Used Golf Club Buyers Guide!

[freshmanUTA]

I'm a college student. We've all been there. My daily diet consists of ramen noodles and whatever my grandparents decide to cook for dinner. I always look for the cheapest way to do things, I've often found myself looking for the best deal on anything I intend to purchase. Which ultimately means, I don't buy new golf equipment.

 

Lucky for me I live within 20 minutes of 6 stores that constantly get new stock of used golf clubs. I thought I'd share a little of my process when buying used clubs, so that we all can get the best value for our dollar.

 

Not to be a thief, but since this forum has a habit of breaking things down into keys, i found 5 Keys to buying used clubs. The first 3 are the most important, and the last two don't matter if you're someone only looking for clubs you can use, and don't care about the aesthetic quality or sound.

 

Key #1: Grooves

You'd be surprised how many people overlook the grooves because "It's a vokey wedge for $20 man!" Grooves are one of the most important factors of selecting clubs to purchase. Take for example, my most recent club purchases. Nike VR Forged Wedges for $30 Each. The thing that made me want to purchase them was the fact that their grooves were so clean. 

Note: This is before cleaning and sharpening the grooves. You can see scrapes across the face but none that interfere with spin produced on shots, and the dents on the leading edge don't effect shot quality. There is only one small dent on the sand wedge that's not near the center of the clubface and isn't big enough to alter spin in any way.

Normal wear on grooves is definitely okay, but its important to note the difference between normal wear and scrapes, dents and scratches. Also keep in mind that there is a big difference between dirty grooves and beat up grooves. Dirt can be taken our of grooves, but dents and deep scratches can't.

 

Key #2: Shaft Quality

The second key is to make sure that the shafts themselves are in good condition. If they're only victim of bag chatter and small surface scratches, they're okay to purchase. But keep an eye out for any dents, deep scratches, and even cracks in shafts. I don't have pictures of my good quality shafts because everyone knows what one looks like, and i don't buy bad quality shafts. Not to sound cocky with my purchases, I just avoid bad shafts.

If the head is in really nice condition, but the shaft is suffering, you can also consider buying the head and replacing the shaft.

 

Key #3: Head Shape

Don't ever forget to inspect all sides of the head to insure the club is in good quality. Avoid clubs with any dents in the heads, especially around the grooves, and most importantly not in the center of the clubface. It's especially important to avoid drivers with dents on the face of the club. If you remember the wedges i purchased you can see small dents at the leading edge of the wedges, THESE DO NOT MATTER. They don't affect shots OR spin in any way.

This is a picture of a quality driver that has no marks effecting play-ability.

 

Key #4: Paint

It's also sometimes important to check out the quality of the paint and other aesthetics on the club. With my Nike driver there are paint chips, but nothing that effects the play-ability of the club.

 

You can see at the top of the crown there are some small scratches from the previous owner and some bad tee shots, but they wont affect the quality of the club. 

 

Key #5: Grip

The last key is the grips. If you are not planning on replacing the grip of the club, then make sure you evaluate the wear on the grip itself. This is by far the cheapest replacement on the club, so if the grip isn't in good condition it isn't too heavy on your wallet to replace, and most people replace the grips anyway.

 

 

These are just 5 basic things to look at when shopping for used clubs. If you have any questions leave a reply and I'd be sure to answer. If you have anything you'd like to add to the post, feel free to let me know. 

Edited February 18, 2016 by freshmanUTA

[boogielicious]

I've bought and sold used clubs and you have good points.

[SavvySwede]

My 3 keys

1.Price

2.Performance

3.Self Control 

[Hacker4]

Spot on!! Good post, will keep this in mind for future used club purchases!

[freshmanUTA]

1 hour ago, SavvySwede said:

My 3 keys

1.Price

2.Performance

3.Self Control 

More like

1. #3

2. #3

3. Self Control

 

;D

[9wood]

Like the OP, I too always am on the look out for great deals. Here is one example of what I mean. I was at a garage sale last year and noticed a complete set of Wilson clubs for sale including drivers irons and bag. The first thing I noticed is that the clubs in the bag were never used and all of them still had the shrink wrap on the heads. Being curious, I asked the person in charge how much the clubs were and he said $10, so I asked, is that $10 each, and he said it's $10 for the works, clubs and bag. I tried not too look to anxious or greedy yet believe it or not I asked if he would take $8 for it all and he said he would. I couldn't believe it. Anyways I bought them for $8, not to use for myself but rather to resell them. So I put them up for sale at $80 and they were sold within three days. Next I took the $80 and bought myself a brand new Cobra Baffler XL 5 fairway wood and a brand new Adams Super S 3 fairway wood on ebay with that $80. So my two new clubs actually only ended up costing me the $8 I invested in a set of garage sale clubs. Buy low and resell to obtain dollars for my golf purchases - yeah that's my game.

