Ball Question: just noticed Centennials sell for over $400 ?!?!?!

K

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Curious...

A friend of mine is a Brunswick dealer. I spoke to him because another friend who owns my local pool hall was interested in replacing a couple of Centennial cue balls that have gone missing. I had bought many of them over the years from the online retailers. Apparently Brunswick is no longer sold by any of them online?

Well, he happened to mention that a new set of Centennials is over $400. I burst out laughing, remembering seeing them frequently for the mid to low $200's, sometimes even $199 or something. We looked online, and lo and behold, they are indeed selling for over $400. Super Aramith Pro sets, which as I understand are the same ball, are in the mid to low 200's. What the heck is going on here? Have the Brunswick folks begun a heavy regimen of crack smoking? Why on earth would anyone elect to pay almost double for the exact same ball set in a different look? Seems utterly ridiculous to me.

Any thoughts or (hard to imagine) *logic* for this?

Curious.

KMRUNOUT
 
Hey Kerry, I've got a brand new set of Centennials that I'll sell for $300. I'll be in Boston in two weeks, but let me know by Thursday, 'cause I'm leavin' FL then, and won't bring them with me unless they want them. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
Aramith Super Pros are made by the same company (Saluc) and to the same specifications.

Some people just prefer the look of the Centennials.
 
Friend of mine owned a pool room that closed and he had ball sets he sold, including a few sets of centennials. We sold them on AZ for dirt cheap, like I think 110? I remember that Mike ZIngale who owns that awesome room in Tallahassee also was selling off old sets of centennials and he wanted something really low too...im pretty sure it was below 130.
 
All the Predator dealers I know can't sell below 15% of the Minimum Advertised Price. Your friend, the authorized Brunswick dealer may have similar restrictions in order to keep his dealership.

That being said, and the other prices people have posted. Have you thought maybe your local dealer is not interested in your business and that's why he's quoting MSRP.
 
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I thought you were crazy and then I checked the prices, THAT'S CRAZY. I bought my Super Aramiths & Centennials probably 7-8 years ago and I think I paid around $225-250. I think they play as well as any ball and aesthetically I prefer them over anything else, but NO WAY I would pay over $100 more.
 
jojopiff said:
I thought you were crazy and then I checked the prices, THAT'S CRAZY. I bought my Super Aramiths & Centennials probably 7-8 years ago and I think I paid around $225-250. I think they play as well as any ball and aesthetically I prefer them over anything else, but NO WAY I would pay over $100 more.
Click to expand...

They are NOT more expensive.

At $299 they are a $9 more than Aramith Tournament, and about $35 less than the Aramith Tournament Pro balls. So, they are priced to be competitive.
(prices from Billiards Warehouse)
 
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ChicagoRJ said:
They are NOT more expensive.

At $299 they are a $9 more than Aramith Tournament, and about $35 less than the Aramith Tournament Pro balls. So, they are priced to be competitive.
Click to expand...

I checked Billiard Warehouse @ Pooldawg thought they were $404 & Aramiths were $250 ish. Maybe I misread something tho.
 
http://www.pooldawg.com/catalog/product_compare/index/
ChicagoRJ said:
They are NOT more expensive.

At $299 they are a $9 more than Aramith Tournament, and about $35 less than the Aramith Tournament Pro balls. So, they are priced to be competitive.
Click to expand...

I checked Billiard Warehouse @ Pooldawg thought they were $404 & Aramiths were $250 ish. Maybe I misread something tho.

Added link from Pooldawg. It's over $100 difference

Billiard Warehouse is in fact $299. Do your shopping folks, that's a lot of green
 
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jojopiff said:
I checked Billiard Warehouse @ Pooldawg thought they were $404 & Aramiths were $250 ish. Maybe I misread something tho.
Click to expand...

Like most products in the billiards industry, that ball set falls under Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) rules. Dealers were instructed to not advertise this ball set for more than 10% off MSRP (hence the $404 price).

Hope this helps!

Mike
 
ChicagoRJ said:
They are NOT more expensive.

At $299 they are a $9 more than Aramith Tournament, and about $35 less than the Aramith Tournament Pro balls. So, they are priced to be competitive.
(prices from Billiards Warehouse)
Click to expand...

Aramith Tournament are the top line, the standard set that most players use and are comparable to the Centennials are the Super Pro balls which are 240. Actually all the balls look to have gone up in price although the Centennials have gone up by a $150, seeming overnight.

Even the top Tournament set with all the cleaning stuff and the training ball is $70 less than the Centennials. Looks like $400 is the street price for those.

Brunswick Centennial Pool Ball Set

$449.00
Our Price: $404.10

Aramith Tournament Pro Cup Value Pack

$420.64
Our Price: $336.51


I guess they were sick of selling them. If Aramith is making them all, likely they just want to have people buy their branded product and just priced the other set so high no-one would buy them.
Just as effective as just taking them off the market. Scary part is that if the Centennials go away, the only pick would be Aramith Pro Cup or the Cyclop set with a replacement cue ball.

I'm really glad now I just won my set of the Super Pro balls in a raffle a couple of months ago!

I'm going to guess that the Simonis cloth will also mysteriously be pricier soon also.
 
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jojopiff said:
I thought you were crazy and then I checked the prices, THAT'S CRAZY. I bought my Super Aramiths & Centennials probably 7-8 years ago and I think I paid around $225-250. I think they play as well as any ball and aesthetically I prefer them over anything else, but NO WAY I would pay over $100 more.
Click to expand...

This is a very new price for those. I was looking for some balls a few months ago and the top sets where in the $240-260 range, including Centennials.
 
$250 - $260 Tops....

I've bought five new sets on the Forum and the last price I paid less than a year ago was $225 (shipped) for a new set of Centennials.....I see them listed for a few bucks more nowadays but $300 or $400 for a set, if you pay that then you are paying more than needed.

Matt B.
 
On Ozone

Super Aramith Pro Cup - $264

Nielsen's Billiards Supply on eBay

Centennial - $295
 
Renegade_56 said:
That's me, just like the looks. I paid $164.95 for mine in 1997.
Click to expand...

Same here, as many do. Us old school players especially prefer the Centennials because the numbers are not on the stripe on the 9-15 balls, but instead are in the white area. Better design, particularly for 14.1 and One Hole (as well as the old pre-TE 9 Ball).
 
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Centennials retail cost is in the low three hundreds. Super Aramiths are about the same cost. They can be purchased used for prices all over the place. Years ago I bought ten sets from a room closing for $50/set and more were available. I just didn't buy more. I sold most of those used sets for $150 and they sold pretty easily. I am able to purchase specific numbered balls for about $20 per/ball. Unless something happens to the balls to damage them you should only have to replace the one ball periodically as it is the only ball other than the cue ball to take the brunt of hit. Centennials last a long time and are well worth the investment.
 
I bought a Centennial set then less than a year later I bought the Aramith tournament set. I got both sets in 2013, at that time the Aramith Tournament set was about $20.00 more than the Centennials, $320.00 vs $300.00 if I remember correctly.
 
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