It has been a while since I have sold a bow. Currently trying to sell 2, but don't seem like anyone is buying. Seeing same bows posted not moving week in and week out.

Iv had several in the classified over a few months & sold 1 & i feel I'm asking a fair price. For instance Iv had a dryad Orion longbow listed for 475 with carbon graphite limbs. The riser new is 400 & new limbs 600 my asking price is less than 1/2 & bow is in New condition. Is the asking price to hi or is 57# that undesirable

YEP!

Agreed. Seems slow. Not only are most not selling, not that many are being listed.

Man I just bought one on here and have a custom LB coming from Dave Johnson. That Saxon American would be gone if it was right hand. I'm doing my part to stop the Bow Recession.

Lots of good stuff for sale, including some good left hand stuff. I've got one that I'd like to put up but I think I'll wait until things thin out a bit.

A lot you see are just plain overpriced. Bear Grizzly, early 70's asking $300.00. Starting bids of nearly $200.00 on fifty year old bows. Some aren't selling because they are just asking too much. If you have been selling and buying for any length of time, you should know that there will be ups and downs. We're in a down. That makes it an 'up' if you are looking for bows. To be honest, if you're trying to sell a used bow for $700.00, you are likely going to not find many takers...custom, top line or not. All bows do the same thing, and that foo-foo you added when you bought a custom is suddenly just extra cost you won't get back.

As a buyer, I kinda like the market right now.

George, I like that--"all bows do the same thing."

I just sold a Belcher Custom Shop Longhorn R/D Flat-bow for $325 in less than 24hrs cause I bought a CF Backed Jet Safari Premier for $450...my point?...

The Longhorn was easily a $800 bow new and the Jet Safari lists for $825 new but?...when buying used?...it's no longer a "Custom Ordered Bow" so the as new price point no longer applies and should quite literally be chopped in half (or near it) if the seller is serious about actually selling it but time and time again I see ads where someone thinks they should get $900 for the $1,100 custom bow they ordered where they got to pick the length, poundage, woods and?...get a warranty which most times is non-transferable and then think they are doing someone a favor for knocking $200 off new? LOL!

and then we get these sort of threads. LOL! ;)

Hey bill .enjoy that jet . And don't resell it .lol. Dan.

Good time to buy or trade.

I like the way that Jinks.... thinks.

He and George are making the same point, really.... A bow chucks an arrow; and as near as I can tell. very few of them will do it more than about 5% faster than average.

Not saying that customs don’t have their own value to them, but unless it’s built to your own specs, it’s all in the eye of the beholder...

And FWIW, #57 does seem to be on the high side of Fashionable these days, it for someone like me, it’s not enough more than one of my #55s to trip my Wannit trigger ;)

I agree with the high asking price theory. I know which bow Jinkster is referring to and I thought the same thing. There were others I thought the price was too high.

I have sold 10 bows in the last 3 weeks. 4 on here and 6 to local people I know. I had them priced fair. Not high or low. One of them sat on here for sale for the 2 weeks and only one inquired about it . They were the one that bought it.

Buckdancer: That Jet Safari should be here tomorrow and I think it found a rather permanent home as it's quite unique and beautiful....I was quite taken with Big Georges Jet Warthog up at TBOF a few weeks back...what a beautiful bow and between that and regretting selling my J.D. Berry Misty Dawn?...I can't wait to nock some cedars up on the Jet! :)

Catsailor: We were all there once and they are new too the resale value game.

I also think there's no shortage of retired old men turned "Bow Flippers" out there.

Agreed with George, many are simply over-priced. Yeah, it's a way over-used cliche, but it still rings true: an item is worth only what someone is willing to pay.

I buy and sell a lot. If I have one advertised a few days and get no responses, I figure it is priced too high and I lower the price. Unless it is a heavy poundage bow or a super custom expensive model, I find it a good seller's market. Bottom line is ..............price is everything!

I'll add my opinion- there is often something in an ad that helps a bow sell better than others. Pics, healthy description and reputable seller go a long way.

