How much less is a repaired surfboard worth?

A board with one or two tidy repairs typically sells for 5 to 10 per cent less than the same board with none. Multiple repairs take 15 to 25 per cent off. A repaired snap or buckle roughly halves the price.

Should I fix dings before selling my board?

Yes for open dings. An open ding reads as a leak risk and costs you far more in price than the 10 to 25 US dollars a repair costs in Bali. No for pressure dents, which are not damage and cannot be fixed anyway.

Is a snapped and repaired surfboard worth buying?

It can be, at roughly half the price of the same board unsnapped. Check the join for flex, expect extra weight and stiffness through that section, and only buy one where you can see the repair clearly on the bottom as well as the deck.

What a repaired ding does to resale price

How much repairs actually take off a used surfboard in Bali, which ones buyers forgive, and which ones halve the price.

Updated August 2025 · 2 minute read

The short version

Pressure dents: nothing. Every used board has them.
One or two tidy repaired dings: 5 to 10 per cent off, sometimes nothing at all.
Many repairs, all tidy: 15 to 25 per cent off. The board reads as well used.
Visible resin lumps, mismatched colour, sloppy work: 25 to 35 per cent off, because the buyer is pricing in redoing them.
Repaired snap or buckle: 40 to 55 per cent off. The board still surfs. It is a different board.
Waterlogged or open ding: the board is a project, priced as one.

Why tidy repairs cost so little

A buyer who understands boards is not scared of a repair. They are scared of water in the foam. A repair that is flat, sealed, sanded and dry is proof the previous owner dealt with damage rather than surfing through it, and that reads as care. A board with no repairs and a soft grey patch under the front foot is the worse buy of the two.

How to describe your own repairs when you sell

Say the number, say where, say who did it. 'Three repaired dings, two on the nose one on the rail, all done at a shop in Canggu, all watertight' sells faster than 'good condition'. Photograph each repair in daylight. Honest disclosure gets a faster sale at a higher price than a vague listing that falls apart when the buyer arrives.

The listings on this site carry a damage list for exactly that reason. Filling it in is not an admission. It is what makes the rest of the listing believable.

Bali specifics

Repair labour here is cheap by international standards. A small ding is typically 10 to 25 US dollars and turned around in a day or two. That compresses the discount on repairable damage compared to Europe or Australia, and it means a board with a couple of open dings is often worth buying and fixing rather than walking away from. It does not compress the discount on a snap, because a snap is structural and everyone knows it.

Common questions

How much less is a repaired surfboard worth?: A board with one or two tidy repairs typically sells for 5 to 10 per cent less than the same board with none. Multiple repairs take 15 to 25 per cent off. A repaired snap or buckle roughly halves the price.
Should I fix dings before selling my board?: Yes for open dings. An open ding reads as a leak risk and costs you far more in price than the 10 to 25 US dollars a repair costs in Bali. No for pressure dents, which are not damage and cannot be fixed anyway.
Is a snapped and repaired surfboard worth buying?: It can be, at roughly half the price of the same board unsnapped. Check the join for flex, expect extra weight and stiffness through that section, and only buy one where you can see the repair clearly on the bottom as well as the deck.