How much is an acceptable loss for you ?

[GrandpaBill]

Just curious but are you willing to take a loss reselling a guitar just to be able to try it out.
If so how much are you willing to lose ?
Every guitar I have bought has been online , because I live about 100 mi from any large music stores, I have never held it played or heard it , YouTube has been my only reference. Plus I have only been playing 2 years. I had no idea what I would like or even what would fit. ( Definitely not a dreadnought )
So I have considered the whole thing kind of like a rent to own to find what I like , but I have been able to try a lot of different guitars.
For me I am willing to lose about 40 percent on a new guitar.
Let me say I am an old with no kids to take care of , and this is my only hobby so money isn't a huge concern.
So how about you are you willing to lose money reselling your guitars ?
If so what's the max ?

 

[scelestus]

I used to try to buy used if unsure about the long term, but the market in the last couple of years has messed with that approach.

Also, 40 percent of a $2000 guitar is different than 40 percent of a $500 guitar.

Now that I've typed all this, I see I've given a non-answer! In short I hope to keep my loss to at or below the consignment fee at the local shop (20-25%). If I lose money on setup or fret leveling, well, that just means I gave it a good try.

 

[AAT65]

Return shipping costs only and even then only with gritted teeth..!

 

[radtz]

If you buy from online retailers, most of them allow free returns. To answer your question, the cost to ship the guitar back would be the very top end of what I would pay.

 

[Controller]

If you buy from online retailers, most of them allow free returns. To answer your question, the cost to ship the guitar back would be the very top end of what I would pay.

^^^This
Guitar Center gives you 45 days and refunds the guitar cost. You pay shipping. You can also request to buy a return shipping label from them at their rate, usually around $30. A very reasonable rental fee if you decide it's not for you.

I have bought many guitars online.

 

[Dismalhead]

I mostly buy used, and I've never bought a new guitar and wanted to return it. I guess it would be the shipping costs like @radtz said above.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Yeah, I don’t like to lose money on stuff like this, so if it possible to buy new from a retailer with a good return policy, I’ll do that.

If I buy used, it’ll be at a price that I will (at minimum) break even.

I’m proud to say I’ve never lost money on a guitar or amp—I’ve broke even a couple of times, but never actually lost money. Most of the time, I make a small profit…

 

[JIMMY JAZZMAN]

Unlikely as it seems, a 40% loss sounds reasonable. Let me check my 401K, yup, 40% is about right.

 

[nickmsmith]

Yep, guitar center has a great return policy. I would take advantage of that, in this situation. Buying new guitars is such a losing battle in resale. The new Jag I bought for nearly 1k in 2020, I couldn’t get $600 for, in a local sale. So I just kept it.

 

[radtz]

Speaking of online retailers, Amazon has Fender guitars on sale. Its a pretty wide variety and not all low end. I found them looking at "Daily Deals" and checking the box for musical instruments.

 

[notabot]

Unlikely as it seems, a 40% loss sounds reasonable. Let me check my 401K, yup, 40% is about right.

66% for me. Wahooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

For the OP: $8
That is the max I want to lose if I unload a guitar.

 

[brookdalebill]

I trade/buy/sell instruments all the time.
I know, and accept that all parties in a deal need to be satisfied with their deal.
Some people really value their profit.
They may have to, if it’s their livelihood.
I have had major profits, and major losses.
What matters to me is the actual instrument itself.
I do what I need to do to acquire the instruments I want.

 

[nojazzhere]

Just curious but are you willing to take a loss reselling a guitar just to be able to try it out.
If so how much are you willing to lose ?
Every guitar I have bought has been online , because I live about 100 mi from any large music stores, I have never held it played or heard it , YouTube has been my only reference. Plus I have only been playing 2 years. I had no idea what I would like or even what would fit. ( Definitely not a dreadnought )
So I have considered the whole thing kind of like a rent to own to find what I like , but I have been able to try a lot of different guitars.
For me I am willing to lose about 40 percent on a new guitar.
Let me say I am an old with no kids to take care of , and this is my only hobby so money isn't a huge concern.
So how about you are you willing to lose money reselling your guitars ?
If so what's the max ?

