What to do with old bowling balls?

[JasonNJ]

I was wondering what you guys do with bowling balls you don't use any more? Do you give them to the pro shop?

[NewToBowling]

Around here pro shops or the bowling alley won't even take them. Our AMF house uses their color coded balls so after market balls for them.

Most go to Goodwill

[taxexpert2]

I have seen many painted and used for lawn decorations. There are some alleys that will still take them. See a lot of used balls on E-Bay, maybe that is where they meet their final demise

[Aslan]

I built a bowling ball rack and have most of my new/undrilled balls and most of my retired arsenal sitting on it.

But I've asked myself the same question. Once the rack gets full of old, retired balls...I certainly am not going to build another one...especially if I'm still in an apartment. I guess ya just throw em in the dumpster or something.

Some places will take them in on trade toward a new ball purchase. But;
1) That is highly dependent on the Pro Shop...a lot of pro shops that do this end up with more old bowling balls than they know what to do with and eventually have to stop accepting trade ins.
2) You'll likely get $5-$10 for each ball.

The other option is to list them on Ebay and try to sell them...the problem there is bowling balls are heavy and cost $25 to ship. Most of the auctions I've seen online...unless it's a rare ball or something special....you'll be lucky to get a $15 bid with free shipping or lucky to get a bid at all if they have to pay $25 to ship it. The ball would likely need to be plugged to get enough interest...and that's another $5-$20 at the pro shop so then you need that much more to just break even.

You could give them to bowling centers...but unless they have some program where they donate them to special needs teams or whatever...a lot of times they don't want them either because most are drilled fingertip which casual bowlers can't use...and many centers have different color balls for different weights and standardized sizes for hands...so taking in random balls would cause too much confusion.

I've seen them at the Salvation Army and Goodwill. You could always do that...but it's a $0 return unless you get some kinda receipt or something. That might be an option as a small tax write-off.

I have the added difficulty that the 5 I currently have to get rid of are 16lbs which very few bowlers still throw.

[vdubtx]

Check with the youth leagues, maybe some high schoolers could use them?

[billf]

Our center takes them. They are put on a special rack for the youth leagues and high school team (usually JV).
Another thing we have been seeing a lot of lately is as the kids get bigger they get another ball and give their old one to a smaller kid.

I've given a few to newer adult bowlers. The ones in their first league using a house ball trying to hook the crap out of it.

[LyalC52]

I sell them or give them away as soon as I think they are done being useful to me. In most cases I don't think its worth the effort to try and find a buyer, so generally just give them away.

I've given a couple of mine to sheet metal workers. They pound a rod into the thumb hole so it will fit in a mounting jig. Then they use it to shape metal over.

Some I've given to a buddy that raises hogs. They push the balls around the pins for hours in end.

[Tony]

I have given a couple away to newer adult bowlers, thrown a few away in the trash, left a couple at the bowling center , still have a couple.
Last year got a couple of new balls and then decided to drop a pound, so gave one ball to a teammate and going to try and sell the other, since they only have 100 games on them they are probably worth something. Maybe I'll put it on the table next week with a sign on it 75.00 or best offer, after all it is a popular ball and weight , a 15lb Roto-grip Hyper cell skid .

[billf]

sell the other, since they only have 100 games on them they are probably worth something. Maybe I'll put it on the table next week with a sign on it 75.00 or best offer, after all it is a popular ball and weight , a 15lb Roto-grip Hyper cell skid .

100 games? Isn't that twice the life expectancy of a Roto-Grip? Just kidding. I had a Storm Victory Road with 3k games on it and got $40 for it.

[Aslan]

100 games? Isn't that twice the life expectancy of a Roto-Grip? Just kidding. I had a Storm Victory Road with 3k games on it and got $40 for it.

Billf is joking, but that's the other problem with selling used balls. There is no real consensus on ball life anymore. I've heard people say they throw 100 games and the ball is dead and I've heard people say with proper maintenance and regular cleaning they throw the same ball for 2 years and claim it reacts like new.

A lot of used balls on Ebay the people claim they threw it like 5-30 times...maybe they just bought it, tried it, and didn't like it. But for a person that believes a ball only has 100 games or less of life...they'd never buy used.

I try to use the general consensus average of 400 games. But as an arsenal bowler, I don't always use one ball versus another and since I tend to change an entire arsenal at once (especially if I'm changing weights)...I use 1000 games/arsenal.

