Ping Rapture Driver Golf Club

If you hate the scams and fraud on Ebay like I do please give a ''Yes'' vote to this review at the bottom of the page. Your vote will help others to see this guide and avoid getting ripped off.


I first wrote this guide/review for the Taylor Made R7 SuperQuad because of all the fake counterfeit drivers for sale on Ebay. I found that the same problems with the Ping Rapture driver. I found several "Buy Now" deals for as little as $250.00. There were even people selling heads only for less than $200.00.

Most if not all of the auctions with heads only were from China or Hong Kong. The sellers had a mixture of feedback with 1 or 2 out of 10 negative due to fake driver. The sellers usually do not have a great number of feedbacks.

The selling method has changed somewhat lately with the fakes being sold by users registered in the USA but still heads only. The other problem now is there have been hundreds if not thousands of fake drivers sold to USA buyers. These buyers are now selling the fakes once they find out. Here is a list of what to look for and how to avoid being sold a fake.

1. Avoid auctions from China and Hong Kong.
2. Avoid any auction for driver head only.
3. Check sellers other items for sale. If they are selling only Ping Rapture drivers avoid this seller.
4. Ask seller to provide the serial number. If they do not respond avoid the seller. If they provide a serial number you can email Ping customer service and ask if the serial number is legit. Also ask if the serial number has been registered already.
5. Don't be fooled by pictures. The pictures on a fraud auction will not be the driver they are sending.
6. Avoid sellers that are new to Ebay or have really less than 100 + feedbacks selling golf equipment.
7. Avoid any auction for a driver listed in a non golf category. They use this tactic to avoid Ebay dumping the auction.
8. Avoid any 1 day auction with a "Buy Now".

A few of ways to detect the fakes are:

1. The composite top is actually not composite at all. It is paint in a weave pattern to look like a carbon fiber top.
2. No serial number on the hosel.
3. Thin spray painted finish instead of powder coated.

I avoided my fake R7 from a USA seller when I asked for the serial number. I had already won the auction. The seller sent me an email after the auction claiming the driver was damaged. I am sure it was someone trying to unload the mistake on me. Hopefully this may help someone from buying a fake Ping Rapture as well.

If you found this guide to be helpful please click yes below.

Thanks

Be very careful on these items they are fraud items from China, ask the seller to provide you with a serial number on the club with a photo of it, bet it doesn't happen. Ebay does not seem to want to stoo this fraud, I already have one dispute on a Ping Driver, do not get caught like I did.

I have not hit club so it's really unfair for me to rate it poor. But, I like the rest of the reviews (Callaway X460, Taylor Made R7, etc.) have been ripped off on a fake club. I purchased the club from a EBayer who had a 100% feedback rating (I now know "they" got his ID to sell on EBay). I then paid with PayPal and went to bed. The next day, I get up and I see a EBay cancellation notice on the auction. I then when into PayPal to stop the payment- it wouldn't let me since no real time elasped since the auction closed. I knew I was in trouble when the tracking number said it came from Shanghai, China. Once I got the club, I filed a claim with PayPal. I had to take the club down to have it verified by the proshop that it was not legit! I sent all the paperwork in and it was determined by PayPal to reject my claim. Therefore, I am no longer a member of PayPal!<p>Like the other have said, all the Callaways, Pings the TaylorMades have serial number. Please get this to be sure it is legit. From what I have seen, the scams are for LOW Buy It Now prices, and only auctioned for 24 hrs. BUYER BEWARE! Happy EBaying!!!!!!

If you are concerned about getting a counterfit Rapture Club, get the serial number from the seller and contact Ping to confirm authenticity. Most of the fakes are 061237__D1.

The authentic club is unbelievable! Long and straight.

I wanted to purchase Ping Rapture driver since I already have a set of Ping irons. What a mistake it was to trust good ol’ E-Bay for a deal on a driver. The club I bid and won was a cheap counterfeit. I took it to my local golf shop for to be authenticated and the 1st thing the sales rep asks was if I had bought it on E-Bay? Apparently he sees a lot of people every week who get ripped off buying golf equipment on E-Bay. I returned the club and did get my money back but learned my lesson; never buy any golf equipment on E-Bay. My bigger concern however is why doesn’t E-Bay do anything about it? One can look right now on E-Bay and find hundreds of counterfeit clubs listed as Callaway, Ping, Taylor Made, Nike or any of the other top brands.

