This is a hobby that I did one summer when I was younger that made me over $1500.00. If you are a golfer you know that used golf balls sell for between 50 cents and a dollar in the bowl on the counter of every pro shop. They also sell for that amount (sometimes less) on Ebay.
Many summers ago, I bought a metal ball retriever contraption off of Ebay. This is not the kind that is a long poll that people carry in their bag but the kind that is attached to a very long string or rope. You throw it out into the middle of the lake and pull it back towards you. As it goes along the bottom, the golf balls get wedged in and by the time it comes back to you there might be as many as a dozen balls lodged in it.
The only problem with this type of unit is that sometimes it would get stuck on the bottom as weeds or something else would get tangled with it. I did have a few scary moments when I thought I would have to cut the string and leave it behind but in the end I was somehow able to free it each time.
In my case, and this is embarrassing, I would drive to the nearby course at around 3:00 AM in the morning when it was pitch black so as not to be discovered. You really can’t just walk on a course in the middle of the day and start throwing your retriever in the lake because you would get in the way of the golfers and the course management would probably kick you off. Another reason is that many of the courses pay companies to do this ball retrieving for them (yes there are really companies that do this) and then they pay the company a small amount for each ball.
I would usually take 2 empty buckets with me and in an hour or so (I knew a really good spot) would be driving home with 500 or so balls and then go back to bed. That part, though, was not necessarily the hardest part. My next step would be to wash each ball in warm water with a rag and try to make it as clean as possible. That was the most time consuming and boring part. Having done that, I had a big sorting job ahead of me.
If you look on Ebay you will find many auctions for used balls. Those auctions are usually for groups (lots) of balls and many times they are separated by ball conditions or company brand. In order to get the most money I would separate all my balls into three groups. Group 1 would be the best balls that were almost new, group 2 was balls that had some wear but were still playable, and group 3 was for balls that were shag balls (balls that people use for practice).
I would further sort group 1 into smaller groups by brand for selling on Ebay. The most expensive balls in the best condition would often bring about a dollar a ball and I would wait until I got 24 or 36 per group and put them up as a “lot”. The remaining good balls would be put up as lots as well but they might have multiple brands within the lots.
The second group would also be separated into lots and sold with a description which was accurate for that lot of balls. Those lots would often be bigger sizes like 48 or 60 balls in a lot.
The final group were the bad balls that really could only be used for practice (I would throw the cut ones out and not sell them). These lots would be advertised as shag balls and sold in lots of 100. I wouldn’t get much for these (perhaps 10 cents after shipping) but it was nevertheless a profit on virtually every ball I brought up from the lake.
On average I calculated that I was making 25 cents per ball and so when I came home with two full buckets that each held about 250 balls, I was making between $100.00 and $125.00 per trip. Not only was I making some money but I also suddenly had more balls than I could ever lose on the course! It was fun and I made some good money and it shows that there are innovative ways for a youngster to earn some extra income.