The difference between Jinkster's ad when he sold that longhorn and when he bought it was night and day. And, Buckdancer you by far offer the best prices on every bow you sell (I just bought one today from you), but your description is brief and rarely post pictures...that has allowed me to use self control and not buy.

Believe it or not, marketing helps, especially considering most of us have some level of bow addiction going on.

Pete

My total purchase and sales for the past two months have to be getting close to $10,000, so the market isn't dead. The high end stuff is slow and the buyers are picky. I've seen some logic used in the last month in an attempt to knock the price down that I have never heard before. I don't let it bother me. The high end stuff will move because there is more demand than supply. The factory bows will move when priced right but being $50 out of the market will kill a potential sale before it even gets to the negotiating stage. Same goes for vintage bows. I actually have improved my stable of bows quite a bit in the past few weeks and still have a nice bow fund to work with if something else pops up.

I agree with the notion that fair price, lots of pictures, being willing to negotiate, and being completely honest in your description will go a long way in selling a bow. Things that turn me off on a sale are: incomplete descriptions, asking a price close to purchasing the bow new, someone listing in the add that buying this bow will save you a year of "stressful waiting" if one ordered a bow from the same maker....especially if that bow is not exactly what you might be looking for in length, draw, or tiller.

Another peeve with me, and I know others feel differently about this, is someone else's name on the bow. Why do guys feel they have to brand their possessions like it was their dream bow of a lifetime, only to sell it a couple of months later? I may be wrong about this, but I think a bow will appeal to a larger market without a name on it. If I saw two similar bows on the sale list, one with an old owner's name and one without, I'd buy the bow with no name. That is just my personal preference.

If a buyer shows an interest in a bow I have for sale, I encourage them to make me an offer. From that point it is often relatively easy to come to an agreeable price for both the buyer and the seller. Both end up happy.

I made an offer on a bow once that was only $50 less than the asking price, and more in line with other bows of the same maker that have been offered for sale. I was told in so many words to drop dead for making such an unreasonable low ball offer. Come on....the guy acted like he was doing me a favor for even offering the bow for sale. After a couple of weeks he later contacted me stating he would take my original offer. Evidently he had no luck in selling the bow. I told told him thank you, but no.

Of course, finding a bow listed that is exactly what you are looking for.........well I'm the king of all suckers for that bow!

Bows are like cows, horses, cars, houses, doesn't matter. if you put a price on something, and it doesn't sell, it's priced too high for that market, at that time.

Prices are too high, draw weights are too heavy or bows are too short and combinations of the three! 60% of new price is usually my cutoff unless it's really pretty are exact specs I'm looking for and I still won't go much more. I need to save a substantial amount or I might as well buy new and get exactly what I want!

Don't forget, now is tax refund season, good for selling and buying.

Not much of a market. Saturated. The guys that tried a lot of bows for grins have tried hundreds already. The others that used to, are old or dead. The market for over 50# bows is dead because guys just are not as strong as they used to be due to most jobs not in manual labor anymore. The lefties in the world have taken their "right sided brain" to pursue other venues. Besides I think there is an Archery App out there, where you do not have to physically shoot a bow and you can score high.

Another thought:

A custom bow, to a seller, represents an object of desire; something that he probably spent a lot of time on, getting everything Just So. Then he waited a while to get it and paid quite a chunk for it.

A USED custom bow, to a buyer, represents a bow that was some kind of a disappointment to the original buyer, so how good could it be? The bowyer’s reputation is important, but if that particular bow is all that it’s cracked up to be, why would it be up for sale with less than a dozen arrows through it?

Irony: A used, top-o-the-line Compound can take a huge hit on value simply because it’s a year or two old, and nobody thinks twice. Suggest that a comparable hit on a custom (to someone other than the buyer) stickbow is within reason, and people look at you like you just don’t get it…

If the price is right the bow will sell

One more thing, alluding to what was said above - PHOTOS. I've learned from hard experience, poor photos are almost always hiding significant issues. So, if the photos are minimal or of poor resolution, I always assume the worst (as that is usually the case) and place a value on it accordingly. The value I place on it is usually much less than asking price. Conversely, if there are abundant good photos, I would be willing to pay more, as my risk is less.