Edited February 18, 2016 by 9wood

[No Mulligans]

25 minutes ago, 9wood said:

Like the OP, I too always am on the look out for great deals. Here is one example of what I mean. I was at a garage sale last year and noticed a complete set of Wilson clubs for sale including drivers irons and bag. The first thing I noticed is that the clubs in the bag were never used and all of them still had the shrink wrap on the heads. Being curious, I asked the person in charge how much the clubs were and he said $10, so I asked, is that $10 each, and he said it's $10 for the works, clubs and bag. I tried not too look to anxious or greedy yet believe it or not I asked if he would take $8 for it all and he said he would. I couldn't believe it. Anyways I bought them for $8, not to use for myself but rather to resell them. So I put them up for sale at $80 and they were sold within three days. Next I took the $80 and bought myself a brand new Cobra Baffler XL 5 fairway wood and a brand new Adams Super S 3 fairway wood on ebay with that $80. So my two new clubs actually only ended up costing me the $8 I invested in a set of garage sale clubs. Buy low and resell to obtain dollars for my golf purchases - yeah that's my game.

What!!  It was only $10 for a whole set and bag and you still tried to get them for less.  C'Mon man.   Funny story.

[9wood]

13 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

What!!  It was only $10 for a whole set and bag and you still tried to get them for less.  C'Mon man.   Funny story.

I know can you believe it? But it's true.

[Marty2019]

15 hours ago, 9wood said:

Like the OP, I too always am on the look out for great deals. Here is one example of what I mean. I was at a garage sale last year and noticed a complete set of Wilson clubs for sale including drivers irons and bag. The first thing I noticed is that the clubs in the bag were never used and all of them still had the shrink wrap on the heads. Being curious, I asked the person in charge how much the clubs were and he said $10, so I asked, is that $10 each, and he said it's $10 for the works, clubs and bag. I tried not too look to anxious or greedy yet believe it or not I asked if he would take $8 for it all and he said he would. I couldn't believe it. Anyways I bought them for $8, not to use for myself but rather to resell them. So I put them up for sale at $80 and they were sold within three days. Next I took the $80 and bought myself a brand new Cobra Baffler XL 5 fairway wood and a brand new Adams Super S 3 fairway wood on ebay with that $80. So my two new clubs actually only ended up costing me the $8 I invested in a set of garage sale clubs. Buy low and resell to obtain dollars for my golf purchases - yeah that's my game.

I'm not saying I'll try that, but that's a great story. 

[RussUK]

Im all for used gear. I got my Wilson Staff Di9's through Golfbidder and they were nearly new condition for £145 a couple of years back. Got a Ping G5 for £35 off ebay in great condition.

If you're willing to shop around there are bargains galore. My golden rules when buying from ebay is to checj the sellers reputation and not to be sucked in by that brand new Taylormade M1 (or wwhatever) for half the actual normal price.

There are a lot of counterfeit clubs out there and a lot of the scam artists will set up numerous websites, some advertising the clubs for near full price and the others at much lower prices. Many will look genuine but two of the possible tell tale signs are:.

1. The company email. if its a hotmail or yahoo etc. then treat as suspicious. Reputable companies will have their own email address realted to the company (e.g orders@direct golf.co.uk)

2. if they only accept debit cards and not credit cards. The scammers know there is less protection with debit cards than credit cards.

 

[freshmanUTA]

12 minutes ago, RussUK said:

Im all for used gear. I got my Wilson Staff Di9's through Golfbidder and they were nearly new condition for £145 a couple of years back. Got a Ping G5 for £35 off ebay in great condition.

If you're willing to shop around there are bargains galore. My golden rules when buying from ebay is to checj the sellers reputation and not to be sucked in by that brand new Taylormade M1 (or wwhatever) for half the actual normal price.

There are a lot of counterfeit clubs out there and a lot of the scam artists will set up numerous websites, some advertising the clubs for near full price and the others at much lower prices. Many will look genuine but two of the possible tell tale signs are:.

1. The company email. if its a hotmail or yahoo etc. then treat as suspicious. Reputable companies will have their own email address realted to the company (e.g orders@direct golf.co.uk)

2. if they only accept debit cards and not credit cards. The scammers know there is less protection with debit cards than credit cards.

 

Thanks! I wish I could add these!

Edited February 19, 2016 by freshmanUTA

[zero]

I've been buying used on GlobalGolf.com. Awesome stuff up there, great prices, and consistent quality ratings so you know what you're getting. That being said, above tips are definitely important, but buying online you cannot visually inspect first so you need a reputable and consistent site with club ratings you can trust.

[ShotShySheriff]

I buy and sell quite a few used 2nd sets, drivers, putters etc so I'll put this from the selling perspective to maximise price and perhaps the opposite would be true when looking to purchase for as cheap as possible.

1 - Good quality photos

2 - Demand

3 - Accurate Description

4 - Flex

5 - Season

So if you are buying, the bargains will be for clubs poorly described, not cleaned (see beneath the dirt), not a regular flex (most demand) and not a set in high demand (perhaps new model out and not a classic) and buy them out of season.

Prices will go up in the summer, clean, well described, regular flex and are a club that are still popular and in demand.