Have I noticed "ball death"? Not really. My release is too inconsistent to tell if a ball dies or if I just didn't put as much hand in the shot.

[Amyers]

Billf is joking, but that's the other problem with selling used balls. There is no real consensus on ball life anymore. I've heard people say they throw 100 games and the ball is dead and I've heard people say with proper maintenance and regular cleaning they throw the same ball for 2 years and claim it reacts like new.

A lot of used balls on Ebay the people claim they threw it like 5-30 times...maybe they just bought it, tried it, and didn't like it. But for a person that believes a ball only has 100 games or less of life...they'd never buy used.

I try to use the general consensus average of 400 games. But as an arsenal bowler, I don't always use one ball versus another and since I tend to change an entire arsenal at once (especially if I'm changing weights)...I use 1000 games/arsenal.

Have I noticed "ball death"? Not really. My release is too inconsistent to tell if a ball dies or if I just didn't put as much hand in the shot.

I think part of it depends on what you are looking for from the ball. If your looking for that super hard charging turn the ball had OOB I can see where you would lose that within 100 games and maybe not able to get it back. I've found that I like most balls better once I get 50-100 games on them. The only ball I've had die is my Asylum and it had well over 400 games and maybe quite a bit more. It may have been revivable but by the time I paid to de-oil and resurface I would have had another $50 bucks in it and just didn't feel it was worth the risk.

I don't understand the people that get rid of balls after 10-20 games if that's really how many they had and I don't get paying 80+ for a used ball. It's not that I think it hurts them to plug and redrill just you've got 110+ in it at that point anyway who cares about the 20-40 dollars you saved by buying used. I have bought some used balls for $50-$60 dollars from my proshop but that's the redrilled price then it makes sense.

[Aslan]

My spare ball I bought used for $35 drilled. My old spare ball (16lb) I bought new from MWhite and he just charged me the $55 to drill it.

The only reason I bought the used spare ball is it was already plugged, it's a plastic ball...no different than any other plastic ball...no diminished performance issues...so why pay an additional $15-$20 for a new one?

Other than that...bowling balls are just too inexpensive new to consider buying them used. I can get newer, high performance balls online for $70-$150. I may not be able to get the newest, latest, greatest ball in the history of the WORLD*!!!

* until 5 months later when the company releases the NEXT greatest, best ever, most awesome ball ever in the entire world... :rolleyes:

...but at my current skill level...I bowled a 207 with a house ball 2 weeks ago. I bowled a 133 last night with my resin balls. I don't have the skill to see the difference. It's like buying a dog a diamond stud collar....the dog doesn't know the difference.

[NewToBowling]

I would only buy used if I was an experienced driller and had my own drill press at home. Otherwise I'm spending $60-70 to drill a ball anyways, might as well get new

[JasonNJ]

Have I noticed "ball death"? Not really. My release is too inconsistent to tell if a ball dies or if I just didn't put as much hand in the shot.

When I first got into bowling last year, I got an Ebonite Pursuit-S on clearance and I thought the ball was awesome. After about 150 games I noticed it stopped hooking the same and my carry was way down. At the time I had no idea that balls could die. So I did some research and found that you could get a ball baked. I figured the ball was dead anyway so I experimented and I baked it in my regular oven I set the oven to the lowest temp I could which I think was 145 degrees and baked the ball for about 20 minutes. Within 5 minutes the ball started to sweat and I would say about a tablespoon of oil came out of the ball.

The amount of oil that came out surprised me because I would usually wipe down my ball with a towel before every shot and I cleaned the ball using Tac-Up after every bowling session. After the ball was baked, I want to say I got about 90% of the ball reaction back. I have since bought a reviver oven and a ball spinner and once I notice my ball reaction isn't the same, I bake it and resurface the ball.

[AlexNC]

I have seen it suggested to use older/unused equipment to experiment with different setups - for example getting it plugged and then redrilled with no inserts or even experimenting with Sarge Easter grip.

[billf]

After seeing performance change and learning about de-oiling, resurface etc. I started logging my games. After a season of seeing how many games each ball took to see a noticeable drop in performance I began a maintenance schedule.