Im having no issues been buying and selling quite a few lately. Prices are very high on a lot i see. Offered $600 the other day for a used set of xtours and the guy would not take it. There only $789 shipped new with warranty

There are bows that the market doesn’t seem to affect. They’re so desireable and hard to get bc of the wait, you basically have to pay the price if you want one. I am talking about Lukas Novotny’s Saluki Hybrid recurves. If you want one bad, you can wait, and look around and see if you can find the model and draw weight used. Or, you can order one, and wait. Since I sold mine, I rarely see those Hybrids for sale, and hardly ever see his all bamboo longbows for sale either. You’ll probably never see his all bamboo recurve for sale. I never have. I’m glad I owned some of his bows,, but they’re really meant for the experienced hunter, imho.

I forgot to say that there are other companies that sell similar bows, but I believe his are the best.

I drive my wife (and sometimes myself) crazy buying and selling. I don't do it a ton, but usually usually once maybe twice a year at best. I always have to sell to get another one though. I didn't have any problems unloading two Bear takedowns in the last month. Being 45 and 50 pound draws helped as well. I purchased a Tall Tines recurve to replace one of the Bears. (should be here tomorrow!) I had a TT several years ago I really didn't want to get rid of, but needed the extra money at the time. The new one is the same draw weight except it is 2" longer and different woods. Hoping I like it as well as the first one!

Anyway to be long winded it seems to me also that the market is down and not a ton offered like there used to be before the recession. A lot of stuff is over priced and some are unbelievably under priced in my opinion and they go quick!

Cold green cash is a big chunk of leverage. In two months big shoots will fire up and bows will sell at blanket trades for $150 less than anybody's asking here. I guess it's 'cause October is closer, and everyone got paid.

Facebook is the place to sell. social media is killing these blog sites

I also sold a Bear takedown this winter to buy myself a different bow. The Bear sold easy, I didn't get the top dollar I was wanting, but I got a fair price and I'm very happy with my new bow.

Facebook is also a good place to get your personal information hacked as we're presently learning. Glad I've never been there. I read an article this morning about how hard it is to cancel an account with them. I have a friend who had to get a security clearance for a job he took with a gov't contractor. They said because he never had a Facebook account it only took two months to get instead of the expected six if he had a Facebook account.

I think the bow market may be a bit saturated--lots of us have tried a lot of bows and have slowed down a lot on buying/trading. I know I have. There just isn't much I find I want any more.

I'm just a guy, but reasonably priced bows are few and far between here lately. Once in a while there is one that makes me look at it and say hey here's a good buy. But that's just me. I buy 'em to use 'em and don't need a Ferrari to run to the store. nybubba

I never knew ppl sold on FB. Not that I would but interesting. I never sold a bow on any site but a BB.

I have sold bows here, AT and TT. Used to sell on TG till they started charging. I think we are all spoiled for choice bow wise. So many good bowyers out there and lots we have yet to try and that is the appeal.

I usually list an item and if it does not sell I realize my price point is either off or the market is. I decide then how bad I want to sell. If I want to sell I drop my price and I keep dropping till I find a willing buyer. If not I delete the ads.

I have been a member here since I guess 1999-ish and things like this run in a cycle. I think there are guys out there still interested in buying if the price is right and I don't really think everyone has their bows over priced. Yes, I have seen a few that made me say wow, but not all.

I usually say my price plus OBO, I figure that shows I am open to discuss.

Not that I am old, but at my age I don't get offended easy, so if someone wants to talk price I am glad they are interested, why would I get mad if it's a lower offer. If its too low, just say no and move on.

Buying, selling and shooting bows are the fun things we get to do in life. Too much serious stuff out there in the real world that really sux that makes us all really need this hobby. Sure glad we all get to have this sport together!

Bill

Good pics go a LONG way in selling a bow. I've turned down a few because pics were poor.

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