When did circle t pricing blow up?

[Phabs]

Just sold my super rat from college after seeing the prices being absolutely through the roof.  Seems like prices have damn near tripled over the last year.  I know a fair bit of people here own circle t’s and are in the market.  Seemed the putter I sold was worth about 2k for as long as I can remember, looked last night and almost an identical head to mine sold instantly for 6500 bucks.   Couldn’t believe it..  

Edited December 31, 2021 by Phabs

[btyh]

Seems like almost model is over 2k besides the square backs and golos

[Phabs]

5 minutes ago, btyh said:

Seems like almost model is over 2k besides the square backs and golos

Apparently I was just naive to the whole thing.  I looked roughly two years back about the same time and at 2k the putter wasn’t worth moving.  I couldn’t believe how the prices had sky rocketed. 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Phabs

[MattM97]

Probably the same times dudes started paying 1k plus for head covers and ball markers.

[Phabs]

22 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

Probably the same times dudes started paying 1k plus for head covers and ball markers.

Probably,  it had to be this year when the market went nuts.  Guess the covid golf explosion brought some new money into the game.  My super rat wasn’t anything special and it sold in hours. The 12.5% eBay fee blows. 

[paulman21]

This might be a bit tinfoil-hatty but I recall about 2 years ago, when I was looking for a Timeless, eBay had a history of sales you could look up going back a few years I believe. I think it helped reign in the flippers asking $2000 over what they just paid on the Gallery website. Most putters depreciated immediately. But eBay went to a much shorter "look-back" on sales. So maybe not having the comparison helps drive prices (and eBay commissions) up?

[Phabs]

5 minutes ago, paulman21 said:

This might be a bit tinfoil-hatty but I recall about 2 years ago, when I was looking for a Timeless, eBay had a history of sales you could look up going back a few years I believe. I think it helped reign in the flippers asking $2000 over what they just paid on the Gallery website. Most putters depreciated immediately. But eBay went to a much shorter "look-back" on sales. So maybe not having the comparison helps drive prices (and eBay commissions) up?

Very well could be.  I’ve never see so many over inflated prices in completed listings ever which is why I jumped on it 

[MattUtah]

I think MattM97 mostly nailed it. The golf collectibles market exploded. Ugly Swag headcovers and Lamb markers are worth hundreds and even thousands (seriously.. and I even like Swag stuff). Take a look at the Swag Enthusiast BST Facebook group and you’ll be amazed how much money changes hands there. There is also a thriving gambling, er GAMES market for golf items on Facebook too. Flipping stuff also became a way of life during Covid. I never had any interest in bothering with it until this year but I made enough to pay for a serious golf gear habit this year by flipping a few lucky Swag items. 
 

All of the above adds up to where a nice old Cameron putter, that you know won’t be produced anymore, can be impulse bought for thousands.  

[MattM97]

It's not just Swag, Lamb, Circle T collectors it's everyone, the collectors will find a brand that makes nice stuff but drive up the demand, hype and price. 

 

Example Hatch Golf(formerly Blue Birdie), they make covers in house, cool design, talented owner/artist. When they first rebranded sales were not bad a cover would sit a week then sell out. Then hype grew and covers sell in seconds now, before you could get a cover for around retail on the secondary market. Now? Like 200-1500 for a cover depending what it is. I wanted a few of these covers but now can never get one and gonna leave the BST group because it's off the rails like Swag Jr over there. 

 

Another one is J.Orlando aka Coach's Customs does 1 off ball markers. Again super talented dude for what he can stamp on a ball marker. I admire his work, and I'd eventually love on of my own and he does markers for a ton of pros too, anyone can get a marker just a long wait list. But he does Instagram auctions where anyone can get a marker for less until 4-5 guys decided to have d*ck measuring contests for who could spend the most. I'm talking min 1k to win, I've seen one go to like 2k, one guy spent maybe 6-8k in a month on ball markers. I don't even make near that amount in a month, I don't think many of us do in a month let alone have that to drop on a few ball markers. If you do congrats are you hiring where you work? 

