Where To Sell/Trade Your Golf Clubs

Recently, we talked about the best places to look for used clubs. Today, we are covering the flip side of that equation: Where’s the best place(s) to sell your used clubs to come up with a little extra scratch to fund that next purchase?  

While there are, as always, multiple places you can accomplish your goal, we’re going to focus on a few specific spots that offer great value and a safe selling experience for getting you the most out of your used equipment. 

Places to Sell Used Golf Clubs In Person

A quick online search will likely show a wide variety of stores to choose from in your vicinity. Just look at the search results from my local area. I count 19 options within an hour’s drive of my location. Depending on where you live, that number could be significantly less (or significantly more).. 

1. Local Golf Specialty Store

Our best advice would be to go to a reputable shop that you’d be comfortable buying used clubs from. In my case, that’s a place like Roger Dunn Golf Shops, which not only offers nearly every brand new but a huge selection of used gear as well, often at great prices. They’re a trusted commodity, they have excellent reviews and the many times I’ve been there the staff has always been incredibly friendly and helpful. I mean, anyone who will let me putt for two hours (using every single putter they have) is some kind of patron saint of patience. 

There are stores just like this just about everywhere (2nd Swing, PGA TOUR Superstore, Golf Galaxy, etc.) and all are great options.

Pros:

They’re nearly always willing to buy used equipment. They’ll often give you the option of in-store credit towards your next purchase or cash, depending on what your preference is. Reputable buyer. Easy to do – walk in, let them examine your equipment and they’ll make you an offer there and then.  You can leave the store with the money in your pocket.

Cons:

As they need to make a profit, you may not be able to get as much money as you could from another option. They may have too much stock of what you’re trying to sell, affecting what they’re willing to pay for it.

2. Facebook Marketplace/Online Marketplace

While technically Facebook is “online,” many of the sales via their Marketplace are local meet-ups to exchange the goods for cash/Venmo/PayPal. Some people shy away from this option, as it may involve meeting up with strangers to view your goods, which we can totally understand. We recommend meeting somewhere very public and bringing a friend with you, as a precaution. That being said, there are some really great advantages to using this digital storefront.

Take high-quality photos of your clubs. You’d be surprised what good-quality pictures will do to help sell your clubs. There’s nothing worse than seeing a wide-angle shot of a club/set of clubs against a dirty wall or in a messy garage to drive the price down. If you take a few minutes to compose your photos with no distracting background and fill the frame with the club(s) in question, as well as including a few detail shots (close-ups of the faces of the clubs as well as the backs of the clubs to show no/limited dings or wear-and-tear), you’ll often get more interest and higher selling price.

MyGolfSpy Forum Classifieds

Another similar option would be the MyGolfSpy Forum Classified Section (https://forum.mygolfspy.com/classifieds/). It’s a free place to post where the typical shopper is a golf-savvy buyer who’s interested in a good deal. As so many of us golf-obsessed folks are in a constant cycle of buying-then-trying clubs, only to look for something better, it’s a great option for those of you who are Forum members (if you’re not a Forum member yet, come check it (forum.mygolfspy.com) out!) to sell your clubs for the most value you can get, and to a person you know will take great care of the clubs (I mean, who is a member of a golf forum that ISN’T going to take good care of your clubs, right?). 

Pros:

You can charge what the club is actually worth and avoid any/all fees that might be associated with other online marketplaces. You avoid shipping fees and the hassle of packaging your equipment (if a local meet-up is possible). If you sell locally, you could meet a new golfer friend to play 18 with*.

Cons: 

There’s absolutely no guarantee your item will sell. You may have to deal with people messaging you about selling for less than you’re asking. If you sell locally, you may meet someone you’d rather not play 18 with**.

*Unlikely, sure, but I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy.

**This was proposed by my editor, a thoroughly glass-half-empty kind of guy. But he’s not wrong.

3. Sell to a Friend

(Selling your clubs to your friend should make you THIS happy. Or, you know, kind of? Thanks again, AI!)

If you’re like me, you have a growing group of friends who are golf-junkies and, as you upgrade one part of your bag, your friends may be interested in taking something used off your hands. This is a GREAT way to make your friends happy while making a little extra cash to defray the cost of whatever you just bought: total win-win. 

