Carbon Shaft 2nd's

[Jason Wesbrock]

#6385

A friend of mine recently bought two-dozen discount shafts on eBay. They were listed as being premium shafts, but simply mislabeled by the manufacturer.

He was told what he was buying were premium 300 spine shafts that normally retail at $109.99/dozen. He bought two dozen at $74.99 each. After setting up a dozen of them, that’s when his frustration started. He couldn’t get them to fly even close to consistently.

A week ago I dug out some old Easton Carbon Evolution 300 camo shafts and set a few up for him to shoot, including one bare shaft. They flew great.

He stopped by last night to return my arrows and brought all two-dozen of his discount shafts for me to check on my spine tester. The auction ad said they should have spined at .275. The results were as I suspected: they varied from .320 to .400. What he basically had were a mismatch of three different spine classes. I didn’t bother to put them on a grain scale, but I could tell just by handling them that they weren’t even remotely consistent.

No wonder he couldn’t get them to fly straight. In real world terms, his shafts varied about 20# in spine weight. Imagine buying two dozen of what you thought were 90-95’s, and what you got were 65-85’s.

For grins, I grabbed an unused dozen of cheap Beman ICS Venture 300 shafts I bought for $40. They all came in between .290 and .295: a .005 spine variance, as opposed to .080 on his two-dozen.

Unfortunately, my friend is not alone. I’ve heard more than a few similar stories about carbon shaft 2nd not being as advertised. A lot of people are trying to save money these days, and buying carbon shaft 2nd’s is becoming popular. There’s nothing wrong with trying to cut costs, but sometimes what you end up with is junk. Whether the blame lies with dealers or manufacturers I do not know. If you’re going to buy 2nd’s, please make sure you’re purchasing from a reputable dealer and ask him/her to hand spine and weigh each shaft (and bundle them in a matched set) before you hand over your cash. That way, at least you know what you’re buying.

[David Petersen]

#51081

“Unfortunately, my friend is not alone.”

No, he sure isn’t!

[Jason Wesbrock]

#53170

Update:

I just got off the phone with my friend who bought the discount shafts. He called the dealer to tell them about the mismatch in spines and eventually came to a resolution, but not before being called a variety of unpleasant things. Apparently the rep he spoke to was named “I Don’t Have Time For This Crap.” At least, that’s what the guy kept saying over and over again.

At the end of the conversation, my friend was told he’d get a refund. At least he won’t be out any money (hopefully), but it’s absurd that people should get an earful of nonsense from a dealer who advertises gold and sells garbage.

Buyer beware, I suppose.

[MontanaFord]

#53497

That’s eBay for you. Sometimes the gold is truly gold, other times, it’s dirt with a golden shine. I have yet to actually buy anything off of eBay, but when I asked a seller about the arrows he was shooting out of a particular bow, I got a rude “You’ve got to be kidding me. What difference does it make.” response. Needless to say, I quit bidding on that bow.

Michael

[crash87]

#56184

E-Bay? Why not go to the source.
http://www.bowhuntingstuff.com
If you can’t get your money back, you at least get a free (FREE?) hat.

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