How to check a used surfboard before you buy it

Most used boards are fine. The ones that are not tend to fail in one of four ways, and all four are findable in ten minutes on one walk from the nose to the tail: water in the foam, delamination, a crease, and a loose fin box or plug. Meet in daylight, ask to see the board dry, and do not inspect a board that has just come out of the water. A wet board hides a lot.

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   Step 1: Nose: lift it, and feel the weight

   Hold the board level and lift it at the nose, then at the tail. A waterlogged board is noticeably heavier at one end and often sounds dull when you tap it. Check the tip itself for a soft or crushed nose, the first place water gets in.

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   Step 2: Rails: cracks and soft spots

   Run your thumb along both rails, top and bottom. You are feeling for hairline cracks in the glass and for patches that give under your thumb.

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   Step 3: Deck: press for a soft crackle

   Press with your thumb across the deck, above all where the feet go. A delaminated patch feels soft and springs back with a faint crackle: the glass has separated from the foam under it. Small patches near the front foot are common on an older PU board and are repairable. A large soft area on the bottom is a different conversation.

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   Step 4: The numbers, near the tail

   The dimensions and the volume are usually pencilled or printed on the stringer near the tail. Check them against the listing, and look for brown or grey staining spreading out from any repair close by. That is water tracking through the blank.

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   Step 5: Fin boxes: twist, and nothing moves

   Grip each fin box and twist gently. It should not move at all. Look for hairline cracks running out from the box into the glass.

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   Step 6: Leash plug: press around it

   Press the glass around the leash plug. After the nose it is the most common place for water to get in.

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   Step 7: From the tail, sight along it

   Hold the tail at eye level and look down the board, along one rail and then the other. A buckle shows as a bright line across the deck and a kink in the rocker. A creased board can be surfed and can be repaired, but it never surfs the same, and it should be priced as a repair job.

Pressure dents are what a surfboard looks like after it has been surfed, and a tidy repair is a sign somebody looked after it. The things worth walking away from are fewer than a nervous buyer thinks, and they are at the bottom of this table.

• How long have you had it, and did you buy it new?
• Has it ever been snapped or buckled?
• Which repairs are yours and which came with the board?
• Has it been left in a car or on a roof rack in the sun?
• What is the volume, and is that printed on the board or a guess?

The last one matters more than it sounds. A seller who knows the volume off the stringer is a seller who knows the board. A seller who says 'about 30 litres' about a shortboard is guessing, and you should treat every other number the same way.

In Bali a clean, recent, mid-range shortboard from a known brand generally sits between 250 and 450 US dollars used. A board with a repaired snap, heavy delamination or a soft deck belongs well under that regardless of what it cost new. Work out what the same model in the same condition is listed at before you meet, so the number you name is one you can explain. The used surfboard price guide has the medians for every type, worked out from the boards listed today.

The newest used boards listed on SurfPoint, each with the numbers its seller gave and any damage they declared, so you know what you are riding out to see.