The purpose of this guide is to help fellow golfers make sense of the craziness that buying used golf balls on Ebay has become.  There are thousands of used golf ball listings on Ebay available, but are they all listings that you should bid on?  I hope to answer questions and help you sort through the madness so that buying golf balls on ebay can become a worthwhile activity and help you save money on golf, which is already expensive enough as it is. 

The main things to consider:

1.  Quality-  This is probably the most difficult thing that accompanies buying golf balls on Ebay.  How can you know for sure what quality of balls you are bidding on?  All sellers use their own quality rating systems to sell.  There is no uniform system in place.  The best thing to do is to read through the seller's description and search for a section that describes what condition of balls you can expect from each of their rating levels.  The more descriptive the better, I say.  This way you will know exactly what to expect and what quality of balls you are bidding on.  Stay away from sellers who fail to include any description of the quality of balls listed for auction.  Also, beware of sellers selling refurbished or refinished balls.  Despite what they may say, these balls will not perform exactly like a new ball or even good quality used balls of that particular brand.  Also, I would suggest to beware of where the used balls are coming from.  Are they from divers who find them in ponds and lakes?  Or are they from someone who lives on a course and gets the balls hit into their yard?  Balls that have been in water, especially for any great length of time, will usually not perform like a ball that has not been sitting in water.  Don't be afraid to ask the seller where they get their balls from; it only ensures that you will be properly informed on what it is you are bidding on.

2.  Shipping- Watch out for sellers who overcharge on shipping.  Also, the bigger sellers tend to have higher shipping costs mostly because they have to pay warehouse workers and charge a larger handling fee.  You can also find many sellers who only charge the exact cost.  Basically, I think that $10 or under is reasonable for shipping for up to 100 balls.  USPS is the carrier that ships for the least amount, so keep that in mind.  Also, anytime you buy only 1 dozen balls know that more than $5 for shipping is probably too much.  Many sellers are way overcharging for golf balls, but try to make you think otherwise.

3.  Seller Feedback- This is also something important to consider.  If you want to know what kind of seller you are buying from then check their feedback.  If you see anything you don't like then you know to find another (there are plenty of sellers).  There is a reason that some sellers have a very high feedback rating; they are good sellers.  Be careful when buying from sellers who have not sold many golf balls or who have not sold any recently.

I hope my thoughts have been some sort of a help to you.  I sell golf balls to help a bit with college expenses.  I am not a huge seller, but I have researched many hours the used golf balls market on Ebay to better be able to serve other golfers like myself.  I feel I have a good understanding for what a golfer wants in a used golf ball and I hope that this info helps you all out.  Have fun on the links and feel free to check out my auctions for great used balls at unbelievably low prices.