DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction sites

Come on in and sit a spell. There's a seat for you around the campfire.
Forum rules
Please keep hunting posts to Traditional Bow Hunting. No canned or high fence hunts or stories allowed. Please be respectful of fellow members and helpful to those with questions. Treat others like you like to be treated. There is a Japanese word that I try and model my life after.
GAMAN: patience..dignity..restraint.
Message
Author
Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#21 Post by Captainkirk »

By now, you should have a list of several bows you want to bid on. Here are some ways to segregate them:

1) By auction ending date.

2) By condition of bow (nicest vs 'rattiest')

3) By price range

4) By bid increment (some go in $1.00 increments, some in 5, others at still higher rates. It makes a difference)

5) By number of bidders. When you have a hot item, you can get 1 or 2 buffoons bidding against each other early on driving the price ever higher. Back away.


Sometimes you have to choose between putting a bid in on a pristine example that ends later or a lesser example that ends first. This can be a tough decision at times, but really hits home when you bypass the lesser bow and lose out on the later-ending sweetheart due to outbidding. Don't despair if this happens. There will be more. Many times I've lost out on what I thought was the finest example of something only to see an even better one listed a week later. Generally you should take them one at a time, by soonest ending date. Never bid on two bows at the same time unless you are prepared to own both of them!

Bid NOW? :shock:
No. Sit down and shut your pie hole. I will tell you when to bid.

(to be continued...)
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#22 Post by Captainkirk »

Shipping. You DID look at shipping, right?
Why? Because I have seen shipping fees as low as $8.00 and as high as $68.50. Makes a bit of a difference, no? Not saying you shouldn't pay $68.50 (because most of these $8.00 guys will lose their shirts when they get to the Post Office and find out what it costs) but rather, that if the guy is going to charge that much, you have to deduct it from your bow budget, all things being equal. If you set your max at 200 and throw in $68.50 for shipping, you really didn't buy the bow for 200 now, did you? Or, taken another way, you blew the budget by over 25%.
Some people say "Shipping doesn't count". I say, "Hogwash!"

"Buy It Now". Your bow might have a "Buy It Now" button. If the BIN price is within your budget and there are already a number of bids on the bow, you might want to consider it. This will save a lot of time and aggravation in the long run. Look at it this way; you had that amount budgeted to begin with. It's human nature to think you can get it much cheaper than the BIN price, but truth be told, most auctions go right up to that price by the time they end and somebody loses. If it's the right bow for you and the BIN price is OK, why not bypass all the tomfoolery and snatch it out from the clutches of the fighting magpies? Bam. It's yours. End of story.

"Make An Offer"
Some auctions have this option. If the bow has been listed for several days and is close to ending, what have you to lose? The worst he can do is say "no". Word of caution; don't 'lowball' and insult the seller's intelligence. Make a fair offer that might be accepted rather than a dirtbag offer that's guaranteed to be rejected...and piss off the seller.

Bid NOW?
Unless you are hitting BIN or Make An Offer, then stuff a sock in it and shut up. I have duct tape and I'm not afraid to use it.

(to be continued...)
Aim small, miss small!

Jamesh76
Posts: 2019
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 6:05 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#23 Post by Jamesh76 »

Pretty old original post. However, these are the a few of what I do.
1) ask for more pictures
2) never buy a bow that has the string on backwards. I have bought 2, both have had twisted limbs. Some say it doesn't hurt the bow. But regardless, I will never buy one like this again.
3) Check sellers history of items sold and currently for sale. Make sure they have an idea of what they are selling or have sold so they can properly provide knowledgeable information on the product.
4) check physical location its being sold from as well as if the seller is an individual or a store
5) watch the items, so you can check it frequently before you bid.
6)hold seller to an accurate description. The last Kmag, I bought had a small piece of glass gone between the string grove and tip. The seller advertised the bow as good condition with typical scratches from usage. I bought the bow for $110 shipped. I called the seller out on the condition not as advertised. I figured it was fixable but went ahead and messaged them about the chip of glass (1/8"x1/2") missing and sent them a picture. After 2 messages back and forth. They refunded me $25 of the sale making my purchase a grand total of $85 for the bow shipped. I went down into the garage, cleaned the spot up real good and epoxied it. Let it cure for a few days. Sanded it down and refinished with tru-oil. Bow looks good now, all of the scratches but 1 was removed. Bow looks good again.

stumper
Posts: 2688
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:40 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#24 Post by stumper »

