3balls has been in business since 1998, but if you want the whole story, you've got to go back a ways, 20 years back to be specific. In 1981 two very good friends Joe Ricci and Leigh Bader arrived at a run down 9 hole golf course in South Easton, MA. The pro shop was an unimpressive 290 square feet. (About the size of a large living room).Determined to make their dream of golf course ownership a reality, the two pitched in their savings of $2,000 each, bought a little inventory, hung an "open" sign and with those humble beginnings, Joe & Leigh's Discount Golf Pro Shop at The Pine Oaks Golf Course was born.

Thinking of the pro shop as a toy store and the golf course as an amusement park helped them grow the business. (to say the least) Today Joe & Leigh's is an 8,000 square foot pro shop that has been honored to win numerous national awards, including making the list of Golf Digest's GolfWorld Business Top 100 Pro Shops in America TEN times over! And Leigh's been named the PGA of America National Merchandiser of the Year 2002 an impressive career second! He was honored in 1995 as well

The goal of Joe & Leigh's has always been to "make a friend, not a sale" that means building lifelong relationships. With a strong focus on customer service, it never occurred to Joe or Leigh to do anything other than take trades. One of the most highly visited areas of the shop is the space dedicated to used equipment, where customers spend countless hours looking for that "diamond in the rough". As the Swap Shop got busier and busier, Alan Sullivan a longtime sales associate and PGA Golf Professional for Joe & Leigh's, suggested we post some of the slower moving inventory on a new marketplace called eBay (this was in 1998). Before long the entire Swap Shop was nearly emptied. Suspecting we might be onto something (?) we began to aggressively procure the Finest Used and Like New Branded Golf (and started working on our own web site).

After a year of rapid fire growth 3balls was officially incorporated in January 2000. Passionate about serving golf and growing the game, 3balls is committed to maintaining the highest integrity, offering outstanding values, preserving manufacturer Brand experience and above all, providing a fun experience for our customers. (That explains the original monthly comic strip on our web site and the straight talk you'll find in our auction listings.)

Our enthusiasm for eBay has grown even stronger. (It remains our number one sales channel.) Our contractual relationship with eBay and our title "eBay Preferred Golf Supplier" demonstrates our commitment to the eBay community and serving it's 55 million registered users. Here are some tid bits about the relationship.

• 100% Statistical Positive Feedback Rating
• Red Shooting Star Powerseller (reserved for sellers with a feedback score of 100,000 or higher)
• Item Postings in the Thousands Daily
• One of the Largest Golf Equipment Sellers on eBay

Specializing in used and like new branded golf equipment, 3balls is also responsible for pioneering industry efforts to make the secondary market in golf more efficient. In so doing, 3balls developed and created the PGA.com Value Guide in collaboration with both PGA.com and eBay® . In general, reliable golf club industry value standards are needed to make the entire infrastructure of buying, selling and trading of used golf clubs more efficient and fair for both retailers and consumers. The PGA.com Value Guide, which is The Blue Book of Golf™, fills this need by being the National Standard for Golf Club Values™. To learn more, please click here.

3balls headquarters is a large mixed-use facility in Raynham, MA. Where our staff of more than 50 handle all order processing, fulfillment and customer service to support 3balls sales, whether through our own website or on eBay. (see bios in cast of characters)

Ok, so what about the name? Well if you look carefully at the Joe & leigh's Swap Shop sign near the top of the page, you'll see in the corner there are 3 glass globes hanging behind the vintage golfer. Those 3 balls (get it?) are the universal symbol of traditional pawn shops and the inspiration for 3balls.com. That's the inside story! If you want to see some inside pictures, take a peek at this illustration of the 3balls logo design process.