Buying a Used Compound Bow: Checklist & What to Avoid

Fletchwise guides are independent and hype-free – we are not sponsored by any archery brand.

Before anything else, confirm the bow can be set to your draw length (many used bows are fixed or limited in range) and to a draw weight you can pull smoothly. A great deal on a bow that does not fit is no deal – draw length especially cannot always be adjusted.

1. Limbs – look closely for cracks, splinters, or separation, especially on split limbs. Any crack means walk away.
2. Cams & axles – check for wear, wobble, or rust; cams should be true and in time.
3. String & cables – fraying, fuzz, or serving separation means budget for a replacement set.
4. Riser – inspect for cracks, dents, or damage around the limb pockets and accessory holes.
5. Overall – draw it (safely, with an arrow) if allowed, feeling for smoothness and odd noises.

Factor in a likely new string and a professional tune when judging the price. Also check the model is still supported – parts, strings, and modules for an obsolete bow can be hard to find, which limits future tuning and repairs. A current or recent model from a major brand is the safer used buy.

“Confirm the price is fair” is easy to say and hard to do without a benchmark, so here is one. A new compound loses roughly 25-30% of its value the moment it leaves the shop – that is the cost of being “used” at all, regardless of condition. From there price tends to hold relatively steady until the next model year lands, then drops another 15-20% as the newer version pulls attention away. Put together, a bow bought new for around $1,000 commonly resells for $600-700 within its first year, and can fall to $200-250 by two or three years old, especially once a couple of newer generations have replaced it. Flagship-brand bows (Mathews, Hoyt, PSE, Bowtech, Elite) hold value noticeably better than lesser-known makers at every stage of that curve. If a listing is priced well above 60% of current retail for a bow more than a year old, ask why – and if it is priced dramatically below that with no explanation, that is the “too good to be true” red flag below.

Sellers get bow names and years wrong more often than you would expect, and “confirm parts and string support” only works if you know exactly what you are buying. Every compound has a serial number, and its location is brand-specific: Bowtech stamps it on the riser just below the grip, Mathews often puts it on the underside near the top cam, and Bear Archery uses either the bottom limb near the axle or, on older bows, a coin-style medallion set into the riser that identifies the year outright. If the serial number alone does not tell you the year, photograph it along with the cam shape and riser profile and email the manufacturer directly – most will confirm the model and production year from that alone, which settles the “is this actually still supported” question a listing’s description cannot be trusted to answer.

• Any limb crack or splinter.
• Signs of dry-fire damage or a seller who will not discuss history.
• Obsolete model with no parts/string availability.
• Price too good to be true with no way to verify condition.