I am a PGA member of 30 years. I am on the Ping golf staff. I have played with EVERY driver Ping has produced in the last 8 years. The Rapture driver is the best yet. It takes alittle getting use to the sound and feel. It does not CLICK like most drivers. It sounds like the ball is coming off an old persimmon driver. Most of you probably do not know what that is. But it is the most solid feeling and longest driver I have EVER hit. I like the NV Proto shaft.

As for false Rapture. They come from China. The ebay sellers look real. The wholesale cost is $285.00 plus shipping. If they are selling for less than $300.00 new IT IS A FAKE! I bought one from a guy in N.J. I thought. Shanghi China!! Fake head copy shaft, wrong flex and cheap knockoff grip!! I did get a refund thru paypal 40 days later. I still have the fake. So beware. Pay $325 to $350 and you will be happy! Thanks

I was checking out the Ping Rapture driver listings on Ebay prior to Xmas and immediately noticed that there was something "fake" about the 1 day listings.
I reported hundreds of these listings to Ebay and could easily identify that the IDs had been stolen. Many of these listings were cancelled but obviously many people got stung, I couldn't believe that Ebay kept re-listing these items and I feel that they should now be responsible for any losses.

I ordered three advertised as (used) Ping Rapture Drivers. I used the buy now option and paid with PayPal. EBay cancelled all three bids to three different sellers due to third party involvment? PayPal sent the money to all three buyers. I received three cheap knock off clubs from Shanghi
China. Having hell trying to get my money back for this rip off!!! Thank you so much for a great buying experience.

Ping Rapture driver buyers beware!
I too was ripped off by a realistic looking copy
I was a bit suspect of the price $250 for a New one,
However the buy sold a lot of golf products and promised it was
from the ping factory.
So I compared it in the golf shop to a REAL Ping rapture driver
The quality of this copy is dead set amazing !
But is a copy, the webbing on the club head is raised
where it is not on the real thing, and the paint is only
spray painted and scratches off easily,the club feels too heavy
as well.The only other difference is a slight variation is the
logo's and colours.
So beware these copies are very good, and there
must be hundreds out there if they went to all this trouble.
THERE IS EVEN A SERIAL NUMBER ETCHED IN THE SOLE !
The head cover is genuine and possibly even the shaft.
and although the head looks real at first glance
it is not.But it is too late once you compare it to a real one.
Why should I buy golf stuff on ebay again ?
If you do,
Make sure the seller has at least 100 positive feedback
and has been a member for more than a year.
I am still in negotiations with ebay and seller.

add me to the list of people who got suckered by the seller(s) pretending to be from texas, had over 100 positive feedbacks, and ended up getting a very bad copy. the 'no head cover included' is a tip off.... they did however send me a cute little silk purse with a tacky looking pearl necklace...so i got that goin for me....which is nice.

seriously, ebay needs to figure out a way to keep these guys from being able to do this. if this happens to enough people here we're going to be seeing this on the CBS evening news soon and ebay will have a long road ahead of them to bring back the honest people that have made this site successful. i agree with the reviewer that said to ask for a picture of the serial number on the club. it may note be 100% fool proof but its a start.

I was defrauded! They dropped shipped from Shanghai, China a knock-off of the Ping Rapture which has resulted in my claim, case#224-471-579. These people were out to make a fast buck off of unsuspecting, honest, E-Bayers. I'll be happy to tell you what I think of this product once I get a "real" one.

The sad thing is, they weren't even close to what was described and shown in the auction. Thanks for asking.
Ken Murray

I recently bought a Ping Rapture 9 Degree Driver w/ Regular Flex Aldila vs Proto Shaft, here on Ebay. That went so well I bought both a 3 & 5 Rapture Woods the next week, also off Ebay. I bought from 2 different sellers and had no trouble getting serial#'s from them. Authentication was easy through PING. The people at Ping's consumer line are great.
Get to know the seller. Ask questions, check seller feedback, it's simple, be an intelligent buyer. Fakes are easy to sniff out. They are out there. Report the obvious fakes to Ebay upon research. Ebay does close the offending auction down. It's almost funny to see the club or clubs pop right back up in a new listing under a green seller ID. They don't even redesign the listing. Crooks are stupid people.
Not that I didn't get leary. A month ago, I spent 2 weeks trying to buy Ping Rapture Irons. After many fakes emerged and too much time spent, I walked into my local golf course pro shop and popped for them straight from Ping.
I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the Ping Rapture Products. This is my 3rd set of Pings. Ping Eye 2"s in 1988. Ping Eye 3's in 2001 and now Raptures.