I rarely buy "new" stuff online, unless they have a basically FREE return policy. I've bought a number of guitars on Amazon.....and with my Prime membership, I get free shipping AND free returns. (and I've exercised that privilege a few times) Otherwise, I buy used on Ebay or Reverb, and if I don't like the item, I can usually resell at little to no loss. Sometimes it takes a little while to sell, but I'm not in a hurry. I'm NOT going to resell at a 40% loss, just goes against my grain.

 

[bgmacaw]

A good return policy, including free return shipping, is essential for me. I've passed on a number of guitars because of insufficient return policies. Of course, I almost always buy cheap ones these days.

If I was buying a guitar of over around $500 or so, I would most likely be willing to drive an hour or two to try one out first if at all possible. Once the price tag went over the $1000 mark, I'd travel further, distance and time relative to the price tag.

 

[Recce]

My worst was about $500 on a Les Paul Traditional. Decided it was too heavy. They had a custom for a $1,000 more I should have bought. I have not bought another Les Paul. I have made and lost money trading guitars.

 

[kuch]

In the last 25 years or so, I've bought and sold maybe 100 guitars and amps. I only bought 1 new/retail, a '01 Gibby ES 335, and I still have it. It's worth more, as far as I can see online, than I paid for it. Most of the other items, I pretty much got on CL, from private sellers. I don't like paying "fees" and I like to try before I buy. I've never lost anything on all of the gear. I'm patient and try not to pay more than what I can get to break even if I don't like it. What I have now are guitars and amps that are in good working condition and what I really want to have.

Good luck in your journey. that's the fun part

edit: another great thing about it is that I've been able to get a lot of good gear for my son and a couple of my grandsons who play.

 

[emptyminded42]

I've never sold gear but I gave a Squier 5-string and a small bass amp to the guys I hired to help me move a few years ago. I never played the Squier and I got a bigger and better amp several years before so they were just collecting dust. I'm sure they flipped them for a couple hundred bucks or gave them to their kids but I really just didn't want to move them. In retrospect, I wish I'd kept the Squier 5-string but that Fender 60W "Bassman" amp was a real dog. HUGE because it would tilt back to use as a monitor but it didn't have enough juice to jam with anyone. It really sucked. It was one of these guys:

Fender Bassman 60 Combo | Reverb

The Fender Bassman 60 is a 60 watt bass combo amplifier, with this blackface model being made by Fender during the 1990s. In addition to the standard Volume, Master, Treble, Middle, and Bass knobs, it features a single 15" speaker, 2 inputs, a line out, and a limiter indicator light.

reverb.com

I haven't sold a guitar yet and don't really plan to even if I end up not playing one much. If I did, I don't really have a number on what loss I'd accept. Probably a couple hundred bucks but none of my guitars/basses are worth more than ~$600 except for my Cyclone but you'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands before listing it.

 

[Dennyf]

Look at it from a potential buyer's perspective. My perspective as a buyer is, if somebody wants much more than 50-60% of the retail (not list, typical retail) price of a nearly-new whatever, I might as well just buy the new one to avoid, or at least minimize, possible headaches. This applies to new, run-of-the-mill factory stuff. If it's something special, it gets case-by-case consideration. But few things are that special.

 

[Red Ryder]

100 miles? That's diddly, take a drive enjoy the scenery, have a few brews and shoot some signs along the route. You get to your destination play some guitars ya like one, buy it ya don't, don't buy it. No money lost and you have a good time.

 

[Hodgo88]

Up to 100%

I think I've given away a dozen or more cheaper guitars to friends and family who express interest in learning the instrument. In fact, most of my cheapo pawn shop guitars end up being donations to students in need.

The biggest loss I took on a non-donation was a Carvin I owned for two years and then sold for about 60%. But two years of entertainment for $900 or so? Cheaper than the movies.