On reflection,

 advertsing is only useful if correctly targeted and how many posters on this forum are:

a. likely to travel to the North of Scotland for a fitting?

b. pay £225 for a wedge or £2500 for a putter, when the posters favourite on this site appears to favour the £60-£80 range.

 If I thought advertising would be useful here I would have taken up golfmagic offers of a sponsored link, a retail link in the shopping section and do equipment reviews for them.  Sorry to rain on your parade creosote.

£2500 for a putter?! Does it make a cup of tea and take the dog for a walk?

On reflection,

I am all in favour of choice, its good that you and maybe others offer something that isn't generally available, that gives us the consumers choice. But it does sound a little that you think the people here are cheapskates. Personally I think they are down to earth!

Not cheapskates, more price conscious, nothing wrong with that, there is plenty of golf gear available at very reasonable prices at the moment.  Such as the new Ping putter (wonder how much it cost to produce?)

  £2500 for a putter is a hell of a lot of money and even if I could afford it I wouldn't play with it, I'd hang it on the wall.  It's the rarity and who it was made by and for that makes it so expensive.  If you collected art would you expect to pay more for an original than a good mass produced copy?

For some fortunate people it's not a lot of money. Sadly, for myself and probably most of the people on this site it is a lot of money!

Apologies if you see this as advertising, I do try to offer something different for golfers but the most expensive items on my site won't appeal to everyone's pocket.  That's not putting people down it's just a fact.  If you take that as me calling you a cheapskate, that's certainly not the intention.

I can well understand someone paying a large amount of money for a putter of historical note, for example used by a famous golfer to win a Major, but I just cannot grasp the concept of some putter maker designing a limited edition whose sole purpose is for him to sell them at highly inflated prices to a small but wealthy clique of collectors of such things. While it is good business, and nothing wrong with that, they aren't art works!

I am one of those who has and would spend larger amounts on golf clubs, and in fact have been browsing your site looking at the wedges. But any purchases I might make would be to use, not to admire

I think I mentioned it in another thread, there are so few Scotty Cameron putters actually made by him, you don't think he makes 10,000+ putters a year by hand in his studio do you?  Reality is, just like most other brands it is mass manufactured by our cousins in the East. 

So, is it better value to pay for a name? in which case take a marker pen and write Scotty on the bottom of a JJB special, because he's had as much hands-on on that putter as every other retail Scotty Cameron putter in the shops.  Yes it costs a lot less and in the scheme of things they are, compared to similar putters, relatively nice putters.

A quick search on fleabay tells you how valued the authenticated Tour putters are worth, and there are some very shrewd and tightfisted people on there who won't pay a penny over the odds, and usually a lot less than the true value.

These are hand made by some who would consider them artists in their field, and they are originals.  If they appreciate over time, which quite a few of the Bettinardi's Tour prototypes and Tour Camerons do, what's wrong with considering them as valuable items to be collected.  As a golfer would you rather have a piece of art hanging on the wall for £2500, slowly gaining in value, or a putter that you can use, as long as you look after it and don't smash it against the bag when you miss another 2 footer, that will also gain in value. 

Their aren't many items of golf equipment that appreciate, most items lose 80% of their value within 3 years?

Having said that would I buy one? if I had the money sat in an account along with my other thousands - yes I probably would.  Because like a lot of golfers I love the shiny shiny and I'm a big kid when it comes to luxury golf gear.  Especially for the bragging rights attached to things like this.

Does the "tour" putter help one hole more putts is the big question? Is it significantly different in some way to the "retail", other than it being customised for the individual tour player? I dont think so, in fact I know so! I have a tour putter, one of Vijay Singh's used extensively by him and by repute (according to Nick Price) in one of the rounds at the last Open at St Andrews. It does differ from the retail in just about every way - a prototype Fujikura putter shaft, Vijays name engraved on the hosel, and the head just looks different when I compare it to the retail. I have used it extensively, I enjoy using it, its neat to use such a putter, but honestly I never holed more putts with it, and maybe neither did Vijay else he prolly wouldnt have let it go And that goes for the other tour player clubs I've owned and used. I never found any perfromance gain from tour issue clubs so now I don't acquire them.

I have no objection to paying extra for a well made quality item, as I am sure many golfers do, but I baulk at paying ten times the price purely on the basis that it is a "limited edition" which will not provide any additional performance, and in reality needs to be kept mint to hold its value.

It depends on the individual. I really do perceive a difference between say a £10 putter from JJB and a nicely made one such as a Bettinardi or Cameron. But I personally have not perceived any real positive difference between the retail offerings and the "specials", other than the priviledge of ownership.

I don't think I've ever said it would make you a better putter?  it's what you personally percieve as value.  Do you buy the cheapest cothing you can find or do you like to treat yourself to the labels occassionally?  is it just purely performance related?

"Is it significantly different in some way to the "retail", other than it being customised for the individual tour player?" - I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous thread.

Does an Aston Martin get you through through the streets of London any quicker than a Skoda? what would you rather be driving?

£2500

Does the putter wear a mask?

No - but the headcover is an extra £500

'Cos it is a collectable work of art - hand made by a 90 year old Lefkara lacemaker who delicately wove the embroidered gold thread into the silk and satin duckdown padded holster that will protect the putter from damage when it is 'er? .......

...... hung on a wall somewhere.

Well I suppose you 'pay your money and make you choice' or something like that. 

I've got about 16 Scotty's (I change some quite a lot), some of them are Circle T or Tour putters, some are limited edition and a few are OTR. Are they better than anyone else's, well I haven't tried them all but have owned several in the past and to me they are. Do I make more putts with them, well maybe a few more but if I don't its certainly not down to the equipment.

And if they aren't so good why do so many non Titleist equipment players use them so much? Garcia is contracted to Taylormade but used a Scotty Cameron to win at Sawgrass!

Both Paul Casey and Darren Clarke are also both using Scotties again now

Interesting post Geldap about those Gauge wedges. I have seen them and they look evil in the spin dept. I would love to demo one before investing.

I do like Tour Issue gear but only Irons and Drivers TBH, where the technology bens are greatest.  A std retail Scotty works well for me and I cant realistically see any performance bens buying a Circle T SC off fleabay for $2500, even if it appreciates a bit. I would feel under too much pressure to pamper it.