Are the days of good deals on used clubs over?

[ANimz]

Just found this for $262 +shipping. I see nothing wrong.   🤷🏻‍♂️

[sheamclkel]

The cost of new clubs going up so dramatically has cause the used market to increase also, its unfortunate. I always buy new, but selfishly this has helped make buying easier if I can sell my used clubs for more money.

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Hope those folks keep track of their hours of labor going to garage sales and setting up their own on a regular basis.  Even at minimum wage they are probably losing money.

 

To be perfectly clear, think about where I live. There's a good chance that some of these people aren't here legally, or at the very least aren't here with an immigration status that allows them to work here legally. And yet, with the ridiculous cost of living here, they need to pay rent and put food on the table, and sometimes you do what you have to do to get that done. The time value of money is a lot different if you've got a lot of one and no legal ways to be employed to earn the other. 

 

Then, there's another aspect. Orange County is really affluent. Many people hosting garage sales are simply trying to get rid of crap (sometimes really NICE crap) and they price it to move. You hit a garage sale in a nice neighborhood, and you might find some real deals there. For some of these sales, you might have someone who has a garage sale once every 5 years, or has one because they're moving to a new house and just want stuff GONE, and they're not scouring eBay for the market clearing price because the time value of THAT money to someone who is more affluent isn't worth it. Heck, even if they're charging a fair price, offer them 75 cents on the dollar and they'll probably take it just to see something disappear. 

 

My wife and I have dropped thousands of dollars of stuff off at Goodwill over the last several years. Because getting things out of the house and getting ZERO dollars in return is a better use of our time and very limited storage space than wasting garage space for years in the anticipation of spending half a day hosting a garage sale, to make a few hundred bucks and then have half the stuff we tried to sell still in our possession anyway. 

 

But that's why it's tough to find deals, even at garage sales. Because the hardcore are at the garage sale between 6 and 7:30 AM when it opens, whereas those people who aren't willing to put in that sort of effort find them picked over at 8:30 or 9 AM. 

[hwturner17]

Harder to find the unicorn deal, but that's why we hunt boys.

 

Not hunt male children. Like, that's why we, as young men, hunt deals. 

[JAM01]

Covid generated significant interest in golf. Supply chain issues drive prices up. I’d expect in a few years the folks on the golf fringe that didn’t go all in might start dumping equipment. If so, prices might come down. 2020 2021 2022 equipment would be plentiful. 

[scott406]

Everyone's definition of a good deal is different

You have to be patience to find one

And you have to jump on a good deal fast

 

I have notice that free shipping on eBay is few and far between

 

Also, 2nd Swing has gone from 20% off in Nov/Dec to 15% off in Jan to 10% off now

I got my Cobra RadSpeed driver last summer from them at under $250

I called that a deal

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by scott406

[Kmagnuss]

32 minutes ago, hwturner17 said:

Harder to find the unicorn deal, but that's why we hunt boys.

 

Not hunt male children. Like, that's why we, as young men, hunt deals. 

 

Yeah a comma after the word hunt may have cleared that up a bit, but I lol'd in real life at your correction.

[dwboston]

40 minutes ago, hwturner17 said:

Harder to find the unicorn deal, but that's why we hunt boys.

 

Used golf equipment - it is The Most Dangerous Game.

[mikec3672]

Remember, that ebay's only real competition at scale is:

 

1. Global Golf/3BallsGolf (owned by whatever group it is that owns PGA Value Guide)

2. 2nd Swing (agree with other posters, deep deep deep inventory)

3. Callaway Pre-Owned

 

There are others like RockBottom, GolfClubsFor$Cash, etc, but those are the big 3. However the uniqueness of this competition vs other ebay competitors in other categories, is that it is "co-opitition", meaning in addition to their own website and/or brick-and-mortar, that big 3 dual lists a good chunk, if not all of their inventory on ebay as well!! That happens with almost none of ebay's other competitors in other categories. Sometimes Amazon as well, but ebay is king. So when it comes to selection of used golf equipment, and searching for deals, the true mega king of inventory is ebay, no one is even a close 2nd.

 

I agree that 2nd Swings prices are ridiculous, just plain stupid. But many buy from them, because they do not trust or know smaller ebay sellers like myself that have a 100% rating. I think I have bought from 2nd Swing like 2-3 times in 20+ years, only because no one else had what I wanted, but that is a true rarity these days.

