BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Juggernaut on April 25, 2022, 01:12:25 PM
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I go to e-bay and look around (like most of us here do), and I've noticed something in the last couple of years.
Nothing is "old" or "old stock" anymore. Now it's "rare" or "unique", or "hard to find".
And the prices nowadays. :o ::)
Who in their right minds would give $300-$400-$500, heck, even $1000, for bowling equipment that you can most likely find something just like it at a better price on the current sales list?
I know, it's theirs and they can ask what they want. I'm not trying to say they can't, just wondering who in the heck they think is out there that's going to actually buy the stuff?
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I suspect it happened the first day EBay started up.
One thing I THINK I know, the old stuff is not better than the new stuff, people just remember those few great games or series with a ball and forget the bad ones.
Although I sold all my stuff off already, I'm just glad EBay users are the way they are. ;D
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I suspect it happened the first day EBay started up.
One thing I THINK I know, the old stuff is not better than the new stuff, people just remember those few great games or series with a ball and forget the bad ones.
Although I sold all my stuff off already, I'm just glad EBay users are the way they are. ;D
Hmmmm. I shot an 800 series (my first) with new equipment, but yet I shot two 300's within 6 months of each other with an old RG Nomad.
I guess it just depends on the bowler.
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I suspect it happened the first day EBay started up.
One thing I THINK I know, the old stuff is not better than the new stuff, people just remember those few great games or series with a ball and forget the bad ones.
Although I sold all my stuff off already, I'm just glad EBay users are the way they are. ;D
Hmmmm. I shot an 800 series (my first) with new equipment, but yet I shot two 300's within 6 months of each other with an old RG Nomad.
I guess it just depends on the bowler.
Loved the Nomad Dagger, but didn't find it significantly different that the Hy-Road.
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Yep...back when I first discovered ebay for myself around 2004 or so - maybe 2009, you could get discontinued stuff really cheap ...weather recently discontinued or already for a while now...now it seems that just being discontinued makes it a rarity and warrants a premium price tag....now for stuff like the quantum helix yes, I can understand the asking prices for those but for the less unique and "rare" stuff , no way.
Brad
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and plus shipping!
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I get my stuff around $100 a ball...sure it's not as cheap as a shop but whatever...
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See the same crap with the facebook groups. Every SPI user seems to think their balls appreciate in value, even if they have a couple of holes in them sometimes.
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It is hit or miss on there. Still plenty of deals but now with taxes added and everyone using USPS priority mail as their default shipping making shipping a ball $40+ there is a lot more misses then hits.
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I used to sell all of my used stuff on eBay. Hardly seems worth it now with the shipping costs. Who wants to pay $100 for a used ball?
That being said, yea I'm not paying $400 for a ball that came out in 2007 that most likely won't even out perform my bottom of the line C300 Beast that I paid less than $100 for....
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I used to sell all of my used stuff on eBay. Hardly seems worth it now with the shipping costs. Who wants to pay $100 for a used ball?
That being said, yea I'm not paying $400 for a ball that came out in 2007 that most likely won't even out perform my bottom of the line C300 Beast that I paid less than $100 for....
Nothing has changed between 2007 and now in ball technology. No ball from then or now is worth $400 for most bowers.
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See the same crap with the facebook groups. Every SPI user seems to think their balls appreciate in value, even if they have a couple of holes in them sometimes.
Lane #1 used to be that way. Now it's hard to give that crap away(Used balls).
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It is hit or miss on there. Still plenty of deals but now with taxes added and everyone using USPS priority mail as their default shipping making shipping a ball $40+ there is a lot more misses then hits.
True, but you can actually make a few dollars using UPS Simple Rate which is less than $25 with the fuel surcharge for anywhere in the Lower 48 for a single ball.
USPS can be cheaper as well if you use a service like Pirate Ship, it will be almost half from the regular USPS rate.
Most sellers will allow you to send them a shipping label instead of charging a full price for shipping.
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It's called supply and demand. Every so often 1 more Alpha Crux is drilled, or does, leaving only 50 or so NIB in the world.
Will a 2020 Camaro get you from A to B? Sure will, does that make a 1969 Camaro worth any less? Nope. Everytime someone totals or customizes(drills) a 69 Camaro, the remaining untouched\undrilled ones have a smaller supply, become harder to find, but their demand never changes.
Economics 101.
Not everyone wants a classic car, in fact the vast majority of people would scoff at the price they're worth. That's fine, but it doesn't change the reality that as long as people with knowledge of that car continue to pay and transfer ownership of that make\model for equal or greater costs each day, then the price is perfectly reasonable.
You might scoff at paying $500 for an Alpha Crux, but they sell within the first 24hrs of being posted for that price. You don't have to agree, but you should try to understand.
In the grand scheme, bowling is such a cheap hobby. A $500 bowling ball pales into comparison to a single club in my golf bag, that get replaced equally as often, and I have 14 of those. That's before we even talk about $50 rounds of golf vs $2 bowling games, and every golf ball I lose adds to the tally of each round. Range finder, tees, gloves, dress codes, yadda yadda.
Perspective matters. If you don't wanna pay $500 for a rare collectors ball, I completely get it. If you aren't interested in a $80k Corvette, I get that too. But trying to rationalize it as if a Prius will get you from A to B the same way, is laughable at best.
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It's called supply and demand. Every so often 1 more Alpha Crux is drilled, or does, leaving only 50 or so NIB in the world.
