So I bought the wife and I some clubs the past few days. It seemed like a really had 3 choices:
1. Buy Good New
2. Buy Cheap New
3. Buy Good Used
I am sure a lot of people are confronted with this decision, so I wanted to share my thought process. Here goes.
1. Buy Good New
The main attraction to this is getting some awesome new clubs! But, the cost for a new bag, good irons (name brand OEM), woods, putter, etc. was getting north of $1,500. What if I didn't really stick to this? And...I am buying the wife clubs too, so this was prohibitive.
2. Buy Cheap New
I could have bought a complete set for $500 or less, including bag, but what if we actually did get into this golf thing? These clubs don't seem to hold their value that well, so either we were buying clubs we weren't going to use, or we were buying short-term clubs with limited resale value.
Which brings us to...
3. Buy Good Used
This seemed to make the most sense, and present the best compromise. The idea of this move is to buy used good clubs at a discount, with the thought that if we did get into golf seriously, we had good clubs. If we didn't stick with it, we could sell them for nearly what we paid. Sort of a cheap rental, with the upside of being usable for many years. The downside is they are not new.
We chose number 3.
We purchased the following:
For me:
- Ping Eye 2 Red Dot Irons (3-PW +SW) 9 clubs for $250
- Ping Eye 2 Woods (1, 3, 5) $70
- New Wilson Bag - $40
- Ping Putter - $100 (new)
- Refurbishing Irons ($117)
Total: $577
For wife:
- Ping Eye 2 Orange Dot Irons (3-PW +SW) 9 clubs for $200
- Ping G15 Woods (3, 5) $130
- Used Bag - $60
- Used Ping Putter - $70
- Refurbishing Irons ($117)
Total: $577
Total cost for 2 sets: ~ $1,150
My thinking regarding the refurbishing of the irons is they will feel new, which mitigates the main negative. It was an extra $230 to the price tag, but I feel it would have made the entire deal doable. I like new! So does the wife. And this feels less garage sale-ish.
We paid more than had we bought cheap clubs, but not THAT much more. And we have a set we can play for many years, maybe even forever. The other negative to the Pings is the outdated technology, but most reviews I've read say that they are not that bad relative to the latest and greatest.
What do you guys think? Like the move? Hate it?
1. Buy Good New
2. Buy Cheap New
3. Buy Good Used
I am sure a lot of people are confronted with this decision, so I wanted to share my thought process. Here goes.
1. Buy Good New
The main attraction to this is getting some awesome new clubs! But, the cost for a new bag, good irons (name brand OEM), woods, putter, etc. was getting north of $1,500. What if I didn't really stick to this? And...I am buying the wife clubs too, so this was prohibitive.
2. Buy Cheap New
I could have bought a complete set for $500 or less, including bag, but what if we actually did get into this golf thing? These clubs don't seem to hold their value that well, so either we were buying clubs we weren't going to use, or we were buying short-term clubs with limited resale value.
Which brings us to...
3. Buy Good Used
This seemed to make the most sense, and present the best compromise. The idea of this move is to buy used good clubs at a discount, with the thought that if we did get into golf seriously, we had good clubs. If we didn't stick with it, we could sell them for nearly what we paid. Sort of a cheap rental, with the upside of being usable for many years. The downside is they are not new.
We chose number 3.
We purchased the following:
For me:
- Ping Eye 2 Red Dot Irons (3-PW +SW) 9 clubs for $250
- Ping Eye 2 Woods (1, 3, 5) $70
- New Wilson Bag - $40
- Ping Putter - $100 (new)
- Refurbishing Irons ($117)
Total: $577
For wife:
- Ping Eye 2 Orange Dot Irons (3-PW +SW) 9 clubs for $200
- Ping G15 Woods (3, 5) $130
- Used Bag - $60
- Used Ping Putter - $70
- Refurbishing Irons ($117)
Total: $577
Total cost for 2 sets: ~ $1,150
My thinking regarding the refurbishing of the irons is they will feel new, which mitigates the main negative. It was an extra $230 to the price tag, but I feel it would have made the entire deal doable. I like new! So does the wife. And this feels less garage sale-ish.
We paid more than had we bought cheap clubs, but not THAT much more. And we have a set we can play for many years, maybe even forever. The other negative to the Pings is the outdated technology, but most reviews I've read say that they are not that bad relative to the latest and greatest.
What do you guys think? Like the move? Hate it?