 

But this has spread to every brand, every category of golf from clubs to clothing to accessories. I know I went way off track from Circle Ts but I think it's part of whats going on with the prices. 

[Diamana_Stinger]

The prices went crazy a couple years ago when Scotty dumped all the accounts (Table Rock, Rand at the Art of Putters/Plaza Golf, etc.) and started selling them exclusively through the Scotty Cameron website.

[SoCalTitleist]

Eveything is so outrageous right now .

 I’m looking at classic cars and those sky rocketed also .

 

it amazing people are paying inflated prices .

[stormin70]

It’s not just golf.  I see it in the musical instrument market too. $2k guitars are now $5k guitars.  $1.5k amps are $4k amps.

 

Stuff has gone nuts across the board.

[McStagger]

To ask a silly question does this also apply to the pre circle-T SC putters as well?

[lakecowboy]

Supply/Demand issues for all goods have contributed to the rise in pricing.  Everything is inflated now, we probably aren't far from $60/dz ProV1's off the rack.

[Carson33]

My guess is that the Cameron Studio closed for Covid for a while, and the shop was not able to make any Circle T’s for a bit as well. When you cut of the supply (for even a short time), the demand will increase (as will the prices).

 

With that, any one have a carbon 009 M they want to sell? 🙂

[btyh]

3 hours ago, Carson33 said:

My guess is that the Cameron Studio closed for Covid for a while, and the shop was not able to make any Circle T’s for a bit as well. When you cut of the supply (for even a short time), the demand will increase (as will the prices).

 

With that, any one have a carbon 009 M they want to sell? 🙂

There's two on BST... let me know which one you buy

[Carson33]

2 hours ago, btyh said:

There's two on BST... let me know which one you buy

Thank you! I never check BST for them. That black finish carbon with the flange line looks promising. Both are reasonably priced for this market.

[maverick]

I see these high prices but I do not see them sell very fast. There are fools who believe they will putt like a pro if they buy a pro putter. LOL There's a sucker born every minute. 

[Tac]

1 hour ago, maverick said:

I see these high prices but I do not see them sell very fast. There are fools who believe they will putt like a pro if they buy a pro putter. LOL There's a sucker born every minute. 

Nah, there are those who just feel they’ll putt like a pro with the addition of a CT stamp on their putter.  
 

And that’s being said by a guy who has five SC putters.  

[Phabs]

1 hour ago, maverick said:

I see these high prices but I do not see them sell very fast. There are fools who believe they will putt like a pro if they buy a pro putter. LOL There's a sucker born every minute. 

There’s plenty that do sell judging by the completed listings breakdown.  The stupid priced for upwards of 12-25k they sit.. mine sold in the time it took me to take a shower.    

[sloansav62]

On 12/31/2021 at 9:28 AM, lakecowboy said:

Supply/Demand issues for all goods have contributed to the rise in pricing.  Everything is inflated now, we probably aren't far from $60/dz ProV1's off the rack.

Or left dots going for $200+ a dozen.

[Bama Slice]

Even the old/older OTRs are bringing a premium.  I had a small (10 putter) OTR collection of Cameron’s that I sold off 5 years ago.  I would have doubled or tripled my money had I held out for today’s inflated market.  
 

Side note, I wish I had kept the Oil Cans…

[drscott266]

On 12/30/2021 at 10:30 PM, Diamana_Stinger said:

The prices went crazy a couple years ago when Scotty dumped all the accounts (Table Rock, Rand at the Art of Putters/Plaza Golf, etc.) and started selling them exclusively through the Scotty Cameron website.

This has a lot to do with it, I remember Rand would would have putters at gallery prices sit on his site for weeks sometimes. Others would sell quickly, but his pricing was always $2500-3000. I wish I was financially sound as I am now back then, as in retrospect that was awesome. Right when T22 came out things dried up there, and we all learned Cameron cut that off. Now you only get a shot at 6-8 putters a week and bots win. I will say this, the prices on flippers sites are nuts, but good luck selling it again personally for that price. 