Another poster said this, but all you have to do is check the box called "Sold Listings" (uncheck "Completed Listings", to just leave you only with real sales, vs ended listing), and scroll to get a general sense of condition and average selling price, -- as condition plays a huge role in price as well. How the heck 3 Balls for instance sells w/o a photo, is beyond me.

 

Lastly agree the market is supply and demand, but with the Big3 as noted, you are largely paying imo for brand/trust, which you don't necessarily have to, if you do research on your Seller.

 

Deals are out there, "especially" on ebay, you just have to look. Almost all of my listings are "Buy It Now" with "Best Offer", but I set a minimum on my best offer, else you have low-ballers offering me $100 for a like new Scotty Phantom X11.5 or something like that. Sorry, it's not a garage sale!

Edited February 15, 2023 by mikec3672

[darkhelmet]

Around 2010 or so, drivers started going mostly adjustable, and in the last 5-10 years, most of the irons started going to multi-material, filled hollow type constructions.

 

Before then, most steel-shafted iron sets would run about $699 for 8 irons.  Now most iron sets are $1200-$1300 for 7 irons.

 

Glued drivers were all about $299.  Most drivers now are $550 or $600.

 

So in about the last 15 years:

 

Irons = $90/club -> $180/club

 

Drivers = $300 -> $600

 

 

So you can still get "deals", you just have to realize that the starting point has skyrocketed.

 

(Edit:  Just checked on car prices for comparison.  Bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee last year.  MSRP over the same 15-year time period went from about $35K to $45K)

Edited February 14, 2023 by darkhelmet
adding info

[Double Mocha Man]

36 minutes ago, mikec3672 said:

... ebay sellers like myself that have a 100% rating.

 

Congrats on your 100% rating.  I buy a lot on eBay and only buy from those 99% or higher.

[lefthack]

I had no luck trying to sell my Homna woods but Global Golf offered me $90 each for them (I paid less than $70). They had a TaylorMade Sim 2 Max driver on sale for $185 with free shipping. 

 

I would say a TM Sim 2 Max driver for $5 is a pretty good deal. 🤣

[mikec3672]

10 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Congrats on your 100% rating.  I buy a lot on eBay and only buy from those 99% or higher.

All I would say is that when I am buyer, I generally follow your principal as well. BUT, I will cut Sellers slack that only have like 20-30 sales, and then 1 Negative. That will wreck their rating percentage wise, and it's not always a fair representation of the Seller, as half the time (esp during COVID) complaints are about shipping, which once it's in USPS's hands, it's out of the Sellers hands. It's why I also offer FedEx and UPS (but use USPS as my primary), as USPS is not really that good, but better than they were during the pandemic. It's all about their amount of sales, and reasons, not JUST the percentage rating.

[Ghostwedge]

We have a retired couple down the street in a upscale nice neighborhood that are exploiting the garage sale game. Racks of clothes and crap in the driveway every 3-4 weeks starting at daybreak on a Friday morning. 

I left her a note saying while you're perusing other peoples junk call me if a golf club says "Titleist or Scotty Cameron" on it. She was not that thrilled I could tell..... witch. 🙂

[Double Mocha Man]

26 minutes ago, mikec3672 said:

All I would say is that when I am buyer, I generally follow your principal as well. BUT, I will cut Sellers slack that only have like 20-30 sales, and then 1 Negative. That will wreck their rating percentage wise, and it's not always a fair representation of the Seller, as half the time (esp during COVID) complaints are about shipping, which once it's in USPS's hands, it's out of the Sellers hands. It's why I also offer FedEx and UPS (but use USPS as my primary), as USPS is not really that good, but better than they were during the pandemic. It's all about their amount of sales, and reasons, not JUST the percentage rating.

 

I am in agreement with you.  I do look at total number of sales and make adjustments.

[Double Mocha Man]

3 hours ago, sm_watts said:

Have you checked out Pirate Ship?  If you're just going to the post office and paying to ship a box at the price they're telling you, you're getting ripped off.

 

Go Mariners!

[Golfdoctor]

4 hours ago, sm_watts said:

Have you checked out Pirate Ship?  If you're just going to the post office and paying to ship a box at the price they're telling you, you're getting ripped off.

Pirate Ship is the only way to go. 

[2Down]

As noted in previous posts, deals can still be found.  Gotta look but they are out there. 
I found a perfect eye two gorge sand wedge under forty at a near enough shop.
 

play it again sports occasionally has a great deal, especially if the sport’s off season.   

[sm_watts]

4 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Go Mariners!

This is their year, right??!!