Will a 2020 Camaro get you from A to B? Sure will, does that make a 1969 Camaro worth any less? Nope. Everytime someone totals or customizes(drills) a 69 Camaro, the remaining untouched\undrilled ones have a smaller supply, become harder to find, but their demand never changes.
Economics 101.
Not everyone wants a classic car, in fact the vast majority of people would scoff at the price they're worth. That's fine, but it doesn't change the reality that as long as people with knowledge of that car continue to pay and transfer ownership of that make\model for equal or greater costs each day, then the price is perfectly reasonable.
You might scoff at paying $500 for an Alpha Crux, but they sell within the first 24hrs of being posted for that price. You don't have to agree, but you should try to understand.
In the grand scheme, bowling is such a cheap hobby. A $500 bowling ball pales into comparison to a single club in my golf bag, that get replaced equally as often, and I have 14 of those. That's before we even talk about $50 rounds of golf vs $2 bowling games, and every golf ball I lose adds to the tally of each round. Range finder, tees, gloves, dress codes, yadda yadda.
Perspective matters. If you don't wanna pay $500 for a rare collectors ball, I completely get it. If you aren't interested in a $80k Corvette, I get that too. But trying to rationalize it as if a Prius will get you from A to B the same way, is laughable at best.
True, but most aren't 69 Camaro's. Which is why so much of what is on there doesn't sell or typically get offers. Then when someone does post said bell with no reserve or at a much lower price do we see what the market will bare. Same for the older Black Widows and Vibes I've been watching. Most stay on there and do not sell or eventually get pulled at some of the prices people think they are worth. Or even when you go through and look at the much less popular stuff that took forever for shops/distributors to get rid of and people are posting at unreasonable prices because they were discontinued.
In terms of price it is relative to the buyer. If you make a lot of money then $500 on anything probably isn't a second thought for you especially your hobby. Or what the buyer thinks the ball can do for them. If you feel you can make money using the ball then a $500 investment when you believe the returns is far greater is definitely not a bad deal. Same for FB and other selling options
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It's called supply and demand. Every so often 1 more Alpha Crux is drilled, or does, leaving only 50 or so NIB in the world.
Will a 2020 Camaro get you from A to B? Sure will, does that make a 1969 Camaro worth any less? Nope. Everytime someone totals or customizes(drills) a 69 Camaro, the remaining untouched\undrilled ones have a smaller supply, become harder to find, but their demand never changes.
Economics 101.
Not everyone wants a classic car, in fact the vast majority of people would scoff at the price they're worth. That's fine, but it doesn't change the reality that as long as people with knowledge of that car continue to pay and transfer ownership of that make\model for equal or greater costs each day, then the price is perfectly reasonable.
You might scoff at paying $500 for an Alpha Crux, but they sell within the first 24hrs of being posted for that price. You don't have to agree, but you should try to understand.
In the grand scheme, bowling is such a cheap hobby. A $500 bowling ball pales into comparison to a single club in my golf bag, that get replaced equally as often, and I have 14 of those. That's before we even talk about $50 rounds of golf vs $2 bowling games, and every golf ball I lose adds to the tally of each round. Range finder, tees, gloves, dress codes, yadda yadda.
Perspective matters. If you don't wanna pay $500 for a rare collectors ball, I completely get it. If you aren't interested in a $80k Corvette, I get that too. But trying to rationalize it as if a Prius will get you from A to B the same way, is laughable at best.
Funnily enough, it could be said that we are in a golden age of bowling. What I mean by that is that a lot of us are in bowling's Goldilocks' Zone, where we have seen the evolution of it and more importantly the evolution of the technology that has gone into bowling. We've used a lot of the older equipment along with what is out there today. And since that older equipment is getting harder and harder to come by, especially NIB, you're going to obviously see the higher prices in that gear. In short, what we're seeing on eBay is similar to all of the things going on in the trading card industry, where the older gear has become collector's items.
I'll admit; prior to the Black Widow Purple Pearl Urethane coming out, I was scouring eBay for a NIB 15lb. Faball Blue Pearl Hammer to go along with the Blue Hammer I've had since 1989. I was wanting the Pearl in 15 because I already have it in 16 and I don't throw 16lb gear anymore. My intention was to use those, as they are still durable and useful to this day. But now that the Widow has come out, and subsequently the Pink Pearl Urethane, I don't see any need to find one, let alone buy it. I have seem them selling for around the $600 range.
I've had others on my list as well: NIB Turbo X, NIB Nitro/R, NIB TPC Warrior. The only one I have picked up, which I was going to punch up, was the Ebonite Optyx Formula 1, but I've decided not to. If anything, they are great for the trophy case, and that's about it, at least for me right now. But with all of the balls we have out there that are now considered "classic", it's easy to see why they are going up in value and why people are posting such high prices on them.
There are two types of people in this: those looking to buy them to use them, and those looking to buy them for the trophy. It all just depends on which one of those two are looking at it, and if they pull the proverbial trigger.
BL.
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Too many times ive got something and ended up selling it for profit vs drilling it even though its something i wanted.
Recently bought a 15lb 3D Offset Tour edition and original 15lb Columbia Beast.....as badly as i wanted to keep and drill i knew the money would make me happier.
Bought a 15lb Brunswick Attitude 3 off ebay for $150 The ball was every bit as beautiful as I imagined it would be. Sold it two weeks later. Same for the Synergy Pearl and Synergy ETS. Gems are great but i honestly can't pull the trigger to actually drill them.
The technology hasn't changed enough that these balls woul be great on almost anything most bowlers face.