Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Is it just me or do bows depreciate in value way too fast?

I keep seeing a ton of bows for sale on Craigslist and everyone says they paid like $600+ and asking $300 or less for each bow. It seems like you buy a bow and if you want to sell it a couple years later, you'll only get about half off it. If you wait like 10-15 years, then that bow is worth even less.

But for a gun, you sell it a couple of years later, it'll go down in value a little (may even go up if its sought after) and in 20 years it may eve be worth double what you paid for and more.

I agree. Used to pay over 300 for top line bows. Never got 100 back for one.

Nature of the beast I assume. Part of it too is finding a used one the right one you want....the right hand... and right draw weight and length... Not as common as a universal 700 in 06...

I agree.........but maybe you haven't looked at (New) cars and trucks lately? Not only do they depreciate faster than you can pay for them most folks get to pay interest on top of the depreciation, what a deal! - As for guns being better...well maybe a bit, but I don't think too many of plastic stocked mass produced guns typical of today are going to be on may collectors' must have lists. The best values (bows and cars) are in the pre-owned catagory. You have to be patient to find what you want, but when you do 1/2 retail is not uncommon.

My preowned F350 was worth way less than I paid for it last fall(I've had it longer than that...) and currently its worth about exactly what I paid for it.

BOttom line, anything is only worth what you get WHEN you sell it right.. tough one.

Personally I'll never buy another new vehicle when used are such a better deal.

The resale price is not the problem. The problem is the price of new bows. They are just plain ridiculous. Use to be a guy could buy a new bow with cast or extruded riser for a half or third the cost of the same bow with a machined riser. Seems like they all have machined risers today, and insane price tags.

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I've been saying for years that something is wrong when a compound bow costs more than my M700 in 338wm. I've also been of the opinion that I will pay more for a top of the line compound than top of the line rifle when the bow will shoot and arrow faster than the speed of sound and I can easly kill deer at 100yrds.

Also consider in the manufacturing of a compound bow today there is almost no actual hands on human craftsmanship it is all done by CNC machines. Humans simply assemble them. IIRC is not almost all limbs made by only one or two manufacterers? and the same gos for most cams and strings? I know I have read this several times in the past but that might no longer be true.

I'm sorry but considering the above, I simply see no way IMHO to justify bows costing ON AVERAGE $700-$800.00, ESPECIALLY since they loose value faster than water to a drownding man.

In fairness though any one who buys any peice of hunting equipment with the though that they can always sell it to recoup most of thier cost is being silly, it just wont happen that way.

I also feel it is 100% true that archery equipment no matter how good will only make a good bow hunter SLIGHTLY better and can not ever make a poor hunter magicly into a good one.

This is exactly why I bought a USED Switchback XT about 2yrs ago. Bow was like new with all accessories for about half what it cost the original owner to put together. Some folks just have to have the latest/greatest, and that leaves good deals for those of us who are willing to "suffer" with last year's latest/greatest!

When companies bring out new bows on a weekly basis and people are foolish enough to think that that means that their old bow is no longer even remotely functional and must be replaced, it certainly isn't going to make existing bows hold their value.

Concur.

On the other hand, I likely use my bows more in a month or two than any one of my rifles will see in five years. I can rationalize anything....

Not fast enough, I want a to pick up a used switchback and I cannot find one for much less then they were new.

Just like me to want the one item that kept is value!

just like computers next year they will be outdated people have to have the lastest and greatest fastest bow on the market, shot placement to me is far more important than speed, im stroking an carbon arrow at around 250 fps without any trouble of killing the prey being hunted Ron

Bowstrings and cables wear out. A new set is another hundred bucks. You can't tell if a used bow has been dry fired, dropped... on it's way out. You don't get the shiny lifetime warranty either. Half price for a used bow is fair, considering. I had a Bowtech General a Month! It sat in the shop for 3 months marked down from $750 to $500 and I wound up selling it for $400.

Mathews is one of the bows that seems to hold its value.

Right up until you want to sell them.

None hold their value. The market is completely flooded with used bows, which makes them tough to sale. Everyone wants the fastest bow, so selling a bow that is a year old or older that shoots 5 fps slower is a tough sale. 5-20 fps in a bow is NOTHING yet everyone seems to get fixated on speed.

The problem of having to have the right draw, weight and grip are also a problem with resale. You have to find the right buyer, where anyone can shoot a model 700 .308. Everyone wants a deal and new shooters don't understand that the bow has to fit them. They simply look at price, brand and how many gadgets are on the bow and how fast it shoots (which is always WAY over rated).

My buddy just bought a nice top of the line Bowtech from last year's line. It had all the "cool" stuff on it and he got it for $500. After shooting it several times, he realized that the gadgets SUCK! The string stop came loose....bye bye! The Rip Cord rest didn't fall when he needed it to....BYE BYE...hello Whisker Biscuit. Gator jaw release...total pain when stalking closer to elk on your hands and knees....BYE BYE! Simply hand held thumb release....HELLO! He learned quick about gadgets. He killed his first elk and understands why I like simplicity so much in the bush. Keep it simple. When I do upgrade every 5-7 years, I buy bows that are a year or two old. Great deals! I do the same with vehicles. Let some other guy pay the first years depreciation. Flinch

I agree, I can't think of anything that looses it's value quicker than a new bow...................547.

I cant complain thus far with the last bow I bought and sold. I picked up a 1 year old Mathews LX for $450, used it for 3 years and sold it for $350 to put towards a DXT. So far so good. I would have to agree that the Mathews "seem" to hold their value fairly well.

See if you can find an Outback. Almost the same as the switchback, but 1-2 yrs older. Should be able to buy one loaded for $400-$500.

Flinch I sure agree with you on vehicles I have bought one(1) new one in my life and I am 3 score & ten plus. I like to be what Clark Howard call frugal. So it is always lightly
used vehicles for me. Cheers NC

Yes, they sure do, but I don't look at it like an "investment". It could be worth $0 tomorrow, but I still use it, and it works just fine for me, so I could care less what it's "worth" to anyone else.