"A liquid asset has some or all of the following features. It can be sold rapidly, with minimal loss of value, any time within market hours." Source: Wikipedia.
It is very rare to see used Tenkara USA rods for sale. Just take a look on Ebay for "tenkara" and you'll notice a number of other tenkara items, but it's rare to see one of ours being parted with. In the rare instances when a Tenkara USA rod is put up for sale, it goes in a flash and most often at a price not much lower than the original. In other words, Tenkara USA rods are a highly liquid asset.
The reason I decided to write this post is that I noticed a used Iwana 12ft rod recently going up for sale on the marketplace section of our blog. That particular tenkara rod was sold within 2 hours and 15 minutes at a minimal discount. If you take a look at the marketplace section of our forum you will noticed just about as many "WTB" (want-to-buy) as "WTS" (want-to-sell) posts. Every tenkara rod that I have noticed being posted for sale seems to have sold within a day. The "WTB" posts, on the other hand, often go unanswered.
As a testament to how much fun tenkara is, and how good our rods are, we also have an incredibly small number of people returning gear to us. Anyone interested in giving tenkara a try, even if he/she is not sure whether tenkara is for them, is able to take advantage of our great 60-day return policy. Consider it a loaner program if you will, REALLY. You can even keep two sets of flies for free to make up for the return shipping (everyone can use flies).
In fact, our returns are so small that I have not been able to accumulate much of an inventory of demo rods and requests by media to have demo rods often go unfulfilled because of that. So, I urge you: do not feel bad if you just want to give tenkara a try but then decide it is not for you. Just let us know and send the items back for a full refund (by the way, the only reason for the 60-day timeframe is because that is the maximum amount of time that our payment system allows for refunds to be issued).
As we introduced it to the world, some have dismissed tenkara as a potential fad. Others, in the industry, predicted that "used tenkara rods will flood the market in a couple of years" (can't find the link, but that's what I read almost verbatim a couple of years ago). I think after 3 years with no sign of slowing down may mean its possible status as a fad is no longer the case and trend is a more likely term now.
The central point of the message on this post is this: go ahead and give tenkara a try! Even if you aren't sure what it is all about, the cost of trying it is minimal. And, if you fish mountain streams, then you definitely must give it a try. You have 60-days to return your order to us for a full refund (and you get to keep 2 free sets of flies, so your return shipping is basically free). And, in case you decide to keep it a bit longer, you can very easily pass it on to someone else. Tenkara USA rods are after all a highly-liquid asset, even in today's market.