Love all the advice. I would love to pick up another grizzly or a k mag.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Longbowfanatic
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:41 am

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#25 Post by Longbowfanatic »

My hard fast rule is I will only purchase from someone with 100% positive feedback. That said, I pass on many items I would like to bid on. I figure if they have 100% positive feedback, they're reputable and care about their rating. To go along with the 100% feedback requirement, I will only buy from people with a significant amount of sales history. People who have only one or few purchases/sales are kind of a gamble to deal with IMO. Lastly, I try to communicate with the seller, prior to bidding, if I have questions and I gauge their response to determine if they're good at communicating with prospective buyers. Doing these things have helped me avoid any problems when purchasing from Ebay.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#26 Post by Captainkirk »

Jamesh76 wrote:Pretty old original post. However, these are the a few of what I do.
1) ask for more pictures
2) never buy a bow that has the string on backwards. I have bought 2, both have had twisted limbs. Some say it doesn't hurt the bow. But regardless, I will never buy one like this again.
This has come up before. You can ask the seller why the bow is strung backwards and gauge his response, but yes...it's a gamble.
Jamesh76 wrote: 3) Check sellers history of items sold and currently for sale. Make sure they have an idea of what they are selling or have sold so they can properly provide knowledgeable information on the product.
4) check physical location its being sold from as well as if the seller is an individual or a store
5) watch the items, so you can check it frequently before you bid.
Again great points.
Jamesh76 wrote: 6)hold seller to an accurate description. The last Kmag, I bought had a small piece of glass gone between the string grove and tip. The seller advertised the bow as good condition with typical scratches from usage. I bought the bow for $110 shipped. I called the seller out on the condition not as advertised. I figured it was fixable but went ahead and messaged them about the chip of glass (1/8"x1/2") missing and sent them a picture. After 2 messages back and forth. They refunded me $25 of the sale making my purchase a grand total of $85 for the bow shipped. I went down into the garage, cleaned the spot up real good and epoxied it. Let it cure for a few days. Sanded it down and refinished with tru-oil. Bow looks good now, all of the scratches but 1 was removed. Bow looks good again.
Good for you, James. Sometimes the seller is ignorant but oft times is trying to unload a problem child. That's why communication and pictures are so important BEFORE you take delivery.
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#27 Post by Captainkirk »

Longbowfanatic wrote:My hard fast rule is I will only purchase from someone with 100% positive feedback. That said, I pass on many items I would like to bid on. I figure if they have 100% positive feedback, they're reputable and care about their rating. To go along with the 100% feedback requirement, I will only buy from people with a significant amount of sales history. People who have only one or few purchases/sales are kind of a gamble to deal with IMO. Lastly, I try to communicate with the seller, prior to bidding, if I have questions and I gauge their response to determine if they're good at communicating with prospective buyers. Doing these things have helped me avoid any problems when purchasing from Ebay.
Agreed with the above, although I have bid on estate sale bows and bought one from an eBay pawn shop seller that knew little or nothing about bows or archery. They were up front and answered all my questions and sent additional photos, though.
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#28 Post by Captainkirk »

Now that you have decided to bid one one or more bows, don't throw out a bid unless you will not be available to bid in the last few minutes. This happened to me 2 years ago when I bid on my Tamerlane. I knew I would be in my stand when the auction ended, so before I left for the woods I threw out a "Hail Mary" bid for the absolute maximum I would pay. I came home to find I was the new owner, for $40.00 less than my max bid!
Sometimes it works...
More often than not, I prefer NOT to bid until the last 60 seconds or less (preferably the last 10 seconds) when the only thing fast enough to outbid you is a proxy bid. This is known as 'sniping' in some circles, but all's fair in love & war (and archery) as far as I'm concerned.
So, yes...BID NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
If you followed all the advice given here by myself and others, you will most likely wind up finding a very nice bow at a reasonable price and not get burned in the process. And if you do find your new acquisition is not as described, you have the tools to fight back at your disposal.
Good luck and happy bidding!
Aim small, miss small!

User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#29 Post by Shadowhntr »

I didn't realize there could be so much to pushing a button on eBay....good thing I've never done it or I'd of sucked.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: DISCUSSION: Buying/selling used bows on the auction site

#30 Post by Captainkirk »

Shadowhntr wrote:I didn't realize there could be so much to pushing a button on eBay....good thing I've never done it or I'd of sucked.
Anyone can bid. Winning is the hard part.
Aim small, miss small!

Post Reply

Return to “Campfire”