I'm sure this review won't be for everyone, but I'm sure there are some bowlers out there, and I can't resist telling you about this site. Bowlingball.com is an on-line supplier of all kinds of products for bowlers. They have bowling balls, bowling shoes, bowling bags, and a slew of accessories. The site itself isn't the slickest or fanciest of sites, and does have quite a bit of adverts, most of which are bowling related. The site doesn't load all that quickly, and that's partially because of those ads but mostly due to some heavy animated graphics on their home age. In general, the site looks very busy and borders on the tacky, which might put some people off, but further investigation will make you realize that you can't judge this book by its cover!
The menus are easy to understand and navigate, and there are lots of options for helping you find what you're looking for, including an advanced search that is very easy to use. Also, when you're looking at the general lists, there are ways to narrow the selection through links along the left-hand side of the page that work very nicely. The only problem is that some of options included aren't always relevant to what you're searching for (like when you're looking for a bowling ball and it has options that refer to bags included). The site also has lots of good quality photos of the products they sell, and they also allow for consumer reviews. The problem with the reviews is that when the same products have multiple listings (like different colors of the same shoes), the reviews on one aren't carried over to the other listings. That's not terribly bad, just only inconvenient.
As for prices, I've found that bowlingball.com have very competitive prices indeed. When I went to buy my new shoes, I looked at several different sites and found that this one had the best deal, especially considering that on many of their products you get free shipping. In fact, the pair I ended up buying at first seemed less expensive on another site, but I ended up paying less because bowlingball.com didn't charge me for shipping. So in the end, I feel I got a good deal. What's more, when they say "free shipping" they also say there are no hidden fees at all. Of course, they do have options you can pay extra for, such as "perfect fit", meaning they won't charge you if you have to return shoes because they aren't the right size, or paying for a warrantee. Of course, if you ship overseas (including Canada), that free shipping goes out the window, but that's to be expected. Still, if I had wanted my shoes to be shipped all the way to Israel, this would have only cost me about $8, which, all things considered isn't unreasonable, and still wouldn't have cost me as much as some of the other sites sending them within the USA. But since shipping is calculated by weight, sending a bowling ball overseas or even a bowling bag will end up being very pricy.
The selection of goods here is very extensive, and they even have some products that are exclusive to their site. For instance, there are some bags and balls that you won't find anywhere else, and they even have some cute bowling bags they offer free with any purchase. The only problem with that is every time you put something into your shopping cart, you get a page of accessories they recommend you might want to buy, and then the page with thee free gifts, and that can be a bit annoying. Of course, you don't have to take anything from these pages, but I wish they would only offer this once per session instead of every time you put something into your cart. But what I really like about this site is that it has products for every type of bowler imaginable - from kids to adults, professionals to beginners.
Checking out your items can't be easier, and you can change your order by adding, removing or changing quantities up until you go to the payment method page. I even changed the address when I was in the middle of checking out with no problems. This site also seems to be particularly safe, with more payment options than I've ever seen. They take almost every credit card (except Diners Club), PayPal, Google Checkout and much more. With all these options you're sure to find a way to safely make your purchases, and so far, all the delivery estimates seem to have been perfect. My shoes got to their destination in less than the week that they estimated, and it isn't as if Plano Texas is a huge destination (that I know of).
Finally, there's lots of great information you can find down at the bottom of every page, such as everything you'd want to know about the site, all sorts of help topics, and both internal and external links to things like bowling news or tips and even a glossary of terms. All told, this is a really good site. The prices are practically unbeatable; the site is safe and easy to use; it isn't hard to find what you're looking for; their stocks are extensive; and, they have something for everybody - even for people just looking for information. There are a few niggles regarding the site design, loading speed and search engine, but not enough to rate this site down by more than one star. So, if you're a bowler, this is a great place to buy your equipment on line and I'm giving it four out of five stars and recommend it.
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