The complete Rapture line is long. Longer than anything else I've hit. I have Taylormade R7 425, R7 Quad 460, Sasquach Sumo, Taylormade R7 Fairways, Sumo Fairways. I've hit the King Cobra for a couple rounds, the Callawys many times. None are longer!!! A few were about the same in forgiveness. After all these years Ping still does it right. You can count on it.

Finally, to the guy that is so upset about Ping not selling on military PX with a discount, I think you should hold a grudge against the only club company that keeps thier work in the USA. Callaway, Taylormade, Nike, ETC, took thier plants abroad for more profitability. Ping only gets raw product from abroad because of government regulatory manufacturing, but they ALWAYS assemble in the good old USA. Anything they can make here is made here. So Buddy, buy your discounted PX Japanese clubs. Toot your horn about spending your patriotic dollar with a company that doesn't have a plant in our Country. Just as well. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think!!! Ping doesn't discount. A small price to pay to keep thier plant here in AZ. Want a good deal on Pings??? Buy on Ebay. Get them used. But don't miss out on the most pleasurable rounds of golf of your life.

do not buy a ping or any club for that matter anything from this seller

golfuntamed

he's a fraud.

I too went thru this same situation with a ping driver scam. I got no satisfaction and I now sit with a club I can't even use. Even the shaft was a fake. I'm at the point where I don't want to do business on Ebay any more and I definitely don't want to use Paypal. I have used it since but I find myself being very suspicious of whoever I'm dealing with, which is not normally in my nature.

The club I received was a fake. I'm sure the genuine version is excellent like all of my other Ping clubs are

The Ping driver I received was fake! I am still trying to work with the seller! Hopefully I have some luck!

what a rip off be careful of fake knock offs,ask for serial number. tried to contact seller with no reply

I'm a mid handicapper and I average about 240 on an ok day. With the rapture I'm hitting consistently 260 (straight to a slight fade) at the range and its 20 degrees where I live. Id like to see what it does when its warm out. The feel of the club is great. Every time I hit, it feels like I crushed it a mile. You can't beat confidence off the tee. The looks are great if you like a more original shape but the composite weight distribution thing on the top might be a little distracting to some people but for me it helps me line up nicely. Ohh and did I mention the face is completely square. The face seems small enough that you HAVE to hit it off the sweet spot, Which is a good thing cause the sweet spot is huge. Couldn't really tell any difference between distance on off center hits and ones that where right on the money. I naturally hit a high ball flight and the ping drivers are known for their overly high ball flights. With the VS Proto shaft I hit a nice moderate ball flight that doesnt balloon. It starts of low and gradually gains height. Im not really one to work the ball but its not super hard to hit a slight draw if I tried. It will be a while before I buy a new driver this will last me a few years. The $430.00 price tag is probably one of its only downfalls but I got mine off Ebay for $200.00. So if its your time for a new driver I would definately consider hitting this driver on a simulator or driving range at bobicks or another large retailer to see what shaft and loft are right for you. Ping rules!

I hate it and will probably throw it away. The product was advertised as a Ping Rapture Driver but turned out to be chinese copy, not made of the materials used in the genuine article.
It was ordered in USA and arrived directly from Shanghai.
I've been ripped off!

bought on here on ebay received a fake do not recommend buying this
club if you do make sure to get serial number and verify the club is real
and only buy from a highly, very highly reputable company my experience
here was bad

I won an auction on ebay several weeks ago and finally had a chance to play my new driver at my home course. I was really impressed by the quality of my misses with this driver and am truly excited about playing more with this club. I'm a 15 handicap and had a net 67 last weekend. Every drive stayed in play with a significant amount of distance on each drive.

Ebay, what is going on with you? As I read the reviews on Ping Rapture and the Ping G5 drivers, I was amazed at the number of complaints from people who have mistakenly purchase the clones from Shanghai. I am very disappointed that ebay is not standing behind their service. I have sold numerous items in this manner and I know that Ebay and Paypal both get their money before anyone else is paid. It makes me wonder why someone doesn't produce an alternative to Ebay.

dont get suckered in like i did on this fake club ebay needs to fix this problem i will never buy anything from ebay again.The no head cover is a give away

BEWARE OF FAKE DRIVERS!!!!! especially the "buy it now" deals that seem ridiculously cheap. i bought one for $300 when they just came out and were selling for $420. i got it, took it to the range right away, hit it twice and the face caved in. i then took a closer look at it and noticed the crown was raised off the club, and looked like a sticker. the paint in the logo on the bottom also scratched off easily. if you are buying this club study the sellers profile, including feedback score, recent name changes, or how many times they sold the club.

but then i ordered a 9* rapture driver directly from the factory and i ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!