My Storm Victory Road had over 3,000 games when I sold it. Still moved but was about a board less than when new. My Nexxxus died with 487 games on it. My Reckless lost half it's movement after the first resurface. My Motiv Revolt was my favorite and strongest ball. Added polish to use it on wood, resurfaced again to use on synthetic and now it has about 30% of it's original movement and only has 284 games on it. My Storm Lights Out stopped moving with 38 games on it. Baked, resurface several times, re-drill no matter what I tried that ball never moved a board again. That damn thing went straighter than my plastic.

My point is each ball is different. Manufacturer and model make no difference. Keep up with all the maintenance to protect and prolong your investment but accept that sometimes it just isn't enough. Kind of like a car blowing an engine just out of warranty even though you did all the preventative maintenance.

[Aslan]

I retired my Storm Frantic after about 487 games. I didn't notice any ball death...but it did crack in half sitting on my bowling ball rack about a year after I retired it.
Maintenance: Towel wipe after every strike shot. I tried to give it a de-oiling bathtub soak after every 9-20 games.

I replaced this arsenal after this many games:
Hammer Rhythm: 556 games (didn't notice ball death, but hard to say)
Brunswick Slingshot: 298 games (definitely no ball death)
Columbia Encounter (N): 151 games (hard to say, the ball sucked new...didn't get any better over time)
Columbia Encounter (A): 134 games (same as above...ball was kinda 'dead' when it was new)
900Global Bullet Train: 250 games (maybe a 'little' ball death...hard to say)

Normally that would add up to a little over 1000 games...but Arsenal #1 was very poorly (by me) pieced together over time. It's hard to say if the Rhythm or Bullet Train truly died or not because I made the mistake of surfacing the heck out of those balls. The BT was at 500 abralon and the Rhythm at 1000 abralon. I have a feeling that doing so caused them to roll out and hit light. I don't think it was the ball, I think I did that myself. And that arsenal was dehydrated every 10-30 games in my ball homemade ball dehydrator. A LOT of oil would come off the Rhythm and Bullet Train. I also had the Rhythm resurfaced at the pro shop once.

If I have a chance to notice "ball death"; it'll probably be with the Lethal Revolver. I have 160 games on Arsenal #2 and 80 of those games are with the Lethal Revolver. So at this rate it should have 500 games on it. The other balls don't get used nearly as much.

ALSO: If anyone WANTS any of those balls USED from Arsenal #1....I certainly would be willing to part with them for the LOW LOW cost of $60 shipped to your door. I might even autograph them free of charge and/or include some random piece of junk I have laying around in my apartment. You laugh; but when I defeat Chris Barnes at the 2025 USBC Senior Masters....you could say you have one of my early bowling balls from back before I was famous. If you live in Missouri...just owning the bowling ball might qualify you for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. :cool:

[Blomer]

Check some high school teams. Email their coaches and see if anyone is in need!

[Cajun]

Anyone need my address? Always willing to take a free ball :D

[Aslan]

Anyone need my address? Always willing to take a free ball :D

I'll put you first on the list when the eventual day comes that I just give up and sell/give away all my bowling stuff. Another 133 game and you might just luck out. :mad:

[Cajun]

LoL would be nice honestly lol Anything can be better than this Maxim Im using :)

[dnhoffman]

Donate them to junior bowlers

[larry mc]

sell em or give 2 youth or underprivileged bowlers , even though im poor 2 , lol

[Ishkabibble]

Seen quite a few different things done.
1. People just leave them on the racks at our house.
2. Drive a few miles and stop on the bridge and seeing how well they float in the bay.
3. Parking lot bowling. I think they have a issues with the ball return though....

The question to number 2 and 3 would not be how many games the ball had but how many beers the bowler had...
Oh and so far to my knowledge none of them have floated.

[Jessiewoodard57]

I'll put you first on the list when the eventual day comes that I just give up and sell/give away all my bowling stuff. Another 133 game and you might just luck out. :mad:

Who here can ever see that happening?

[Jessiewoodard57]

Most of my retired bowling balls tend to be reused by my son and daughter in law. Some I have donated to youth leagues and the "Junk" goes to my sister in law for lawn art.

[Tony]

100 games? Isn't that twice the life expectancy of a Roto-Grip? Just kidding. I had a Storm Victory Road with 3k games on it and got $40 for it.

I got about 12 good games out of it ! So there must be plenty left for someone else to find in it.:cool: