Trading at GC - experiences?

[Dismalhead]

Hey all,

I went crazy and bought about a dozen guitars over the last five years or so, and now they're spilling out into the rest of my house (got three in the living room right now - not that there's anything wrong with that ). Now the dust has settled and I've figured out which I've bonded with and which I haven't.

So I've decided to downsize by four or five and get one really nice guitar (goal is a Gibson semi-hollow). I've had a couple of acoustics up for sale on CL for a few weeks and no bites and the whole experience of trying to sell them seems exhausting at this point. Wondering if anyone's ever gone to Guitar Center and just traded a bunch of stuff for another guitar to save the time and hassle.

Note: I've been buying stuff from GC all my life, and I do have a positive impression of them.

Questions:

Doesn't GC give a pretty good trade-in rate? Does it vary by store? Sales person?

Can you trade for used equipment that is online at another store?

If I decide to buy new, do they give a discount to the item you are trying to trade for?

Please share your experiences, good, meh, or bad. Two of the guitars are a US PRS and a Gibson SG; which alone should be enough to fund a nice used semi-hollow if I sold them myself.

So, is this a pointless endeavor where I'm going to walk in and be leaving a few minutes later to go sell my crap on my own? Should I call them first If I'm bringing half a dozen items?

 

[Jakedog]

My local store does 60% of used value. On average. Sometimes it’s a little more. It’s never less.

That can be just fine with me. Convenience has value for me. Not having to deal with tire kickers, low ballers, meeting with strangers or having them over, packing and shipping, are all worth money to me. I can walk into GC any time and get a decent price and walk away. Most of the time the small hit I take from selling to them is totally worth it for my mental health.

Also- they seem to be the only people buying right now. I’ve had stuff listed for weeks on end for VERY reasonable prices. Zero interest. Or I get offered trades for straight up garbage. No, sorry, I don’t want four beat up Squiers, an old PlayStation, and a ten year old iPad for this really nice piece of gear. It’s a tough time to be selling things right now because people just aren’t buying anything.

GC works well for me when I want to get just get things done with no hassle or waiting around. YMMV.

 

[Knows3Chords]

I have sold a couple of times to GC. I got about 60% each time. It was quick and easy. Each time the staff was very cool and got it done rather quickly even though they were busy. The times I went were both on a Sunday about 1 PM, so I don't know if that's a good or bad time for them.

 

[Buck Lightyear]

You definitely do not get top dollar, so make peace with that before even packing the car. I’ve been pretty happy with my last few trade deals with GC, and it’s way easier than dealing with randos from cl or fb.

I haven’t asked anyone about bringing in something from another store for a trade deal. I’ve wondered about it but assume they would not be to excited on either end to do it.

 

[catdaddy]

I've had good experiences when trading gear at GC. Upfront pricing and generally hassle-free transactions.

 

[AAT65]

We don’t have Guitar Center over here, but I did once trade a guitar into guitarguitar. The trade in price they offered was pretty woeful but they’d under-valued the guitar I was buying so I felt satisfied

 

[20Fred11]

I only tried to trade once at a store (not a GC). The American Special Telecaster I wanted was already on sale so maybe that had something to do with their offer. The guy went to a KBB or something of guitars and came back with a ridiculously low offer. So I kept my old guitar and bought the Telecaster!!
I usually buy and sell on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace and I’m still here although I could tell some stories…..

 

[jazzlettuce]

I’ve sold some gear myself that was mass appealing (Gibson ES335 and some pedals) but when something sits on the classifieds for a month or so with no bites I start to think about trading into a store for store credit.

I’ve traded into local shops more than guitar center, but it’s all more or less the same 60% of the used value. Which honestly, isn’t that bad. When you trade in for another used guitar/piece of gear the loss is minimized the most imo.

Check out GC’s site, see if there’s anything used they have in their network, then give em a call and see if you can set up a deal. This is how I came across my ‘65 Jag. There’s a lot of gems in that vintage/used section of the website.

 

[gridlock]

I very rarely trade with GC. I take to big of a loss trading there.

I do have another privately owned shop that treats me very fairly with trades.

Almost 95% of my trades over the past 5 years have been with this store.

 

[Dismalhead]

I’ve sold some gear myself that was mass appealing (Gibson ES335 and some pedals) but when something sits on the classifieds for a month or so with no bites I start to think about trading into a store for store credit.

I’ve traded into local shops more than guitar center, but it’s all more or less the same 60% of the used value. Which honestly, isn’t that bad. When you trade in for another used guitar/piece of gear the loss is minimized the most imo.

Check out GC’s site, see if there’s anything used they have in their network, then give em a call and see if you can set up a deal. This is how I came across my ‘65 Jag. There’s a lot of gems in that vintage/used section of the website.

I've bought a few things in their online used marketplace and it's been great. Very reasonable prices considering they're a music store trying to make a profit.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

My experiences have been mostly decent trading with GC. The trade-in value can be a little inconsistent. Depending on the item, they may offer something very fair, or way under value. My guess is it's just in how they're looking it up (model number confusion, etc.) So I would say be prepared to say yes to some trades and no to others, if the return feels way off. For those few items you can try to sell them yourself (or maybe just try again later to see if you have better luck).

I feel the same way @Jakedog does - my time is valuable, and I would rather just get stuff done quickly and easily. Would I get a little better prices if I listed everything myself on Craigslist? Maybe, but if it takes me 8 months and 12 meetups to get there, it's not going to be worth it. People talk about store trade-ins like GC is "ripping you off," but it's a completely eyes-open transaction. I know what I'm getting when I go there. I'm taking a discounted rate for my stuff in exchange for an easy transaction and a reduction in wasted time. For me, that's a good deal. If you have a very tight budget and infinite time (like a lot of retirees), that calculation may be a little different for you.

 

[Stubee]

I’ve never traded guitars or gear. I sell outright or consign.

 

[drumtime]

I don't live near a GC, but when I visit relatives near Cleveland there are several. I've hauled some stuff up there to trade for other stuff, and it's worked out fine. I'd probably still be trying to sell the stuff if I hadn't done that.

 

[Bob Womack]

They have pretty straightforward policies: For trade-ins they offer 60% of the price they can sell the item for plus a 10% discount on the price of the item you are trading for. Knowing this system, two weeks ago I wanted a guitar at GC but my space to store guitars has reached its limit. I decided to trade a few items for the thing I wanted.

I set up a spreadsheet on my laptop that showed the price of the item I wanted, minus 10%. Knowing what trading fodder I had, I did my research on Reverb to see what those items had sold for. I chose a conservative used price for each item and input the price into the sheet. The sheet dropped that price by 40% to show what I might get for it and subtracted it from the price of the guitar I wanted. By that method I had a good idea of how things would go down.

In fact, once I got there and they did their calculus, I found out that they could get dramatically more from my items than I had thought, so there would be a surplus. I said, "You don't refund the difference, do you?" My favorite GC guy said, "Oh yeah, we do." But that's okay. My wife/chief enabler was there and fell in love with an acoustic guitar amp for me that made up the difference.

Done.

Bob

 

[Whatizitman]

I take stuff to GC frequently. I can generally count on them giving me ~60% of what they will flip the gear for. Even when no other buyer or store will take the stuff.

Just last week I took an Origin 20 head and SV212 cab I got on a trade for gear I know GC would not give me as much for. Win/win. I got about as much cash as I would have hoped to sell that gear for. But the trade offer was the only good bite I got. Maybe I could have sold the Origin and cab for more. But folks ain’t buying. So I think I did good. Used all the cash for a new CV jazz bass.

 

[Colo Springs E]

My local store does 60% of used value. On average. Sometimes it’s a little more. It’s never less.

That can be just fine with me. Convenience has value for me. Not having to deal with tire kickers, low ballers, meeting with strangers or having them over, packing and shipping, are all worth money to me. I can walk into GC any time and get a decent price and walk away. Most of the time the small hit I take from selling to them is totally worth it for my mental health.

Also- they seem to be the only people buying right now. I’ve had stuff listed for weeks on end for VERY reasonable prices. Zero interest. Or I get offered trades for straight up garbage. No, sorry, I don’t want four beat up Squiers, an old PlayStation, and a ten year old iPad for this really nice piece of gear. It’s a tough time to be selling things right now because people just aren’t buying anything.

GC works well for me when I want to get just get things done with no hassle or waiting around. YMMV.

All of what jakedog said!

 

[GRAVITY-LHP]

Develop a good reputation on the gear page and on the acoustic guitar forum and you can move and trade quite a bit of gear…. fair trades and fair prices. Just be sure to connect live and avoid friends and family - Venmo type transactions. Keep it above board.

 

[Knows3Chords]

The last time I sold to GC they told me what they would give me and what they would sell it for. I think that's as straight forward as it gets.

 

[Dismalhead]

Or I get offered trades for straight up garbage. No, sorry, I don’t want four beat up Squiers, an old PlayStation, and a ten year old iPad for this really nice piece of gear.

LOL. Ain't this the truth. I just got offered a Chibson for my Deluxe Ovation with a nice case. It was an actual counterfeit with Gibson on the headstock, which really rankles me. At least he was up front about it being fake. Couple of years ago a guy showed up with gift cards to places I'd never heard of, expecting to me to take them as payment for a guitar.

I do not look forward to dealing with CL and Facebook buyers again.

 

[LOSTVENTURE]

I've been dealing with the local GC for almost 20 years now. Generally they have been fair enough.
If possible, I hold what I have until they have something new that I would consider trading for. They are good at giving a little discount on the new stuff if you are making a direct trade.