[VNutz]

Pricing has been slowly climbing for years, but the last 18 months have taken off like crazy. Mid last year putters I sold in the spring could literally sell for double, now even more. I first started seeing it with bags in 2018 or so, maybe earlier, never thought a bag would go for 1k, let alone 2k and above like now. I think the FB pages and the gaming phenomenon had a lot to do with that. As stated, the elimination of the distributors changed things quite a bit, a lot of guys that had custom orders in got cut off and no longer could easily get what they wanted, so things went up. Add into it the explosion in popularity in golf the last few years and the desire to flex on social media and you've got a market that is quite strong at the moment.

[T-MAC]

VNutz hit the nail on the head.  I have witnessed the same thing over the same time period.  I've been a "collector" for over 20 years and have been buying Cameron putters since the 90's.
I agree that a lot of it has been the explosion on social media with so many Cameron (and others) FB pages and gaming pages.  It has brought in a lot of new collectors and even more flippers.  Some people use the Gallery to supplement their income by buying / selling merchandise and as long as people are willing to pay the inflated pricing it will continue to happen. 

The number of people who have joined Club Cameron over the past few years has made it virtually impossible to purchase stuff - especially with the ridiculous website issues Cameron has on release days due to the high number of participants - so I gave it up and just started purchasing on the secondary market.  Now that the secondary market has exploded into this high priced bubble, I purchase very little anymore.  It's a great time to sell though!
The same thing has happened in a lot of other areas as well, and that is all supply and demand.  Look at the housing market today.
I'm also a watch nut.  Has anyone tried buying a Rolex lately?  Forget about getting one from an AD and the secondary market is just crazy.
Look at the price of cars today.  Same thing with both new (when you can find a new one on the lot) and used market.  Pricing for both has exploded.  I bought a new 4-Runner in 2021 and a few months later my dealer was calling me and offering to buy it back for $5K more than I paid for it.  Crazy times.....
As most bubbles, it's only a matter of time before it pops.  It will depend a lot on the health of our economy and I just don't see "good times" ahead, especially with the inflation we are seeing and the fact that our society/culture is changing and many people just don't want to work anymore.
Things just can't continue to go along as they are today.  Before long, people just won't be able to afford anything, and then what....?

Edited January 6, 2022 by T-MAC

[zip7111]

I remember ordering a full custom hand stamped from a distributor years ago for only 1200 bucks.  I got the finish and stampings I wanted and foolishly sold it years ago.  That putter would be going for 4000 bucks or more nowadays.  I also remember being able to buy the "machine stamped" tour Camerons from the early 2000's for under 1000 each.  Even those now are selling for 2-3 thousand.  What a CRAZY world we live in.

Edited January 6, 2022 by zip7111

[gsteitz]

Some of the putter swag has become like an adult version of Beanie Babies.  Just silly.

Edited January 6, 2022 by gsteitz

[MattUtah]

1 hour ago, gsteitz said:

Some of the putter swag has become like an adult version of Beanie Babies.  Just silly.

Watch the Beanie baby documentary on HBO Max. I realized the headcover collectors are exactly like these people. One economist they interview even says if you want to see the health of a market you don’t look at the top, you look at the bottom. No one wants most of the Swag covers they mass produced last year. They all sell at a loss. Only the rare and cool stuff trades hands. For how much longer the “collectors” are willing to pay a premium and fill their walls with covers remains to be seen. 

[Jace_bkr]

As others have said it's not just Camerons..

 

I've noticed it with Byron Morgans as well.

 

I have bought several DH89's over the years anywhere from $3-500.  Everything i've seen come up lately is twice that easilly..

 

 

[VNutz]

7 minutes ago, Jace_bkr said:

As others have said it's not just Camerons..

 

I've noticed it with Byron Morgans as well.

 

I have bought several DH89's over the years anywhere from $3-500.  Everything i've seen come up lately is twice that easilly..

 

 

I don't want to sound cold, but if you look at completed listings it's pretty much in line with when he unfortunately passed.

 

But yes, most all collectables are up in golf, and other hobbies as well.