I’ll present you with a completely made-up hypothetical that in no way is based on my actual life. Let’s say you’ve upgraded your set of game-improvement irons and you have a friend who’s a very high-handicapper who (for some reason) is playing a set of blades that were previously owned by, of all people, movie star Jack Lemmon, and were made before your friend was born. Selling him the irons for a reasonable amount will make him feel good because his hands will stop stinging from the blades he’s idiotically been attempting to play, and YOU will feel good because you’ll have a little cash in your pocket and he won’t keep shanking balls at your head and then complaining about his little hands. (Ahem. Yep. Completely made up.) 

Pros:

You each come away with something you want. You know your previously used clubs will have a good home. You can stop the whining about his antique clubs.

Cons: 

You most likely won’t get nearly as much for the clubs as you could somewhere else. If they don’t work for your friend, you’ll never hear the end of it when you play together. It may take more time and/or work to sell them than going a different route.

4. Sell Online to a Major Reseller

For a lot of you, this will make the most sense and be the easiest option to guarantee you’re getting a good deal and is 100 percent the “safest” option here. There is a HUGE number of online storefronts which buy used clubs and make the process as painless as possible. 

Sites like Callaway Pre-Owned, 2nd Swing, Golf Club Brokers, PGA TOUR Superstore, etc., will almost always give you a competitive price for your used golf clubs and will often run deals where they’ll give you a certain percentage over what they’re valued at for trade-in towards specific clubs on their site. Most of the major OEMs will offer something like this over the course of the year. It will definitely pay to keep your eyes peeled, especially if you’re brand-agnostic.

For example, earlier this year I was able to pick up two fairway woods (two cycles old, mind you) for $300 total. With the trade-in of a driver and driving iron (both three years old), I paid a grand total of only $150 for both new clubs. Even if I don’t LOVE the clubs, I should very easily be able to recoup my investment on the secondhand market. While I had to pay for shipping back to the OEM, it was an incredibly easy process and I’m SO happy with the result.

Pros: 

Just below top dollar (or more, depending on the promotion) for your clubs. Incredibly easy to do. Fill in a few forms online and they’ll give you a quote up front.  Ship back your clubs, sometimes with a prepaid shipping label (provided by them) and, when they receive and inspect your clubs, you’re issued payment/credit. 

Cons: 

The price they’re willing to pay for your clubs is often dictated on their specific needs.  If you’re not interested in purchasing clubs from the same site, you may not get the most for your money.  You’ll have to find suitable shipping packaging to ensure your clubs reach their end point with no further dings or marks which would diminish the price they’re willing to pay.

5. eBay

Saving the most obvious for last, there’s eBay. When polled, the MyGolfSpy Forum members overwhelmingly said eBay was their preferred way of selling used golf clubs. Which means, based on the sheer number of things available, it would appear the world agrees with our Forum members. 

Nearly everything is for sale. This means whatever you’ve got, no matter how exotic or mundane, there will be SOMEONE interested in buying it. 

As with the “Marketplace” tip, good pictures will go a LONG way in helping you get top dollar for your merchandise. Close-ups and a really good description will help potential buyers understand exactly what they’re getting. Don’t lie or mislead buyers about what you’re selling. Remember, eBay reviewers are NOTORIOUSLY explicit in leaving reviews about when they feel they were ripped off.

Pros: 

One of the only places to get MORE than what your item is worth, thanks to the auction system. eBay makes listing and selling an item as easy as anywhere on the internet. You can build in shipping costs on top of your auction price. If you don’t want to deal with auctions, you can set a “Buy Now” price. Select a price that you feel is a fair price for your goods.

Cons:

If the interest for your item is less than expected, you may take a loss. At least compared to some of the other options on this list. You may have to answer a lot of queries from potential buyers. If you’re trying to offload your equipment fast in order to fund another purchase, you may have to wait days/weeks before the entire process is completed.

Conclusion

As was the case with “Buying Used Clubs” (Edit/Affiliate team note: link to previous article posted on HQ?), in no way is selling used clubs “easy.” Just review all the things we advised you to consider and you’ll know it’s not. But, hopefully, with some of the tips we’ve provided, and some of the sites we’ve mentioned, you’ll be better equipped (see what I did there—again?) to tackle the task of getting yourself some much-needed coin for your gently (or not-so-gently—you know who you are) used clubs. 

Where do you sell your used clubs? Did we miss some place with great deals? Let us know in the comments below!

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