I review the classified regularly. There are certain Bow and/or Bowyers that come up for sale often. Especially after somebody just bought one new or even used. What though seems to come up the most?

My thoughts are the grip didn’t fit the buyers hand, they expected to get the “miracle bow”, or it just doesn’t hit where they are looking. Some just may have over extended themselves financially.

Autocorrect got me.

I review the classified regularly. There are certain Bow and/or Bowyers that come up for sale often. Especially after somebody just bought one new or even used. What Bow seems to come up the most?

1960-1962 (62") Howatt Monterey... They are complete trash and anyone that has one must contact me ASAP so I can take them all... I'll pay shipping... checking PM's now... :-)

a lot of black widows

Bear Archery but they sell a ton of them. Also asl’s as they look and carry great but not everyone can get along with one.

It depends on what bows or kinds of bows are “hot” at the moment.

It could be the grip, or the weight, or the check book balance at the moment. I've picked up some real bargains and never figured out the why part. I will say that the bows that I resold the quickest were a Black Widow, a Predator, a Dakota, and a Dwyer. Four very different bows and four different reasons for selling. I was curious and I tried them and moved them out for about what I paid.

Disillusionment.

I have only sold one Trad bow, so far, in my life, and I sold it because I had recently acquired my first Black Widow, and the old Martin Hatfield TD was too heavy in draw weight, after a lot of years. But I sort of regret it, now, as I have gained strength back and would be able to shoot it again, now.

Correction: I forgot, I traded a Northern Mist longbow Ramer, for some Bear TD limbs, of a heavier weight than I currently had. I don't regret it, as I have another longbow, NM Classic, I like better and the Bear TD limbs get shot a lot, also.

Well said George……..happens most often, when inflated expectations confront reality.

Hands down Black Widow... Those turd scammers are persistent!!

That's a good question. I've often wondered why I see certain bows for sale, often. B/c in my mind, that's a potential red flag not to get one of those bows! However, my notice of certain bows being sold a lot is definitely not scientific. It may be I notice certain ones more than others. But so far, it seems to me that Toelke bows are up for sale quite often. I talked to a guy whose favorite bow is a Toelke longbow. He loves the looks and forms of a lot of bows but will hardly ever keep or shoot any other bow. He said people who get Toelkes are not expecting the far before center cut window, and they don't know how to select the right arrows for them so their experience is, they don't shoot well for them.

The other side of the coin is, what bows hardly ever come up for sale? 3 come to mind: Brandon Stahl bows; Whippenstick bows; and Vintage Works bows. Partly b/c they are not made any more. But also, people who have them just don't want to sell them. Not very often, anyway.

Since I’m old it was to go lighter in weight. But it is always fun to look at classifieds even if I can’t handle the weights.

I dont see Shrews come up for sale often. Like ever, especially left handed. But the point about Toelke is an eye opener, hear nothing but good things about their bows but l do see it for sale often!

Toelke and BW have to be the top two. I know I'm part of that group. Both are excellent bows but I could never get consistent with them. That is more on me than it is the bow. But it does show you that it isn't always about the brand.

Always Black Widows

TD Widows are too heavy of a mass weight..

I used to buy and sale a bunch of bows , every one of them were sold not because of any great shortcomings with the bow but because I had something else that shot better for ME. I also think value has a lot to do with it, I’d think folks would be more likely to want to move a bow that is high value that doesn’t do it for them than something cheaper. Then to whoever sells the most bows is going to see the most resales.

Now after a few years since Chad passed I don't see Holm-Made bows in the classifieds. Also RER's from Kevin and Sue's time or Nemah's bows. See "old" Bears but could be because they made so many?

I buy bows looking for something better or for a specific purpose, if the bow isn’t better or suit the purpose better than my favorites, it’s sold. I went to a shoot last summer and there were only two bows “For sale” a Black Widow Longbow me a Tolke Longbow. Both were very nice bows too, certainly nothing wrong with them.

I bought a “Blacktail Elite” that was just beautiful and shot it for a bit but couldn’t get comfortable with the feel. I sold it to a buddy of mine who had the same problem with it so I took it back and resold it. Kind of like a beautiful woman that you just don’t “Klick” with. Great to look at but not for the long run! Cotton

That’s an easy one. Just look on our classifieds.

