What Is My Gi Worth?

People ask me all the time, "How much is my gi worth?" or, "I want to sell my gi, how much should I ask?"

Given that the secondary market on some gis fluctuates all the time these are common questions to ask when you are not buying and selling gis on a daily basis. But the answer is never a specific dollar figure, as in, "Your gi is worth $225." It simply is not that straightforward.

The answer really is: "Well, it depends." But nobody wants that answer. So here is why it is, in fact, the true answer.

Any given gi at any given time is worth what someone else will pay for it. So if you are selling an Atama Mundial #9 that is brand new, in bag ("BNIB"), and those same gis are also in stock on Atama's website, then unless there are special circumstances it is highly unlikely that anyone will pay you more than the $200 retail price that they can purchase one for at www.AtamaUSA.com (or other Atama website worldwide). So that is pretty simple to figure out.

In fact, you will likely have to accept less than retail just because most people would prefer to purchase from the brand directly vs. an unknown individual if all other factors, including price, are the same. So in this case, if you want to sell your BNIB Atama, I'd say discount it by 10% to 20% off of retail, and that's what you should target. This is called: asset depreciation.

That philosophy applies to virtually every and any gi brand that has available stock. Where the secondary market comes into play in a big way is with older batches that are no longer available from the brand. And of course the granddaddy of the secondary market is Shoyoroll. CTRL Industries also has a strong following, but only a few specific older batches of their gis bring any real value (above retail) on the secondary market.

Without a doubt, Shoyoroll is the kingpin in the secondary market. So the focus of this blog post, and the brand that I get questioned about most of the time is Shoyoroll.

So the answer to the question ("How much is my gi worth?") depends on many factors, including the following:

• How quickly you need or want to sell the gi.

• How much time you are willing to spend ACTIVELY hunting down a buyer.

• The size of the gi.

Additionally, as with many things in life there is a range of value for gis that depends on many factors which you, as a seller, do NOT control. Two of those listed above are in your control, but the financial means and motivation of the buyer, the abundance or lack thereof of competitive gis on the market are a few that you do not control but do greatly impact what someone is willing to pay for your gi.

Further Analysis

Let's look at each of these one at a time.

How quickly you need or want to sell the gi.

It would make sense that the more time that you have to find the "best" buyer for your gi increases the probability that you'll actually find him. If that is true, then the opposite would also be true in that the less time you have (or dedicate) towards finding the best buyer, the less your likelihood is going to be that you find him (and that he's ready to purchase) your gi.

In the past few years I've sold gis to buyers in Indonesia, Russia, Sweden, UK, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the list goes on. There is no single source to find these buyers in 1 day or 1 week. It takes time. Time to properly prepare your gi for sale (I have a whole separate blog post dedicated toward that, linked here), and time to expose the offering to potential buyers around the globe.

The longer that your gi is out on the market for sale the more people will see it. And the more people that see it increases the probability that you'll find the best, or a better buyer who is ready, willing and able. It's that simple.

How much time you are willing to spend ACTIVELY hunting down a buyer.

The difference between this factor and the previous one is that the other is a passive activity - simply the passage of time. It can't be rushed or shortened. This particular factor is active; it takes both time and effort, and sometimes money. And like anything worthwhile, the more time you spend at it, the more you are likely to get out of it.

On one end of the range, the lower end, you simply take three photos with your cell phone, and post it up on eBay for 10 days and take the highest offer. Does that work? Sure it does. Sometimes. And sometimes you sell it to a reseller who then invests time in your gi and makes a killing. If that's okay with you, then no harm, no foul.

As of the date of this writing a BNIB A2 Shoyoroll Yank gi recently sold for just over $400 on eBay. I know because I was the #2 bidder at $400 and just missed it. Yet less than a month ago I sold my BNIB A2 Yank for $750. And a friend of mine bought a different BNIB A2 Yank, also for $750. So, did that eBay seller achieve maximum value for his gi? I think not. But he will probably never know that.

While I'm not sure how much time the eBay seller actually invested in marketing his gi, I do know that I spent a cumulative amount of time of more than 6 hours over a 2 month period on selling mine. That time was invested in:

• Taking photos, 
• Researching and talking directly to targeted prospects,
• Searching the various online forums on a daily basis,
• Posting the information on Facebook, Instagram and other online venues,
• Checking those postings several times a day,
• Following up with prospects,
• And more.

This is but one example of how actively hunting for the best buyer can lead to the maximization of value.

And while nearly everyone wants to maximize value when they are selling their personal items, in this case gis, the question that you have to honestly ask yourself is this...do I have the TIME to do all of this to possibly make 10% more, 20% more, 30% more? If so, then go for it. If not, then it might be better to take 10 or 15 minutes, speak with a handful of obvious buyers/resellers and simply cash out of your gi today, and move on without looking back and with no regrets whatsoever.

I have several friends who do just that. They would rather invest those hours with their family, their jiu jitsu, or in their primary business where they make serious money; rather than chasing buyers for their gis to make a few extra nickles.

