Used Golf Clubs from Golfsmith

[ironjohn929]

Anyone ever buy any used clubs from Golfsmith? I'm in the market for some new irons and thought this might be a way to go. Their prices for used clubs don't seem to be terrible.

If you HAVE bought from them:

1) What condition were they in?
2) What is their return policy?

There didn't seem to be any information I could find on their website. Thanks guys!

-IJ

[Duke85]

I'd like to know if rockbottomgolf is legit.

[kennay92]

I'd like to know if rockbottomgolf is legit.

very much so. they're great!

[kennay92]

Anyone ever buy any

and all i know to your question is that the premium pre-owned clubs are in better condition than the regular pre-owned.. and they dont ship their used clubs from their headquarters in austin,tx. they do a scan to all their stores nationally and see what store has what you want and it ships from that store, so youd probably have to talk to them to see what the details are on returns.

[Duke85]

very much so. they're great!

Thanks. I've thought about getting some x18's, 20's or bertha ibrids from there.

[kleraudio]

Not to crack on golfsmith, great place to loiter at, but their prices are so jacked up its rediculous. A set of beat to hell mp 57's for $599!!! Are you kidding me!

If your gonna buy from golfsmith, buy new. You wont be spending much more.

On a good note, their return policy on used clubs is pretty cool, I think they call it 90/90 guarantee or something.... basically you can "demo" the clubs for 90 days, if you dont like em, you can bring em back and get 90% of the purchase price back. This is only on used clubs though.

Jim

[patriot07]

Not to crack on golfsmith, great place to loiter at, but their prices are so jacked up its rediculous. A set of beat to hell mp 57's for $599!!! Are you kidding me!

Golfsmith and PGA Superstore both have the 90/90 playability guarantee. PGA Superstore applies this to new and used clubs. Golfsmith's policy only applies to new clubs above a certain price point:

Irons - $550 Drivers - $275 Fairway Woods - $185 Hybrids - $165 Wedges - $90 Putters - $100 Matched Individual - $75 Also, they don't give cash back, only credit. I got the info here: http://www.golfsmith.com/display_pag...ifference_9090 Their used club return policy is 3 days 100% cash back. But that's actually subjective depending on what store you talk to. But that's the answer you get most of the time. I've heard 3 or 4 different policies in the last couple years. Sometimes they'll take it out to a month. You're right about Golfsmith's used club prices. Sometimes they're actually HIGHER than the new club prices, especially if there has been a recent price reduction on the new ones. If you're buying at Golfsmith, you're better off buying new. Their used club prices are a joke. They used to be good about 4-5 years ago, but not anymore. PGA Superstore is not quite as bad, but they're pretty close. If you're buying used, you're better off going with 3balls.com, rockbottomgolf, a legit ebay dealer, callaway preowned or someone reputable online. The only good deals at Golfsmith are when you can occasionally find a mis-marked club (2 identical clubs, one at half the price of the other). I got my Adams A3 hybrid recently for $35, when they're normally going for $60-$80 used at the retail stores.

[raygrinberg]

Not to crack on golfsmith, great place to loiter at, but their prices are so jacked up its rediculous. A set of beat to hell mp 57's for $599!!! Are you kidding me!

That's the asking price! Used clubs are like a used car. Don't be afraid to make them an offer. I have done this and found Golfsmith has some "room" in their price. Don't be afraid to haggle.

Of course this works best in person.

[apex53]

I agree with the posts about Golfsmith's prices on used clubs being jacked up... I have browsed their used club rack before and was shocked at what they were asking for a set of Titleists that had the damn hell beat out of them... I've found a good deal on a hybrid and a wedge at PGA Superstore

[patriot07]

That's the asking price! Used clubs are like a used car. Don't be afraid to make them an offer. I have done this and found Golfsmith has some "room" in their price. Don't be afraid to haggle.

This is somewhat true. Less true now than it used to be. About 4-5 years ago, their prices were really good. Then one day we showed up and their prices had risen unexpectedly on all their used clubs. We asked a salesman and he said it was a directive from corporate to raise them to the new levels. But after that, the prices were still fairly negotiable. But that's gotten pretty much non-existent now. I mean I saw a used r9 there last week for $349. Even if they took $50 off, which they wouldn't do based on my experience, the price would still be ridiculously high. Their prices have reached the point that even if they're negotiable, it's still a joke. Not always the case, but more often than not.

Needless to say, we used to go there a lot, and still go there a decent amount, but now it's usually just to try stuff out more than it is to buy, even though we do buy occasionally. And we always ask for lower prices on the used stuff, so that's not the problem either. ETA: Not trying to rain on Golfsmith, but their used club prices are awful.

[ironjohn929]

Good info...Thanks!!!

[zeg]

I had good luck with callaway preowned (I think it's www.callawaygolfpreowned.com , but if you try some variation on that it will redirect to the proper site). Their prices were a tad high, but reasonable. If you get "very good" or "like new" you should get a set of clubs in very good condition. I probably wouldn't dip to "average," and "good" would be borderline, based on my experience with "very good."