When I see several bows of a particular brand up for sale by individuals, I take it as sign that the bowyer is selling a whole lot of bows.

Too difficult to say without knowing production numbers of the various brands...

Some bows are made in larger quantities and thus more come up for resale. Some custom bowyers make so few that you rarely see one for sale. And some are not made any more so people may want to hang on to them.

I doubt that "the grip" is the totality of the issue... some of it is due to the hype/marketing exceeded the bow.

Part of the problem is the Wall doesn't really appreciate anything negative.

You post something negative - you'll get a keyboard beatdown and most likely the post removed. So... we must all be very careful to only say good stuff. Additionally - the seller doesn't do himself much favor with full disclosure of his opinion... so you get a LOT of "grip just doesn't suite me..." or "my shoulder just can't take it."

It's rarely the grip... and you're shoulder is fine hombre.

Jar

I would say the Samick Sage might be one of the bows most flipped because of its entry level cost not because there are issues with it .

I have been "lucky" in that all the bows I have acquired have met my expectation(s). Being realistic helps, there is no "Magic bow". Jim Reynolds, John McDonald, Tim Finley and Damon Howatt have made bows that fit me. As mentioned about hype may be part of it, expense may be also, but what George said has a large chunk of the reason.

I won't mention the name but I had a custom longbow made. After enduring excuse after excuse, I finally received the longbow. The weight was missed, the limbs were not the color I ordered and I am certain that I'm missing another short coming. I had another bow he made that I absolutely loved. This new custom was a flop... The jest of this post is, that bow was in the classifieds every other week for months (it shot terrible). So, sometimes at a glance one may not notice it is the same bow.

Mostly bows that people buy on impulse or without trying one out first

What's hot this month will be on sale in three months.

Some guys to try different bows, some are searching for the new and best. Often they get a new bow it shoots great and they fall in love until.....

The "until" (IMO) is when you get our new bow, you take your time to shoot and learn it. Then once you've learned it your old habits come back into play and it (you) isn't (aren't) any better.

Back when I was trying bows over and over I did this. Nothing was sold until roughly deer season. I would shoot my new hotness all summer. Come August I would shoot my old bow and the new one on alternating days. The winner went hunting. The loser often went up for sale.

Forty years ago I worked in a gun shop. Each month Guns and Ammo, Handgunner and other magazines would come out with a new "have to own" gun and 6-10 people would come in looking for one. Then about six months later they'd trade them in on the new hot gun.

I have to believe bows are the same.

What really gets me is the people that come on here with a custom made bow that they waited an extremely long time for and sell it when it's only like a month old or less.

PS i will pay more for them if you don't put your name on it.

It’s very good for the archery economy and archers. We didn’t have all of these wonderful choices in the good old days.

3 out of 4 Black Widows, I have bought off the classifieds. However, it seems 3 out of 4 are also scams. It pays to do your research. My last purchase went extremely well because the seller and I had a phone conversation, something I don't like doing because of bad hearing, but almost necessary these days.

Among my wanderings I see a lot of black widow bows for sale that has writing on the limbs that say “custom made for” with someone’s name on it. I’ve shot a few b/w bows and they all seem pretty good. I can’t understand why they would want to sell their bow. What happened.

I had one with my name on it and eventually sold it when it got too heavy for me.

The ones that when spoken of 5-10 years later "I never should have sold".

Speaking of names on bows, I actually like buying a used bow with someone else's name on it. I always try to imagine who that person is or was, what they were thinking when they ordered the bow, how much enjoyment they got out of the bow, and what kind of hunts or shhots that bow experienced.

No set bow manufacture. If I buy and shoot and it does not feel good or shoots for me all over the place as in loose groups. I will sell down the road. I buy used mostly as not to lose much driving it off the lot. Also short shipping wait time. Tried hundreds of bows so now know what will work for me with style of grip, length of bow etc. Problem now is keeping up with a weight/poundage of bow since both shoulders need replacing. I shoot left and right so lots of bows to sell over 45 pounds. :)) Mostly vintage stuff so it is always collectible.

