Used guitar market pretty weak here

[northernguitar]

I only peruse pedals and amps. Prices seem pretty normal for most things. I have no idea how much items are actually selling for. I keep waiting for the ‘big sell-off’ but I need to remind myself that it won’t be pretty as to why folks will be more desperate for dough.

 

[bottlenecker]

I used to check out Craigslist daily, and would see the same tired and stale stuff listed and re-listed for month after month......so I just quit going there. A couple weeks ago, I decided to list a solid body nylon string Angel Lopez guitar that I hadn't touched since I got a Godin Multiac. I had one pathetic inquiry a few days later, then NOTHING. Out of the blue last weekend, I had what seemed like a serious reply. Ended up meeting the guy Sunday, and within ten minutes the deal was done. No discussion or debate of my asking price, although I volunteered to knock $30 off since he had to drive an hour to meet ten minutes from my house.
So, my recent experience was like Craigslist USED to be. Who would have thunk?

I still use craigslist, and I never negotiate, for what it's worth. I don't contact the person if I don't like their price, and I never drop my own price. It's almost always quick and easy if I'm buying.
I hate fb marketplace and I don't think I've successfully bought anything from it. It has more newish junk at delusional prices than cl ever did, and the decent stuff always has idiotic comments from people who aren't buying the item.

 

[lowatter]

I listed a 2005 Gibson Melody Maker and a Fender Mustang floor effects processor here locally on CL for 4 months. I felt that what I was asking was more than fair compared to GC and the verb. I only had 1 guy text me and offered a Glock 9mm for the Gibson and shot back a snarky reply when I responded and said that I was sorry but I need to sell it for cash. Your not supposed to deal in firearms there anyways. Last week I pulled the ads and decided just to keep them. I've been fairly happy with CL however over the years. Maybe it's just hard times these days.

 

[Fendereedo]

I don't look anymore, I've got all I need these days. I don't want an unhealthy bank balance, and angry wife. My last big spend was mid last year IIRC.

 

[Colo Springs E]

I still use craigslist, and I never negotiate, for what it's worth. I don't contact the person if I don't like their price, and I never drop my own price. It's almost always quick and easy if I'm buying.
I hate fb marketplace and I don't think I've successfully bought anything from it. It has more newish junk at delusional prices than cl ever did, and the decent stuff always has idiotic comments from people who aren't buying the item.

Interesting, I've bought and sold cars, guitars, amps, and bicycles on FB with nary an issue. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw!

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

I check the local CL often for deals. Most of the solid body guitars seem overpriced (ie I can find better deals on GC's used site). The more interesting listings, it seems like the owners are looking for trades- collectors just looking to swap not sell.

 

[bottlenecker]

Interesting, I've bought and sold cars, guitars, amps, and bicycles on FB with nary an issue. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw!

FB's site is glitchy for me, and I don't want their app. For me it's mostly the format. Sometimes I see a thing before the page automatically reloads, but I don't know what group it was in, and I never see it again.
I've also gotten messages FB didn't alert me to, because I won't use the app.
I really just want a seperate site to shop on, not a site full of everything FB is full of, trying to be everything to everyone all at once.

 

[Wildeman]

I don't look anymore, I've got all I need these days. I don't want an unhealthy bank balance, and angry wife. My last big spend was mid last year IIRC.

I should be doing this too, but I think I have a problem

 

[Telekarster]

It seems to me when the gas prices escalated, (they're north of six bucks most places around town) the used stuff sales slammed on the brakes. Just out of habit I check CL, and Offerup every day to see what's kicking, but it seems to be the same old ads for some time now. I see stuff not necessarily musical stuff that six months ago would have been snapped up, now it just sits.

I said that this home sales thing would slow down, and I'm seeing signs of it right now. Six months ago, put a house on the market, it sold that day. Now there's a house around the corner, and over on the next street that has had a sign up for a week. It's twenty-two hundred square feet, four beds, two baths, I'm watching to see what happens. It sold less than a year ago for around $380,000 they are wanting $415,000. It's not a flipper, it's people living there. Run the numbers a little, no longer than they've been there, they gotta get what they're asking just to get out of there, by the time they do all the payouts.

Yep. I'm seeing this too. Seeing prices of homes listed for 400, then drop to 380, then to 360, etc etc.... so yeah, the market seems to be reversing course a bit.

 

[teleplayr]

Locally it seems that people are asking prices that aren't much lower than retail prices, some even more!

I saw an ad for an Ibanez electric mandolin asking $425 when a new one was $195!!

What gets me are the ones advertising "New". If they aren't an instrument shop/dealer I'm sorry it's used.

 

[teleplayr]

Locally it seems that people are asking prices that aren't much lower than retail prices, some even more!

I saw an ad for an Ibanez electric mandolin asking $425 when a new one was $195!!

What gets me are the ones advertising "New". If they aren't an instrument shop/dealer I'm sorry it's used.

 

[Tonetele]

Our city's most xclusive store had a room for under $1,000 guitars- many were good. But there seems to be more profit in marking up high end priced guitars. We also have a vintage only shop where you may bump into the Doobies or Joe Bonamassa and a guy who worked in Denmark St. and Santa Cruz who actually does sell quality 2nd. hand gear.

