There is a perfectly good racket sitting in someone's bag at your club right now, not being played with. The person carrying it upgraded six months ago, keeps meaning to sell it, and has not got round to it. Meanwhile, someone else in the same group chat is about to spend full retail on a frame they could have had for half the price.
This happens constantly, and it is a waste on both sides. The gear does not get used, the buyer pays more than they need to, and the seller gets nothing. The only thing stopping the deal is that nobody quite knows how to bring it up.
Why it feels awkward, and why it should not#
Mixing money and friendship does have a way of making people hesitant. I have been there: standing next to someone after a match, knowing they have a frame I want, not sure whether asking makes me look cheap or puts them in an odd position. The hesitation is understandable but it is based on a false premise. Passing gear on between players is not a transaction to be embarrassed about. It is how the game sustains itself.
Think about how most people got into tennis or padel in the first place. Someone lent them a racket, or sold them a starter frame for next to nothing, or handed down a bag of balls that still had life in them. That informal economy is part of club culture. Formalising it slightly, so money changes hands fairly and nobody feels shortchanged, is not crass. It is just honest.
The shift worth making is this: pre-owned is not a consolation prize. It is the smart choice for a player who wants to try a different weight, a different balance point, or a different frame shape without committing to full retail. Buying from a club mate adds one more thing: you can actually ask them how the racket plays, on the same courts you both use.
How to raise it without making it weird#
The group chat is usually the right place to start, because it removes the one-on-one pressure. A single message along the lines of "anyone interested in my old Wilson Blade before I list it elsewhere?" takes about ten seconds to write and rarely lands badly. People either respond or they scroll past. No awkwardness, no obligation.
If you prefer to do it in person, the moment after a match is genuinely the best time. You are already talking about gear, you have both just played, and the context makes the question feel natural. "I'm thinking of moving this on, would it be any use to you?" is a complete sentence. You do not need to over-explain.
One thing I would avoid: offering gear as a gift when you actually want money for it. It creates an obligation the other person did not ask for, and it can quietly sour things if you later feel you gave something away you should have sold. If you want to sell, say you want to sell. If you genuinely want to give it away, do that. The middle ground where you say "just take it" while hoping they insist on paying is uncomfortable for everyone.
Pricing fairly among friends#
This is where informal deals most often go wrong. Price too high and the buyer feels you are taking advantage of the relationship. Price too low and you feel slightly resentful, or the buyer wonders if something is wrong with the frame.
The fix is to price on condition and market value, not on friendship. Look at what the same frame is going for on the marketplace for pre-owned tennis rackets or padel rackets, find the middle of the range for the relevant condition, and use that as your starting point. Then you can have a straightforward conversation: "I've seen these going for around X in this condition, does that work for you?"
Here is a simple way to think about condition and what it means for price:
| Condition | What it typically means | Approximate discount from new RRP |
|---|---|---|
| Like new | Barely played, no marks on frame or grip | 20 to 30 per cent |
| Good | Regular play, light cosmetic marks, no structural issues | 35 to 50 per cent |
| Fair | Visible wear, possible grip replacement needed, plays fine | 50 to 65 per cent |
| Well played | Heavy cosmetic wear, may need restring or new grip, mechanically sound | 65 to 75 per cent |
Being transparent about condition is the single most important thing you can do. If there is a crack you have been ignoring, or the grip is down to the bare handle, say so before money changes hands. A club mate who discovers a problem after buying will not come back to you next time they are selling.
Avoiding the pitfalls of informal deals#
The main risk with selling gear to someone you know is that there is no paper trail and no agreed process if something goes sideways. Most of the time nothing does, but it is worth taking a few basic steps.
Agree the price in writing, even if "writing" just means confirming it in the same group chat where you offered the frame. A message saying "great, so that's the Babolat Pure Drive for £85, I'll bring it Thursday" is not a legal contract, but it is a shared record that prevents the "I thought you said £75" conversation three weeks later.
If you have any doubt about how the frame is playing, let the buyer hit with it before money changes hands. This is easy to arrange at a club: bring it to the next session, let them have a knock, and complete the sale if they are happy. It adds one step but it removes almost all post-sale awkwardness.
For anything above roughly £100, I would suggest using a proper payment method rather than cash. Not because you do not trust each other, but because a payment record protects both of you. Bank transfer with a note in the reference line is fine.
If you want the deal to have more structure, listing it through a marketplace like EpicRackets means both sides have a clear record, the condition is documented, and there is a neutral reference point for the price. You can still sell to a club mate through the marketplace: just send them the link and complete the transaction there. It is tidy rather than impersonal. You can read more about how it works if you want to see what that looks like in practice.
The bigger picture#
Every frame that gets passed on to a player who will actually use it is a frame that does not end up in a landfill, and a player who gets better gear than they would have bought new at the same price point. I wrote about this in more depth in the post on gear and sustainability, but the short version is that the environmental case for pre-owned is straightforward: the carbon cost of manufacturing is already spent, so keeping the frame in play is almost always the better choice.
There is also something genuinely good about a club where gear circulates. It means newer players can access better equipment earlier, experienced players can try different setups without the financial risk of buying new, and the whole group ends up playing with gear that actually suits them. That is a better club to be part of.
So next time you are holding a frame you have stopped playing with: send the message. Put it in the chat. Bring it to the next session. Someone there probably wants exactly what you have got.
