This guide is for persons buying or selling classic Ping brand golf clubs on eBay, including Eye2, Eye2 + no+, Eye2+, Zing, Zing2 and ISI models. These rules developed from purchasing thousands of dollars of Ping irons, woods and putters on eBay for myself and others; I have never sold a Ping on eBay. I have no vested interest in the information written here. I have been playing golf for 25 years and have a low single digit handicap. I have owned at least one set of each type and alloy of Ping irons. The opinions are my own.

Rule 1 - Request the serial number - If they won't tell you the serial number, don't buy the club;

All Ping clubs have a serial number. Before you spend all that money, use Ping's 800 number to check them out. With the serial number, Ping can tell you when it was made, what the original "dot" color was, what the original shaft was and if there was anything custom about the club, like shaft type, length or a special grind on the sole of the irons. If what's advertised doesn't match up with what Ping says it should be -- don't buy it.

Rule 2 - Don't buy clubs that are not the original dot color;

The dot color on Ping irons is the lie angle. Lie angle is the angle between the shaft and the ground when the club is grounded. Generally speaking, because the length of the clubs is constant, a shorter person needs a smaller angle (or flatter) than a taller player (more upright). Having the right dot for you will improve your game Go to the Ping website, find out what dot you need via a "static fitting" and try to buy that color. Be aware that Ping recently (Fall 2007) modified the color chart; see the last installment for more information. Most adult males fall in the Blue-Black-Red range.

And therein lies the problem: unscrupulous sellers will paint over the true color of a less popular dot and advertise it as a color its not. Some will even go to the trouble of bending the hosel of the club itself with widely varying results. If bent too far or too often, the club may shatter. Ping irons are cast (not forged) and even if bent, will eventually return to their original cast position; it could be next week or next year but it will happen. Remember Rule 1 and double check what you're buying.

Rule 3 - Avoid re-shafted clubs;

Ping irons were usually sold with proprietary steel shafts. Eye2 had Microtaper or ZZ Lite shafts. Late Eye2+ models had KTM or JZ shafts. Zings originally had KTM shafts but these were changed to JZ for most production. Zing2 had JZ shafts. ISI had JZ or ZZ65 shafts. A very limited number of each model were sold with various proprietary graphite shafts. Why avoid re-shafts? Few, if any Ping heads had parallel hosels, most were .355 tapered. Club repair specialists sometimes drill out the tapered hosels to accept parallel tipped shafts, usually graphite. Once this modification has been made, you can't go back. Very rarely is a bench vise, an hand drill and an old Craftsman bit as good as a factory precision casting.