The one most sold buy me after buying was the stupid Samick Sage. I had to get 5 in order to get 3 shootable ones. I traded and gave them away. Couldnt get shed of then quick enough.

Disillusionment!!! George are you telling me if I go and buy that $2000 new bow that at 79 it will not make me shoot like JDIII. How disappointing. You realize that every bow, gun manufacturers and commercial on TV says they can make me feel 21 or at least 40 again. Guess I’ll jus have to keep my current bows.

RonL

Don’t ruin the dream…I have about 6 new bows that I want to buy, each has the potential to take me to the top of the mountain!

Great Topic and Comments ,All. Been there and done it. Not so much now that I know what works for me over the last 50 plus years.

A well known brand's take-down longbow!

As a shooter of one their existing 1-piece D-R longbows I was expecting the same experience & performance .... I'd thought, surely it's as simple as cutting into 3 pieces, preserving the geometry et voilá.

I was sadly disappointed! Bow itself is beautiful but ....

only bought 1 bow I sold soon after. just glad I bought used from the guy who bought new and didn't pay full $ $,$$$.00 retail and take any loss.

Bear Montana Longbow.

The Black Widow Scam model seems to be up for sale often

Bear bows,,,,

The two I was most disapointed in were the Bear Super Kodiak and the Wood Handle Bear td. I thought the Super Kodiak was a beautiful bow but, very slow and I had 3 different ones and got rid of all of them. Next was the wood handle Bear td and I 3 of them and could never get used to them so I sold them. Funny though I think the Bear Mag tds are wonderful bows and really like the way they shoot especially the "A" models. Very user friendly and super easy to tune and takedown. Great design.

Archery is so subjective to each individual. I find it funny that the Sage type bows are among the most flipped bows. I have a Southwest Archery Spyder that actually shoots better than a lot of high dollar bows I've owned. I also have the Southwest Tigershark Pro takedown, it's an awesome shooting bow.

Not all custom bows are created equal. Some are average at best.

Reading some of your comments about the latest and greatest whatever, I've never seen a worse case of selling last years model to get the new model than from the Mathews fanboys over on the compound side of archery. It happens every November. Maybe Fred Bear changed up the Kodiak and Kodiak Specials every year in order to play on that personality quirk. And good point on one out of two Black Widows on the used market being non-existent. Sad but true. It has given me the idea that perhaps there should be a bow trust set up where the Black Widow seller sends his bow to a bonded neutral third party to hold until the sale takes place. For a small fee, of course.

Everyone I ever owned lol:)

Bear bows!

"Bow most often sold after buying?"

Bows that someone thought were going to make them a better shot.

Exactly NEMO

Well there used to be legitimate Black Widows for sale on here. I think guys buy tricked out customs, widows or other,as a status symbol when getting into the sport. Once they start shooting they realize its something that takes a huge commitment and they put the stick up for sale and go back to there compound.... I have heard stories of guys that couldnt stand the thought of a big buck walking by out of range at forty yards.... When they had a traditional bow in there hands. Who knows ... Im sure the reasons are numerous.

It could be any bow/manufacturer. Number sales dictate the higher number of resales. All the reasons listed above are the factor, grip, weight, feel for the owner, delusionment, etc. All bows are good shooters to someone, just the right someone.

I sold off my Shakespeare Super Neceda 20 years ago because I would have stabbing pain in my bow arm shoulder after shooting it. That was the only bow that ever did that to me. It was a beautiful zebra wood recurve and I sure hated to let it go.

Then there was a longbow, made for a shop in MI (names withheld) that was supposed to be a copy of a Howard Hill bow. I bought some, but it was terrible. The string alignment was bad causing the bow to try and twist like Chubby Checker. It was a waste of material.

Apparently it's any bow that some gets, spends a lot of money on it. Gets buyers remorse. Shows everybody and says this ones a keeper then turns around and puts it up for sale. Because there wife found out how much they spent. LoL JF

Nemo X 3

Not mad about Toelke and Widows being up for sale often. Those are my favorite bows!

I wish a 40-45# 64" bear black beauty was on the list.

The ones that are 8 pounds too heavy ;-)

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