The size of the gi.

Gi size is one of those factors that some people overlook when trying to estimate the value of a gi. And while in the end it may not be a significant factor in value, if it's not then it will almost always be a significant factor in time.

Let's take a closer look at this.

First we must acknowledge that secondary market pricing is driven by supply-vs.-demand. The greater the supply (in either the primary or secondary market), the lower the demand. And the lower the demand, the lower the value. Conversely, if the supply is lower and demand remains constant, then the value should be higher.

While people come in all shapes and sizes, the majority of grapplers fall into several of Shoyoroll's gi sizes. Those are:

• Whole Sizes: A1, A2, A3
• Long Sizes: A1L, A2L
• Husky Sizes: A2H
• Fitted Sizes: A1F, A2F

With these 8 sizes, probably 90% or more of the grapplers are covered. And these are, or should be the higher production sizes for any brand.

On the other end of the spectrum are smaller sizes primarily.

• A0, A00F and A0F

And nothing against grapplers who fit into these size gis. I wish that I did. But oftentimes they are women or even children. And quite frankly women are smarter than men and rarely participate in the secondary market. When they do, they are far better buyers than men and won't pay a nickle more than they feel that they should. Often choosing to wait for a new batch to drop to get their size rather than pay 3x's retail for an older classic or hot, trendy new drop.

And parents are typically smarter when buying for their kids, because the kids will likely outgrow these gis in 6 months to a year and be on to the next size up. This applies to jeans, sneakers, jackets, and all clothing items. Not just gis.

The result is that these smaller sizes tend to max out at a lower value than do the 8 sizes mentioned above. The small percentage of men that fit these gis, are just that: a small percentage, and easily satisfied in the Primary market or early on in the Secondary.

The majority of the reminder are large or tall sizes of:

• A4, A5, A3L, and A3H

The resistance here is that many grapplers who require these sizes today, will (or hope to) lose weight in the near future making these gis in their rotation too large for them. So why spend a lot of money on the secondary market today for an A5, when you hope to settle into an A4 in a few months? And that happens a lot. 

Of course, there are exceptions to this. I know several A4 and A5 grapplers who have maintained their weight and bulk over many years of training. And they are quite comfortable with their body type and gi size. As such, they are usually among the best buyers for these larger gis. But there are not a lot of them , so if these sizes are overproduced, the secondary market suffers.

There is an odd outlyer here and that is A0H. This size is suffering from it's designation. It's actually just a slightly shorter version of A2. And A2 is the #1 or #2 most popular size among all sizes. I personally know several guys who buy A2 gis and have the cuffs taken in on the pants and sometimes the jacket. They are a PERFECT A0H but they cannott mentally get past that "0" or "H". It sounds like the person who should fit the A0H gi is both short and fat. And that's just not true.

As a result, that size has a bit of a cloud over it, but slowly people are coming around to giving it a try and seeing that the label does not fit the gi. 

Example

As an example, let's just say that today's value of a BNIB, Batch 51 Black Competitor (Japan-only, in-person drop), is between $600 and $1,500. Yes, that's a WIDE RANGE, and for such a difficult gi to locate, the upper-end of the range is likely more than that in reality.

On one end of the spectrum (the low end of $600), if you own a size A0, need the money TODAY, and just don't have time to look around for the right buyer. Then that's the value, or close to it. On the other end of the spectrum you can likely achieve $1,500 or more for that same gi if (a) it's in a higher demand size like A1L or A2, (b) you are in no hurry to sell it, and (c) you are going to spend at least an hour a day, EVERY day (until it sells) hunting for THE BEST buyer.

Short of all three of those, then the value will likely be less than the upper end of the range, $1,500 in this example.

For USED kimonos the value range also depends on other factors. And for the purposes of this conversation, USED means that it was washed at least one time and therefore is no longer BNIB. You can certainly still call a gi "new" if it's been worn just a few times, washed and well cared for. But you cannot call it BNIB and you should disclose how many times you used it and how you washed and dried it. So for any used gi the following factors also come into play.

• Condition
• Fading
• Shrinkage (this is a BIG issue)
• Missing Parts (like the bag)
• Stains/Smells (blood & mat stains on the knee are most common here.
• Rips, holes, pilling

And while some people prefer to purchase used kimonos over new ones, primarily for the purposes of cost savings, the reality is that the buyer pool is not as deep for used kimonos as it is for that same kimono if BNIB. In other words, if there are 10 buyers at any given time looking for a specific kimono if it's BNIB, that number shrinks by 75% or more if the kimono is used. This is for a variety of factors, most of which have to do with the uncertainty of the condition of the kimono, but quite simply some people will never buy a used kimono. It can be that cut and dry.

Even if it has never been rolled in and just washed, those 10 people shrink down to 8 or 7 or less.

Conclusion

That was the long answer to the qustion, "What's my gi worth?" The short answer is always, "It depends." And now you know why.

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