 

[Wildeman]

I just scored off CL yesterday!!!! 120 bux for a 50+ year old Harmony mandolin that looks brand new, no issues at all. I'm stoked

 

[brookdalebill]

Though it does generally seem weak, there’s a few well heeled guys around here that are always buying.
One local shop in San Antonio is also always buying.
Many people are being cautious with their discretionary income lately.
Many people also seem to have less of that discretionary income.
Hopefully the unending stream of world crises will abate sooner than later.

 

[rockymtnguitar]

I know there has been discussion of used prices being very high for last couple of years. I can honestly say, seems the prices have settled down here and maybe even pretty much back to the former range. But man, there just ain't nothin' around me. Used to be 20-25 Teles on craigslist up and down the Front Range of Colorado. Now, it's typically 5-10 or so, and many of them are crap that have been listed and re-listed multiple times that no one seems to want.

I used to see Classic and Deluxe series Telecasters and Strats all the time... now, pretty much never.

Same for other brands / models as well, just not much to choose from. Quick Facebook marketplace search yields similar results.

What's it like where you are?

Yeah, one of the guitars you're seeing that just sits on CL on the Front Range is mine. It's been posted a while and I've had exactly zero hits on it. I had a Gretsch posted for a long time before a local guy said he'd been searching for one exactly like it forever...

Anyway, the question is, Is my guitar overpriced? I guess so, for the market, or it would be gone. That said, I know what it's worth *to me* though I recognize that the real value of a used guitar is only what someone will actually pay for it. I'm trying to downsize in anticipation of a move but at some point I'd rather keep the guitar than give it away. I also anticipated folks would make offers and initiate a negotiation.

I too have seen a lot of the same guitars sitting on CL for a long time. I've also noticed prices that are higher than I'd be willing to pay. I think the economic situation is a valid point for why things are weird but I also think the world and the marketplace is just different than we've ever experienced.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Perhaps used guitars have thinned on the market due to people hoarding what they got. I know I am.

I hope you're not storing them next to the toilet paper!

 

[boris bubbanov]

Dabbling in the buying and selling of used guitars and similar sorts of things, is just on the wane at the moment. People's attentions have turned to going on trips and trying to make that postponed wedding (or big memorial shindig) happen now. While cash from the Gov't is all spent or otherwise out of hand. So the kinds of people still looking for a kick out of buying an amp or guitar, are more "price is no object" and so they prefer to either buy retail or have a third party do the shopping for them.

I think the buying and selling habit works best when the monetary system is more stable. Too much volatility in the stock market and real estate, too much uncertainty as to the amount or duration of inflation, and the disruption in gasoline and diesel prices makes people nervous and they haven't the spare energy to be doing what I call "dabbling".

 

[boris bubbanov]

Yeah, one of the guitars you're seeing that just sits on CL on the Front Range is mine. It's been posted a while and I've had exactly zero hits on it. I had a Gretsch posted for a long time before a local guy said he'd been searching for one exactly like it forever...

Anyway, the question is, Is my guitar overpriced? I guess so, for the market, or it would be gone. That said, I know what it's worth *to me* though I recognize that the real value of a used guitar is only what someone will actually pay for it. I'm trying to downsize in anticipation of a move but at some point I'd rather keep the guitar than give it away. I also anticipated folks would make offers and initiate a negotiation.

I too have seen a lot of the same guitars sitting on CL for a long time. I've also noticed prices that are higher than I'd be willing to pay. I think the economic situation is a valid point for why things are weird but I also think the world and the marketplace is just different than we've ever experienced.

Someone offered me way too much, for this low mileage Honda S-2000 I've had since it was new. And I sold a property in New Orleans for what I thought was really funny money. I think people have hard lines they like to set up, for what they're prepared to spend any given month but when they blow through the budget line, they just go whole hog. People don't gain two pounds anymore, they gain twenty-five. Barriers don't seem to apply anymore, as people just bust right on through them.

Once you get "permission" from the market and your peers to ask for any weird or wild sounding amount (which seems to be the case now), sellers figure "why not just ask for XXXXX? What can the other guy do, besides say no?" Nobody is going to be ostracized for asking "too much" and unless one absolutely must sell, the question is, why not just ask for a ton and see what happens?

But the corollary is, there's a loss of "veracity". And so when a would be buyer sees a price (any price) he's liable to assume it is a crazy, inflated price. Even when it isn't. This chicken is $ 1.88 a pound, well why isn't it 88 cents a pound? Folks don't have that old sense they can trust you, and that you're entirely in good faith.

 

[sax4blues]

I’ve been in the Springs four years now. I had fast sales with a couple high end guitars and saxophone. Now I’ve had a like new player Strat, price about 65% retail, sit for months.

I don’t know how to judge this area. In San Francisco Bay Area there were 7 million people within 45 minutes of me, a lot of high discretionary income, and thriving music scene. So most selling was done in less than two weeks.

 

[Stratocast]

I hope you're not storing them next to the toilet paper!

Nope I wouldn’t want someone to grab one by mistake if ya know what I mean. Lol.