAY that they can compete in normal stores without spending big on advertising.
But they just don't have the cash for that.

[jabrch]

[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1305433165' post='3234857']
My response to the people saying that they will sell more to your average hacker is this. We, the ho's on this board, buy 30 drivers, 25 FW's, 15 sets of irons, 20 wedges, and 50 putters a year. Yet they'll sell more by not having anything to do with us..
[/quote]

Nate - the flaw in your logic is that they won't "have anything to do with us". There will still be MANY people here who will play them if they feel this is the best wedge for them. Maybe it won't be the people who want their wedges custom stamped and ground for them, on command, but they can recover from that if the big box retailers move a significantly larger number of irons to the market, at a higher price.

[stage1350]

[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1305433165' post='3234857']
My response to the people saying that they will sell more to your average hacker is this. We, the ho's on this board, buy 30 drivers, 25 FW's, 15 sets of irons, 20 wedges, and 50 putters a year. Yet they'll sell more by not having anything to do with us..
[/quote]

How many did you buy from Scratch? [/the prosecution rests]

[SoCalTitleist]

I can see less and less custom options as retailers are not going to carry that much stock on hand with all the various grinds. All your gonna get now or just the basic off the rack lofts and grinds.

[Babycakes]

FYI:
I emailed Ari at Scratch a link to this thread...
hopefully he'll chime in.
(Hope my email for him was current.)

[SpinMill75]

Somewhere, Ryan Moore is smiling....

[Stinger82]

[quote name='jabrch' timestamp='1305433681' post='3234881']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1305433165' post='3234857']
My response to the people saying that they will sell more to your average hacker is this. We, the ho's on this board, buy 30 drivers, 25 FW's, 15 sets of irons, 20 wedges, and 50 putters a year. Yet they'll sell more by not having anything to do with us..
[/quote]

Nate - the flaw in your logic is that they won't "have anything to do with us". There will still be MANY people here who will play them if they feel this is the best wedge for them. Maybe it won't be the people who want their wedges custom stamped and ground for them, on command, but they can recover from that if the big box retailers move a significantly larger number of irons to the market, at a higher price.
[/quote]


The biggest problem with this is that alot of us, me included, have nowhere close to get them. I would imagine I would be looking at a 6hr drive at minimum to find a place that carried them.

I do love my scratch wedges but this turns me off a little.

[2bGood]

scratch has pi$$ed away more good will and public support than any golf company in history. They will appear in buisiness text books 10 years from now on how not to grow a small company. A good product means nothing if you don't get it to costumers.

[FairwayFred]

We will begin direct sales again with the release of our 100% USA made 8620-USA wedges later this summer. We are committed to making it easier for everyone to find our clubs and see them and try them in person (lack of this is the biggest complaint we get by far) and we have had so much demand from retail stores that we just do not have the ability right now to fill both direct orders and retail store orders. This is only temporary as we expand our retail network over the coming months.

During this time we will still be offering free customization. Anyone that has any Scratch clubs that they want custom stampings, custom paintfill etc you can send them to us and we will do all of that free of charge. You can also call and talk to someone directly or email us directly as you would have done before about your order and what you need and we will help you get that order placed with a retail store near you.

As always I appreciate your concern and your support for Scratch Golf over the years and now. Look for the new 8620-USA and new online store later this summer along with a newly redesigned webpage. If anyone has any questions or concerns and would like to contact me directly my email is ari_techner@scratchgolf.com

[jabrch]

[quote name='Stinger82' timestamp='1305434753' post='3234914']
[quote name='jabrch' timestamp='1305433681' post='3234881']
[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1305433165' post='3234857']
My response to the people saying that they will sell more to your average hacker is this. We, the ho's on this board, buy 30 drivers, 25 FW's, 15 sets of irons, 20 wedges, and 50 putters a year. Yet they'll sell more by not having anything to do with us..
[/quote]

Nate - the flaw in your logic is that they won't "have anything to do with us". There will still be MANY people here who will play them if they feel this is the best wedge for them. Maybe it won't be the people who want their wedges custom stamped and ground for them, on command, but they can recover from that if the big box retailers move a significantly larger number of irons to the market, at a higher price.
[/quote]


The biggest problem with this is that alot of us, me included, have nowhere close to get them. I would imagine I would be looking at a 6hr drive at minimum to find a place that carried them.

I do love my scratch wedges but this turns me off a little.
[/quote]

Well - all the big retailers sell online....I can't imagine it won't be easy to get one in your hands if you want it. (provided you don't want TOO MUCH customization.)