Golfsmith, at least around here, clearly doesn't want you to even look at their used clubs. They have them on a rack in the back, arranged so you can't really see what they're offering. The smaller shops put a little effort into displaying them, and are far more reasonable in their pricing. Plus the employees at the smaller places actually come over to help you when they see you are in the market for used... If I'd found the clubs I wanted with the right shafts at my local place, I'd have gone there, even at a slightly higher price than online, just to support the customer service.

[wkdspd]

at least at my local Golfsmith in Plano TX, buying used clubs is always my first choice with them. yes, the asking price usually seems high, but as someone mentioned its JUST an asking price - a 'starting' price if you will. keep in mind, GS is a retail chain that isnt in the primary business of selling used clubs, they get to stay opeen based on new club sales.

I ALWAYS check there first when I want to try something different, and pick up two or 3 of the same club off the rack to ask about. I take them to the counter and ask if theyll check to see how much wiggle room they have on each, with the understanding that each club's negotiable price is based solely on what they gave for the club in the first place, and then buy the one they can come down the most on. Ive gotten new TM wedges for $15 before, because they just happened to have picked them up in a fairly cheap trade-in...

[glebert]

I was sad yesterday when I went into my local Golf Galaxy and saw that their used club selection is down to almost nothing. They had even taken the wall where the used irons were and put up a bunch of golf art prints. There were two sets of used irons and one small rack of drivers, fws, and wedges. I have gotten some amazing deals there, and their return policy was very good (30 days for credit on used gear).

[patriot07]

I take them to the counter and ask if theyll check to see how much wiggle room they have on each, with the understanding that each club's negotiable price is based solely on what they gave for the club in the first place, and then buy the one they can come down the most on.

You're exactly right, but I've never understood this. Wiggle room should be based on value, not on how much they gave for the club. I was there one time about a year ago and saw a like new Mizuno F60 3-wood that I wanted. The new ones were clearanced to $80, and they had a ton of them. This used one was marked $90. But I didn't care about used, so I just went and explained that it was higher than the new clubs and anything lower than the new price would be fine, $70 or so seemed fair since they didn't even have a matching headcover for it. They explained that they had $90 in the club and were just trying to sell it for what they gave. So he said verbatim "Yeah I guess you're better off getting the new one." I explained to them that customers don't care what they gave, only what the club is worth. They're not going to sell a used club for more than the new ones just because Golfsmith gave too much for it. That one really hacked me off and I haven't bought much there since. That particular experience was at the Frisco store. The Plano store does seem to be a bit more reasonable on negotiation and have better customer service.

[zeg]

You're exactly right, but I've never understood this. Wiggle room should be based on value, not on how much they gave for the club.

In some sense that's how they "should" do it, but on the other hand, they don't. Given that they're a successful business, I bet this means that eventually they will break even on many of these deals when an uninformed shopper decides to take their offer. If the new clubs are on clearance, pretty soon they'll be gone, and there won't be the obvious reference for how bad a price they're asking.

It could also be a failure of a corporate performance metric-- the individual stores may get a "grade" based on netting a profit for used gear. If they do this by recording sale price - purchase price after the club sells, this would create an incentive never to sell a club at a loss, even if it'd be the rational thing to do. Don't have any clue if this is how it works, or even if used transactions are tied to individual stores, but it seems plausible. But this is exactly why I'd suggest being really careful with Golfsmith (or any) used store. Shop around. Find out what the market prices are and buy wisely.

[jpalermo]

It boils down to this:

If you don't want to pay the price, don't buy it there. See if you can get it somewhere else cheaper. If you can't, you may have to bite the bullet.

I would love to be able to buy clubs for "what they are worth" from a retail store, but if they are breaking even or taking losses.... 9 times out of 10 they will close. Simple rules of business.

I think their prices are outrageous as well, and is a solid indication of why I have never bought anything there.

Have scored some good deals @ Golf Galaxy, tho.

[SQ Bimmer]

Anyone ever buy any

I bought my CG Gold irons from Golfsmith used. They were $100 cheaper than a new set at the time ($400, reduced from $500) and were practically brand new. They looked like they had been played through 1, maybe 2 rounds. The 6 iron was the store demo for the set, so it had a little bit more wear, but nothing drastic. There really was no reason for me to buy a new set of these irons given the condition the used set was in. The manager of the store personally measured the L/L/L of every club right in front of me to confirm that the L/L/L was the same as a new set. The grips were in similar, basically brand new condition.

I could see how a more worn down set of irons, only being 20% cheaper than new would be ridiculous. I suppose I got lucky with a basically new set. I was looking at a Vokey wedge the other day at the same Golfsmith, and it was $90. The sweet spot was really worn down, and the grip needed to be changed. Hardly worth the price considering for just a few bucks more you can get a new wedge. Was pretty disappointed. I ended up getting a CG14 on rockbottomgolf for $80 (first 100 sales got $10 off).