No matter if you are looking for a new or used surfboard, it’s always nice to find one that is inexpensive. I have found several places that you can pick up decent surfboards for less than you normally buy them for at the surf shops, but of course the surf shops are a good place to start. If you are a beginning surfer, I do not recommend buying a new surfboard until you learn to surf a bit. Also you may not like surfing so spending $500.00 on a new surfboard and then you end up never using it is sort of a waste.
I usually start my search in the surf shops, then move to the local free newspaper. I can normally find a good surfboard that suits me in the free papers. I like to pay under $200.00 for a used surfboard that is in pretty good shape. But I have bought surfboards from people for $50.00 that were almost new. Check out the garage sales and always offer them less for the surfboard than they are asking, you can get some pretty good deals this way.
My next step would be to look on ebay. They sell plenty of new and used surfboards on ebay and you can usually find someone selling a surfboard in your area so that you can avoid shipping costs. Just buy it and drive over to their house and pick up your stick. It’s really that simple. If the auction is long enough you may have time to drop by and see it beforehand also. Of course make sure the person has good feed back and is an experienced ebay seller.
Then if I still can’t find the used surfboard I want, I head to the beach and check out the stores nearby to see if any surfers have posted their surfboards that they want to sell. Last but not least, ask the surfers on the beach if they have any used surfboards that they are willing to part with. Plenty of times I have been asked if I would sell the surfboard that I was riding. Most times I will not, but certainly if I didn’t like the surfboard or I just had a new one made, I would sell it on the spot.
Always use common sense when buying any surfboard. If there are lots of stickers on the surfboard and its yellowing it is probably not worth very much, who knows what those stickers are hiding! Plenty of surfers put the stickers over the repairs. Or worse they do not repair the surfboard and just place a sticker over the ding. Avoid these surfboards because they may have water damage.
I have always had great success locating a good surf board, at a decent inexpensive price by going through the list of different places that I have mentioned. If one place doesn’t pan out I go on down the line, just keep on trying and you will find the perfect fit for you, at the price that fits your pocketbook.