[Skydiver22]

[quote name='FairwayFred' timestamp='1305434838' post='3234921']
We will begin direct sales again with the release of our 100% USA made 8620-USA wedges later this summer. We are committed to making it easier for everyone to find our clubs and see them and try them in person (lack of this is the biggest complaint we get by far) and we have had so much demand from retail stores that we just do not have the ability right now to fill both direct orders and retail store orders. This is only temporary as we expand our retail network over the coming months.

During this time we will still be offering free customization. Anyone that has any Scratch clubs that they want custom stampings, custom paintfill etc you can send them to us and we will do all of that free of charge. You can also call and talk to someone directly or email us directly as you would have done before about your order and what you need and we will help you get that order placed with a retail store near you.

As always I appreciate your concern and your support for Scratch Golf over the years and now. Look for the new 8620-USA and new online store later this summer along with a newly redesigned webpage. If anyone has any questions or concerns and would like to contact me directly my email is ari_techner@scratchgolf.com
[/quote]


Gotta give you credit for getting out in front of this... It's got to be after midnight on the east side and you're on Golfwrx getting the scratch freaks off the ledge. Kudos on the response.

[Babycakes]

Thanks for the reply Ari.
CEO to the people!!!
Really, you gotta be busy.
You've always seemed like a great guy.
Cheers!

[minhjn]

alright i've backed off the ledge. will have to look at the made in the USA 8620s

[Pudgelewis]

Good to hear. I wondered if maybe it was only temporary due to it saying the "summer of retail expansion".

[Geo]

Meh. 30% price increase plus additional shipping costs for some stamping and paintfill. Less grind/bounce options. And if memory serves, this isn't the first time Scratch wedges were available at a retail outlet. How much did the price drop when they were put on clearance last time around?

Good luck.

[jabrch]

Good luck Ari...seems like interesting times ahead for Scratch.

[swing981]

So many other companies guys

[78Staff]

The problem with the box store route... the avg golfer (not a WRx-type) heading to EW or GG or whatever...they want Vokey or Cleveland. Next there will be a small group who will want Mizzy or Callway or Ping to match up with their iron set brand. Then there are the ones who just want a cheap wedge, like the Adams Watson set or the $29-39 specials, etc. None of those customers are going to choose an unknown brand that sells for $20-30 more than the market leaders... Just ask Ernie Vaderson about that plan.

I do wish them luck... I'm not currently a Scratch Golf customer but have followed their story so to speak here on the boards and they seem like a good company.

[Chappie]

[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1305432047' post='3234817']
A lot of companies don't sell through directly; some only sell to retailers.
[/quote]

Those who do though usually have a fairly adequette retail base that they can serve a large amount of people over a large area. If you can't supply to a retailer in Philadelphia, an area with 4+ million people in the city and another 3+ in the immediate suburbs, you are not adequettly supplying the consumer market.

I believe I'm just going to get an FG Tour wedge now, and if I like it enough I'll go for another come Christmas.

[Chappie]

[quote name='stage1350' timestamp='1305433111' post='3234854']
90% of the golfing public isn't going to bother with a custom grind. And one-off stamping through the website is a small batch nightmare. The fact that they were giving it away for free and everyone would cry about something means a smart business operation is going to streamline.

Answer: give the retailers that headache. Now the company can focus on producing clubs instead of handholding someone that wants their initials dancing around an angry pirate stamp at exact 35° intervals.

Retail sales will SAVE the company, not tank it. Despite what WRXers think, we are a club company's worst nightmare. Custom stamps, paintfill, custom ferrules, non-standard shafts, colored grips, etc. That's a pain in the a$ for a company trying to hit a profit margin.

Makes you appreciate a good clubfitter, doesn't it? Now you know why they have to charge extra for all that custom stuff.
[/quote]

I agree 100% with this. My beef isn't about custom options though, it's about availability.

[mkay]

Whoa, you guys have been spoiled tbh. Try living in Denmark, where you pay 190$ for a new vokey, cg16, MP-T11, Jaws, not to mention 210$ for a jaws 'Slate'.

And that is 'of the rack'.

Just imagine how expensive every other piece of equipment is here compared.

[Inochi]

Whatever the situation is... Scratch wedges are still a very good product and I am sold on them. Luckily I just got a new set of 1018's and I won't be changing my wedges anytime soon. Hopefully everything is fixed in a year or so when I am ready to get new wedges.