what makes it so expensive

[Special_K]

i look at different sites at bowling balls and see some are high price but dont look that great also i dont see many people use them

what makes ball so expensive?

[Drano]

Bowling ball technology has come a long way, all in all, it probably costs a bowling ball company 25-50 dollars to make a reactive ball after making the core and putting the coverstock over it. and of course, they're trying to turn a profit, so they sell it to distributors for 60-80 bucks, and the distributors turn around and sell it to pro shops for 100-120 bucks, and pro shops have to make a buck to stay in business and make a living, so they up the price even more

[Stormed1]

The big difference in cost between the different price points of balls is the money spent on research and development of the ball. Most of your entry level to mid priced balls use cores and covers that had been developed earlier for higher end balls. For example the core on the Columbia Freeze was used on the Messenger series years ago. The basic core of the Tropical Heat is from the Bolt series

[The Mayor]

Well said guys!

[Special_K]

well then thanks for explaining it i dont think ill ever spend over 200 on a ball again

[littlelegs]

I gotta say there's nothing on the market at the moment I want that's over $200. The few I've seen that high seem to be 'limited editions' and justify the price by rarity value/cool factor rather than actual performance.

[bowl1820]

While the above are all good points in what determines the cost of ball. I think there are two others that affect it more.
One is low production runs, while they make a lot of balls its not a lot. If there where lots more sales, production would go up and costs could go down. They wouldnt go down though because of the next reason, which is the cost will be whatever the market will bear.
As long as people are willing to pay $150-$200 for a ball, thats what theyll cost.